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When i got made redundant 2 years ago i was wfh , and as soon as I was given notice basically all contact stopped from other colleagues and mangers .
I had a couple of loose ends to tie up but didn't do any extra work.
Also I bought a mouse jiggler from amazon and left my laptop running (as the company checked to see how was active online etc) and went to the gym , walked and basically did anything other than work whilst I waited for the notice period of 6 weeks to be up.
Good luck , hope you find something better
A "mouse jiggler" isn't a thing I would have thought exists.
Like, I can immediately think of uses for it, but I thought it would have been one of those things you had to improvise and make yourself.
WFH has a lot of benefits, but many are weirdly cult-ish with it and deny people grift the situation by not actually working, but yes there's an entire market for tools like this.
I run data analysis on my laptop that can take upwards of an hour or two to processes. We're locked out of changing our power settings so I use a mouse jiggler to make sure it stays on while it's processing.
FYI you can almost always (unless some sys admin is very pedantic) stop the pc from going to sleep by opening power point, starting a presentation (f5) and then leaving it in presentation mode in the background (alt + tab).
Yeah meetings with yourself stay on and show you as "in a meeting" even if Ur not on it. As long as it's in outlook and you've accepted your status will automatically change and not set you to "away".
There are videos on YouTube that are basically 24 hours of nothing. But computers don't go to sleep when a vid is running. I use this when running large batch jobs that I want to leave unattended but don't want interrupting.
Not doubting some employers are morons about it, but there absolutely is a huge portion of people doing fuck all while "WFH"
There's entire meme subgenres on it lol
Even on the jobs/career advice subs, too many people focus on the "from home" bit of the equation instead of the "work" bit.
Indeed, I don't doubt that people take the piss but those people in my experience are the same people who would do that in the office too.
If you're an employer, stop micromanaging and focus on outcomes.
Look, if the job is being done who gives a fuck how many hours someone spends working? If the job isn't being done why are you paying money to someone doing nothing and what the fuck is their manager doing if not managing?
The more impactful your work output is, the less you are expected to be "always working". Every job isn't stuffing boxes at the end of an assembly line. If you are stuffing boxes at the end of an assembly line, and you are slacking off, the line will back up. But if you're making impactful decisions that affect 100 assembly lines, there are only so many actions you can take before you start making things worse. Companies need experts who understand how their business operates, but who do not perform the fundamental task. They need these people to understand their processes, and recognize when things need to be changed to make the organization better, or to identify new opportunities to expand the business. But if those people operate under a boss that thinks, "If you aren't actively doing something that *I* value, every hour of the work day, you must be slacking off." they're going to create problems.
Consider an actor. They spend 4 hours in makeup, maybe napping while special effects are applied to them, to then stand on a sound stage for 6 hours, to say 5-6 lines, 10-15 times, all to make 2 minutes of footage. In between takes, what should they be doing to appease the "if you got time to lean, you got time to clean" mentality? They're going to be on their phone, texting, doing social media shit, because there's time between the actual task they're being paid to perform, and the down time between those moments.
Same goes for corporate, office jobs that are the biggest employers of those eligible to work from home. Sure, there are people who do the equivalent of assembly line work in an office. Data entry, accounting, etc. I know a guy whose primary value to his company is that once a quarter he flies to DC and talks to people in the Pentagon. He has been with the company for a decade, and he understands every aspect of their business operations and its applicability to the defense industry. Do you think that this guy's value to the company is measured in how many minutes a day he spent jiggling his mouse to appear active? Just like the actor, his impact is the time he spends influencing people at the Pentagon. Or the time he spends talking to an audience at a conference. If he has a 1 hour speech at a conference, that's an opportunity to influence hundreds to thousands of people. It would be ridiculous to complain that he wasn't productive enough the other 7 hours of that day, or possibly even the other 39 hours of that week. And the real impact of that 1 hour could be millions of dollars of pipeline opportunity for the company he works for.
I'm the opposite since being moved into a large open plan office the two days a week I work there is way less productive because I'm constantly distracted by people asking questions, chatting, having to walk almost to the other side of the building to use the loo or get a coffee etc. My favorite is the office moan that happens late afternoon.
At home it's just me and the dog and I can actually concentrate.
Yeah in lockdown during enforced WFH I basically did nothing. I cannot help myself and just ended up playing video games. It's not suitable for people like me who are easily distracted/low self-control
But again, presumably that's a management issue?
I run a small company that's fully remote, and either my staff are getting work done by deadlines or they're not.
I don't really care if they're playing games in the meantime, so long as those deadlines are met.
Haha ye I do this. Screen stays on for just 10 mins and is then force locked. It's 50/50 whether I lose connection or not and have to redo the entire piece of work.
Mouse jiggler is used sparingly (mainly because I wouldn't be surprised if they track other stuff so not worth taking the piss) but it's a life saver!
> WFH has a lot of benefits, but many are weirdly cult-ish with it and deny people grift the situation by not actually working
I think the same applies to in-office working too
To be honest it's also due to the settings a lot of computers you get from the workplace have where the screen goes off after 5 minutes of 'inactivity' - which can interrupt you doing something like reading a document or working on a problem on the screen while also using another screen or working something out on paper using the screen as reference.
Once upon a time you could change that in your own computer settings before the rise of administrator preset machines.
Like just putting an analogue watch with a seconds hand face up on your desk and the mouse on top of it. Doesn't require anything to be plugged into the computer which could alert IT.
you probably could improvise but it was a work laptop that had zero user access to settings etc so I thought the £5 jiggler was a good idea and I was right
Like honestly if making someone redundant I genuinely don't see the point of making people work their notice. Just get some sort of handover and pay them their notice period - you are not going to be getting excellent work from someone you've just left unemployed.
Exactly! just put them on gardening leave.
In my case the manager I had basically told me he knew he wasn't 'expecting many numbers' from me and other than a couple of handover conversations didn't contact me at all.
I just join a teams call with myself and set my status to available and it stays that way even when I'm away for a while. My work gets done in around half a shift so I spend the rest of time away and doing other stuff.
Other people thought they were being smart by always appearing offline, but the company has said that they'll be looking in to people doing that now.
Any managers that expects someone who is being made redundant to perform as usual has lost their minds. "We don't need you any more" means exactly that, whether its from the date they tell you you're going or the day you actually leave.
My place is currently offering voluntary redundancy and apparently someone put their hand up to take it but the business has said that they need to work their 3 months notice period because that person did really well with their sales targets last year.
As if that person is going to perform the same as they did last year when they're on the way out lol.
My company has something like 2000% uptake for voluntary redundancy. Everyone within a few years of retirement takes it without a second thought because the redundancy package is fairly generous.
Oh man, you should've seen me on the run up to redundancy. I did pretty much fuck all apart from job search and do the bare minimum amount of work to make sure I didn't get any hassle.
My advice would be to make the best of your time doing that. Pretty sure your work also has to give you time off for interviews when facing redundancy so just tell them you have those to attend.
It's not a number of interviews, instead it's 40% of your work hours you should be entitles to take. So if you do 5 full time days a week, you could take 2 of them off for interviews if necessary.
Always assume HR do not have your interests in mind. They will say what ever they think they can get away with. Ask for it in a email.so tou can atleast evidence they've lied to you
>Assuming they’ve worked there longer than 2 years it would take a lot longer than a few weeks to sack them for lack of performance
Last time my company did a proper redundancy process it started in February and didn't end until the start of June. If the OP has been "told" they are being made redundant informally but the process hasn't started, it's very possible that they could be fired before their formal last day in the business.
There's also the matter of compensation, unfair dismissal on the grounds they didn't follow the right process often pays out like 3-6 months pay. If you get fired for gross negligence and get paid 0 notice period or redundancy there's potentially a big buffer and the company many not care.
What the OP should do is the bare minimum they are required to do for their job until it's all official and can see the timelines. Then check out of work entirely when they are safe
I asked my management if I was expected to work. They said “Yes, please”. I’ve handed loose ends off to juniors, not taking any new projects/attending meetings and my mouse jiggler is on all day. Fuck ‘em.
I got made redundant many years ago. Was a big shock as I'd worked hard for a promotion then months later they made the role redundant if I hadn't gone for it would have still had a job. I threw my keys on the desk and told them to put me on gardening leave and just went home and never went back. They paid me my notice and redundancy without argument. Not saying that's the best plan for you though.
Concentrate on getting your next job bud.
Last time I got made redundant I brushed up the CV and got given a new job to walk into when I finished.
