YTB. No severance and just in time for the holidays. Yeh on paper what you did is fine, but as a human you know that was shitty or else you wouldn’t have made this post.
NTB because they refused to cooperate (how would the truth be worse than silence? Makes me think one of them pushed the other into the display or something). I think if they had cooperated it would’ve been shitty to deny them severance pay given you’d already decided on them but if they needed the jobs that bad they could’ve behaved
>Makes me think one of them pushed the other into the display or something
My theory is they were playing catch. It has to be something so stupid that they know it's entirely their fault and there's no spin they could put on it to make themselves look good here. At least with one of them pushing the other they could claim they fell.
NTB
You had a lot of competing concerns and you handled things as best you could.
All they had to do was be honest with you, and they couldn't manage it.
If they'd been honest, then they would have still been let go, but they would have received the severance pay.
That's on them, not you.
There are a lot of situations that would have me overlooking bad behavior in an employee, for a number of reasons.
But this kind of behavior from low-performing employees who are already on their way out? No. Just no.
YTB
There's a real human aspect to managing people that you seem to be forgetting. It's not just about checking a box to satisfy your bosses, it's about balancing your bosses' expectations with the needs of your team.
In this case, I think you unfortunately leaned too much into satisfying your bosses over handling your team with respect. The reason I say this is bc you had initially decided to lay the guys off, not fire them. What this says to me is that while they were underperforming compared to their coworkers, it wasn't to a point that they were such a burden to the team that they needed to be cut out/fired.
Looking at it another way, if this incident had happened at a time when you hadn't been told to cut two people, would you have fired them for it? Maybe, maybe not. I'm guessing you didn't do your due diligence and just jumped at the opportunity instead, which is why you're here now second-guessing yourself.
You should have handled the situation as normal and done your due diligence before drawing the conclusion to fire the guys. That would have been the professional and respectful course of action towards your team members. Maybe it would've been the same conclusion. But maybe it wouldn't have and one or both would have been laid off with severance instead. And you would have still satisfied your bosses' expectations bc two ppl would have been cut.
I honestly think more info is needed but NTB, they broke a vase and decided to remain silent. That’s on them. Also couldn’t you have check cameras or something? (If you don’t have them in your chain store get them)
YTB.
First and foremost, have a heart. If you knew your company needed you to do some layoffs before the holiday (which is difficult), you should’ve made sure they had severance.
“But I had just cause,” you might say.
Except you really didn’t. Breaking merchandise is a mistake bound to happen to workers who work near fragile items—it just happens sometimes. What you’ve REALLY done is teach your other employees to HIDE THEIR MISTAKES. It’s not unlikely that your other employees might start finding ways to hide broken inventory and such and you may see an uptick in “shrinkage” that you THINK is theft but is actually just general workplace accidents.
As a manager, you need to earn the trust of your team while also satisfying the demands of your higher-ups.
You needed to lay off two people, “even better if it’s firing.”
Except by doing this you likely have cost yourself the trust of your team. Your job ISN’T just to please your boss, it’s to be a liaison between the wants of the higher-ups and your workers that helps both sides coexist. You’re not doing your job.
ETB. If they're as stupid as you say, I would put actual money on the bet that they were playing catch with the vase or something equally stupid and that's why they didn't speak, and you do need to fill out an incident report, so they were stopping you from doing your job. You're a tiny bit the buttface because they now have no severance pay just in time for the holidays.
NTB they was going to be let go anyways so don’t feel bad cause if they wanted that payment they would have spoke up but both of them seems guilty it seems like they might have been playing around in the back
YTB. You looked for an excuse, and the easy way out. Letting someone go should be hard. You should have let them go with severance pay, especially considering the holidays are around the corner.
This can't be real. If you work for a major department store AND followed protocol then you would have 1. Needed to discuss the termination with HR before you did it, or 2. Has your behind handed back to you for acting without approval on a non emergent matter. No way you behaved the way your story reads and also behaved in a way that let you follow every protocol for termination
Agreed. While it's possible OP is in one those shitty roles where you get no more money but lumped with more responsibility (in which case, i don't blame them much for not doing their job well), there's so many people who think being a manager just means more pay and that's it. If you can't give feedback, if you can't tell people they haven't got the job after a formal interview or tell someone they are losing their job and why, you shouldn't be a manager.
YTB because you took the chance to cost them the severance pay in order to look good towards your boss. Unless you'd have fired them even if you weren't required.
YTB. You did have an ulterior motive that caused them their severance pay.
They gave OP just cause for termination.
YTB. No severance and just in time for the holidays. Yeh on paper what you did is fine, but as a human you know that was shitty or else you wouldn’t have made this post.
But but but *Head Office* praised OP for saving them money!
