3 ms·

What are some strategies for this? I can't think of any and would have been a sitting duck.

giantrobot 4y ago
Get everything in writing. If someone wants an in-person meeting with no notes taken send an e-mail to them afterwards confirming what was said in the meeting. That way you have a paper trail of what was said/known and when.
- itake 4y ago
  Do you have more context as to why this is important? Is this for all project work, or is this for meetings discussing severance?
  - sbarre 4y ago
    If your employer is trying to fire you "with cause" then they will be producing a paper trail of their own, to justify their decision. Their paper trail will be very one-sided, of course. You will need your own paper trail to demonstrate your side of things, either as part of the severance meeting - if you even get the opportunity - or after you get fired if you choose to make a claim against it.
  - giantrobot 4y ago
    This is advice if you think your employer is going to try firing you for cause so they don't need to pay a severance. When they're trying to do that your manager will try to have more face to face meetings so none of the discussions are recorded. Then they will send some e-mails to their manager with some colored description of what took place. For instance they'll say your productivity dropped or you're mismanaging your time because you didn't work on project A but in your one-on-one they explicitly told you to stop working on project A and instead focus on B. When it comes time to drop the hammer they'll have one-sided documentation of your performance. If they're start talking about your performance definitely follow up with an e-mail about what metrics they are using to measure performance and pressure them to give you a path for correction. If you don't have any documentation it will be easier for them to fire you and offer you nothing. If you have a bunch of documentation, especially if they know you have it, they'll be more likely to offer a severance. A wrongful termination suit will likely cost them more than your severance, especially if you have a lot of documentation of your work and performance. Also remember HR exists to protect the company, they don't give a shit about you beyond whatever the legal requirement is for giving a shit. Don't sign anything without reading it carefully.

Get everything in writing. If someone wants an in-person meeting with no notes taken send an e-mail to them afterwards confirming what was said in the meeting. That way you have a paper trail of what was said/known and when.

itake 4y ago
Do you have more context as to why this is important? Is this for all project work, or is this for meetings discussing severance?
- sbarre 4y ago
  If your employer is trying to fire you "with cause" then they will be producing a paper trail of their own, to justify their decision. Their paper trail will be very one-sided, of course. You will need your own paper trail to demonstrate your side of things, either as part of the severance meeting - if you even get the opportunity - or after you get fired if you choose to make a claim against it.
- giantrobot 4y ago
  This is advice if you think your employer is going to try firing you for cause so they don't need to pay a severance. When they're trying to do that your manager will try to have more face to face meetings so none of the discussions are recorded. Then they will send some e-mails to their manager with some colored description of what took place. For instance they'll say your productivity dropped or you're mismanaging your time because you didn't work on project A but in your one-on-one they explicitly told you to stop working on project A and instead focus on B. When it comes time to drop the hammer they'll have one-sided documentation of your performance. If they're start talking about your performance definitely follow up with an e-mail about what metrics they are using to measure performance and pressure them to give you a path for correction. If you don't have any documentation it will be easier for them to fire you and offer you nothing. If you have a bunch of documentation, especially if they know you have it, they'll be more likely to offer a severance. A wrongful termination suit will likely cost them more than your severance, especially if you have a lot of documentation of your work and performance. Also remember HR exists to protect the company, they don't give a shit about you beyond whatever the legal requirement is for giving a shit. Don't sign anything without reading it carefully.