Laid off 101

When a Layoff/Firing Constitutes Wrongful Termination

With so many people being laid off or fired as we publish this post, we thought an overview of an employees legal position on being laid-off or fired would be very helpful and timely.   The General Rule   In the United States, most employees are “at-will” employees, meaning that, absent an employment agreement that states otherwise, both the [...]

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Working with a Career Coach

  Whether you want to fine-tune your career or change careers entirely, working with a career coach can help you jump-start the process. A career coach, like a sports coach, helps a talented performer—you—perfect your job-search or business startup game. Do you really need a coach? Hey, if pro athletes need coaches, the rest of us [...]

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Don’t panic

  Sound advice from the cheeky humor writer Douglas Adams. And although we’re not quite hurtling through space after the alien demolition of planet earth, being out of work can certainly feel like the end of the world at times. It’s easy to be overwhelmed. Unemployment can trigger anxieties in a variety of ways, but it’s [...]

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Brief overview of your rights on being laid off – severance and benefits

This brief article is designed to give some background on the laws regarding termination, as well as certain rights/benefits to which you may avail yourself if you are terminated. Notice; Severance Under federal law, employment is generally considered to be “at will,” which means that employees may quit their jobs at any time, with or without reason [...]

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Will work for food…

I guess this wasn’t totally unexpected.  After a year of working for miserable pay, with a miserable boss, and miserable hours, I left my job.  Actually I guess I should say my job left me, since they were kind enough to point out that I seemed a touch miserable, and suggest I could be happier [...]

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Alma gets laid off and goes kayaking

I was laid-off from work and all I got was stinking mug! At least I wasn’t fired due to incompetence or inconsistency or some other word that starts with an “I”. Recent economic slumpage forced the President (not Bush, the organizations President) to make some *cough*necessary *cough* budget cuts to what shall be forever known as [...]

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Tara gets laid off from fancy law firm

It was Friday, August 15, 2008, 11:37am, 1 year and 331 days after I, fresh out of law school, started working at a corporate law firm in New York. I was called into the head partner’s office, knowing nothing more than (a) head partner was about to leave on his annual 2-week end-of-August vacation and [...]

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Casey: My path to joblessness

I had been working at a startup—a management consulting firm to nonprofits—since receiving my undergraduate degree two years ago. Startups being what they are (inherently risky, that is), I tried to stash money under the mattress whenever I could, to prepare for any fluctuations in my income. Consequently I was somewhat prepared, although no less [...]

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