STEP 5 of Walking The Plank Toward Termination: Is Your Boss Hassling You About Tiny Aspects of Your Work?

If you feel like your boss has suddenly started hassling you about tiny, and seemingly irrelevant aspects of your job, then a red flag should go up in your mind.  This is another tell-tale sign that your boss is on the hunt for an employee to terminate — you.

Your boss may be trying to “build a record” of documented mistakes you have made, in order to justify terminating you. Your boss probably has not given you any negative feedback for years, if ever. And when the boss evaluates the major parts of your job — everything is fine. So, instead of noting your solid performance and moving on, your boss redoubles his or her efforts to find something, anything, that you are doing wrong.

This leads your boss into the tiny minutiae of your job — items that you can’t really say are unimportant, but are often get done not exactly “by the book.”  Your boss comes in, and makes a huge deal about something you are doing that is not EXACTLY “by the book.”

Everything works fine.  And your boss has never cared.  Until now.

But to your boss, this is an end-of-the-world problem you’ve caused.

Step back and realize, your boss’s reaction fits with how bad the boss wants to let you go; your boss’s reaction does not fit with how bad a mistake you actually made.

What Should You Do?

1. Ask your boss what is going on

Be polite about this. Don’t sneer and be sarcastic. Simply state that its obvious that something has changed, and ask what happened? Why the change?

You’re probably going to hear something like “Well I found one obvious error in your work, so I’m worried that there are other errors in your work that are not so obvious.” This is how your boss will justify tearing through your desk and computer in search of any mistake that could possibly justify terminating you. How to deal with this is the next tip…

2. Ask what your boss needs to see from you in order to win their trust back

The directness and honesty of saying this will knock your boss off-balance.  For just a moment, they will think to themselves “Maybe there is a better employee here than I realized…”  You must seize that moment.  Follow up with something like, “I want to show you that I still deserve the trust you once had in me.  What would you like to see from me in order to get that trust back?”

If your boss starts telling you what they want to see, then you’ve won.  That’s because a boss is not going to give an employee a list of goals, and then terminate the employee the next day.  So take careful note of that list that comes pouring out of your boss’s mouth — make sure they are measurable goals, and achieve them.  You will save your job.

BUT, if your boss does not respond with a list of things he or she wants to see from you, then you know your job situation is truly dire.  For example, your boss may say, “I don’t know, let me think on that one.”  Or, “I’m surprised to hear you say that… wish you had said that earlier…” (and then walks away).

So if your boss doesn’t give you a list of things to improve, and continues hassling you about the tiniest aspects of your work, then you know you are one step further down the plank toward termination.  It may be time to consider legal defenses, that do not rely on changing your boss’s mind about you.

Have you had a boss that micro manages your work, hassling you about the tinies aspects of your work?  Tell us about it in the comments section below.

Avoiding the Axe (Pt. 1) — By Jenn S.

It is with great pride that I introduce a new attorney and columnist to the community of UndercoverLawyer.com.  Jenn S. is a small town employment lawyer who has been a big city employment lawyer, big corporation H.R. Rep, and for a time was even a rock music journalist!  She brings all these different backgrounds to her columns.

I met Jenn when we were both employed at a large law firm.  We’ve both since moved on to greener pastures (almost literally for her), but we’ve kept in touch due to a friendship forged in the trenches law firm life.  I’d say we both learned a LOT in those early years of our legal careers, but we’re both happy to be elsewhere now.

Jenn lives in a beautiful spot some where in the Mountain Time Zone; she has one young son, a husband, and a great sense of humor.  She’s worked in Human Resources for two gigantic national retail chains that you probably shopped at recently (Just today I was shopping in one, and drove by two separate locations of the other).

Jenn speaks in a casual, down to earth tone; you will enjoy her humor and her advice, which will be appearing twice each week here on UndercoverLawyer.com.  With that, Here is Jenn’s first article:

AVOIDING THE AXE: Part 1

As an HR professional and employment law attorney, I have heard more than my fair share of workplace nightmares. People are just going along, minding their own business when suddenly they are thrust into some horrific drama that ends in their termination – and they never saw it coming. The following tips are things that I have gleaned from experiences throughout my career and encourage all employees to follow them religiously. That is, if you want to stay employed.