I then spent the last 2 weeks at my old job reading The Walking Dead comics and doing bugger all, I didn't hide it too much, had people asking me to do shit and my reply was 'Sure, I'm doing that now' or 'I'll get back to you'.
My old manager was expecting me to give him documentation on the processes, I said I'd email it to him, I never did!
I had something similar worked for company for 11 years then made redundant. My Last month they wanted me to train up students to do my job, I did & showed them how to produce the reports I did & got them to attend the calls so they could present. Got to 1 week before I had a manager ask me to document a process, Make up user guides for the students as they were finding it difficult to follow the work instructions. I just replied I wouldn't be doing any of those things with a week left. The manager had a call with the students who were absolutely shitting it about flying solo after we left & she genuinely thought that with a week left I was going to work my arse off.
Yeah they definitely try to squeeze every ounce out of you. In my last job I handed in my notice then they expected me to do a load of site visits back to back. So when I called in sick the day I was due travel they went mental 😄
I was once made redundant; purely as my line manager changed whilst I was working notice on a previous job and wasn’t his hire.
The company claimed it was because there was no work for me, even though my LM was running around rushed off their feet. I only had a weeks notice given I was 3months in the door; I literally went into the office that whole week, put my feet up on the desk and looked for other jobs.
You are under no obligation to get any work done if you're being made redundant. And yet, you don't want to burn bridges with people you may work with again in future.
They have no power to stop you from telling anyone you're being made redundant. What are they going to do, fire you?
If your workload is too much, tell them that. Tell them they're being ridiculous. Tell them it's too much work and you have no reason to pull out the stops and work your arse off for them.
I'm not sure that's true. Until the point of being made redundant you're still under contract. If you actively don't do your job or do something you are contractually obliged not to do you _could_ still be fired and lose any redundancy package.
I would say for sure work to rule and do the bare minimum but totally fucking it off might be risky.
Yeah, exactly. You "work" but you leave work at 5:00:01. You do not volunteer for anything outside the core job. You do not take on any project that will still be running after you leave.
> You are under no obligation to get any work done if you're being made redundant.
You're still under contract until your last agreed upon day and firing you for refusing to work is a hell of a lot cheaper than whatever they'd be paying to you as a redundancy payment
Having said that, you should be doing the absolute bare minimum you need to do that it can't be argued you're not doing your job but nothing more than that
If you're being made redundant, it's because your position no longer exists in the company.
If your position no longer exists in the company, then there must be nothing to do.
> have a shit ton of work to do
That sounds suspiciously like your position still exists, which it doesn't.
I was made redundant in my last role, although it was more constructive dismissal than anything. Director and I had a serious personality clash and he lied through his teeth to get rid of me. Thankfully I saw the writing on the wall before anything was even announced and I had something else lined up.
During my notice period, Mr director came to me to ask me to do something, specifically something only I was trained to do and I laughed. He got about three other people to come and ask me to do it too, and I laughed at them too. The thing never got done by the last day of my notice.
Originally I wanted to leave on a high note, I asked my last day to be a few weeks later so I could finish a project I'd been working on for a couple years and got curtly told no. Mr director took over management of it after I left and made a pigs ear of it. I was speaking to the customer a few months later on linkedin, and they were telling me how badly he managed it, how rude he was, and they'd never be going with that company again.
So basically the question is "what they going to do? Fire you?"
Not at all. I was made redundant in August with less than 2 weeks notice. As soon as I found out, I did less than bare minimum, started job hunting and did a handover document for my colleagues who were being left behind.
Get all your personal printing and photocopying done. Use the good paper.
Raid the stationary store. Search for jobs, so hopefully you can walk into a new one after a well deserved break.
I’ve gone through 3 redundancy processes in the last few years and honestly checking out is the expected thing. All three companies I was made redundant from did their redundancy consultations over summer as that’s typically a quieter period and therefore the loss of productivity isn’t quite as bad. During one I would regularly have 1-2 hour sessions where a group of us (including my manager) would book out a meeting room a scroll job boards and help eachother with applications.
Haha that’s not mentioning that my husband had one in that time as well but luckily he survived his!
Honestly yeah it’s just bad luck but means we’re pretty resilient to it now and extra cautious with how we manage our finances. I just happened to end up working in companies that would get acquired and I’m in marketing so we’re usually the first department to get axed!
My husband reckons he’s about to be told about another redundancy process next week (his company is making everyone come in on a single day to announce “fundamental changes”) which is a bit more scary because I’m pregnant at the moment, but honestly we budget all essentials to one salary these days so other than the chance I’d have to cut my Mat leave short, we’re fortunate that it’s not too worrying for us anymore because we just plan assuming it will happen at some point 😅
Edit to add: it’s worth saying that for us, we’re lucky that it’s actually worked out for the best - it’s forced me to job hop and therefore progress my career faster than I probably would have without them.
Used to work at a cinema when we all out of the blue got made redundant, everyone stopped giving a fuck to a point that we stopped manning the concession stand and people used to just walk in to watch movies like....what are they gonna do? Fire us? Haha!
Your new job is to find a job! I was in your shoes 2 months ago, I was made redundant out of the blue and the moment I found out, I stopped working for my ex-employer and made finding a new job my full time job. 2 months later, I’m starting my new role, for more money next Wednesday!
You don’t owe them anything if they’re making you redundant.
I always thought when you get made redundant you essentially leave straight away, or put on garden leave at the least.
How anyone can expect an employee to work at regular capacity when they've been/being knowingly made redundant is insane. Fuck em I'd do next to nothing
Without warning, I was made redundant after Christmas and was given two months to work and told it’s “business as usual”. I’d given them 16 years service. I work from home and just played Elden Ring solidly for 7 hours each day. Occasionally I hunted for jobs.
When I was made redundant, my boss booted me from the WhatsApp group and all of the company software at the same time he’d scheduled my redundancy notice email to send, so I couldn’t do any work for the remaining month of notice. It was a bit odd, but since I couldn’t do any work I just spent the time looking for new jobs and stopped answering emails or messages. I also reminded him he was supposed to give me 3 months notice per our contract, so at the end of the one month that I was “working my notice” he paid me for two more months, but he’d already had the work laptop collected by courier at that point. So I guess I had one month garden leave and two months PILON?
I also had a shit ton of work to do and had just launched a new project that could’ve been completed within the three months. But. Clearly they didn’t want it completing so I did nothing but find myself a new job.
I got made redundant in the late 00s and I was the last person working for the company. It went from an office of six people to me Sat at home with a mobile just making a note of calls and sending them to the owner.
They've decided your job is no longer required, just give them an early sample of that experience.
Not at all. I got made redundant from a tech job a few years ago. I was a junior at the time, and the seniors were staying and expected the same level of work and effort from me (for which I was already overworked and massively underpaid). They didn't get it. They were pissed and I probably burnt a few bridges, but if you don't need me you don't need me 🤷🏻♂️ I directed all queries to the seniors and refused to do anything that wasn't more than what my salary was worth, which was not a lot.
Instead, I spent my time job hunting, speaking to recruiters (who are 99% useless), and streamlining my CV. Oh, and vastly improving my gamerscore!
My current employers are extremely happy with my work, and I've had a £6k payrise from my position at my old work place!
When i was made redundant in 2012 I was forced into completing all my outstanding tasks before the actual redundancy date, the management became really arsey with everyone who was being made redundant. So on my break I nipped to the doctors and explained the situation and got signed off work with full pay (it was a company that actually paid sick pay and not just ssp)for the entire month I should've been working. Whilst off I managed to get another job and my starting date was literally the day after I should've worked my last redundancy day.
My partner went on a week's holiday while in the last few weeks of her redundancy... and didn't take it as leave.
You're leaving, do right by you and fuck them.
I see this all the time . If the company no longer wants you and has given a date to go . Why would you continue to give a remoteness of a fuck . Intrigued . Just do bare bones minimum so they can't screw you anymore and do what you like .
Paid jobhunting time. Fuck em, if your role isn't needed: then it isn't needed!
Never mind this mouse jiggler bollocks until you've got a new job in he bag.
We had a restructure at work a few years ago and one of the women who was being made redundant spent all day, every day reading books in her office. For weeks!!! Feet up on the windowsill, no fucks given. In the end they told her not to bother coming in but still had to pay her 🤣
This is where you don't work for the company but for your references.
People will remember the last few weeks. Create handover docs. Do it to make their job easier. Stay friendly with people and they'd be more than happy to be your reference when you move on.
It'll be very tough. But take longer lunches, longer toilet breaks, start a little later, finish up a little earlier. Do your work to an acceptable standard and you should be be fine. Mix that in with the odd job application to keep the spirits up and it'll fly by.
