Prestigious Company Tries Firing Their Long-Time Employee Just Before His Time To Retire
Interview
Retirement. Something that seems very far away, but is an important part of everyone’s life. A moment when all of the hard work is assessed, and it’s time to be proud of what has been done and enjoy the free time. However, the path to retirement not always is easy, and sometimes you have to fight to prove the worth that you gained by working all those long years. Reddit user u/Sorkoth1 shared a story about their father and his path to retirement.
More Info: Reddit
Image credits: simplyrikkles
They started by mentioning that the father worked for one of the Forbes 500 companies. What is the Forbes 500 company list? Until 2003, every year, Forbes magazine would publish the 500 top companies in the US. After this year, Forbes decided to add companies worldwide and changed the list to Forbes Global 2000. So this means that his workplace was one of the most prestigious companies, this being the only clue that the narrator gives to their audience.
This Reddit user decided to share their father’s story of how he almost got fired before his retirement
Image credits: simplyrikkles
The father worked there for a really long time, since the ’70s, and made his way to becoming a software engineer. Despite him being an important cog in the machine, when his time in the company was moving towards retirement, HR started treating him differently. The Reddit user gave a few extensive examples of how they tried to accuse him of letting strangers into the building or not using his entry badge right. And of course, every time, the employee could prove them to be wrong.
The man was accused several times and each time managed to explain the situation, so they couldn’t fire him
Image credits: simplyrikkles
Despite these miserable efforts, the user’s dad managed to stay there until he could retire. He also showed that a lot can be done after retirement and that it is a great time to make your dreams come true. According to the Redditor, the dad now started his own company.
The reason for this sudden change in how the the man was treated was his age and the fact that he was about to retire
Bored Panda contacted the Redditor and asked them to comment on the situation. After they posted this story and it gained so much attention, the narrator realized how much people actually face this problem. They stated that “companies care more about the bottom line than what their employees did for them.”
For those who are curious to find out how the dad is holding up now, he is running a company, Solucean. When asked if they’ve received a lot of messages from interested people, the Redditor revealed that “there is a lot of support to solve the water and energy crisis throughout the world using clean green technologies.”
Image credits: simplyrikkles
People in the comments stressed that this situation is actually a very common practice among big companies that try to get rid of older people who are about to retire. Some people shared that they became aware of this through different experiences and hope that their loyalty would be acknowledged the right way.
What do you think about this situation? Have you experienced something similar? Leave your thoughts in the comments down below!
In the end, the man started his own company in his retirement
And now is looking for people who would be willing to help him in creating new things
Here is what other Reddit users think of the situation
People online are already aware of how older employees are treated before their retirement
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This happens frequently in the USA. I could cite case after case of this. Meanwhile, top executives are awarded millions every year even after they have ruined a company or have been let go.
I got let go from my company after 23 years...two years before full pension. My 'job was eliminated'. I told others that were still there (the ones getting close to full pension) to watch it, they were next. To a one they called me paranoid. To a one they were all let go within one to three years before full pension. Company was sued (class action) and lost.
You did the right thing to warn them, even though they didn't believe you at first
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Probably; GM and GE are both notorious for this kind of behavior
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Definitely GM and that's a damn shame, my fiance's grandparents both retired from GM but this was eons ago, probably before office politics were invented /S but this seems to be the norm now. I work for a state agency and am part of a pension. I'm one of the very few left that are still on a pension plan and the closer I get to retirement the shittier they treat me hoping I'll quit so I can't get my pension. But joke's on them. Because I WILL retire and the best part / revenge is they will have to pay me every month for the rest of my life. I retire at 44. ;)
Stories like these are why so many people loathe HR. There are two kinds of people who work in HR: the ones like these idiots, and the rest of us who actually give a damn about ALL employees at ALL levels of the organisation.
I doubt the people working at HR made the decision to fire these employees, they probably can't do anything about it
Load More Replies...
What kind of company makes Software Engineers and/or management clock in/out? Those are usually salaried positions, they are not paid by the hour.
So he got called in by HR and told he was being fired for holding the door, and he already had footage of others holding the door? He knew ahead of time? He’s a mind reader? Or this is BS?