DON’T touch people. This is almost always my number one tip when I conduct employee trainings. The rule goes for everyone but even more for the guys. Just don’t touch anyone – don’t pat on the back, or touch a waist, give hugs, massage shoulders, etc. Beyond the simple handshake, you should just avoid touching all together, if you possibly can. There are some nutty people out there who might interpret your supportive back patting as a come-on. Couple a few poorly-placed pats with one or two off-color jokes or emails and you might just find yourself fired for harassment, or at least accused and so mortified that you are forced to resign. If you MUST touch someone, touch somewhere very non-sexual – like the top of the shoulder. And don’t ever touch anyone’s hair – for some reason that is a particularly intimate gesture that people find invasive and just generally creepy.

DON’T get drunk at company events. If you tend to get a little “crazy” when you drink, you’d be better off just sipping ginger ale when in the company of workplace folk. Fun as it may be to go out and tie one on with the crowd, this is a danger zone, especially for women. A drunk woman is always viewed much worse than a drunk man – one might be amazed how quickly credibility and respect can disappear after a night of debauchery with the guys. Even more risky…if you get a little too “friendly” when you’ve had a few. Male or female – this is a veritable minefield that you should avoid at all costs. If you end up in bed with someone from work, you might as well start revising your resume because it will come back to haunt you and, depending on your position, it could cost you your job. Best advice – stay sober and you’ll stay hired.

DON’T get romantically involved with ANYONE from work. This tip goes hand in hand with the previous one. The best tip, really, is just to keep your sex life out of the office, period. Don’t mess around with anyone who is even remotely related to your workplace, be it a distant regional manager or your local union rep. Assuming the relationship does not result in matrimonial bliss (and chances are pretty high that it will not), you run many risks, including looking like the office tramp, being the focus of that nasty intra-office gossip, being accused of sexual harassment, or just being fired for acting, well…trashy. It can happen. I’ve seen it happen. So when it comes to work, just keep your pants on. There are plenty of people out there who are available for relationships that don’t work at your company. Find them.

DON’T utilize your work email or internet account as your own personal playground. Remember, those accounts do not belong to you – they belong to your employer. You should have no expectation of privacy. Your employer can read your emails and trace your internet activity all they want. So tempting as it may be to forward that sex-related joke or to visit questionable websites while you are on the clock, restrain yourself. You would be amazed at the seemingly innocuous emails that have landed people in the unemployment line.

DON’T be “best friends” with anyone at work. Another name for this tip could be “don’t trust anyone at work.” I hate to sound so negative because there are usually a lot of really good people in every workplace and we want to be able to trust people. But I learned this one by personal experience and was completely blindsided when my alleged “friend” threw me under the bus, so to speak. Generally, it is fine to have friendly relationships with people you work with but when you find yourself starting to really share your home life or your personal feelings about the company, the boss, or coworkers with another coworker – you are crossing into dangerous territory. Becoming too close to a coworker or supervisor leaves you vulnerable to attack should things suddenly go wrong. Keep your workplace relationships light – save the heavy stuff for your therapy sessions.

These are just a few of my best tips for avoiding trouble in the workplace and staying employed. Be on the look out for part two in the coming weeks – there are more pitfalls awaiting you!

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Questions for Jenn?  Have you seen someone torpedo their career with one of the foibles she mentions? Post your questions and stories in the comments section below.

10 Steps of Walking the Plank Toward Termination: STEP 4 Your Boss Switches From Harassing You In-Person to Harassing You In Writing

When your boss goes to Human Resources and asks “Can I fire this employee right now?”, do you know what the H.R. Rep always answers?  H.R. says, “What documentation do you have that shows your employee is not doing their job?”

You know what happens next?  Your boss looks down at his or her own feet, and their face starts turning red.  Then they look back up at the H.R. Person and say something like “Goddamnit, don’t we have at-will employment in this state?!  It used to be if someone didn’t do their job they got fired!  Plain and simple.  How come all you ever say is ‘no’?  Why don’t you ever help us get things done around here, instead of just putting up road blocks all the time?!”