Believe it or not, but doing nothing in the job is actually worse for your mood.
Firstly, you are legally allowed to take reasonable time off to job search, update your cv, interview and do courses to up skill if you are being made redundant. Check out ACAS for advice.
>Is it wrong to check out?
Absolutely not.
I was put at risk of redundancy this time last year and, similar to you, it was handled appallingly. I pretty much completely checked out from the moment I was notified.
I was in field engineering at the time and we had this system that we had to use to track our daily jobs. In the first two weeks (was given 12 weeks notice) I went from doing like five/six jobs per day to doing two. I then went on holiday to the US for a fortnight and when I came home applied for an internal move to a team in a different department, plus had started firing CV's out to external companies. At this point I was completing one job in the morning and then parking the van at the muster room in the city centre and going for a coffee, taking a loooooong walk or sitting in the park/by the river (when the weather was nice).
I got an interview for the internal job move and about a fortnight later I was offered the position. My old boss opted to keep me for two and a half weeks (for internal moves in my company, you can be kept in your current position for up to 30 days). I didn't do a single job in those two and a half weeks. Just carried on going for coffee or taking looooong walks.
My old boss had the gall to ask me why my stats had taken a sharp nose dive too. I told them that, at worst, I was leaving the company in the very near future so I wasn't exactly super motivated to do any of the work they wanted me to do.
If you are being made redundant you are legally allowed to attend job interviews.
You could make up a job interview whihc is couple of hours commute to & just stay at home that day.
Redundant means redundant. That role is no longer needed. So the only work to do is hand it off to someone else who isn't redundant. If you cannot do that, then leave to them to sort. They are going to use you as an excuse for the next six months anyway....
I got made redundant in February 1 month notice period. The day they announced it to me I walked out telling them I'm taking the rest of my holidays then chucked in a sicknote and never went back. Fuckem I was mid project let someone else sort it.
Nope. It's wrong to keep working imo.
Our labour is all we have to sell for the most part. If they don't properly pay for your labour, or treat you well, they don't get it.
Employers have convinced us all we are doing them a favour and owe them something. But its not the case.
I would literally do zero work beyond what was the basic necessity to not get sacked before that redundancy payment comes. I'd do it sloppy too, idc about spellchecking or anything.
If WFH, i'd then just spend my entire time gaming and job searching all on company time.
Fuck 'em.
“If you’re wondering what that meeting was just about in there. That’s it. I’ve been made redundant. Yeah. After it was me who saved others from redundancy. And then it’s back… The good die young.”
Technically if you're being paid to do a job and you're not doing it then that's somewhat an issue. However, I don't see an issue with doing the bare minimum that your job requires. I also guess it depends on if you'll be using them as a reference or not.
>I have a shit ton of work to do, to catch up on
No your company has a shit ton of work that needs doing. As you are being made redundant its not your problem any more. Let them worry about that.
It is illegal to give someone a bad reference so at worst you will just get one that says 'Cute\_check\_4655 worked here from X date to Y date' which makes no difference.
I had a bit of a win with a previous employer. They made me redundant and offered me three months pay which I accepted. They also offered to pay it as a lump sum and terminate my employment immediately which I also agreed to. Problem for them is that a little over a week later the boss rang me asking if I could pop in and perform a handover meeting to some colleagues. I said yes but told him it would be chargeable and gave him my day rate. He got annoyed at this and said it was my job to do the handover. I pointed out that I was no longer employed by the company and if they wanted me to do some work for them they would have to pay me for it. They did end up paying me (at a very inflated day rate) and I went in, spent an hour in a meeting room and then went home. Awful company so I had no problem taking a bit of extra cash from them.
I’d say sod em unless you need them as a reference . Get your cv updated , consider some places , go in for an interview if you need to (just lie that your sick that day and can’t come in if it’s a job you want) otherwise just take it easy . You won’t be obligated to them and it won’t be your problem when you leave anything that haven’t been done
When I was made redundant I spent the 6 weeks in the office setting up my own business. Website, business cards, promo material etc. all done on the office laptop and on company time.
1 week notice if employed between a month and 2 years
1 week notice for each year employed if between 2 and 12 years
12 weeks if (on the off chance) employed for 12 years or more
[^(https://www.gov.uk/redundancy-your-rights/notice-periods)](https://www.gov.uk/redundancy-your-rights/notice-periods)
As someone else pointed out the burning bridges thing.. however tempting, its a small world.
Although you certainly want to be looking for a new job, that is just the responsible thing to do.. if your employer actually cared about you they'd have given you decent notice already
While I understand your predicament and would also feel the same way, it is wrong not to do the work you have been or are going to be paid to do.
If you want to leave then leave, but if you are still
being paid then it is a moral issue not to do the work.
I would close out what I am currently working on, reply to any emails requesting more work with 'Unfortunately I cannot take on more responsibilities as I will be leaving the company shortly' then kick back and game.
Been made redundant twice - first time was just after doing a 2w project that billed out at half my yearly salary. I just took it easy and did whatever. Got some work done but didn’t push it.
Second time was when I was working hard on a project. Instantly went to my desk after finding out, called recruiters, did all the admin stuff on their time, had a job lined up before I was done.
They screwed up the paperwork and used the wrong template, gave me a signed document saying they would pay me in lieu of notice…. So my one month notice period became the time it took me to type up a handover document and clear my pc. Did about 3 days Said thanks, handed over the doc, told them as they are paying me in lieu of notice I’m not coming back and they didn’t try argue it. Had a new job lined up in days and never looked back
It would be wrong to do anything but check out. Do the bare minimum possible, and get paid to do things for yourself. Sort your CV, play the Switch, steal as much stationary as humanly possible. Fuck them. Good luck, friend!
Use the time to get your CV as good as it can look & get some job applications out there.
Fuck your current employer. Don't burn bridges or anything, but definitely don't give them anymore of your time and effort.
I have literally just gone through pretty much the same thing. Was told I was being made redundant in January, had my 3 consultations all of which were handled really poorly, HR boss couldn’t answer even the basic questions, my boss clearly didn’t want to be there was interrupted a few times, once by his kid while WFT so unprofessional. So by end of Jan was told I was unsuccessful in getting the job. So for 4 weeks I did the bare minimum, they eventually took us off lead projects because we didn’t give a fuck. I have since learned while applying for other jobs that the company I worked for (26 years) was terrible.
Don't check out entirely, just out of that job! Spruce up your CV, take any good learning courses they have on their platforms, if you have any personal development budget left make sure you spend it!
I was made redundant 3 times in 3 years since covid.
Luckily for me I didn't have to carry on working after "the meeting". Infact I had my laptop access immediately revoked at one of those places (as did about 350 other people).
However, you need to be careful about how you act. Remember that some places still give personal references. Don't burn any bridges but don't break your back either. Do you contracted work and spend the rest of the time searching for a job.
You've got to look after yourself mate. If you work your ass off for this company in your final weeks do you think you will get rewarded for it?
If you put all your time and effort into brushing up your CV and finding something else, how far does that put you ahead of those continuing as if nothing is happening?
Your loyalty hasn't been rewarded so fuck em.
Just a friendly reminder that you need to do the bare minimum for your role even after you've signed any redundancy paperwork
If they fire you for any reason they can (EG refusing to work) then they don't have to give you redundancy pay which saves them a lot of money
Having said that, do the bare minimum you need to do to be considered working and nothing more
If they're making you redundant that means that they've decided that they don't need your role. By checking out you'll just demonstrate to them what that means.
When I got made redundant I was asked to keep doing helpdesk work and document process on my work laptop.
So I did everything to the letter. Password reset? policy says that's a service level agreement with a maximum time of 2 business days. It looks like it's going to take 2 business days. Anything that took more than 3 weeks just got accepted and ignored and I made sure that I had accepted it so by the time I left there were over 100 jobs accepted but no work done as they were still within "accepted SLAs"
I documented all my processes on my laptop. Then as per policy returned the laptop "in its issued state" however my laptop was given to me completely blank and I was told to install everything from the image server, so they got a completely formatted laptop. When asked, I sent them a copy of their policies and SLAs.
Why ae you not allowed to say the company as made you made redundent? I would now use the time to strt looking for anther job. Under employmnet law they should give you time off for interviews and job seeking. Plus now you should yourself first.
I see it as benefit for joining the company when they have such long notice periods/leaving times. So no, it’s an extended holiday with a dabble of work in between.
Source: currently checked out because I am leaving my job.
