'I was laid off right before raises and bonuses were due': Worker promised raise and bonus, gets fired instead

Some unfortunate situations in life arise out of mere happenstance or coincidence—but when something unfortunate happens to you that seems just a little too conveniently inconvenient, it can be hard to dismiss it as such. Of course, such thinking gives rise to all sorts of ridiculous conspiracy, but when your employer suddenly fires you just before you're set to receive a huge payout—one that they've been dangling on a stick all year like you're some kind of cartoon donkey—it just seems like there might be something more going on there. Of course, there's an argument there that if you've been doing the work in the promise of more pay, then they should at least be retrospectively paying you out for that extra work. Unfortunately, such arrangements are usually (intentionally) made verbally, and you probably won't have any sort of leg to stand on—legally speaking. And that's why, while you should always be a flexible and cooperative team member, especially if the working relationship is already a little unstable or shaky, you should never get the work you're doing get too far ahead of what you're getting paid for, especially without some kind of written arrangement in place. 

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  • This whole scenario is one that this worker, unfortunately, found themselves in, being unexpectedly laid off just before their year-end bonus was due, which also meant that they weren't going to see the raise they were expecting in the new year.

    Honestly, we're seeing a lot of posts and discussions like this at the moment, more than I remember seeing at the end of recent years… With many companies looking to scale back spending on bulked-up labor forces—which were hired to meet skyrocketing production demands over the pandemic period—it won't be surprising, but still disappointing, when we see more of these empty promises being tossed out the backdoor in the form of layoffs and redundancies. Meanwhile, many companies across major sectors are still posting record post-pandemic profits.

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  • 01
    "I was laid off right before raises and FR bonuses were due. "I
    Via Igor Omilaev
  • 02
    Posted by u/waspocracy 7 hours ago I was laid off right before raises and bonuses were due Venting I've had a carrot dangling in front of me for over 2 years. I had a gut feeling the past 6 months I was going to be laid off so I've been interviewing here and there as time allows, but only passively looking.
    Via u/waspocracy
  • 03
    For the past few years, I've been managing a - we'll call it an EMR (electronic medical record) software - at my employer. I supported over 40 clients while implementing new features, training, send requirements for feature requests, and running a support team. I also eliminated a contract team consulting firm by implementing an automated scripting process, saving the company roughly $40,000 per month.
    Via u/waspocracy
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  • 04
    Earlier in the year, the company changed direction to another EMR because the one I supported was dragging their feet and not meeting commitments. So, I moved those 40+ clients to another one. During this time, I never got access to the new one, so that was my first clue something was up.
    Via u/waspocracy
  • 05
    Because I was a contractor for 6 months in 2021 and permanently hired in early 2022, when the raises/bonuses came around in May, 2022 (their fiscal year), I was not qualified for a raise or bonus, but I was told it would be accounted for in the following year. In May 2023, we were informed that the fiscal year was changing to January, so all bonuses/raises were temporarily put on hold and would be accounted for in January 2024.
    Via u/waspocracy
  • 06
    Compensation talks were supposed to start this week. Guess what my conversation was? Yeah, a big cactus in the right before Christmas. I'm for a severance , and I got package. My advice: Do the bare minimum for every company, because they'll always you when they can. 20 years in the work force and this has never changed.
    Via u/waspocracy
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  • 07
    TL;DR: Two years without bonus/raise despite promises, then laid off before bonus/raises were given. Saved the company half a million on expenses in the process + my salary. Edit: I see a lot of comments knocking me on flexing firing people, but it was a major consulting firm, not people directly. And the people that were working with us were balancing other projects too. If it makes you feel better, I probably didn't eliminate any of their jobs.
    Via u/waspocracy
  • 08
    aZamaryk 5 hr. ago Companies are now following the military syructure. Abuse your soldiers until they're all used up, then throw away the veteran. a 296 101 dsdvbguutres. 5 hr. ago Soldiers are profit center. Veterans are cost center. Reply Share Exactly. aZamaryk 5 hr. ago 21 ●●● Reply Share Reply Share
    Via u/waspocracy
  • 09
    Monshika 4 hr. ago My company laid me off the day after I finished the department's first training manual (100+ pages...) and a couple weeks before annual bonuses would have gone out. I was the team lead and got $4k the year before. Then they tried to trick me into signing something saying I was leaving voluntarily so I wouldn't get unemployment. I wasn't an idiot so I saved the email chain where I repeated said I was not leaving voluntarily and would love to keep my job. Saved my with unemploym
    Via u/waspocracy
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  • 10
    mike_the_pirate - 2 hr. ago When lies attempt steal money from an employee they should be treated like the fraud they are trying to perpetuate... We all know that payroll fraud is the largest form of theft in America but it is not treated with any sort of severity it deserves. 39 Reply Share waspocracy OP 11 min. ago That's nasty. Sorry you had to deal with that. 3 ↓ Reply Share
    Via u/waspocracy
  • 11
    Techn0ght 4 hr. ago Keep looking for a better company. I joined a company at the six month mark of the year, found out they do the nine month cutoff for raises. My manager got me a significant out of cycle raise a few months after the normal end of year, and then another at the end of that year. The standard is employers are thankfully not all of them. Good luck with your search. Reply Share 41 , but
    Via u/waspocracy
  • 12
    Woodythdog 4 hr. ago Talk to a labour lawyer 47 Reply Share LifeOnTheDisc 1 hr. ago I can't hear to say this. Depending on The situation, if it's provable that they laid you off intentionally so they wouldn't have to pay you and earned bonus. They're probably still on the hook for it a labor lawyer would probably take this case and ask the court to make the employer pay their fuse 3 Reply Share
    Via u/waspocracy
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  • 13
    craiglepaige 3 hr. ago I also eliminated a contract team by implementing an automated scripting process, saving the company roughly $40,000 per month. I hate to be an but the fact you gleefully added that as a flex, meaning "eliminating" a whole team of fellow workers, is somewhat annoying. Reply Share 27 user9876543121.2 hr. ago Scrolled the comments looking for exactly this. You helped the company eliminate others and now you're surprised they did it to you? Reply Share 22 ...
    Via u/waspocracy
  • 14
    xBalthamel 5 hr. ago This might be harsh, but you list as an accomplishment how you saved the company $40k a month by eliminating other people's jobs, and now you're hurt that you got cut. Hard to feel sympathy when you saw others as expendable, then felt aggrieved when you were perceived to be the expendable one. Reply Share 44
    Via u/waspocracy
  • 15
    Mundane-Mechanic-547 2 hr. ago Which EMR was dragging their feet? 3 Reply Share waspocracy OP · 1 hr. ago I won't speak negatively about any of them. I think it was a mutual issue and we were just not as high a priority as potentially other clients. Reply Share 1
    Via u/waspocracy
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  • 16
    Suspended Resolution. 3 hr. ago Sounds to me like this company should be named and shamed. 4 Reply Share waspocracy OP. 1 hr. ago They're a small company and we were part of an umbrella organization. I don't think mentioning them is worth a it won't impact them. Reply Share 2 i as
    Via u/waspocracy
  • 17
    YOLOSwag42069Nice 2 hr. ago Don't sign anything unless there is a generous payout. Like 6 months of wages generous. You sign anything, you will lose unemployment. 41 Reply Share
    Via u/waspocracy
  • 18
    Indigoh 2 hr. ago If you must automate any job, do it in secret. 1 Reply Share waspocracy OP. 1 hr. ago It was a project I was tasked with. But, yeah, I usually do. They haven't discovered how much I have automated yet... 1 ↓ Reply Share
    Via u/waspocracy

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