The H.R. Rep responds to this tirade with something like, “I take it you have done no documentation of this employee’s performance? You know, like I taught all the managers to do in that little half day seminar last month?”

“I prefer verbal feedback and coaching.  The more informal type,” your boss says.  He’s referring to the last time he yelled at you.

“Well,” says the H.R. Rep, “did you document in your performance log the date and time of each of these verbal feedback and coaching sessions you had with your employee?”  The H.R. Rep says this with a slight grin, because they know what the answer is.

This is where your boss blurts out something like “F*ck! I’ll get your f*cking documentation,” and then stomps back to your department to start writing an email to you about your performance.  And the H.R. Rep?  This is when they cooly open a notebook and jot down the date and time your boss swore at them and admitted to not doing proper documentation.

Then the H.R. Rep calls a friend who is a H.R. Rep at another company.  They meet at a nearby Starbucks and sip lattes and complain about how everybody at their company hates H.R people.

Really, this is not an exaggeration.  Not at all.  This what happens between managers and H.R. Rep’s every single day, especially know that managers are under pressure to start cutting payrolls and reduce labor costs.

Watch for meetings between your boss and someone from H.R.  If you can see into the office, does your boss appear agitated?  Does the boss leave the meeting and immediately start writing?  And most important, does your boss send you a terse, or even angry letter about your performance soon after your boss met with H.R.?

These are all signs that your boss wants to let you go, and is trying to get it approved by H.R. first.

If you are not in a position to observe what meetings your boss has, and with whom, never fear.  There are other ways to tell.

• Does your boss send you emails, particularly about some aspect of you doing your job, with increased frequency?
• Does your boss send you a written memo about a deadline you missed (probably for good reason) instead of chatting with you and letting you explain?
• Does your boss ask you to sign or initial any memo that has anything to do with your performance, or any project you’ve been working on?

10 Steps of Walking the Plank Toward Termination: STEP 3, Your Good Work Gets No Rewards

A law firm partner who wanted me fired used to sing my praises, calling me a “golden boy” and going on and on about how I seemed to have a “magic wand” that would solve all the partner’s problems.  Now, this partner’s inability to remember to take all their pills each morning was not my doing, but it was nearly my undoing (ever had a boss like this?).

One day I had obtained an especially good result for a demanding client in a challenging case.  I was exuberant as I bounded into my boss’s doorway and blurted out “Did you hear how the judge ruled on our Rule 11 motions? Granted! We got them!”  I fully expected my boss to jump out of their chair and hug me, or at least shake my hand and offer to call the client and give me credit for the victory.

Instead I got a cold emotionless stare, and a partly sneered question, “When am I going to see your draft of the summary judgment motion for the Kline case?”

The question didn’t hit my hears, it hit my gut.  It took my breath away.  “We won,” I said meekly.

“I heard you.  I’ll inform the client.  I want to see your draft before I leave today.  I wanted to see it yesterday.”

This exchange depressed me for days.  It was obvious my formerly skyrocketing career working under this boss had fallen back down to earth and crashed.  I knew I was NOT going to continue to grow and move up if I continued working for this person.  When I got over my shock and depression, I started trying to make a lateral move so I could work for a new boss at the same firm.

Luckily for me, this boss also alienated their own boss, and their own management level co-workers.  My boss was asked to leave the firm before getting an opportunity to totally “get” me.  Not long after, I learned that my former boss had wanted me fired.  Given my boss’s total 180 toward me and my accomplishments, I wasn’t surprised to hear it.

Does your own boss act like you can’t do anything right, even when you are bringing him or her great results?  Are other employees getting pats on the back for the same things you do, but you get no rewards?

This is the heart of “The Third Step of Walking the Plank Toward Termination”: a boss that no longer gives you any credit for your accomplishments, especially if he or she used to praise you regularly.

A close cousin of this scenario is when your boss gives you no credit for accomplishing something, while lavishing praise on your coworker for doing nearly the same thing, or less.