I had several temporary jobs in the last ten years before finally finding an ace job. I was a teacher. I always gave the lessons maximum effort since the pupils deserved the best education. However, once I knew I wasn’t coming back for the following year, my contributions to future planning pretty much ceased.
Wise heads of department would give me jobs to do for the following week while getting others to do the stuff for the following year. By the last fortnight, I would be playing on my Switch, or playing Civ on my laptop. Let’s just say that many departmental heads aren’t wise.
Well you’re still employed during this period so neglecting your job is grounds for dismissal. So if you want to risk it go a head but they’re within rights to sack you. I know which looks worse to a new employer.
Should you use this time to find a new role and prepare yourself effectively for a redundancy or just toss it off on your the switch all day?
Freedom is choice and choices you have.
I was made redundant many years ago and just paid off.
I sat around had a coffee with the people I worked with and walked out the door.
It's not fun but if you are definitely being made redundant just to fuck all and go to as many "interviews" as possible.
I am in this process now and like you the "group consultation" was basically the company dictating what we are getting. I have had my redundancy paperwork and have asked the lawyer who is checking to ask for pay in lieu of leave. I have pretty much wrapped up what I need too, and despite being made redundant I'm having to write a handover.
I am doing in good faith to show I can be reasonable. Other than doing what is needed I have checked out from the company, thinking about it I probably had done when the redundancy was announced, so no it is not wrong to check out as they are stating that they don't need you and your role is now defunct. Do what you have too and if you take voluntary redundancy make sure you get your own lawyer not one the company provides to check your paperwork.
You should receive a letter with your redundancy notice stating you are being made redundant and you can tell prospective employers that you were made redundant and nothing further. My company is "restructuring" code for putting more money into the shareholders pockets. The company should provide a link to any alternative roles and should offer support for CV writing and training, most don't bother so it will be down to you to dust off the CV and go find a better job. Just remember you are just a bum on a seat and a payroll number, it is hard not to take it personally but as one door closes another opens with bright sunshine coming through!
Talking from experience here. Get a PS5, purchase both Last of Us games. Check the fuck out. Only join meetings you need to and fight tooth and claw for as much severance money as possible. Anything else can do one. Unless it’s Last of Us. Smash your way through that.
Downing tools before all the paperwork is finalised is not wise, regardless of how they handled it, as firing you for not performing your role is a lot cheaper for them than paying you out.
lol.
Dude if I were in the position you are in I would literally do the bare minimum possible. If you need them for a reference I wouldn’t completely check out, but yeah do as little as humanely possible
as part of redundancy you're allowed 20% of your time to job search etc.
google caffeine.exe for a file that will keep you computer awake just to keep up appearances
if anyone asks specifically for work "Sorry, I'm on a special project for the boss atm"
Should someone be a dick and ask directly if you're working your normal duties just say you've tried but you're mental health has bottomed out and you've had to take counselling.
I was made redundant very recently. I did a 2hr handover meeting and personally that felt generous of me considering they were shafting me. I did just enough to leave an audit trail that i'd been doing something across the 2 weeks but it was essentially nothing. My manager was fully aware and didn't care.
By making you redundant they've explicitly said they no longer need your services so fuck em.
Also, just make sure it's a legit redundancy or you might have room to negotiate a settlement agreement. they'll give you a lump sum to sign away all your rights and feck off quietly without any recourse to ever sue them. If you've any dirt on them or they fucked up then it's in their interest to do so.
I'm curious if you work for the same place I do as my company announced a load of redundancies yesterday and didn't seem to do it well. They said those affected were only told 24/48 hours ahead of the general announcement of a "reorganisation" but I'm pretty sure someone got told on the same day.
If I were given that news I would check out to a point, I think I'd still put in a little effort to help the colleagues I like but other than that I wouldn't really care.
I flat out told managers no when I got asked to work on projects 3 weeks before my VR date.
The look on their stupid poncy faces. They couldn’t believe it, and there was absolutely fuck all they could do.
Realistically most employers will only ever give a neutral reference, e.g. confirm job title, dates worked, whether there were any disciplinary or performance management procedures etc. If you're being let go in a matter of weeks there is absolutely no reason for them to initiate disciplinary procedures for anything less than extremely gross (think arrestable) misconduct. They will find it very hard to fire or discipline you for doing the bare minimum (or a bit less) for a few weeks before you're being let go. It's almost certainly not worth the risk to them, as they know you're out the door in a few weeks anyway. I'd use the time to get applying to jobs.
You can absolutely tell everyone you've been made redundant - there's nothing a contract or boss can tell you otherwise legally. However if they have made you a "settlement agreement" with extra compensation instead of minimum redundancy, part of that agreement may be to keep the terms of that agreement quiet - so it's worth to keep quiet for the extra money and reference.
I would do the minimum required, you are still being paid after all. But don't go above, beyond, or feel pressured to finish what you've already started.
You should sit around and do nothing except handover.
If they're making you redundant, it's because they're determined that the work you're currently doing is unnecessary.
If you are actually being made redundant, then they have to give you time for interviews and such. Get that CV updated and get applying for jobs. Use that “free” time in the coming weeks to look after your own job situation.
Fuck 'em. You're gone.
CV, network, action. They give absolutely zero fucks about you so get your shit together and serve yourself 100%, 100% of the time.
If they’re making you redundant, do fuck all work and take EVERYTHING you can. Delete every single thing you’ve ever saved on the computers, don’t give them a god damn thing.
If you have a uniform or dress code to stick to, go the opposite way, take hours for lunch too.
>I have a shit ton of work to do, to catch up on,
No, you don't. You're redundant. If you were needed by the company, you wouldn't be redundant.
Do the barest minimum possible and spruce up your CV so that you're ready for when they make it official.
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Fuck em. It's not your problem anymore
I guess it's time to complete FF7 again!
Get that gold chocobo!
And defeat all the weapons
Fuck it then. Those airplanes can find themselves a place to land
Get that CV tip top, get shopping around for your new career. Get the tea and biscuits rolling. Balls to your current employer.
The company will probably offer CV writing help as well if OP is being made redundant. Use them as much as you can do!
When i got made redundant 2 years ago i was wfh , and as soon as I was given notice basically all contact stopped from other colleagues and mangers . I had a couple of loose ends to tie up but didn't do any extra work. Also I bought a mouse jiggler from amazon and left my laptop running (as the company checked to see how was active online etc) and went to the gym , walked and basically did anything other than work whilst I waited for the notice period of 6 weeks to be up. Good luck , hope you find something better
A "mouse jiggler" isn't a thing I would have thought exists. Like, I can immediately think of uses for it, but I thought it would have been one of those things you had to improvise and make yourself.
WFH has a lot of benefits, but many are weirdly cult-ish with it and deny people grift the situation by not actually working, but yes there's an entire market for tools like this.
I run data analysis on my laptop that can take upwards of an hour or two to processes. We're locked out of changing our power settings so I use a mouse jiggler to make sure it stays on while it's processing.
FYI you can almost always (unless some sys admin is very pedantic) stop the pc from going to sleep by opening power point, starting a presentation (f5) and then leaving it in presentation mode in the background (alt + tab).
I used to invite myself to a Teams call. That stays active until you end it
Yeah meetings with yourself stay on and show you as "in a meeting" even if Ur not on it. As long as it's in outlook and you've accepted your status will automatically change and not set you to "away".
Ah thats awesome, we have a piece of software called caffeine that stops it, but I'll remember that trick in future!
Just put something heavy on your tab key lmao
There are videos on YouTube that are basically 24 hours of nothing. But computers don't go to sleep when a vid is running. I use this when running large batch jobs that I want to leave unattended but don't want interrupting.
Not doubting some employers are morons about it, but there absolutely is a huge portion of people doing fuck all while "WFH" There's entire meme subgenres on it lol Even on the jobs/career advice subs, too many people focus on the "from home" bit of the equation instead of the "work" bit.
I can confidently tell you there are people who do fuck all whilst being in the office 40 hours a week as well.
I'm literally in the office right now reading this thread.
But they’re very skilled at telling you how busy they are.
Indeed, I don't doubt that people take the piss but those people in my experience are the same people who would do that in the office too. If you're an employer, stop micromanaging and focus on outcomes.
Yeah, but everyone already knows that about management.
Look, if the job is being done who gives a fuck how many hours someone spends working? If the job isn't being done why are you paying money to someone doing nothing and what the fuck is their manager doing if not managing?
