First, it is not correct that “at will” employees can be terminated for “any” reason. While most people, lawyers and judges seem to believe that, it is a very incorrect statement. What is true is that “at will” employees can be terminated for “any proper” reason. So, employers cannot terminate employees for improper reasons, such as discrimination, retaliation, harassment, because they will not engage in improper or illegal behavior, and/or many other “improper” reasons. Second, employers are not required to pay severance when someone is terminated, but when severance is paid, it is not due to any “requirement.” Rather, severance is paid to reduce risks, including risks that employees will claim they were fired for “improper” reasons. Performance Improvement Plans are almost always instituted (a) to create a seemingly “proper” reason (and paper trail) to fire someone (b) in order to deny them severance, and possibly even unemployment benefits. By instituting Performance Improvement Plans (or “PIP’s”), employers (i) humiliate, (ii) infuriate, and (iii) intimidate employees. Then, as a direct result: • Often after a PIP, an employee will quit in disgust; presto: no severance and even no unemployment benefits, and the employer does not have to explain to anyone why they wanted the employee to leave. • Often after a PIP, an employee will feel intimidated, and simply accept his or her termination; presto: no employee request or expectation of severance, and the employee will be too intimidated to ask for a reason for his or her being singled out. • Often, after a PIP, an employee will feel infuriated, and either shout or engage in some other bad conduct; presto: they are then fired for “cause” and given no severance and not entitled to unemployment benefits. • Often after a PIP, HR will say to an employee, “You know, your resume would look so much better if you resigned, than were fired; we will ‘let you’ resign, as a favor.” Presto: no severance, no unemployment benefits, and the employer does not have to give a reason for pushing the employee out. • Often, after a PIP, HR will say to an employee: “If you resign, in the future you may come back and work for this company. But if you are fired for performance reasons, you can never come back.” Presto: the employee quits, without request or expectation of severance, and is even denied unemployment benefits. • Often, after a PIP, HR will say to an employee, “If you resign we can give you a neutral reference, and maybe we will even not contest your application for unemployment.” Presto: no severance, and no need to provide a reason for wanting an employee to leave. So, many times PIP’s are used to hide improper reasons for wanting an employee to leave, when the real reason is improper. Also, using PIP’s helps employers reduce severance costs, and even lowers their unemployment insurance premiums, which are based on how many of their employees collect unemployment benefits. While some Performance Improvement Plans are honest and in good faith, such good faith use of PIP’s is quite rare. Most are false and fraudulent, and so very upsetting. I believe it is the humiliating, the infuriating and the intimidating effects of the vast majority of Performance Improvement Plans that are the source of their power for employers, and the essence of their evil.
Pip's are for incompetent managers. If a rep is incompetent you document it and fire them and the manager who hired them and unsuccessfully trained and developed them. If a manager is not up to the job he tries to save his own hide by putting reps on Pip's. Usually causes months of an uncovered territory while the old rep leaves and the new rep gets up to speed, meanwhile the manager buys time and hurts the bottom line. It creates a culture where there is no trust. Reps don't respect the manager and ride along's are spent faking it, back bitting and not growing business.
Posted 8 minutes later. If you're going to reply to yourself, at least wait a few days. And most of that rant was complete bullshit. A) HR would NEVER make a statement to an employee regarding "if you quit"... it's an immediate lawsuit. B) HR will never say you were fired, even if you were, they will just give your dates of employment. C) You have to have pretty shitty numbers for a very long time to get PIP'd and if you're too dumb to cover your ass IF you're actually doing your job (and there are MANY ways to do that, including open discussions about what you're doing in the field regularly, and discussions about how to improve your numbers with your manager, etc), then you deserve to be PIP'd. And no, I'm not a manager or a manager wanna be. I'm a rep who has had ups and downs in their numbers just like every other rep and I've never feared a PIP because my manager know's I do my job, even when my numbers are sucking wind.
Management through intimidation. When managers don't have the capabilities to manage they use threats. If a manager needs to use pips on more than one rep or more than once a year, Who is the problem?
Why would you quit in the hopes of getting hired back again. It's like going back to an ahole boyfriend who dumped you. Wait for the firing and get unemployment. Just say you got downsized in your next interview. It's pharma; it happens all the time.
Management by intimidation (bullying) is stressful. Stress can cause health problems like obesity. Look at your management team Nobody likes a bully.
I just told HR that I thought I was being bullied because I am Native American and it was causing me to drink and all of a suddenly it stopped. Hope that helps.
Yes its the manager's fault if a reps work ethic is that of a slug and performance only picks up with the heat of a PIP. Yes its the manager's fault..... Its only the manger's fault if they don't move swiftly to correct the issue or remove the slug that is bringing down the team's performance and everyone on the team knows it. If you as a manger do not move, you lose the right to lead and lose the respect of the people performing and working hard. No one wants a slug on the team. Just the facts Jack!
Facts jack? Managers who help, assist their reps in the field m - f 9 to 5? Assisting patient care? Sales? There would be no need for pips. Facts Jack.
PIP=proactive illegal promotion! The PIP is how Sunovion management coerces ethical reps to commit off label promotion. You are told to go get the numbers any way possible or be fired.