In either case, you should be aware that if you were a little doll, your boss would be walking you across the plank of the toy ship on his desk and smiling at the thought of dropping you down into the trash can.

What can you do?  You can try to move away from the boss, like I did.  I got lucky, and the Executives at my firm dropped my boss into their own trash can.  Your boss probably has enemies too, but I wouldn’t rely on them to save you.

Another option is that you can leave your job and look for a new one.  In this economy, I would not recommend that path to anyone.  It’s hardly even an option anymore.

Or, you can learn to fight back by using the tools that the law provides employees — and which mostly go unused.  The knowledge of how to fight back, and the friendship and encouragement you need to actually do it — those are the things this website and forum are all about.  But even if you don’t choose that path, it’s good to be able to recognize the path you are on.

So now you know: when your boss gives you zero credit for accomplishments that used to get praises, it’s time for you to start thinking through your options.

You do, however, usually have a bit more time.  In most cases their are other steps yet to come before the termination axe falls.

We’ll reveal another one of those steps right here on this blog tomorrow.

10 Steps of Walking the Plank Toward Termination: Step 2 You Have a New Supervisor

Note: If you missed Step 1 in this series you can read it HERE.

If a new supervisor takes over your department, brace yourself.  New supervisors change everything, and employees HATE that.

What you need to understand is that it is unthinkable to a new supervisor to not change everything.  A new supervisor feels like they need to PROVE that they were the right person for the job.  How do they prove it?  By making changes.

It doesn’t matter to your new supervisor that everything was working just fine, thank you very much.  Your new supervisor is going to make changes for change’s sake.  Your supervisor believes that their changes prove that they are making their mark, shaking things up, raising the bar, blah blah blah.

In your new supervisor’s mind, this is now their kingdom, their way of doing things, their staff, their leadership style, and it’s purpose is to demonstrate to the world that they are awesome.

If you are a man, image a new coach of an NFL team.  Is he going to bring in his own staff?  Is he going to run his own plays or the old coach’s plays?  The new coach is going to completely revamp everything and install his own system.  If the team then wins more games, it will prove that the coach and the coach’s way of doing things are better than the last coach, and the new coach gets all the credit.

What do you call a coach who doesn’t change any systems, uses all the same people, and follows all the plans of the former coach?  A place holder.  Coaches who change nothing are merely “place holders” in between the really high caliber coaches.  You know, the ones with “vision.”

I’m not saying your new supervisor is supposed to see themselves this way, or that it’s a good thing.  I’m not saying that you should accept all these changes; not at all.

I’m just trying to explain what’s going through your new supervisor’s mind.  This really is how they see themselves.

Now, my own spouse and my own mom don’t care much for sports analogies.  Some women do (which is cool), but to women like my spouse and mom, sports analogies just doesn’t make sense.  So I’ll use another example that won’t apply to all women, but might be more meaningful than a sports analogy (can you tell I’m trying hard to not be discriminatory?).

Pretend for a moment that you just bought a house.  Your new house is in a slightly better neighborhood, and is slightly bigger than your current house.  After you sign the loan papers and get the keys, you are free to make any changes you want.

Are you going leave all the same wallpaper that the previous owner put up?  Will you keep the same odd paint colors that the previous owner chose?  Are you going to arrange your furniture in the same pattern and places that the old owner put their furniture?

Of course not!  You want to leave your mark on the house, and make it into your home.  You want to “make it yours” by choosing your own colors, arranging your own furniture your own way.  What would you think of someone who moved into a house and didn’t change a thing?  You’d probably think they were incapable.

And that’s what your new boss is afraid of — appearing incapable of doing the job.  Being capable of doing the job (in their mind) means doing it their way, with their people, in their style, and measuring everyone according to their scale.

Again, I’m not saying your new supervisor should do this.  I just want to warn you; they will do it.  They actually believe that their success or failure as a supervisor depends upon whether or not they change things around.

A new supervisor means new standards, new procedures, new priorities, and probably more new faces.  Also, if you really got along well with your old supervisor, getting a new supervisor will be especially hard.  Your old supervisor knew you, trusted you, and let you do the things you are good at.