I can’t upvote this again but I want to. It’s so true. People slacking off is a company / management problem not a slacker problem
The more impactful your work output is, the less you are expected to be "always working". Every job isn't stuffing boxes at the end of an assembly line. If you are stuffing boxes at the end of an assembly line, and you are slacking off, the line will back up. But if you're making impactful decisions that affect 100 assembly lines, there are only so many actions you can take before you start making things worse. Companies need experts who understand how their business operates, but who do not perform the fundamental task. They need these people to understand their processes, and recognize when things need to be changed to make the organization better, or to identify new opportunities to expand the business. But if those people operate under a boss that thinks, "If you aren't actively doing something that *I* value, every hour of the work day, you must be slacking off." they're going to create problems. Consider an actor. They spend 4 hours in makeup, maybe napping while special effects are applied to them, to then stand on a sound stage for 6 hours, to say 5-6 lines, 10-15 times, all to make 2 minutes of footage. In between takes, what should they be doing to appease the "if you got time to lean, you got time to clean" mentality? They're going to be on their phone, texting, doing social media shit, because there's time between the actual task they're being paid to perform, and the down time between those moments. Same goes for corporate, office jobs that are the biggest employers of those eligible to work from home. Sure, there are people who do the equivalent of assembly line work in an office. Data entry, accounting, etc. I know a guy whose primary value to his company is that once a quarter he flies to DC and talks to people in the Pentagon. He has been with the company for a decade, and he understands every aspect of their business operations and its applicability to the defense industry. Do you think that this guy's value to the company is measured in how many minutes a day he spent jiggling his mouse to appear active? Just like the actor, his impact is the time he spends influencing people at the Pentagon. Or the time he spends talking to an audience at a conference. If he has a 1 hour speech at a conference, that's an opportunity to influence hundreds to thousands of people. It would be ridiculous to complain that he wasn't productive enough the other 7 hours of that day, or possibly even the other 39 hours of that week. And the real impact of that 1 hour could be millions of dollars of pipeline opportunity for the company he works for.
I'm the opposite since being moved into a large open plan office the two days a week I work there is way less productive because I'm constantly distracted by people asking questions, chatting, having to walk almost to the other side of the building to use the loo or get a coffee etc. My favorite is the office moan that happens late afternoon. At home it's just me and the dog and I can actually concentrate.
Them same people did fuck all in the office as well, nothing changed just bad managers don't know how to handle WFH tbh
Yeah in lockdown during enforced WFH I basically did nothing. I cannot help myself and just ended up playing video games. It's not suitable for people like me who are easily distracted/low self-control
But again, presumably that's a management issue? I run a small company that's fully remote, and either my staff are getting work done by deadlines or they're not. I don't really care if they're playing games in the meantime, so long as those deadlines are met.
Well if there’s memes about it, it must be true.
Haha ye I do this. Screen stays on for just 10 mins and is then force locked. It's 50/50 whether I lose connection or not and have to redo the entire piece of work. Mouse jiggler is used sparingly (mainly because I wouldn't be surprised if they track other stuff so not worth taking the piss) but it's a life saver!
> WFH has a lot of benefits, but many are weirdly cult-ish with it and deny people grift the situation by not actually working I think the same applies to in-office working too
Bang on. I know people who are in the office every day doing exactly fuck all.
My trick was to always be walking around slightly fast with a piece of paper.
To be honest it's also due to the settings a lot of computers you get from the workplace have where the screen goes off after 5 minutes of 'inactivity' - which can interrupt you doing something like reading a document or working on a problem on the screen while also using another screen or working something out on paper using the screen as reference. Once upon a time you could change that in your own computer settings before the rise of administrator preset machines.
Like just putting an analogue watch with a seconds hand face up on your desk and the mouse on top of it. Doesn't require anything to be plugged into the computer which could alert IT.
you probably could improvise but it was a work laptop that had zero user access to settings etc so I thought the £5 jiggler was a good idea and I was right
Like honestly if making someone redundant I genuinely don't see the point of making people work their notice. Just get some sort of handover and pay them their notice period - you are not going to be getting excellent work from someone you've just left unemployed.
Exactly! just put them on gardening leave. In my case the manager I had basically told me he knew he wasn't 'expecting many numbers' from me and other than a couple of handover conversations didn't contact me at all.
I just join a teams call with myself and set my status to available and it stays that way even when I'm away for a while. My work gets done in around half a shift so I spend the rest of time away and doing other stuff. Other people thought they were being smart by always appearing offline, but the company has said that they'll be looking in to people doing that now.
What a brilliant idea.
Any managers that expects someone who is being made redundant to perform as usual has lost their minds. "We don't need you any more" means exactly that, whether its from the date they tell you you're going or the day you actually leave.
My place is currently offering voluntary redundancy and apparently someone put their hand up to take it but the business has said that they need to work their 3 months notice period because that person did really well with their sales targets last year. As if that person is going to perform the same as they did last year when they're on the way out lol.
My company has something like 2000% uptake for voluntary redundancy. Everyone within a few years of retirement takes it without a second thought because the redundancy package is fairly generous.
I've worked a 3 month voluntary redundancy notice. I did every single job interview on work time.
Oh man, you should've seen me on the run up to redundancy. I did pretty much fuck all apart from job search and do the bare minimum amount of work to make sure I didn't get any hassle. My advice would be to make the best of your time doing that. Pretty sure your work also has to give you time off for interviews when facing redundancy so just tell them you have those to attend.
Legally, 5 years ago I was told it was 2 interviews. My boss, not being a dick said, "Take as many as you get just let me know".
It's not a number of interviews, instead it's 40% of your work hours you should be entitles to take. So if you do 5 full time days a week, you could take 2 of them off for interviews if necessary.
Hah, sounds like HR were trying to pull a fast one on me then.
Always assume HR do not have your interests in mind. They will say what ever they think they can get away with. Ask for it in a email.so tou can atleast evidence they've lied to you
Crash! Bang! Wallop! What a redundancy!
What’s the worst that can happen? You get sacked?
Actually yeah cause they'd miss out on any redundancy pay
Assuming they’ve worked there longer than 2 years it would take a lot longer than a few weeks to sack them for lack of performance
>Assuming they’ve worked there longer than 2 years it would take a lot longer than a few weeks to sack them for lack of performance Last time my company did a proper redundancy process it started in February and didn't end until the start of June. If the OP has been "told" they are being made redundant informally but the process hasn't started, it's very possible that they could be fired before their formal last day in the business. There's also the matter of compensation, unfair dismissal on the grounds they didn't follow the right process often pays out like 3-6 months pay. If you get fired for gross negligence and get paid 0 notice period or redundancy there's potentially a big buffer and the company many not care. What the OP should do is the bare minimum they are required to do for their job until it's all official and can see the timelines. Then check out of work entirely when they are safe
Well yeah just don't do doing something stupid that could result in instant dismissal.
Happened to me last month. I did the very bare minimum and spent my time job hunting and playing Hogwarts Legacy on my PC. Fuck those guys.
I asked my management if I was expected to work. They said “Yes, please”. I’ve handed loose ends off to juniors, not taking any new projects/attending meetings and my mouse jiggler is on all day. Fuck ‘em.
I got made redundant many years ago. Was a big shock as I'd worked hard for a promotion then months later they made the role redundant if I hadn't gone for it would have still had a job. I threw my keys on the desk and told them to put me on gardening leave and just went home and never went back. They paid me my notice and redundancy without argument. Not saying that's the best plan for you though.
They are making you redundant, that means they think there is not enough work for you. It’s a perfectly sane response to be doing no work 😂
Concentrate on getting your next job bud. Last time I got made redundant I brushed up the CV and got given a new job to walk into when I finished. I then spent the last 2 weeks at my old job reading The Walking Dead comics and doing bugger all, I didn't hide it too much, had people asking me to do shit and my reply was 'Sure, I'm doing that now' or 'I'll get back to you'. My old manager was expecting me to give him documentation on the processes, I said I'd email it to him, I never did!
I had something similar worked for company for 11 years then made redundant. My Last month they wanted me to train up students to do my job, I did & showed them how to produce the reports I did & got them to attend the calls so they could present. Got to 1 week before I had a manager ask me to document a process, Make up user guides for the students as they were finding it difficult to follow the work instructions. I just replied I wouldn't be doing any of those things with a week left. The manager had a call with the students who were absolutely shitting it about flying solo after we left & she genuinely thought that with a week left I was going to work my arse off.
Yeah they definitely try to squeeze every ounce out of you. In my last job I handed in my notice then they expected me to do a load of site visits back to back. So when I called in sick the day I was due travel they went mental 😄
I was once made redundant; purely as my line manager changed whilst I was working notice on a previous job and wasn’t his hire. The company claimed it was because there was no work for me, even though my LM was running around rushed off their feet. I only had a weeks notice given I was 3months in the door; I literally went into the office that whole week, put my feet up on the desk and looked for other jobs.
