Impending Layoff

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magictolight.com

magictolight.com

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Location
Indianola, Iowa
Well, being a small shop I had not had to deal with this. Our budget indicates I am going to have to lay off a journeyman that works with me. I find that I have to make cuts to my salary and this layoff is the only way I can make the numbers work for the next 3 months. I really care about this guy and his family. Do I tell him immediately even though I am waiting till Monday which is 6 days away for the actual termination or do I just drop it on him Monday? This one is really tearing me up.
 
Just remember, it's only business and not personal.

Wait until Monday, you may regret saying something too early.

Better yet do it Friday. Don't make him come in just to let him go.
 
tkb said:
Better yet do it Friday. Don't make him come in just to let him go.
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I agree, that would suck. He can use the weekend to figure out what he needs to do and hit the ground running Monday

He must know things are slow he should understand if there is no work there is no money to pay him.

Just a thought, would you be able to swing him some severance pay to carry him till unemployment kicks in? I am not saying you are obligated to, just that you seem to care and that might be helpful.

Good luck.
 
It always seems painful, but layoffs are a part of this business.The gut reaction is painful, but he would rather get a steady check then work 2 days a week. I talked to a guy that got laid off by text message,his employer has 3 guys looking for a new boss. That just plain the wrong way of doing it!Good luck
 
I don't know about Friday afternoon but getting laid off Monday morning first thing is the opposite of a good way to start off the week. I think I'd have preferred Friday afternoon.

My experience opinion
 
Do you know any other contractors in the area that may hire him temporarily he must be a good worker with having this much dread . Spring is coming and things might pick up and you can hire him back.
 
If you care about him, do it on a Friday, this way he doesn't have to claim a partial claim for the Monday he showed up on his UI. Iwire, severance pay is income, and UI would not let you claim if you were paid it during a waiting week, etc. ... in any of the states where I have ever had a claim, anyway.
 
I also agree with Friday. One thought that was not mentioned, if you lay him off on Friday, he might not spend money (that he will need) over the weekend that he might spend if you lay him off on Monday.
 
As a person who has been on the receiving side of this unfortunate news, on more than one occasion, I have to disagree with what has been said so far. I do agree that Friday is better, by far, than Monday. But better still would be to tell him now. If you do not trust him to give you the full benefit of the working time that remains between today and his last day, then perhaps you should have terminated him long ago. If you do trust him to give you a full day's work on each of his remaining days, then he will be better off knowing his fate as early as possible.
 
charlie b said:
But better still would be to tell him now. If you do not trust him to give you the full benefit of the working time that remains between today and his last day, then perhaps you should have terminated him long ago.
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My experience tells me it is not wise to tell anyone trades they will be laid off in X days.

Perhaps tradesman are not quite as respectable as engineers I do not know but telling hourly paid employees that they will be laid off in a few days will slow production and may result in loss of tools and material.

I have been laid off at least 4 times and I was always 'officially' notified they day of the lay off. Of course IMO in most cases you should be able to tell it is coming.
 
Depends on your week pay cycle, if you lay him off so he can count the time as his waiting week and still get a glob of money he may be even happier.
Like on Tuesday. Depending on your pay scale and state rates.
 
iwire said:
My experience tells me it is not wise to tell anyone trades they will be laid off in X days.

Perhaps tradesman are not quite as respectable as engineers I do not know but telling hourly paid employees that they will be laid off in a few days will slow production and may result in loss of tools and material.

I have been laid off at least 4 times and I was always 'officially' notified they day of the lay off. Of course IMO in most cases you should be able to tell it is coming.
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And you can bet that at some point during that time the words "what are they gonna do? Fire me?" will come out of their mouths.
 
iwire said:
My experience tells me it is not wise to tell anyone trades they will be laid off in X days.

Perhaps tradesman are not quite as respectable as engineers I do not know but telling hourly paid employees that they will be laid off in a few days will slow production and may result in loss of tools and material.

I have been laid off at least 4 times and I was always 'officially' notified they day of the lay off. Of course IMO in most cases you should be able to tell it is coming.
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And to add to that, no saying this guy would do it, but if some one knew in x number of days they were getting laid off they could have a "bad on the job injury". That would throw a big wrench in what you could and could not do. You have to protect yourself and the business.
 
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