Your new supervisor doesn’t know you, doesn’t trust you, and wants you to do the things that will make him or her look good.  And those tasks may NOT be the things you are good at.

If you start to feel or see this kind of conflict, beware.  Especially if you’ve had a few run-ins with your new supervisor, and then he or she begins referring fondly to people from their former organization.  If that happens I guarantee that your new supervisor is thinking about bringing people from their old company over to the new company, your company, and giving those people your job.

New Supervisor = Warning, changes on the way

New Supervisor + Conflict = Red Alert, discipline on the way

New Supervisor + Conflict + Comments about former coworkers = terminations on the way

Have you ever dealt with a new supervisor, or seen one change everything — even though the old way was working?  Tell us about it in the comments section!

10 Steps of Walking the Plank Toward Termination: Step 1 Your Industry Is Sputtering

Many people have written about “Signs You’re Getting Terminated,” but all those articles miss the natural progression that usually occurs.  These signs don’t appear scatter shot around you like the pellets of a shotgun blast.  No, it’s more ordered than that.  There are a series of steps that occur before you are terminated.  One leads to the next, like the steps of “walking the plank” toward termination and falling into the cold ocean of unemployment.

Through my decade of practicing employment law and through my previous years in human resources, I came to recognize a pattern that almost always occurs, with only slight variations, anytime an employee is fired.

Due to these rough economic times, I’ve added a step at the beginning which is not always there, but certainly increases the likelihood you’ll be terminated if that step is present in your case.  Today we’ll cover that first step, and then in the next 9 days we’ll cover the remaining steps.  Be sure to see if you recognize any of the following elements in your company right now:

1. Your Industry Is Suffering

Is the government bailing out your company?  This is a hard sign to miss.  There’s no way around it.  Terminations and layoffs are coming.  But there are less dramatic, similar signs that you should heed.  Such as:

• Your company or your industry is on the news
• Your company’s competitors are merging
• Top executives are leaving the company “to spend more time with family”
• The Company increases use of outsourcing
• Your Company is being investigated by the government
• All employee perks are suddenly eliminated: no off-site Christmas party this year; approval for travel requires extra steps; or, normal business maintenance is being delayed

Two competing companies will often consider merging when both are suffering financially.  Both companies hope they will have double the customers with less staff.  In other words, half the staff is going be laid off.  I saw this pattern first hand in my pre-lawschool life, when I worked in Human Resources for a big box retailer.

Our company acquired 3 smaller companies while I was working in H.R.; each time we would go in and lay off the corporate staffs of the smaller company we acquired, then add all of their work to our own (already full) work schedule.  This is what Corporate America calls saving money through efficiences of scale, or synergies.

Eventually I began seeing some more of the signs above in our own company.  One top executive left to go to work for a competitor.  There was a rumor that a former female VP was suing the company for gender discrimination.  The traditional blow-out Christmas Party that was held at a posh hotel with spouses invited was toned down to a on-site punch and cake reception the last hour of the work day with no family joining us.  It was obvious the company was hurting.

Then the big news came.  Our company was aquired by an even bigger “big-box” retailer.  H.R. representatives from the bigger company started visiting our corporate headquarters and talking about “efficiencies” and “learning from each other”.  That’s when I left for graduate school.

Only a couple of the many people I knew successfully made the jump to position with the company that acquired us.  Most people scattered to other companies in our area; some started their own business; some moved away in pursuit of jobs with competitors that were located in other states; some people jumped at the chance to take a “early retirement” package the new company offerred.  Most of the people, however, were simply told one day to box up the personal items at their desks and not come back.

I always wondered why those folks didn’t leave sooner.  Why didn’t they make plans to work elsewhere or start something of their own?  Maybe they were intensely loyal people who felt obligated by duty to “go down with the ship”.  But not even the Executives did that.

I think those folks who stayed until the bitter end with no plan for their future could not see the signs.  Maybe loyalty blinded them, sure.  Or even optimism could have dulled their perception of the tell-tale indicators that the company was on its last gasps.