I have just resigned, feels scary but good. 13 years, 3 of which a takeover by Americans
My husband lucked out. He wanted to retire in April and he has a very niche job in his company dealing with international taxes for a specific industry. He has 30 years of knowledge was worried they wouldn't find a replacement for him a year out. They ended up hiring someone who worked out really well almost immediately. She shadowed him for awhile and he felt she was ready to take over in Feb. His boss insisted on keeping him on the payroll for the last two months despite him really having now work. They did this so his insurance would be covered until his official retirement age in April. Some companies look out die their employees. Some don't.
I worked at the IRS during the 1993 and 1994 tax seasons. I was seasonal anyway, but I found that they would avoid giving their employee full-time benefits by laying them off for a few weeks each year. No-one had health insurance. At the time, the President was villfying a pizza chain for hiring workers part-time.
Sounds more like a scam sales pitch. Desalination and provides solar energy?
Meanwhile, in Sweden, the employers pay your social fees and future pension with every pay check from day one. (Edit: You should still have a personal pension savings account though... Or should I say, I should have one... 🤔)
Labour-wise - the US seems pretty crappy... Had companies try to get employment contract clauses where I had to enter a lifetime irrevocable power of attorney, giving them rights to any ideas, inventions etc, even after I left, demanding I sign over for no compensation, and that I pay for any legal costs of theirs, in case they have to sue me over it. Also, they wanted to pay me 2 weeks salary in lieu of any compensation i got for any personal accident insurance etc, and that they had the right to my insurance pay-outs. I literally told them to go **** themselves. Not only are such terms unenforceable in the EU, but they are outright illegal, yet, the companies thought that US law applied in EU...
My mom worked with a woman nearing retirement for over twenty years. Less than a year before she was set to retire the company (I'll say it- Allstate) EMAILED her and told her she was finished and security would escort her out shortly. Then my mom had to actually train the people she knew would replace her and her coworkers but couldn't give anyone a heads-up. They didn't just close down a department, they laid off an entire buildings' worth of employees. This was after the housing collapse but at the time they were making record profits. Still didn't stop them from massive layoffs and gutting their employee's pensions.
From what I hear HR is one big misnomer the live up to the other misnomer mankind. I think to be in HR they must bow to the company's psychotic ways they treat employees. But the CEO and board of directors must approve or implement these dastardly deeds. I have heard that most CEO's were bully's during their formative years and they never out grew it. Even the mild mannered ones a actually vicious! All I can say is stand up for yourselves dig in and hang on. Get that pension its the best revenge!
This doesn't quite pass the sniff test. Under federal rules, private-sector pension plans must let you become at least 20% vested in your benefits after year three. You must be fully vested by the time you've completed seven years of service, so letting someone go after 23 years wouldn't/shouldn't save the company a dime.
ERISA states that pension plans may provide a different schedule as long as it is more generous than the federal defined plans. Because he was in management and held patents, he could have been upper management. Still, I agree, the story, while plausible in terms of HR shenanigans, doesn't quite pass muster on the pension. Perhaps the OP meant a different type of retirement benefit. Some companies offer an employer-funded retirement health account with contingencies. A friend has a retirement health benefit account from a previous employer. His employer contributed to the account monthly, after so many years of service. He could only take the account if he had 20 consecutive years of service and reached age 50. If he left the company before age fifty or had not served 20 consecutive years, he could not have taken the account with him when he retired.
Load More Replies...
My dad was let down 6month from pension, thankfully he took it to court and was ruled a compensation for lost money (more than he would've earned if stayed working there). Happened in the EU
Companies also do this to their highest paid union laborers when they hit the top of the seniority list. At that point, they are the highest paid people in their work group. HR will pile up a bunch of minor incidents that anyone might innocently do, then use that, frequently with the cooperation of the manager, to fire you. It doesn't matter how well you did your job. And management in the U.S. doesn't understand why so many people think of themselves as mercenaries. They created this situation with their actions and "Right to Work" laws.
Well you ignorant Americans choose this system, didn't you? Daniel Marsh is defending treating old peolpe badly. I suppose he is not alone to be trash people.
My dad was fired after working 32 years and was just about to retire. He took them to court and got a settlement. It was Ameritech at the time, now it's AT&T teleholdings. A telephone company in the Great Lakes States area.