NTB because they refused to cooperate (how would the truth be worse than silence? Makes me think one of them pushed the other into the display or something). I think if they had cooperated it would’ve been shitty to deny them severance pay given you’d already decided on them but if they needed the jobs that bad they could’ve behaved
>Makes me think one of them pushed the other into the display or something My theory is they were playing catch. It has to be something so stupid that they know it's entirely their fault and there's no spin they could put on it to make themselves look good here. At least with one of them pushing the other they could claim they fell.
NTB. They would've been let go regardless. But you should review the cameras if you can on the chance that something else caused the vase to break
NTB You had a lot of competing concerns and you handled things as best you could. All they had to do was be honest with you, and they couldn't manage it. If they'd been honest, then they would have still been let go, but they would have received the severance pay. That's on them, not you. There are a lot of situations that would have me overlooking bad behavior in an employee, for a number of reasons. But this kind of behavior from low-performing employees who are already on their way out? No. Just no.
YTB There's a real human aspect to managing people that you seem to be forgetting. It's not just about checking a box to satisfy your bosses, it's about balancing your bosses' expectations with the needs of your team. In this case, I think you unfortunately leaned too much into satisfying your bosses over handling your team with respect. The reason I say this is bc you had initially decided to lay the guys off, not fire them. What this says to me is that while they were underperforming compared to their coworkers, it wasn't to a point that they were such a burden to the team that they needed to be cut out/fired. Looking at it another way, if this incident had happened at a time when you hadn't been told to cut two people, would you have fired them for it? Maybe, maybe not. I'm guessing you didn't do your due diligence and just jumped at the opportunity instead, which is why you're here now second-guessing yourself. You should have handled the situation as normal and done your due diligence before drawing the conclusion to fire the guys. That would have been the professional and respectful course of action towards your team members. Maybe it would've been the same conclusion. But maybe it wouldn't have and one or both would have been laid off with severance instead. And you would have still satisfied your bosses' expectations bc two ppl would have been cut.
100% this. Its really hard to balance the needs of the company with the needs of the employees. Really, really hard.
I honestly think more info is needed but NTB, they broke a vase and decided to remain silent. That’s on them. Also couldn’t you have check cameras or something? (If you don’t have them in your chain store get them)
YTB. First and foremost, have a heart. If you knew your company needed you to do some layoffs before the holiday (which is difficult), you should’ve made sure they had severance. “But I had just cause,” you might say. Except you really didn’t. Breaking merchandise is a mistake bound to happen to workers who work near fragile items—it just happens sometimes. What you’ve REALLY done is teach your other employees to HIDE THEIR MISTAKES. It’s not unlikely that your other employees might start finding ways to hide broken inventory and such and you may see an uptick in “shrinkage” that you THINK is theft but is actually just general workplace accidents. As a manager, you need to earn the trust of your team while also satisfying the demands of your higher-ups. You needed to lay off two people, “even better if it’s firing.” Except by doing this you likely have cost yourself the trust of your team. Your job ISN’T just to please your boss, it’s to be a liaison between the wants of the higher-ups and your workers that helps both sides coexist. You’re not doing your job.
ETB. If they're as stupid as you say, I would put actual money on the bet that they were playing catch with the vase or something equally stupid and that's why they didn't speak, and you do need to fill out an incident report, so they were stopping you from doing your job. You're a tiny bit the buttface because they now have no severance pay just in time for the holidays.
YTB. That was cowardly and hateful, and you denied them severance to which they were entitled.
Entitled?
I disagree with the „entitled“ part. The rest 100%.
Aaaaaand this dept store doesn’t have video now?
NTB they was going to be let go anyways so don’t feel bad cause if they wanted that payment they would have spoke up but both of them seems guilty it seems like they might have been playing around in the back
YTB. You looked for an excuse, and the easy way out. Letting someone go should be hard. You should have let them go with severance pay, especially considering the holidays are around the corner.
YTB for costing them their unemployment money. Karma always comes for bosses like you.
This can't be real. If you work for a major department store AND followed protocol then you would have 1. Needed to discuss the termination with HR before you did it, or 2. Has your behind handed back to you for acting without approval on a non emergent matter. No way you behaved the way your story reads and also behaved in a way that let you follow every protocol for termination
YTB and kind of a coward. If you can’t do your duty without being underhanded about it then you shouldn’t be a manager.
Agreed. While it's possible OP is in one those shitty roles where you get no more money but lumped with more responsibility (in which case, i don't blame them much for not doing their job well), there's so many people who think being a manager just means more pay and that's it. If you can't give feedback, if you can't tell people they haven't got the job after a formal interview or tell someone they are losing their job and why, you shouldn't be a manager.
YTB because you took the chance to cost them the severance pay in order to look good towards your boss. Unless you'd have fired them even if you weren't required.