Mutual Separation Agreement

[CoyoteNumber2]

Has anyone here ever approached their employer for a mutual separation agreement? How did it go? Was your request (and terms) granted? It's one thing to read about it on Indeed, but I'm curious to hear some real-world experiences.

C#2

 

[Banzai88]

I was the department head/project team lead approached with one of these about 5 years ago. Terms ranged from comical to absurd.

I unilaterally decided that his unspoken "or else" terms were acceptable, I accepted his resignation early (vice accepting a 2 week notice) and had him escorted to the door an hour later. Gotta love right-to-work state laws, they work for the employer too!

His loss was a net gain to the company and my project team.

In any case, there are WAY too many young, hungry, capable professionals willing to work and work their way up to tolerate absurdity.

On the flip side, there are WAY too many opportunities to accept absurdity from your employer. Quit and move up somewhere else, or put up and shut up!

Funny thing was about 60% of folks that quit to "move up to their dream job" were begging us for their old job back within the year. Guess the grass ain't always greener.

 

[CoyoteNumber2]

Terms ranged from comical to absurd.

Would you have been more inclined to grant his request if the terms had been reasonable?

 

[Banzai88]

Would you have been more inclined to grant his request if the terms had been reasonable?

Somewhat, because he had sound skills and potential to mature into a quality team lead, but his attitude was abrasive and he was not producing to his capability nor to the standard of his peer group nor position description......so his days were numbered because of that if he didn't step it up.

In the end, his choices were his alone and his expectations were wack out of line with his performance. Had he adjusted that, he had potential, and my CEO at the time was big into investing in personal potential.

 

[CoyoteNumber2]

Thank you for your insight.

 

[Hobie1dog]

Most employers will ask you to leave now. They figure if you work a 2 week notice that it will be spent bad mouthing the company. Been there, done that.

 

[NateB]

I left my bartending job at Olive Garden abruptly with a mutal understanding with the GM.

I had accepted my first paid position as an EMT. I discussed the training schedule and future plans with my immediate manager and he was willing to have me train a replacement and then stay on the schedule floating between the bar and a server position which could be more flexible. The server manager agreed and told us who he felt would be the next person to cross train as a bartender.

Not long after that the GM approached me about the schedule changes and told me I needed to pick a career with them or as a medic, not both. He also claimed to be offended I went to my immediate manager first rather than him. So I told him I would finish my shift, clean up the bar after close and pursue my EMS job.

He was pretty upset, but mostly upset that he didn't get under my skin. I got a call to come in one afternoon and spoke with the bar and server managers one on one. They wanted to express no ill will and offered that all of the assistant managers would give me positive references if asked.

Funny thing was about 60% of folks that quit to "move up to their dream job" were begging us for their old job back within the year. Guess the grass ain't always greener.

There's truth to this, I have my dream job. At times I wonder if it was worth the sacrifices.

 

[ep29030]

This is why I like working as a Consultant. I make sure I'm sufficiently expensive they don't keep me any longer than necessary, and when they hire me it's not to do small stuff. Price determines several things, one of which is how much you will be paid.

 

[Sandy H.]

Ironically, I am in process of this right now. No need to get deep into the details, but back in 2018, due to life changing events, I was not going to be able to work full-time at the location, so I told my boss and said I'd give him up to 6 weeks of continued work to help train other people. He said he'd think about it over the weekend. On Monday, he told me his plan which was that I go full remote and continue working on a reduced hour basis for a reduced salary. He said we'd try it for 3 months and if it worked, we'd keep going, if not, we'd both know we each did the best we could to accommodate my needs as well as providing the company the services they needed. It worked with zero issues.

Fast forward to the dreaded C19 world and everything changed. All of the sudden, everyone thought remote work was the way and many companies adopted it, but didn't do it methodically and so after doing it for a while, remote work went out of fashion and now the CEO's have to bang their fist on the table and say 'YOU MUST REPORT BACK TO THE OFFICE!!!', which in my case wasn't part of the job we had agreed to, but my manager's hand was forced.

So, I'm working on a calendar of how many days I'm willing to do a mix of remote and in-office work for the next 6-10 weeks to help document and train the necessary people. We both are honestly a bit heartbroken, as it is the general media/news that drove our CEO to make a unilateral requirement and that just won't work for me, as I was remote before any of this started. They're losing a 23 year worker. I'm ok with it, though, as the company has changed so much in the last 23 years that I wouldn't even apply for the job that I do today.

So, yes, it CAN work. I bet its a 1:10 or less and 100% depends on the relationship between you, your manager and any outside influences (like HR or CEO mandate etc.). If you do try it, be prepared to be walked out of the building, just in case.

Good luck choosing your path.

 

[MikeT]

LOL. Back in my day you just left a job. End of story. Terms? ....Now that's funny. It was take it or leave it.

 

[Steve Shannon]

Has anyone here ever approached their employer for a mutual separation agreement? How did it go? Was your request (and terms) granted? It's one thing to read about it on Indeed, but I'm curious to hear some real-world experiences.

C#2

If you have an employment agreement the terms of separation should already be mentioned.