Management is cutting my job after I automated 15 hours of weekly work, do I have to document it for them?

[u/Claptrap_5Z]

When I took this coordinator job, our team was losing fifteen to twenty hours every week just updating client logs and manually formatting spreadsheets.

I built a few simple macros and formula templates that cut all that data entry down to an hour. I thought saving twenty hours a week would free me up for higher-level projects.

instead, my manager called me into a meeting last Friday. She told me that because our administrative workload dropped, they are merging my role with a part-time position and letting me go. To get my severance check, they want me to write step-by-step documentation for every macro I set up.

I literally worked myself out of a salary. I should of just kept doing the data entry by hand like the last person.

Do I ACTUALLY have to document processes I created that were not in my original job description?

[u/Fickle_Finger2974]

Do not give them any documentation. Why would you?

[u/PierreTheTRex → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

To get the severance

[u/Fickle_Finger2974 → u/PierreTheTRex]

There is no way it’s a good package. File for unemployment

[u/PierreTheTRex → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

I'm not familiar with the US system, but surely getting severance doesn't stop you from filing for unemployment

[u/Prestigious_Cow_9748 → u/PierreTheTRex]

In the US it doesn't. I've gotten it in the state of NE and FL. They adjust your benefit eligibility date based on severence.

[u/PierreTheTRex → u/Prestigious_Cow_9748]

I think most places do it that way, but by getting the severance you then have a longer buffer to find a job

[u/Fickle_Finger2974 → u/PierreTheTRex]

It does. You can’t have both

[u/ZaZaSul → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

That is not true. I got a severance package and I got unemployment. Granted, I did not get unemployment until my severance package was completed. But it worked out for me because it went in line with when I decided to retire early.

[u/Fickle_Finger2974 → u/ZaZaSul]

Not at the same time

[u/AS1thofBeethoven → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

Wrong. I got mine at the same time in California.

[u/hibiscusbitch → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

Dude, you are wrong, just accept it lol.

[u/Friendly-Victory5517 → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

You have no idea what you’re talking about. Stop posting totally false information.

[u/Needelz → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

You totally can. People who get laid off can apply for unemployment and get a severance.

[u/Fickle_Finger2974 → u/Needelz]

Not at the same time. You have to wait until your severance runs out and by then I want a new job…

[u/meltingpnt → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

It varies by state

[u/summertime_fine → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

that's false, too.

[u/Guy_Fleegmann → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

Lol, not even remotely close to true.

[u/Magnolia05 → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

That is absolutely not true. In some states unemployment doesn’t kick in until after eh severance period runs out, but you absolutely get both. Source- HR person in who handles unemployment.

[u/TabbyFoxHollow → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

In California you can

[u/Fickle_Finger2974 → u/TabbyFoxHollow]

Not at the same time. I want a new job by the time severance runs out

[u/hibiscusbitch → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

Yes you can. I got both.

[u/A_Lovely_ → u/hibiscusbitch]

Which state do you live in?

Did your unemployment begin immediately after seperation from the employer or only after the severance money had been exhausted?

[u/hibiscusbitch → u/A_Lovely_]

Texas. I got a 2 week severance, and then my unemployment payments started coming in. That’s how it works. You can absolutely get both, they just flow one after the other.

[u/Fickle_Finger2974 → u/hibiscusbitch]

Not at the same time

[u/John_the_IG → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

You are extremely confident. What is your source?

[u/Friendly-Victory5517 → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

Idiot.

[u/summertime_fine → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

you could redeem yourself and say the state you're in that clearly has some different rules.

[u/itchierbumworms → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

So confident. So wrong.

[u/knitterc → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

This is not true I have been laid off with severance twice in the US and received unemployment both times.

[u/Friendly-Victory5517 → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

Totally wrong.

[u/BatSphincter → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

Not true. Most states just adjust when your unemployment starts or ends but you’d still get full benefits. Also keep in mind unemployment is capped somewhere around 500-600 a week up to half your salary. The way the job market is right now, dudes gonna want all the help he can get.

[u/summertime_fine → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

false. I received a severance when I was laid off and promptly filed for unemployment. it was approved.

[u/Fluid-Village-ahaha → u/PierreTheTRex]

It’s state dependent. In my (WA) state you can get both at the same time.

[u/PoultryTechGuy → u/PierreTheTRex]

Unemployment isn't jack since the CARES act ended. Where I live it's max $250 a week.

