Got Lay Off?

[D_Martin van Burden]

Hey gang, I was curious if anyone had any experiences to share about being unexpectedly laid off from a job. I ask because... it happened to me last night.

The franchise owner called in everyone working at the restaurant. After holding us up for 20 minutes, he went on and on about Ruby Tuesday in general and its aspirations to be on a new caliber of fine dining (don't hold your breath), and said that he had finally decided to close down our location. He said that he had been juggling this decision for a few months, and that since he was leasing the mall space month to month, now was a good time to get out. Strangely enough, he decided to close our doors in the middle of our summer patio season; we make the most money during this season. We received all of a single day's notice of the event, even though we had a sinking feeling it was going to happen soon enough.

We talked about transferring to different stores and how to accomplish that. Worse, he really came off as a dick, talking about how the close was a good time to weed out people from other stores in an effort to reintegrate our staff. Since this guy has been notorious for being unable to pay for our checks several times while I've been working there, I imagine that it's a polite way of clipping a lot of schedules and minimizing a number of hours paid out. Never mind that being "new" somewhere else, it makes it that much more difficult to get the good shifts for tip money.

I planned on moving back home at the end of the month anyway to spend some time with the fam before heading out west. Now, I'm doing my best to move by the end of the week. My landlord is cool about it as long as I pay him some prorated rent and clean up my shit. I'm a little bummed, though. Believe me, no one has an enduring love for the service industry, but I've gotten close to a lot of those kids. One guy, for instance, is still young and in college and he has said that he's really fond of me. I like him too; he's a great guy. We hung out for the first time last week, and I wistfully remarked that had I known he would be so chill to hang with, we would have downed Cape Cods more often.

I'm okay. I'm living with my mom for a month. I'm trying to figure out what exactly there is to do back home for work. I guess that will fall into place somehow.

 

[Deno]

Man I feel for you. I have been too. For awhile now. And with the lack of jobs I am scared. I have not collected UnEmployment since the 70's, nor needed to look for a job. I am not a spring chicken anymore and I am sure it will make a difference finding a job. Good luck to you...

 

[vince]

Sorry to hear that Dee. The boss does come off as a bit of a weasel, not being straight with you or giving a bit of time to his workers to find other gigs.

You're a smart guy and I'm sure something good will work out for you.

 

[Northland]

Sorry to hear about this. Keep in mind all things do happen for a reason (although two things need to be noted-sometimes there is no clear reason and secondly sometimes the reason sucks).

Twice I was placed on temporary layoff from Greyhound. When people decided flying everywhere was better, the bus companies took big hits-even with their fare-saver deals.

Seeing as how you were planning on heading back home in a few weeks, this may somehow work out for the best as it allows you to have the spare time to close up your current residence. It may also get you back home fast enough to find some work before all those scrawny highschoolers get bored with their summer off of hanging on the corner and at the mall and decide to snap up the few open jobs.

You seem to have a fairly positve attitude about all this and in job searches I am sure that your upbeat nature will show itself to prospective employers which should lean in your favor. Best of everything and keep us posted on how it all goes.



(Incidentally, your now former manager sounds like he couldn't manage a box of rubberbands-late paychecks, closing just before the season really kicks into gear, renting a space month to month-it just seems like poor management on his part)

 

[RandyL]

You wouldn't believe me if I told you how many times I've been fired or laid off from jobs. I recently held one job for 1-1/2 years and it was a good job with good people, but the pay wasn't really enough.

Anyhow, I was working at a company recently, but didn't like the place. I was still a little upset from losing the 1-1/2 year job. So I came in 1-5 minutes late 6 days in a row (semi-unintentionally), didn't move too fast on the job, and finally got "let go" because they said I wasn't picking up the new job fast enough. Whatever. But that makes me eligible for unemloyment (which I know a lot about, unfortunately) because it's considered a not-at-fault seperation, so I'll be able to collect $274 a week after the 10% federal taxes are taken out for 6 months. Not a lot of money,but enough to get by on. Plus any cash I get from side work = more profit for me!

I may look for another job, wich won't be too hard to find, or I may just take the rest of the year off. Haven't really decided yet. I might look only for jobs that pay much better than what I was getting.