NEVER work for a company that has a so called "Human Resources" department! They are only there to protect the COMPANY, and don't care a whit about the HUMANS!
Historically American workers have had a loyalty towards their employers that is almost never returned.
WTF.. In my place pension fund is saved in govt owned insurance company. So this type of thing never happen..
His father is already retired? So why not name and shame the company? If this is routine in the USA why aren't people standing up to the corporations?
I'm sorry but this story sounds like complete BS made up by a 5 year old. If the persons father had worked there since the 70s, they have already worked there for over 40 years and would be in their early 60s at the youngest. Any company pension would have been well vested by now. You also mention not so subtly that he works for a fortune 500 company and takes the company bus car pool and works as a software engineer. There's only one company that has carpool busses that I know of and they didn't exist in the 70s. Also, you state your father has to "clock in" but also works as management. Management is paid salary, not hourly. Most time clock systems store data that can be pulled by HR and the employee as well. Having HR "make up" a false accusation when the information is readily available to both parties just seem too far fetched. Sorry, I call BS on this whole thing.
He does say this happened 9 years ago—but yeah, I’m with you, it’s mostly fiction.
Load More Replies...
ok... people raid the capitol for stupid stuff and for something like that nobody doing anything?
This happens frequently in the USA. I could cite case after case of this. Meanwhile, top executives are awarded millions every year even after they have ruined a company or have been let go.
I got let go from my company after 23 years...two years before full pension. My 'job was eliminated'. I told others that were still there (the ones getting close to full pension) to watch it, they were next. To a one they called me paranoid. To a one they were all let go within one to three years before full pension. Company was sued (class action) and lost.
You did the right thing to warn them, even though they didn't believe you at first
Load More Replies... Probably; GM and GE are both notorious for this kind of behavior
Load More Replies... Definitely GM and that's a damn shame, my fiance's grandparents both retired from GM but this was eons ago, probably before office politics were invented /S but this seems to be the norm now. I work for a state agency and am part of a pension. I'm one of the very few left that are still on a pension plan and the closer I get to retirement the shittier they treat me hoping I'll quit so I can't get my pension. But joke's on them. Because I WILL retire and the best part / revenge is they will have to pay me every month for the rest of my life. I retire at 44. ;)
Stories like these are why so many people loathe HR. There are two kinds of people who work in HR: the ones like these idiots, and the rest of us who actually give a damn about ALL employees at ALL levels of the organisation.
I doubt the people working at HR made the decision to fire these employees, they probably can't do anything about it
Load More Replies... What kind of company makes Software Engineers and/or management clock in/out? Those are usually salaried positions, they are not paid by the hour.
So he got called in by HR and told he was being fired for holding the door, and he already had footage of others holding the door? He knew ahead of time? He’s a mind reader? Or this is BS?
I have just resigned, feels scary but good. 13 years, 3 of which a takeover by Americans
My husband lucked out. He wanted to retire in April and he has a very niche job in his company dealing with international taxes for a specific industry. He has 30 years of knowledge was worried they wouldn't find a replacement for him a year out. They ended up hiring someone who worked out really well almost immediately. She shadowed him for awhile and he felt she was ready to take over in Feb. His boss insisted on keeping him on the payroll for the last two months despite him really having now work. They did this so his insurance would be covered until his official retirement age in April. Some companies look out die their employees. Some don't.
I worked at the IRS during the 1993 and 1994 tax seasons. I was seasonal anyway, but I found that they would avoid giving their employee full-time benefits by laying them off for a few weeks each year. No-one had health insurance. At the time, the President was villfying a pizza chain for hiring workers part-time.
Sounds more like a scam sales pitch. Desalination and provides solar energy?
Meanwhile, in Sweden, the employers pay your social fees and future pension with every pay check from day one. (Edit: You should still have a personal pension savings account though... Or should I say, I should have one... 🤔)
Labour-wise - the US seems pretty crappy... Had companies try to get employment contract clauses where I had to enter a lifetime irrevocable power of attorney, giving them rights to any ideas, inventions etc, even after I left, demanding I sign over for no compensation, and that I pay for any legal costs of theirs, in case they have to sue me over it. Also, they wanted to pay me 2 weeks salary in lieu of any compensation i got for any personal accident insurance etc, and that they had the right to my insurance pay-outs. I literally told them to go **** themselves. Not only are such terms unenforceable in the EU, but they are outright illegal, yet, the companies thought that US law applied in EU...
