‘Didn’t even talk to my boss, HR and I had a 1 minute discussion and was sent off’: Company fires employee for mildly positive survey response

In the bizarre, modern workplace culture, honesty is no longer the best policy—unless you want to test how quickly you can collect unemployment benefits. Forget "fake it if you make it;" now it's "fake it if you want to keep it," and by "it," I mean your job. 
We live in a world where rating your work experience between neutral and happy magically transforms your bosses' perspective on you from mildly tolerable to completely redundant.
And in this case, HR and the boss, rate this one employee between fired and unemployed.

Imagine filling out one of those employee surveys, thinking, You know what? Work is alright. Not great, not terrible, just…fine.
Only to discover that this response has sent HR and management into a frenzy of overanalysis, they scrutinize each word—the corporate version of they like me, they like me not, but when the petals end, you don't have a job anymore.

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Author image for Etai Eshet Etai Eshet
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  • In this surreal world, job security often hinges on mastering the art of insincere enthusiasm. You’re expected to sing hymns of praise about even the most mundane tasks, all while secretly seething over how underappreciated you are. So, the next time you’re tempted to give real feedback, remember: it’s safer to opt for a bland, “Everything is great, thanks for asking!”

    Just imagine it as a game of corporate poker where everyone’s bluffing about how much they love their job, and the person who folds first gets to collect their things and head home.

  • "Got fired after talking to HR"

    "Boss calls me to say they posted my position on the website so that I wouldn't be “blindsided""
    via 89Stocker

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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  • I'm a fairly new employee, my boss got hired a month after me so she wasn't there for my interview. It seems as though her expectations of my role were different than mine and the
    via [deleted]
  • people who sat in my interview panel. We had 2 conversations about it but ultimately I decided I was going to stay in the position but I never received any training. I
    via [deleted]
  • talked my boss about training but nothing ever happened due to her being "busy" so basically I'd sit in on a lot of work meetings completely clueless. Regardless of that, we got along very well. On
    via [deleted]
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  • 0000
    via Kaspars Grinvalds

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

  • top of that, I requested bereavement leave for an immediate family members funeral services 3 months ago and it was approved (policy states up to 5 days depending on
    via [deleted]
  • location for all employees including those in probationary status) I unfortunately had another immediate family death within 1.5 months but we saw it coming. Before it happened, I
    via [deleted]
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  • talked to my boss about it and asked for 2 days off to see my family member as they live across the country. She approved it but as soon as I came back her attitude towards me completely
    via [deleted]
  • shifted. I was asked to either not take bereavement leave or shorten the time I take when they pass away. I was a little appalled they asked that but at the same time understood since I had just taken time off for bereavement
    via [deleted]
  • Cheezburger Image 10486776320
    via freedomz

    The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.

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  • leave less than 2 months ago. Bereavement leave for the second death was approved for a shortened amount of days NEXT WEEK compared to what the policy states but I didn't complain.
    via [deleted]
  • Onto what led me to be fired....last week HR calls me in after I filled out my new employee survey they sent because my answers were between neutral and happy. I was
    via [deleted]
  • told that there were no performance issues from my bosses perspective but they wanted to know what the issue was for my neutral responses. I
    via [deleted]
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  • mistakenly told them I hadn't received any training for my job. HR began to ask if I would like to stay in my position if things changed and I said yes but not unless I don't receive training
    via [deleted]
  • because it's one of those roles you can't learn on your own in a short time frame. She then began to tell me that if I decided to go else where, they would be happy to give me letters of
    via [deleted]
  • recommendation and would accommodate my schedule for interviews. I was confused because I never said I was looking for a new job.
    via [deleted]
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  • Yesterday, my boss calls me in to talk about how they posted my job position on the website so that I wouldn't be "blindsided." Then began to tell me that we could circle back around after my
    via [deleted]
  • bereavement leave to discuss whether I want to stay with the company or not. Today...I got let go. Didn't even talk to my boss, HR and I had a 1 minute discussion and was sent off.
    via [deleted]
  • PostDeletedByReddit Goes to show that you should always be on your guard when talking to HR.
    via PostDeletedByReddit
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  • upvotersfortruth HR is there to protect and entrench management, first and foremost. Second, cut costs. Third, protect the company from lawsuits.
    via upvotersfortruth
  • themcp Talk to an employment attorney. What they did sounds like it may violate the law in a number of ways. A lawyer will know better than I do what the law is and what questions to ask you. All I can tell you is, you should be talking to a lawyer.
    via themcp

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