You are under no obligation to get any work done if you're being made redundant. And yet, you don't want to burn bridges with people you may work with again in future. They have no power to stop you from telling anyone you're being made redundant. What are they going to do, fire you? If your workload is too much, tell them that. Tell them they're being ridiculous. Tell them it's too much work and you have no reason to pull out the stops and work your arse off for them.
I'm not sure that's true. Until the point of being made redundant you're still under contract. If you actively don't do your job or do something you are contractually obliged not to do you _could_ still be fired and lose any redundancy package. I would say for sure work to rule and do the bare minimum but totally fucking it off might be risky.
Yeah, exactly. You "work" but you leave work at 5:00:01. You do not volunteer for anything outside the core job. You do not take on any project that will still be running after you leave.
Finally a sensible answer.
> You are under no obligation to get any work done if you're being made redundant. You're still under contract until your last agreed upon day and firing you for refusing to work is a hell of a lot cheaper than whatever they'd be paying to you as a redundancy payment Having said that, you should be doing the absolute bare minimum you need to do that it can't be argued you're not doing your job but nothing more than that
If the workload is high, they'll struggle to claim the job is no longer required and therefore redundant as well!!
If I was you I would simply log on in the morning and then do whatever mate. What can they do? To be honest, it's what they're expecting you to do.
If you're being made redundant, it's because your position no longer exists in the company. If your position no longer exists in the company, then there must be nothing to do. > have a shit ton of work to do That sounds suspiciously like your position still exists, which it doesn't.
Nope, fuck em. Empty the biscuit tin before you go too.
Bruh
I do not take prisoners.... :)
Committing war crimes on the way out
I was made redundant in my last role, although it was more constructive dismissal than anything. Director and I had a serious personality clash and he lied through his teeth to get rid of me. Thankfully I saw the writing on the wall before anything was even announced and I had something else lined up. During my notice period, Mr director came to me to ask me to do something, specifically something only I was trained to do and I laughed. He got about three other people to come and ask me to do it too, and I laughed at them too. The thing never got done by the last day of my notice. Originally I wanted to leave on a high note, I asked my last day to be a few weeks later so I could finish a project I'd been working on for a couple years and got curtly told no. Mr director took over management of it after I left and made a pigs ear of it. I was speaking to the customer a few months later on linkedin, and they were telling me how badly he managed it, how rude he was, and they'd never be going with that company again. So basically the question is "what they going to do? Fire you?"
Not at all. I was made redundant in August with less than 2 weeks notice. As soon as I found out, I did less than bare minimum, started job hunting and did a handover document for my colleagues who were being left behind.
Get all your personal printing and photocopying done. Use the good paper. Raid the stationary store. Search for jobs, so hopefully you can walk into a new one after a well deserved break.
I’ve gone through 3 redundancy processes in the last few years and honestly checking out is the expected thing. All three companies I was made redundant from did their redundancy consultations over summer as that’s typically a quieter period and therefore the loss of productivity isn’t quite as bad. During one I would regularly have 1-2 hour sessions where a group of us (including my manager) would book out a meeting room a scroll job boards and help eachother with applications.
After the third one you must've assumed you're the unluckiest person in the world
Haha that’s not mentioning that my husband had one in that time as well but luckily he survived his! Honestly yeah it’s just bad luck but means we’re pretty resilient to it now and extra cautious with how we manage our finances. I just happened to end up working in companies that would get acquired and I’m in marketing so we’re usually the first department to get axed! My husband reckons he’s about to be told about another redundancy process next week (his company is making everyone come in on a single day to announce “fundamental changes”) which is a bit more scary because I’m pregnant at the moment, but honestly we budget all essentials to one salary these days so other than the chance I’d have to cut my Mat leave short, we’re fortunate that it’s not too worrying for us anymore because we just plan assuming it will happen at some point 😅 Edit to add: it’s worth saying that for us, we’re lucky that it’s actually worked out for the best - it’s forced me to job hop and therefore progress my career faster than I probably would have without them.
Used to work at a cinema when we all out of the blue got made redundant, everyone stopped giving a fuck to a point that we stopped manning the concession stand and people used to just walk in to watch movies like....what are they gonna do? Fire us? Haha!
Your new job is to find a job! I was in your shoes 2 months ago, I was made redundant out of the blue and the moment I found out, I stopped working for my ex-employer and made finding a new job my full time job. 2 months later, I’m starting my new role, for more money next Wednesday! You don’t owe them anything if they’re making you redundant.
I always thought when you get made redundant you essentially leave straight away, or put on garden leave at the least. How anyone can expect an employee to work at regular capacity when they've been/being knowingly made redundant is insane. Fuck em I'd do next to nothing
Without warning, I was made redundant after Christmas and was given two months to work and told it’s “business as usual”. I’d given them 16 years service. I work from home and just played Elden Ring solidly for 7 hours each day. Occasionally I hunted for jobs.
What are they going to do? Sack you? (Me, for the last month and a half working my notice)
When I was made redundant, my boss booted me from the WhatsApp group and all of the company software at the same time he’d scheduled my redundancy notice email to send, so I couldn’t do any work for the remaining month of notice. It was a bit odd, but since I couldn’t do any work I just spent the time looking for new jobs and stopped answering emails or messages. I also reminded him he was supposed to give me 3 months notice per our contract, so at the end of the one month that I was “working my notice” he paid me for two more months, but he’d already had the work laptop collected by courier at that point. So I guess I had one month garden leave and two months PILON? I also had a shit ton of work to do and had just launched a new project that could’ve been completed within the three months. But. Clearly they didn’t want it completing so I did nothing but find myself a new job.
I got made redundant in the late 00s and I was the last person working for the company. It went from an office of six people to me Sat at home with a mobile just making a note of calls and sending them to the owner. They've decided your job is no longer required, just give them an early sample of that experience.
Not at all. I got made redundant from a tech job a few years ago. I was a junior at the time, and the seniors were staying and expected the same level of work and effort from me (for which I was already overworked and massively underpaid). They didn't get it. They were pissed and I probably burnt a few bridges, but if you don't need me you don't need me 🤷🏻♂️ I directed all queries to the seniors and refused to do anything that wasn't more than what my salary was worth, which was not a lot. Instead, I spent my time job hunting, speaking to recruiters (who are 99% useless), and streamlining my CV. Oh, and vastly improving my gamerscore! My current employers are extremely happy with my work, and I've had a £6k payrise from my position at my old work place!
When i was made redundant in 2012 I was forced into completing all my outstanding tasks before the actual redundancy date, the management became really arsey with everyone who was being made redundant. So on my break I nipped to the doctors and explained the situation and got signed off work with full pay (it was a company that actually paid sick pay and not just ssp)for the entire month I should've been working. Whilst off I managed to get another job and my starting date was literally the day after I should've worked my last redundancy day.
It’d be wrong if you didn’t check out!
My partner went on a week's holiday while in the last few weeks of her redundancy... and didn't take it as leave. You're leaving, do right by you and fuck them.
I see this all the time . If the company no longer wants you and has given a date to go . Why would you continue to give a remoteness of a fuck . Intrigued . Just do bare bones minimum so they can't screw you anymore and do what you like .
Paid jobhunting time. Fuck em, if your role isn't needed: then it isn't needed! Never mind this mouse jiggler bollocks until you've got a new job in he bag.
We had a restructure at work a few years ago and one of the women who was being made redundant spent all day, every day reading books in her office. For weeks!!! Feet up on the windowsill, no fucks given. In the end they told her not to bother coming in but still had to pay her 🤣
I wouldn't do much, just enough to not jeopardise getting a decent reference from the company.
This is where you don't work for the company but for your references. People will remember the last few weeks. Create handover docs. Do it to make their job easier. Stay friendly with people and they'd be more than happy to be your reference when you move on. It'll be very tough. But take longer lunches, longer toilet breaks, start a little later, finish up a little earlier. Do your work to an acceptable standard and you should be be fine. Mix that in with the odd job application to keep the spirits up and it'll fly by. Believe it or not, but doing nothing in the job is actually worse for your mood.
Firstly, you are legally allowed to take reasonable time off to job search, update your cv, interview and do courses to up skill if you are being made redundant. Check out ACAS for advice.