What those folks missed, however, you should be keen to observe.

Today we covered Step One of the “10 Steps Toward Termination”, which is highly relevant to today’s economy, but not required.  Tomorrow we will start exploring the signs of impending termination that are more focused on your relationship with the company and your boss.

Please join me and the other readers of this blog over the next ten days as we explore and discuss the next 9 Steps over the next 9 days.

But before you go, have you seen any of the signs discussed above?  Do you think I’ve left out a sign that other people need to know about?  In the comments section tell me what you think, or about your experiences, and read about the experiences and views of other readers like you.

Can Complaining About Job Harassment Save You From Layoffs?

How many news stories have you seen or read lately that blare dark and stormy stories of our slowing economy, banks going bankrupt, and workers facing wave after wave of mass layoffs?

Have you noticed, too, how people act out during stressful times?  Sometimes they act out in stupid ways.

A male co-worker acted stupidly toward Jessica Houston, when she was sharing a half-time scheduler position at an Indianapolis hospital.  But the male co-worker wasn’t the only bad actor in this case; Jessica’s manager got involved too.  There was plenty of stupid to go around.

Real Life Case:

The male co-worker was 52, and Jessica was 22.  Two times he found her in a break room or lunch room, sat down in her lap, and whispered in her ear “You’re beautiful.”

Houston felt ashamed and confused.  It was her first real job, and she wasn’t sure what the standard for behavior was in the working world.  After the first instance Houston just hoped it wouldn’t happen again.  But after the second time she knew she had to speak up to somebody in management.

Unfortunately, that “somebody in management” seemed annoyed at Jessica when she complained.  Jessica felt like the Hospital’s response was basically “this isn’t a big deal.”  In fact, the manager did not want to do anything because Jessica did not want to file a “formal” complaint.

That was management’s first dumb error — blowing off Jessica’s complaint and acting like it didn’t really amount to anything.  Jessica felt that she had to justify why this was a big deal, even if she did not want to make her complaint “formal.”  So Jessica revealed that she had been sexually abused as a child.  She could not tolerate this similar behavior at work.

Then came management’s second dumb error — never getting back to Jessica about what was done to the perpetrator.  Management didn’t even tell Jessica if anything had been done.

Jessica felt panicked and stressed when she came to work each day.  First, her manager told her nothing could be done unless Jessica made the complaint “formal” (whatever that means).  Then she had been forced to , Jessica tried to take her complaint up one level.  She complained to the Hospital’s General Counsel about the lack of action on her harassment complaint.

Within two days Jessica saw that the Hospital was seeking applicant for her own position, but at 1/2 time instead of 1/4 time.

The same manager who didn’t take Jessica’s harassment complaint seriously explained that the two 1/4 time scheduler positions were being combined into one 1/2 position with benefits.  Jessica was not invited to apply because she was also a student and had said she could not work 1/2 time hours.

Obviously, Jessica was not hired for the new 1/2 position, and her position was eliminated as part of this “reorganization.”  The hospital said she could still do “on call” work, but after six months she had not been called in even one time.  At that point a termination letter arrived in mail.  The same manager who eliminated Jessica’s job and laid her off had also checked “No Re-Hire” on the termination form.

Houston sued the hospital, arguing that her termination was in retaliation for her sexual harassment complaint, and for her complaint about how her sexual harassment complaint was (not) handled.

The Hospital claimed that the “restructuring” was simply because it’s easier to have one person working 1/2 time instead of two people working 1/4 time.  It supposedly had nothing to do with Jessica’s complaints.

She Loses, Then She Wins

At the trial court Jessica lost.  The court agreed with the Hospital, and tossed out Jessica’s case before it got to a jury.  On appeal, however, 2 of the 3 appeals judges voted to reinstate Jessica’s case and let her present her story to a jury.

The appeals judges ruled that Jessica should be allowed to take her case to a jury, because a jury could decide that she had been retaliated against for her complaints.  The court specifically said that Jessica did NOT have to prove that sexual harassment took place.  She merely needed to show that her manager eliminated her position, terminated her, and gave her “no re-hire” status because she complained.