Comment by _heimdall

Comment by _heimdall 4 days ago

4 replies

Unless I'm mistaken, isn't it illegal to base layoffs on individual performance? My understanding was that it can't legally be considered a layoff unless it meets pretty strict selection requirements at the group level (cutting orgs, cutting a "random" % of a role or org to reduce headcount, etc).

HaloZero 4 days ago

Not sure why that would illegal? Your own performance isn’t protected in anyway as a class that you can’t control. I know Lyft 100% laid off people not hitting meets expectations in 2020 first

  • _heimdall 3 days ago

    Again I am no expert here, this is just my understanding after being in the industry for a couple decades.

    As far as I'm aware, there's a fine line between layoffs or reductions in force and firing for poor performance. Its legal to cut an entire division, or to cut some percentage of a division's head count and come up with some way of distributing it across the org. It is not legal to find your worst performers, fire them all at once, and call it a layoff.

    Happy to be wrong here though, just trying to be clear with the line as I understand it. Someone coming by may know for sure.

    • polski-g 2 days ago

      Every single employee can be fired for any reason that is not a protected class. All professionals are hired at will.

  • dboreham 4 days ago

    In the US, saying that "your job has been eliminated" mitigates various legal risks (discrimination lawsuits for example). So although companies can do pretty much WTF they want, they also don't like being sued.