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/PierreTheTRex]

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.