[u/mxzf → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

Well, we just don't know what they're offering OP. It's up to OP to decide if the pay they're being offered is a reasonable trade for the documentation or not. If they're putting $100k on the table, that's worth considering; if they're offering $1k, probably not.

[u/Yakubs_2nd_Brain → u/PierreTheTRex]

You quit on the spot and charge $300 to consult when things go tits-up.

[u/pair_o_docs → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

For severance pay, like they state in the post

[u/Fickle_Finger2974 → u/pair_o_docs]

Take unemployment and tell them to get fucked.

[u/withac2 → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

Getting severance does not mean they can't get unemployment. Both would be best.

[u/Fickle_Finger2974 → u/withac2]

You typically can’t take both

[u/Guy_Fleegmann → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

Stop. That is not true anywhere.

[u/Fickle_Finger2974 → u/Guy_Fleegmann]

It’s true everywhere. You can’t claim unemployment until your severance ends. By the time my severance ends I want a new job not unemployment

[u/Guy_Fleegmann → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

You are completely wrong. Severance isn't paid out like a paycheck. You think when people get severance of like '4 months' that the company is continuing to pay them for 4 months, like they still work there?

That's not how severance works. It's paid as lump sum when you're fired.

Nobody takes severance on a continued payment schedule unless you're a COMPLETE moron. And even then it doesn't stop unemployment.

Have you had a real job yet? Sounds like you're literally guessing about how jobs work.

[u/BatSphincter → u/Guy_Fleegmann]

You’re normally right but one of my buddies got laid off and they did keep paying him for 4 months instead of a lump sum. I thought that was odd

[u/Guy_Fleegmann → u/BatSphincter]

He was not actually laid off. It's called salary continuation and you are still technically employed by the company. In most states the company even has to continue to cover benefits.

[u/Kyle81020 → u/Guy_Fleegmann]

That’s not or necessarily true. My sister had a one year severance package and was paid just as if she was still working. It continued regardless of whether she had another job, too.

[u/Guy_Fleegmann → u/Kyle81020]

That's salary continuation. She was technically still employed by the company. They still pay taxes on her as an employee, in most states have to cover benefits, etc.

It's not illegal to have two jobs, so that wouldn't force it to stop. I'm not sure if the company paying it can put in a clause that it stops if the person accepts a job somewhere, I don't think that would be legal, not sure though.

[u/itchierbumworms → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

Stop saying this.

[u/Fickle_Finger2974 → u/itchierbumworms]

It’s just a fact. You can’t take both at the same time

[u/itchierbumworms → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

You get unemployment once severance ends.

[u/Fickle_Finger2974 → u/itchierbumworms]

I want a new job by the time severance runs out. You only get eh unemployment after if you don’t have a job which isn’t a good thing

[u/itchierbumworms → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

Sure, but that's not the point in contention here. You keep saying if you get severance you don't get unemployment, which is simply not true.

[u/withac2 → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

That is not what you started out saying at all.

[u/biciklanto → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

Accept the L, bro. Severance doesn’t work like you think it does.

It’s a one-off check and then it’s done and you go on unemployment.

[u/withac2 → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

No state permanently bars you from ever collecting unemployment just because you received a severance package; however, several states prohibit you from collecting both at the same time.

Some states disqualify you from receiving an unemployment check for the duration of the severance period. Once that timeframe expires, you can begin collecting benefits.

[u/Dav_Sionnach → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

Severance does not preclude you from getting unemployment it just delays it. For example if your severance is 6 weeks of your regular pay, unemployment would start paying 6 weeks later than it normally would. You will end up with more money in your pocket if you take a severance package.

[u/Fickle_Finger2974 → u/Dav_Sionnach]

At the end of 6 weeks I want a new job not unemployment…

[u/Dav_Sionnach → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

A severance package is literally your previous company paying you to find a new job. Going straight to collecting unemployment is dumb.

[u/Diligent_Yak1105 → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

It varies by state, but typically a lump sum severance payment does not delay one’s ability to collect unemployment.

[u/ZaZaSul → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

Where are you getting your information from?

[u/Fickle_Finger2974 → u/ZaZaSul]

Anywhere. You can’t have both at the same time.

[u/lathe_down_sally → u/Fickle_Finger2974]

Unemployment pays very little. The severance would have to be pretty shitty to make UI a better option