Worker contacted by shocked HR months after being told they'd been laid off in case of mistaken identity: 'It took them almost TWO months to realize'

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Brad Dickson • Managing Editor
Apr 10, 2024 7:00 PM EDT

The nature of something serious lends you to believe that that thing will be handled seriously, with calculated, methodical decision-making in its orchestration. Company-wide layoffs are a bit like that; the wide-sweeping impact made on people's lives means you'd expect each and every decision to be made with careful thought. Well, that's not always the case. At the end of the day, there's some administrator somewhere handling the clerical work through some management system, and both people and systems are prone to mistakes, especially when two things are closely related or similar to a level that isn't discernable at a glance.

One such mistake is exactly what led to this worker thinking that they had been laid off for two whole months while their employer still thought that they were working for them. The mistake only came to light when an HR manager got in touch with them to ask them why they hadn't been keeping up with their annual training requirements. The confused worker responded that they had been chopped along with 50 other of the company's employees during a recent round of layoffs. After a few minutes to calculate, the HR manager left in a panic before revealing that their inclusion in the layoffs had been an unfortunate case of mistaken identity. Fortunately for the worker, they were prepared before the "layoff" occurred and had already secured another job that would put them in a more secure role with better pay.

Commenters were quick to point out that the worker should have played dumb and should have acted like they had been working for the entire duration in order to secure payment for the period before giving their notice. See the original post and responses below. 

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  • 01
    "It took them almost TWO months to realize."
    via Mina Rad
  • 02
    Posted by u/ScottzTotz94 9 hours ago TIFU for thinking I've been laid off for two months M Okay, I'm honestly still trying to figure out what the is going on at the moment but here it goes: For some context, I work(ed?) remote for a kind of large 3PL/Consulting company that merged with another company not too long ago, so things have been a show over the last year to say the least. My role is kind of niche, I work almost directly with my clients, don't technically have a boss, thus have little o
    via u/ScottzTotz94
  • 03
    Back at the end of January, I received an ominous teams link on a Friday afternoon urging me to jump on. I already knew it was a layoff. Luckily I've seen it coming for a few months as the account I worked with was struggling financially as were many of my other clients. I had done a final interview for a new job and had an offer on the table already so no sweat off my back. After going through the whole song and dance on the call with about 50 other people, they announce that they would pay out
    via u/ScottzTotz94
  • 04
    Kind of a good deal for me since I was already lined up for a new job so I'm basically copping an extra few paychecks on top of getting a better job. So, I said goodbye to my colleagues and clients over the next few days, sent my laptop back, went on a little impromptu vacation for a big golf tournament, and started my new job a few weeks later. A few odd things happened during that time: -I never technically received a separation letter. Just all of the email instructions and acknowledgments. B
    via u/ScottzTotz94
  • 05
    Fast forward to this morning. I get this kind of nasty gram call from an HR manager and she starts with "Hi, you're two weeks behind on XYZ required annual training. This is a mandatory item that must be completed on a yearly basis without exception and you haven't responded to my multiple requests to complete. Why?" I respond "oh, I'm no longer with the firm I was part of the layoffs, you must still have me on the the compliance list" To which she replies "No you weren't? What do you mean? Did
    via u/ScottzTotz94
  • 06
    After going back and forth trying to explain to her, she stops and says "OH me back. "And says she will call Turns out I wasn't laid off. What (I guess) happened is that someone else with the same last name and their first name is the same as my middle name (which I go by a variation of) and they added me to the lists. Which, I don't understand how that didn't get caught especially since the other guy (in a completely different department) knew.
    via u/ScottzTotz94
  • 07
    Even moreso, it blows my mind it took them almost TWO months to realize I wasn't even working there. My clients didn't know any better but it's almost laughable they managed to that bad haha. No idea what I'm supposed to do from here haha TLDR: someone in HR up presumable multiple times, added me to layoff lists by mixing my name up with someone else. Took them two months to figure out I didn't realize I was still employed.
    via u/ScottzTotz94
  • 08
    lycantivis 9 hr. ago Warning keep that money around. As you were not laid off, you didn't get a severance package. To HR/Payroll you were getting paid as though you still worked there. There is a potential chance they come back to you to make you pay that money back, all the way back to your last day of work. 2.3k Reply Share.. ScottzTotz94 OP. 9 hr. ago That's actually what I'm worried about that they may try to get me for "job abandonment" since I stopped "working" but under the pretense I tho
    via u/ScottzTotz94
  • 09
    TiKels 8 hr. ago I had a similar thing happen to me. I quit a job and they forgot to take me off of payroll for like 2-3 pay periods. They tried to ask for the money back, and I was willing to comply, but I mentioned the tax implications, how I'd be "paying back" 401k contributions, etc etc, and they eventually calculated that they'd only save about a thousand dollars and just said to consider it a gift. 289 Reply Share ...
    via u/ScottzTotz94
  • 10
    mystateofconfusion . 5 hr. ago This must be more common than we realize. Almost exact same thing happened to me. Got 3 extra paychecks, emailed them after each paycheck, tried to call them, finally got a response and they said we've fixed the problem, thanks for letting them know, you can keep the 3 extra paychecks. Who am I to argue? 71 Reply Share ...
    via u/ScottzTotz94
  • 11
    ColossalPedals 9 hr. ago I mean I'm struggling to see where you I up there. 614 Reply Share ScottzTotz94 OP 9 hr. ago edited 9 hr. ago I mean I kind of up by not realizing something was off with getting "laid off" and now I'm going to have a ton of issues to deal with because of this. But I guess this is more of a "someone in HR REALLY haha up" kind of thing 440 Reply Share ...
    via u/ScottzTotz94
  • 12
    TheCoolOnesGotTaken - 8 hr. ago I think that by inviting you into the meeting, explaining the layoff and the process to you kind of covers you. INAL, but a reasonable person could consider that a termination. 165 Reply Share ...
    via u/ScottzTotz94
  • 13
    fisheee_cx 8 hr. ago That's insane. I'm in HR, have handled multiple large layoffs, and have never encountered that big of a screw up from a company. Whatever you do, do NOT do or say anything that would agree you left the job voluntarily. You did not resign. Do not make it easy for them to go back on what was communicated to you about receiving severance and for how long. 293 Reply Share ….. ScottzTotz94 OP - 8 hr. ago Thanks for the advice! It actually blew my mind how many consecutive mistake
    via u/ScottzTotz94
  • 14
    jmorlin 7 hr. ago I work for a LARGE company and if yours is anything like mine there's some probably some combination of the left hand not knowing what the right is doing and IT being contracted out. 62 Reply Share ...
    via u/ScottzTotz94
  • 15
    intelligentmaybe69 .9 hr. ago Goes to show you how little these companies truly depend on us. Glad you got to take a little trip and the checks still cleared. Hopefully rested for whatever is next! 130 Reply Share ...
    via u/ScottzTotz94

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