 

[Ethyl]

Quit but would've been laid off had I stayed. Fortunately am now employed but I feel for you. I left my former job last year in September (hadn't been paid in three weeks and didnt' expect things to change for the better) and other than moonlighting part-time for the bookstore, I was, more or less, unemployed. Scary time for me but I decided to use it an an opportunity to search for something that was a good fit for me. Work environment, benefits, and feeding my need for challenge and creativity were (almost) as important as my salary.

I agree with the general consensus; your former boss sounds like a disingenuous schmuck. You're smart and resourceful. You've made it this far. I'm sure you'll find something even better soon. :smile:

 

[Pecker]

Layoffs are eligible for unemployment benefits. I hope you pursue that.

You deserve to have the best of luck, Dee.

 

[B_dumbcow]

:kiss: Sorry, Dee.
Good luck in getting a new job, I'm sure you will find something better :smile:

 

[sandwulf]

I feel for ya man, I'm dealing with the layoff thing myself right now.
I was a route salesman for a bread delivery company for 3 years and made pretty good money at it. It was a 50k a year job with a nice benefits package.

Then we all get called in for our monthly sales meeting where we were told that the contract for our biggest client was up and that the upper ups had ended negotiations for contract renewal. We had been under bid by .01 cent per unit and they weren't going to try to keep the account. Thus requiring that we cut our number of salesman by 10 for our depot. A few days later and I am out of the best job I've ever had.

Being laid off from such a good job through no fault of my own has not been good for finding a new job in the current economy. There aren't a lot of good jobs out there right now and even the crappy jobs are hesitant to hire me because I am still eligible for recall and they don't want to take the chance that I'll get called back to my old job and quit suddenly.

So I'm just kinda screwed on the job front right now. The best I have been able to find so far has been some rather unsteady and highly under paid work for a local temp agency. What is a guy to do?

 

[invisibleman]

I am sorry to hear about you being laid off. I have been done like that too. And my bosses were similarly the same in outlookas yours. They even kept switching my duties and making more for me to do and not paying me more money...and they let me go.

I hope that you become successful at a better place and with better people behind you.

 

[classyron]

The guy was a jerk for not giving you a heads-up, but being laid-off is better than quitting or being fired because of the unemployment benefits. It happened to me before, and it sucked, but it did allow me to take some time to make life decisions! For whatever that is worth. I am currently laid-off, but that I knew it was coming and was prepared for it. My boss was let go, years ago, and I joked to some friends that I would not last a week because of how closely he and I worked on the majority of projects. I was laid-off 6 days later. I guess I should have kept my mouth shut.

Good Luck! And, if you can, take some time to figure shit out for yourself before you jump back into the workplace. Having a clear head will prevent you from jumping at the first job and potentially getting into a shitty work environment.

 

[simcha]

Dee, unfortunately, this is the way of the world in this economy where workers have no rights. The boss man has been handed ultimate and absolute power over workers since unions have been almost universally busted in this country and good jobs have been shipped overseas where the boss men can hire slaves to do their work.

This brings us all down because wages sink as people become more and more willing to work for wages that don't allow them to have a decent quality of life out of desperation and belief that they cannot change the system because it's been stacked against them.

Nope, there is no such thing as job security. Get used to it. Make sure you get familiar with how to file unemployment claims. Make sure that you scrimp and save while you have income so that you might be able to have at least three months worth of expenses on hand in case your job evaporates.

Then, check out how workers are just beginning to wake up to realize that they have more power than they are led to believe. See that workers provide the labor that is still needed in order to make the wealthy rich and keep them rich. Start to get involved in grassroots organizations that look out for worker's rights. And vote for politicians who respect labor and workers and give us our due.

Sorry for your loss. I wish I could say that this would be the last time this would happen, but it probably isn't. It's better to prepare and to take care of yourself so that when it happens again, you won't be as freaked out. The first time is the scariest. I remember it well. As it turned out, I made out better because I hated that job. And somehow most of us manage to make it through these hard times. Just make sure you get your unemployment claim in and do everything they tell you to do to keep the benefit until you are hired again.

Oh, and if you have insurance with the old employer, don't make the mistake of dropping the coverage because COBRA is so expensive. Yes, it's expensive and the employer and insurance companies make it so expensive to encourage people to dump their coverage. The problem is that if you drop, it'll take longer to get back on health insurance anywhere else. You need that certificate of portability.

