There’s only one thing worse than losing your job, and it’s losing your job for a company error and not because of your own performance.
A woman shared a startling story about her recent employment ordeal and how she had to exit the company over a “mistake.”
In the revealing TikTok video, Zoe (@zoe61443) shared that she was initially placed on a performance improvement plan and was subsequently offered the chance to exit her role with a severance package.
Highlights
- A TikToker named Zoe was mistakenly placed on a performance plan and asked to leave with severance.
- On her last day, Zoe's boss revealed it was all a mistake and she shouldn't have been asked to leave the company.
- Zoe felt "gaslit" after being told her exit was based on a mistake.
She decided to accept the proposal and head out the exit door with the package. However, on her final day, during her last meeting with her boss, Zoe was hit with a bombshell revelation: it was all a mistake, and she should never have been asked to leave.
Image credits: zoe61443
“So I resigned from my job on Tuesday because I was presented with an option to leave,” Zoe recounted in the TikTok video. “They want you to be gone, so the company gives you severance money, blah, blah, blah. I took it.”
She then went on to talk about her final meeting with her boss, who mentioned the “mistake” that dramatically altered the course of her career and her life.
“Today is my last meeting with my boss, and she tells me this: She made a mistake. Yep… I should have never been on a performance plan, and I should have never been asked to leave,” the TikToker continued.
The entire ordeal left her in a state of shock as she was left grappling with the realization that she was blameless in the situation.
In the video, the woman, named Zoe, explains she took that option, only to learn from her employer on her last day that they didn't want to let her go
Image credits: Alexander Suhorucov
Image credits: Zigic
“Has this happened to anybody?” she asked her followers. “Because it’s been like eight hours, and I’m still sitting here saying like, ‘What … is happening? Am I in a bad dream?’ … I still don’t have a job. I left because nothing made sense. It was so deceitful. And now I’m being told that everything was a lie? I feel like I’m being gaslit. Am I?”
Hundreds of people commented on Zoe’s posts, with many telling her that she should move on and never look back.
“Sounds like they thought they had a replacement and it fell through. RUN!!” one TikTok user said, while another added, “They just figured out that you do the work of 3 people and they only pay you the amount of ¾ of a person.”
"They want you to be gone, so the company gives you severance money, blah, blah, blah. I took it. Today is my last meeting with my boss, and she tells me this: She made a mistake"
Image credits: zoe61443
One commenter pointed out that the manager should have handled the situation differently.
“If she really made that mistake she is a really bad manager and you don’t want to stay anyway. If she didn’t, she is very manipulative,” the commenter said.
Several people shared their own experiences about how their employers would say one thing on one occasion and then completely backtrack on another occasion.
"It’s been like eight hours, and I’m still sitting here saying like, ‘What … is happening? Am I in a bad dream?" she says
Image credits: zoe61443
"I got put on leave without pay for being 'unfit for duty' and then the next day I received a Distinguished Performance Award from the top boss. I quit and then got hired back as a contractor for 3x $," one person said.
Another said, “I was fired by a group for being ‘difficult,’ after finding another gig I was told by my VP that I was right about everything. This just shows many ‘leaders’ really aren’t.”
Zoe referred to the confusing incident as "deceitful" and said she felt "gaslit," a term used to describe emotional abuse
Image credits: zoe61443
“Yes, my employer said I was fired. The next day basically said never mind. Month later fired me with no explanation,” shared one user.
Last year, a woman went viral on TikTok after she shared that her CEO got in touch with her about a month after she was laid off. “Treat your employees like human beings,” read the caption of the TikTok video.
The creator, KiKi, said she was “one of tens of thousands of people laid off a month ago” before her ex-CEO randomly called her up one day and asked for some work.
“My CEO reached out to me, and he says, ‘Hey, I need something done that no one knows how to do,’” the woman said.
KiKi responded to him, saying “she’ll lose her unemployment if she helps him,” and so she asked him for what she deserves–a week’s pay.
Some viewers suggested her employer backtracked her decision because they came to the realization that Zoe would be difficult to replace
Image credits: zoe61443
“He essentially says, ‘you’re not worth a week’s pay. You can do it for me hourly.’ He doesn’t care if I lose my unemployment. So I said, ‘Send me a check for a week’s pay, or it’s not getting done,’” KiKi said.
Even though the CEO turned down her request for a week’s pay, the woman said she shared the experience because it was nothing short of exploitative.
“The only reason I don’t feel bad about professionally sharing this is because this is exploitation. If he can’t afford to give me severance or notice, then I can’t afford to do things at the expense of myself anymore. The fact that we’re still not treating employees as people with lives makes me very upset. Back to work,” she said.
Many employees find themselves navigating turbulent professional waters and sometimes losing their jobs due to reasons that have nothing to do with their own actions. This can happen in various situations, such as when a company decides to change its structure, faces money problems, changes its business focus, or even due to simple mistakes by management.
Much like in Zoe’s case, human error or miscommunication within management ranks can also lead to wrongful terminations. These situations can be particularly distressing, as they not only affect the individual’s career trajectory but also impact their confidence and trust in future employers.
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A 2022 survey conducted by the National Employment Law Project (NELP) found that 69 percent of respondents felt that they were let go for “no reason or an unfair reason for the termination, and three out of four received no warning before discharge.”
Many respondents also admitted in the survey that they stayed in positions where they experienced poor working conditions, but they refused to speak up because they were afraid of being fired.
“Workers across the economy—from fast food employees to journalists—are protesting employers who fire them without either advance notice, a good reason for doing so, a fair process, or even severance pay,” read the Executive Summary of the survey.
“ ... Survey results also show that the threat of losing a job causes many to accept abusive or illegal working conditions. Finally, the survey finds strong support among workers across the political spectrum for greater job security protections.”