My mom worked with a woman nearing retirement for over twenty years. Less than a year before she was set to retire the company (I'll say it- Allstate) EMAILED her and told her she was finished and security would escort her out shortly. Then my mom had to actually train the people she knew would replace her and her coworkers but couldn't give anyone a heads-up. They didn't just close down a department, they laid off an entire buildings' worth of employees. This was after the housing collapse but at the time they were making record profits. Still didn't stop them from massive layoffs and gutting their employee's pensions.
From what I hear HR is one big misnomer the live up to the other misnomer mankind. I think to be in HR they must bow to the company's psychotic ways they treat employees. But the CEO and board of directors must approve or implement these dastardly deeds. I have heard that most CEO's were bully's during their formative years and they never out grew it. Even the mild mannered ones a actually vicious! All I can say is stand up for yourselves dig in and hang on. Get that pension its the best revenge!
This doesn't quite pass the sniff test. Under federal rules, private-sector pension plans must let you become at least 20% vested in your benefits after year three. You must be fully vested by the time you've completed seven years of service, so letting someone go after 23 years wouldn't/shouldn't save the company a dime.
ERISA states that pension plans may provide a different schedule as long as it is more generous than the federal defined plans. Because he was in management and held patents, he could have been upper management. Still, I agree, the story, while plausible in terms of HR shenanigans, doesn't quite pass muster on the pension. Perhaps the OP meant a different type of retirement benefit. Some companies offer an employer-funded retirement health account with contingencies. A friend has a retirement health benefit account from a previous employer. His employer contributed to the account monthly, after so many years of service. He could only take the account if he had 20 consecutive years of service and reached age 50. If he left the company before age fifty or had not served 20 consecutive years, he could not have taken the account with him when he retired.
Load More Replies... My dad was let down 6month from pension, thankfully he took it to court and was ruled a compensation for lost money (more than he would've earned if stayed working there). Happened in the EU
Companies also do this to their highest paid union laborers when they hit the top of the seniority list. At that point, they are the highest paid people in their work group. HR will pile up a bunch of minor incidents that anyone might innocently do, then use that, frequently with the cooperation of the manager, to fire you. It doesn't matter how well you did your job. And management in the U.S. doesn't understand why so many people think of themselves as mercenaries. They created this situation with their actions and "Right to Work" laws.
Well you ignorant Americans choose this system, didn't you? Daniel Marsh is defending treating old peolpe badly. I suppose he is not alone to be trash people.
My dad was fired after working 32 years and was just about to retire. He took them to court and got a settlement. It was Ameritech at the time, now it's AT&T teleholdings. A telephone company in the Great Lakes States area.
NEVER work for a company that has a so called "Human Resources" department! They are only there to protect the COMPANY, and don't care a whit about the HUMANS!
Historically American workers have had a loyalty towards their employers that is almost never returned.
WTF.. In my place pension fund is saved in govt owned insurance company. So this type of thing never happen..
His father is already retired? So why not name and shame the company? If this is routine in the USA why aren't people standing up to the corporations?
I'm sorry but this story sounds like complete BS made up by a 5 year old. If the persons father had worked there since the 70s, they have already worked there for over 40 years and would be in their early 60s at the youngest. Any company pension would have been well vested by now. You also mention not so subtly that he works for a fortune 500 company and takes the company bus car pool and works as a software engineer. There's only one company that has carpool busses that I know of and they didn't exist in the 70s. Also, you state your father has to "clock in" but also works as management. Management is paid salary, not hourly. Most time clock systems store data that can be pulled by HR and the employee as well. Having HR "make up" a false accusation when the information is readily available to both parties just seem too far fetched. Sorry, I call BS on this whole thing.
He does say this happened 9 years ago—but yeah, I’m with you, it’s mostly fiction.
Load More Replies... ok... people raid the capitol for stupid stuff and for something like that nobody doing anything?
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