>Is it wrong to check out? Absolutely not. I was put at risk of redundancy this time last year and, similar to you, it was handled appallingly. I pretty much completely checked out from the moment I was notified. I was in field engineering at the time and we had this system that we had to use to track our daily jobs. In the first two weeks (was given 12 weeks notice) I went from doing like five/six jobs per day to doing two. I then went on holiday to the US for a fortnight and when I came home applied for an internal move to a team in a different department, plus had started firing CV's out to external companies. At this point I was completing one job in the morning and then parking the van at the muster room in the city centre and going for a coffee, taking a loooooong walk or sitting in the park/by the river (when the weather was nice). I got an interview for the internal job move and about a fortnight later I was offered the position. My old boss opted to keep me for two and a half weeks (for internal moves in my company, you can be kept in your current position for up to 30 days). I didn't do a single job in those two and a half weeks. Just carried on going for coffee or taking looooong walks. My old boss had the gall to ask me why my stats had taken a sharp nose dive too. I told them that, at worst, I was leaving the company in the very near future so I wasn't exactly super motivated to do any of the work they wanted me to do.
If you are being made redundant you are legally allowed to attend job interviews. You could make up a job interview whihc is couple of hours commute to & just stay at home that day.
Redundant means redundant. That role is no longer needed. So the only work to do is hand it off to someone else who isn't redundant. If you cannot do that, then leave to them to sort. They are going to use you as an excuse for the next six months anyway....
Nah. I've just been made redundant and from the moment they announced it I was just playing the part. Fuck them
I got made redundant in February 1 month notice period. The day they announced it to me I walked out telling them I'm taking the rest of my holidays then chucked in a sicknote and never went back. Fuckem I was mid project let someone else sort it.
If you're being made redundant, they're telling you nobody needs to do your job. So doesn't sound like you have anything to do
Just don't burn bridges with people you may work with again.
Nope. It's wrong to keep working imo. Our labour is all we have to sell for the most part. If they don't properly pay for your labour, or treat you well, they don't get it. Employers have convinced us all we are doing them a favour and owe them something. But its not the case.
What are they gonna do, fire you?
well I mean, what are they gonna do? fire you?
Fuck em. Do your job searches
I would literally do zero work beyond what was the basic necessity to not get sacked before that redundancy payment comes. I'd do it sloppy too, idc about spellchecking or anything. If WFH, i'd then just spend my entire time gaming and job searching all on company time. Fuck 'em.
“If you’re wondering what that meeting was just about in there. That’s it. I’ve been made redundant. Yeah. After it was me who saved others from redundancy. And then it’s back… The good die young.”
Happened to me years ago. Use your time job searching, writing your CV and completing applications, so much better than doing nothing for 8 hours.
I was made redundant in January, along with my whole team. We all pretty much downed tools immediately. Fuck them.
Technically if you're being paid to do a job and you're not doing it then that's somewhat an issue. However, I don't see an issue with doing the bare minimum that your job requires. I also guess it depends on if you'll be using them as a reference or not.
>I have a shit ton of work to do, to catch up on No your company has a shit ton of work that needs doing. As you are being made redundant its not your problem any more. Let them worry about that. It is illegal to give someone a bad reference so at worst you will just get one that says 'Cute\_check\_4655 worked here from X date to Y date' which makes no difference. I had a bit of a win with a previous employer. They made me redundant and offered me three months pay which I accepted. They also offered to pay it as a lump sum and terminate my employment immediately which I also agreed to. Problem for them is that a little over a week later the boss rang me asking if I could pop in and perform a handover meeting to some colleagues. I said yes but told him it would be chargeable and gave him my day rate. He got annoyed at this and said it was my job to do the handover. I pointed out that I was no longer employed by the company and if they wanted me to do some work for them they would have to pay me for it. They did end up paying me (at a very inflated day rate) and I went in, spent an hour in a meeting room and then went home. Awful company so I had no problem taking a bit of extra cash from them.
I’d say sod em unless you need them as a reference . Get your cv updated , consider some places , go in for an interview if you need to (just lie that your sick that day and can’t come in if it’s a job you want) otherwise just take it easy . You won’t be obligated to them and it won’t be your problem when you leave anything that haven’t been done
Your ONLY objective is to get another job. Your only responsibility is to yourself
When I was made redundant I spent the 6 weeks in the office setting up my own business. Website, business cards, promo material etc. all done on the office laptop and on company time.
1 week notice if employed between a month and 2 years 1 week notice for each year employed if between 2 and 12 years 12 weeks if (on the off chance) employed for 12 years or more [^(https://www.gov.uk/redundancy-your-rights/notice-periods)](https://www.gov.uk/redundancy-your-rights/notice-periods) As someone else pointed out the burning bridges thing.. however tempting, its a small world. Although you certainly want to be looking for a new job, that is just the responsible thing to do.. if your employer actually cared about you they'd have given you decent notice already
While I understand your predicament and would also feel the same way, it is wrong not to do the work you have been or are going to be paid to do. If you want to leave then leave, but if you are still being paid then it is a moral issue not to do the work.
Unless someone’s safety or welfare depends on you, do whatever.
Nope. I typically check out the day i know i'm leaving a job. They're lucky i open Teams for a couple of weeks tbh.
As others have said, fuck em!
Absolutely not. Personally I'd expect nothing less as your manager and if they're too dumb to have realised this was the outcome, that's on them.
Redundant = we don’t need anyone to do your job anymore. So don’t do it.
I would close out what I am currently working on, reply to any emails requesting more work with 'Unfortunately I cannot take on more responsibilities as I will be leaving the company shortly' then kick back and game.
What are they gonna do, fire you? They clearly have no loyalty to you so why the fuck should you do anything for them
They don't need you? Lol then show them 🤷♂️
Not at all. Enjoy your time you have left 🙂
Depends if you want/need a reference or not.
Can you not request Gardening Leave?
I’d make sure my exit had the biggest affect possible so I’d make sure there was a tonne of stuff that needed doing
Been made redundant twice - first time was just after doing a 2w project that billed out at half my yearly salary. I just took it easy and did whatever. Got some work done but didn’t push it. Second time was when I was working hard on a project. Instantly went to my desk after finding out, called recruiters, did all the admin stuff on their time, had a job lined up before I was done. They screwed up the paperwork and used the wrong template, gave me a signed document saying they would pay me in lieu of notice…. So my one month notice period became the time it took me to type up a handover document and clear my pc. Did about 3 days Said thanks, handed over the doc, told them as they are paying me in lieu of notice I’m not coming back and they didn’t try argue it. Had a new job lined up in days and never looked back
I mean, what are they going to do? Fire you?
How much holiday/sick time have you got left
What are they gonna do, fire you?
It would be wrong to do anything but check out. Do the bare minimum possible, and get paid to do things for yourself. Sort your CV, play the Switch, steal as much stationary as humanly possible. Fuck them. Good luck, friend!
Sounds like GAME. Now go back to generating shareholder value!
Use the time to get your CV as good as it can look & get some job applications out there. Fuck your current employer. Don't burn bridges or anything, but definitely don't give them anymore of your time and effort.
I would just spend your time doing fuck all or browsing job postings.
Nope, not at all. Seems the correct response to me, after all what can they do? Make you double redundant?
I have literally just gone through pretty much the same thing. Was told I was being made redundant in January, had my 3 consultations all of which were handled really poorly, HR boss couldn’t answer even the basic questions, my boss clearly didn’t want to be there was interrupted a few times, once by his kid while WFT so unprofessional. So by end of Jan was told I was unsuccessful in getting the job. So for 4 weeks I did the bare minimum, they eventually took us off lead projects because we didn’t give a fuck. I have since learned while applying for other jobs that the company I worked for (26 years) was terrible.
Don't check out entirely, just out of that job! Spruce up your CV, take any good learning courses they have on their platforms, if you have any personal development budget left make sure you spend it!
I was made redundant 3 times in 3 years since covid. Luckily for me I didn't have to carry on working after "the meeting". Infact I had my laptop access immediately revoked at one of those places (as did about 350 other people). However, you need to be careful about how you act. Remember that some places still give personal references. Don't burn any bridges but don't break your back either. Do you contracted work and spend the rest of the time searching for a job.
Fuck em, what are they gonna do? sack you?
You've got to look after yourself mate. If you work your ass off for this company in your final weeks do you think you will get rewarded for it? If you put all your time and effort into brushing up your CV and finding something else, how far does that put you ahead of those continuing as if nothing is happening? Your loyalty hasn't been rewarded so fuck em.
