Resignation or Termination for Layoffs
The current state of the economy and recession has led to many companies laying off their employees. Top companies such as HP, AOL, Sun, Microsoft, Satyam, Google, Ebay, Sify Technologies, Spectranet and CNN have been downsizing staff through corporate layoffs. This is prevalent across the world, right from USA, Europe and Australia to India, Dubai, the Middle East and South East Asia.
So, what is the right way to go about employee downsizing and cost cutting? In some corporate layoffs, employees are provided pink slips, termination letter and their dues are fully settled by cheque. In other employee layoffs, they are asked to submit their resignation and are convinced that job termination will not help them at getting a new job. This blog post aims to compare the merits and demerits of resignation vs termination for layoffs from both the employers and employees perspective.
Resignation Letter for Laying Off Staff -
This sort of employee termination for mass layoffs benefits the company management the most. The Human Resources manager calls the employee to be laid-off to a meeting, where he/she is told that their services are no longer required. The laid off staff person is then asked to submit their resignation citing some personal problem or other issue. He/she is told that if they ask for the rightful termination letter, they will not be provided a relieving letter and will have difficulty getting a job later. The senior management works to convince the 'laid off employee' that termination is 'shameful' and that it is better to submit a resignation letter and leave gracefully. Similarly, this process is repeated for laying off other employees. This system of employee layoff benefits the company management the most -
Termination Letter for Laying Off Staff
The management of most businesses prefer not to give termination letters to the employees in cases of corporate downsizing and cost cutting, as this could result in unnecessary hassles for the company. If incidents of ' mass layoffs' are reported in the media, the company may have to answer and pay heavily. The price of company stocks may fall, investors may become vary of the company and the government may intervene to reinstate the laid off employees. However, termination letters for staff layoffs is the most beneficial to employees and something those facing downsizing layoffs really need to know about.
During employee layoffs, when the staff is confronted by the HR team/ management to submit their resignation letters, they should resist. Termination for layoffs, downsizing or cost cutting is completely different from termination due to bad behavior. Legally and ethically, the management has to provide relieving letters/ certificates of good conduct to the employee if they serve termination letters due to corporate layoffs for reasons such as offshoring, recession, downsizing or cost cutting. Termination letters help the employee in the following ways-
P.S. If you are really worried about not getting a relieving letter, then just pick up a few company letter heads from your office before the process of terminating staff for mass layoffs begins. Later, you can make your own relieving letter in the future.
Have you faced termination or submitted your resignation during a mass job layoff? Do you have any other tips or advice for people facing the threat of job loss during these times of recession and downsizing? All feedback is gladly welcome!!!
The current state of the economy and recession has led to many companies laying off their employees. Top companies such as HP, AOL, Sun, Microsoft, Satyam, Google, Ebay, Sify Technologies, Spectranet and CNN have been downsizing staff through corporate layoffs. This is prevalent across the world, right from USA, Europe and Australia to India, Dubai, the Middle East and South East Asia.
So, what is the right way to go about employee downsizing and cost cutting? In some corporate layoffs, employees are provided pink slips, termination letter and their dues are fully settled by cheque. In other employee layoffs, they are asked to submit their resignation and are convinced that job termination will not help them at getting a new job. This blog post aims to compare the merits and demerits of resignation vs termination for layoffs from both the employers and employees perspective.
Resignation Letter for Laying Off Staff -
This sort of employee termination for mass layoffs benefits the company management the most. The Human Resources manager calls the employee to be laid-off to a meeting, where he/she is told that their services are no longer required. The laid off staff person is then asked to submit their resignation citing some personal problem or other issue. He/she is told that if they ask for the rightful termination letter, they will not be provided a relieving letter and will have difficulty getting a job later. The senior management works to convince the 'laid off employee' that termination is 'shameful' and that it is better to submit a resignation letter and leave gracefully. Similarly, this process is repeated for laying off other employees. This system of employee layoff benefits the company management the most -
- The management does not fear legal action for staff layoffs as they have resignation letters to prove the employee 'resigned of his own accord.'
- The media does not have basis to report in the news that 'mass layoffs' have occurred in xyz company as the concerned staff has actually 'resigned'.
- The government cannot force the company to reinstate these laid off staff members or re-employ them with reduced salaries because the resignation letters prove that no one was terminated - everyone resigned of their own free will.
- The company need not pay the terminated employees the required notice period amount specified in the appointment letter/ contact in case of termination, as the employees have actually 'resigned' and have not been legally 'terminated'.
- The management of some companies may also deduct accrued leave for resigning without giving notice, even though they themselves asked the laid off employee for their resignation letter. This deduction is shown in the final settlement, which the employee gets around 2 months after leaving the company. Victims of such corporate layoffs are shocked but can actually do nothing, as they have 'resigned' in writing.
Termination Letter for Laying Off Staff
The management of most businesses prefer not to give termination letters to the employees in cases of corporate downsizing and cost cutting, as this could result in unnecessary hassles for the company. If incidents of ' mass layoffs' are reported in the media, the company may have to answer and pay heavily. The price of company stocks may fall, investors may become vary of the company and the government may intervene to reinstate the laid off employees. However, termination letters for staff layoffs is the most beneficial to employees and something those facing downsizing layoffs really need to know about.
During employee layoffs, when the staff is confronted by the HR team/ management to submit their resignation letters, they should resist. Termination for layoffs, downsizing or cost cutting is completely different from termination due to bad behavior. Legally and ethically, the management has to provide relieving letters/ certificates of good conduct to the employee if they serve termination letters due to corporate layoffs for reasons such as offshoring, recession, downsizing or cost cutting. Termination letters help the employee in the following ways-
- The company has to compulsorily give the terminated employees all their dues. These layoff benefits include notice period, cash in lieu of notice period, encashable leave and severance pay if any.
- The laid off employee has the right to file a case of wrongful termination against the company within 45 days in the labour court, if he/she is not satisfied with the reasons given for job cuts. This is why companies always delay paying the final settlement till 45 days are complete. Filing a case in the labour cost is very cheap and does not take much effort on the part of the employee.
- If the court/ government asks the company to reinstate the workers or employ them with lesser salary, the company has to comply, as least in part. Example- the air hostesses airline layoffs case.
- If the government offers compensation to terminated employees in the future, they may apply for it on showing their termination letter.
- If the government launches a loan/credit scheme for terminated employees in the future, they may apply for it on displaying their termination letter.
P.S. If you are really worried about not getting a relieving letter, then just pick up a few company letter heads from your office before the process of terminating staff for mass layoffs begins. Later, you can make your own relieving letter in the future.
Have you faced termination or submitted your resignation during a mass job layoff? Do you have any other tips or advice for people facing the threat of job loss during these times of recession and downsizing? All feedback is gladly welcome!!!