Unfortunately you'll need to look past your feelings of hurt and anger and work with your old HR department to make sure you keep those benefits and any 401k money you have. Also, make sure you roll that 401k into an IRA or your next employer's 401k. Don't let it just sit at the old place and get lost.

Take care, Simcha.

 

[Mr. Bungle]

Ah, sorry to hear that - I've been laid off from several jobs... there's always collecting unemployment too, and that'll at least help ya get by a little bit. take it as a blessing in disguise; you'll find something better. I'm out of work right now myself and still trying to figure out what kind of work I really want to be doing. hang tough bro!!

 

[camper joe]

Wow Dee that sucks big time, but you should be able to get unemployment and hopefully that will hold you until you return home. Best of luck to you.

 

[faceking]

Layoffs are eligible for unemployment benefits. I hope you pursue that.

You deserve to have the best of luck, Dee.

concur. you've been paying into it for just such an occasion such as this. no shame in taking it.

 

[D_Martin van Burden]

Thanks for the support. I have been going back and forth being pissed and disappointed altogether. I might have planned things a little ldifferently had I known things would go down like this, but alas, I don't think there was much preparation for it.

I had to drop off some paperwork at the restaurant. A new franchise is taking over relatively soon, which was upsetting to find out. We got uprooted pretty quickly.

I've also decided to cut my losses. Since I had only planned on being here til the end of the month, I talked out paying a week's rent to my landlord and heading back to my mom's house. I'll stay there rent-free and chip in with food and bills if she'd have it. There are some restaurants near her, so maybe I can sneak into one, train, pull some quick tips and hightail it. I have to keep up with my car payment, cell phone, car insurance, and some minimums for my credit card for three months, and that might be feasible even if I don't do anything for the whole summer. (Needless to say, gonna try to make something come together.)

I did scrimp and save the remaining time, so I can scrounge up enough to kinda stay afloat until school starts. Once the assistantship funds kick in, I"ll be fine. I just don't have time to try to start unemployment funding especially since I'm not here to collect it. I would rather save what I can, keep things super cheap. I have gracious friends letting me hang out along the way; they know the situation so they want to be helpful and I thank the hell out of 'em for it.

I'll be okay.

I did some math. I can be careful and live on $4,000. I may not have much by the time I settle into Tucson, but that's all the more aptness to get on the ground running. Maybe work at a bar. Something. Or do porn with a mask covering my face. We'll see.

 

[D_Martin van Burden]

Honestly, I'm more pissed for the other people. I already had a plan and some capital to leave town. They don't. Even if the transition to a new restaurant is smoothed out some, our crew has to earn shifts and deal with new people, coming from a place where shifts were pretty reliable and consistent. Even if I stayed, I didn't like the idea of having to stand in front of the jackass boss and get quizzed over how to do my job. Fuck that. It's getting people fed and quenched and happy. Knowing the number of cheese sticks doesn't mean shit. And IF he gives so much as an ounce of lip, think, well you did jack my job from beneath me. Legal or not, it isn't right, and it would go to show that that added bit of resentment passed around word-of-mouth might not help realize the vision of becoming higher scale like Bonefish or Jay Mackenzie's or some shit.

 

[boerkie]

Man I feel for you. I have been too. For awhile now. And with the lack of jobs I am scared. I have not collected UnEmployment since the 70's, nor needed to look for a job. I am not a spring chicken anymore and I am sure it will make a difference finding a job. Good luck to you...

deno, i hope and pray you find a job soon!! it seems that your writing went mostly unnoticed so i wanted to lift it out and draw attention to it!!

 

[bruce-e]

I feel for you, some of us put our hearts into our job. Then we are really hurt when a layoff occurs. I worked 2 jobs, 1 full time, 1 part time. I quit the part time job after 9 years, to put all my effort into the full time job I had for 4 years. Then 3 weeks later, the ax fell and 45 % of the House Of Blues Restaurant staff in Hollywood California were let go, managers included. I was offered a promotion, but I didn't want an Office Job. So I was let go. I was emotionally crushed. But the getting back up, and looking good doing it, felt good. I manage buildings, not restaurants anymore. And I'm F**king good at my job. Get back up Honey, And look good doing it, Cheers, Bruce

 

[boerkie]

bruce-e. i live just down from the blue house, remember well when that happened!!
you go boy!! i am impressed for the way you picked up and run for yourself this time!!