Opsy #17: Have you ever been let go?

Have you ever been fired or let go from a job?

I've only been laid off once but I've sat on the employer side of the table for a lot of firings and lay offs. It pretty much always sucks. But it's also given me a lot of insight into my rights as an employee, and a lot of opinions about how these things can and should be handled within a company.

Too often, the person handling terminations at a startup has no idea about the legal requirements involved. And, you know what... that's kind of fair? The details of a termination aren't always black and white, a lot of the related laws vary by state in the US, and it's all very complicated.

I recently had reason to remember all of this when a friend of a friend asked for my help navigating a tricky termination.

This person was an early hire at a startup and was let go unexpectedly after months of nothing but positive feedback. There didn't do anything illegal per se, but it became clear pretty quickly that no one involved was aware of the laws and professional norms around termination, severance, etc. It was a huge disservice to the person being let go, but also caused a big hit to morale among the remaining team members.

The whole situation inspired me to repackage my advice into an article for us Opsy folks. (Because we're not all HR folks!) Getting laid off sucks, but it can be a little easier when you know what steps to take.

👉🏻 What to do when you lose your job

I think I've covered the basics... but what else am I forgetting? What should employees know when they've been let go? And what should HR make sure to do?

Hit reply to let me know! (Or, if you're a Founding Member, join the convo in Slack. 😄) I'd love to update the post with all of your collective wisdom.

Links & Opportunities

Have an opsy article, podcast, or event to share? Hit reply to let me know.

Choosing Your Next Job: Another great article from ops pro Molly Graham, who has a unique way of creating an actionable decision-making process for big, nebulous questions.

Remotely We Are One: Opsy member Kaleem Clarkson and I chatted about remote work, building inclusive hiring practices, and more on the latest episode of his podcast. (Shameless self promo alert. 😉)