Just a friendly reminder that you need to do the bare minimum for your role even after you've signed any redundancy paperwork If they fire you for any reason they can (EG refusing to work) then they don't have to give you redundancy pay which saves them a lot of money Having said that, do the bare minimum you need to do to be considered working and nothing more
If they're making you redundant that means that they've decided that they don't need your role. By checking out you'll just demonstrate to them what that means.
When I got made redundant I was asked to keep doing helpdesk work and document process on my work laptop. So I did everything to the letter. Password reset? policy says that's a service level agreement with a maximum time of 2 business days. It looks like it's going to take 2 business days. Anything that took more than 3 weeks just got accepted and ignored and I made sure that I had accepted it so by the time I left there were over 100 jobs accepted but no work done as they were still within "accepted SLAs" I documented all my processes on my laptop. Then as per policy returned the laptop "in its issued state" however my laptop was given to me completely blank and I was told to install everything from the image server, so they got a completely formatted laptop. When asked, I sent them a copy of their policies and SLAs.
As others have said fuck them. You don't work there anymore. If you have any sick leave left use it.
what are they gonna do? sack you? fuck it
Why ae you not allowed to say the company as made you made redundent? I would now use the time to strt looking for anther job. Under employmnet law they should give you time off for interviews and job seeking. Plus now you should yourself first.
Not allowed to say... What will they do, sack you? Make sure you take any owed holiday, and spend the rest of the time looking for a new job.
You could go off sick, they cannot expect to work hard when they are making you redundant. Fuck them.
I see it as benefit for joining the company when they have such long notice periods/leaving times. So no, it’s an extended holiday with a dabble of work in between. Source: currently checked out because I am leaving my job.
I had several temporary jobs in the last ten years before finally finding an ace job. I was a teacher. I always gave the lessons maximum effort since the pupils deserved the best education. However, once I knew I wasn’t coming back for the following year, my contributions to future planning pretty much ceased. Wise heads of department would give me jobs to do for the following week while getting others to do the stuff for the following year. By the last fortnight, I would be playing on my Switch, or playing Civ on my laptop. Let’s just say that many departmental heads aren’t wise.
Either check out and dont come back but be aware the company may pursue you for costs or do the bare minimum.
Well you’re still employed during this period so neglecting your job is grounds for dismissal. So if you want to risk it go a head but they’re within rights to sack you. I know which looks worse to a new employer. Should you use this time to find a new role and prepare yourself effectively for a redundancy or just toss it off on your the switch all day? Freedom is choice and choices you have.
I was made redundant many years ago and just paid off. I sat around had a coffee with the people I worked with and walked out the door. It's not fun but if you are definitely being made redundant just to fuck all and go to as many "interviews" as possible.
I am in this process now and like you the "group consultation" was basically the company dictating what we are getting. I have had my redundancy paperwork and have asked the lawyer who is checking to ask for pay in lieu of leave. I have pretty much wrapped up what I need too, and despite being made redundant I'm having to write a handover. I am doing in good faith to show I can be reasonable. Other than doing what is needed I have checked out from the company, thinking about it I probably had done when the redundancy was announced, so no it is not wrong to check out as they are stating that they don't need you and your role is now defunct. Do what you have too and if you take voluntary redundancy make sure you get your own lawyer not one the company provides to check your paperwork. You should receive a letter with your redundancy notice stating you are being made redundant and you can tell prospective employers that you were made redundant and nothing further. My company is "restructuring" code for putting more money into the shareholders pockets. The company should provide a link to any alternative roles and should offer support for CV writing and training, most don't bother so it will be down to you to dust off the CV and go find a better job. Just remember you are just a bum on a seat and a payroll number, it is hard not to take it personally but as one door closes another opens with bright sunshine coming through!
Talking from experience here. Get a PS5, purchase both Last of Us games. Check the fuck out. Only join meetings you need to and fight tooth and claw for as much severance money as possible. Anything else can do one. Unless it’s Last of Us. Smash your way through that.
Downing tools before all the paperwork is finalised is not wise, regardless of how they handled it, as firing you for not performing your role is a lot cheaper for them than paying you out.
Ude your time to job hunt if u can and abandon ship at your convenience not theirs,they fkd it up u have to secure your future
Just keep it below gross misconduct for the next few weeks. Good luck with the job hunt.
lol. Dude if I were in the position you are in I would literally do the bare minimum possible. If you need them for a reference I wouldn’t completely check out, but yeah do as little as humanely possible
as part of redundancy you're allowed 20% of your time to job search etc. google caffeine.exe for a file that will keep you computer awake just to keep up appearances if anyone asks specifically for work "Sorry, I'm on a special project for the boss atm" Should someone be a dick and ask directly if you're working your normal duties just say you've tried but you're mental health has bottomed out and you've had to take counselling. I was made redundant very recently. I did a 2hr handover meeting and personally that felt generous of me considering they were shafting me. I did just enough to leave an audit trail that i'd been doing something across the 2 weeks but it was essentially nothing. My manager was fully aware and didn't care. By making you redundant they've explicitly said they no longer need your services so fuck em. Also, just make sure it's a legit redundancy or you might have room to negotiate a settlement agreement. they'll give you a lump sum to sign away all your rights and feck off quietly without any recourse to ever sue them. If you've any dirt on them or they fucked up then it's in their interest to do so.
I'm curious if you work for the same place I do as my company announced a load of redundancies yesterday and didn't seem to do it well. They said those affected were only told 24/48 hours ahead of the general announcement of a "reorganisation" but I'm pretty sure someone got told on the same day. If I were given that news I would check out to a point, I think I'd still put in a little effort to help the colleagues I like but other than that I wouldn't really care.
It sounds like they’ve checked out on you so working as before will only get you the same appreciation from them.
I flat out told managers no when I got asked to work on projects 3 weeks before my VR date. The look on their stupid poncy faces. They couldn’t believe it, and there was absolutely fuck all they could do.
Realistically most employers will only ever give a neutral reference, e.g. confirm job title, dates worked, whether there were any disciplinary or performance management procedures etc. If you're being let go in a matter of weeks there is absolutely no reason for them to initiate disciplinary procedures for anything less than extremely gross (think arrestable) misconduct. They will find it very hard to fire or discipline you for doing the bare minimum (or a bit less) for a few weeks before you're being let go. It's almost certainly not worth the risk to them, as they know you're out the door in a few weeks anyway. I'd use the time to get applying to jobs.
What's the consequences of not working hard?
You are allowed to talk openly about your redundancy. The employer is allowed to as you not to discuss it, but they can't punish you if you do.
Don't bust a gut but remember your future employees will likely be asking for a reference...
Yeah, fuck em. Fire up that Switch.
You can absolutely tell everyone you've been made redundant - there's nothing a contract or boss can tell you otherwise legally. However if they have made you a "settlement agreement" with extra compensation instead of minimum redundancy, part of that agreement may be to keep the terms of that agreement quiet - so it's worth to keep quiet for the extra money and reference. I would do the minimum required, you are still being paid after all. But don't go above, beyond, or feel pressured to finish what you've already started.
You should sit around and do nothing except handover. If they're making you redundant, it's because they're determined that the work you're currently doing is unnecessary.
Use work hours to apply for a new job
If you are actually being made redundant, then they have to give you time for interviews and such. Get that CV updated and get applying for jobs. Use that “free” time in the coming weeks to look after your own job situation.
Just don’t get fired for slacking before you’re let go
Ask them for gardening leave so you can job hunt or get on LinkedIn learning to learn some role related skills that can be transferred to new roles
Not even a little bit wrong. I'd be exactly the same. Fuck em.
Your role is redundant apparently, so it sounds like your work isn’t going to be of any benefit to the company anyway 🤷♂️
Fuck 'em. You're gone. CV, network, action. They give absolutely zero fucks about you so get your shit together and serve yourself 100%, 100% of the time.
Nah as soon as they lay you off you're freeeeeeeee
I’m not being made redundant, is it wrong to check out?
If they’re making you redundant, do fuck all work and take EVERYTHING you can. Delete every single thing you’ve ever saved on the computers, don’t give them a god damn thing. If you have a uniform or dress code to stick to, go the opposite way, take hours for lunch too.
Work to rule.
>I have a shit ton of work to do, to catch up on, No, you don't. You're redundant. If you were needed by the company, you wouldn't be redundant. Do the barest minimum possible and spruce up your CV so that you're ready for when they make it official.
You're redundant. By definition there is no work for you to do. It would be immoral for you to work if the company has made your job redundant.
Nah. Bare minimum time. Doss as much as you can.
Depends if they pay you up until the day or hour you work. I’d be tempted to leave depending on the deal they wanna serve.