Severance Packages: If you're unhappy in your job, take control and make changes - look for new employment

Sometimes the best advice I can give to employees who have not been terminated but would either like to be fired or are sick of their job is practical, rather than legal.

And here it is: “Every Saturday, review the job ads you see below this article and apply for appropriate ones.”

I believe that the very best way to fight off the anxiety, resentment and depression that can come from spending 40 hours a week in a job you hate or working for a boss you despise is to look for work elsewhere. And it is the looking that matters, not the immediate finding of new employment.

The usual scenario goes something like this: You have now been there 15 years. You have worked your way up to a supervisory position. For a long time your contributions and abilities were appreciated. Recently, you got a new boss who has decided that they are going to prove their worth by “clamping down” and doing things the “right way”. For some twisted reason, they have chosen you to be their project.

Some things you do are o.k., but could be better. Some things you do are awful and below standard, despite the fact that you have been doing them that way for years. Positive feedback is rare. Negative feedback is constant.

You have started to dread going into work. You get a knot in your stomach as you get in the car each morning. You feel absolutely trapped. Although intellectually you know that there are other jobs and employers out there in the world, emotionally, you simply cannot see yourself working somewhere else. The very thought of moving to a new employer gives you a bigger knot in your stomach than the one you get in the mornings now. You could be jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire. Could you possibly come close to replacing your salary?

I see many people who are in just this situation.

Someone once said that you don’t go to a lawyer for justice, you go to a lawyer to find out what the law is. Although the two often coincide, just as often they don’t. There is not a remedy in law for all the injustices that can be suffered by employees.

Unless there has been a significant change in your pay and/or a demotion, I will not be able to tell you that you have been constructively dismissed and can walk out the door, later suing for wrongful dismissal. Even if I could, while I might be able to get you a severance package, no severance package will pay you forever. Sooner or later you are going to have to find new work.

If you want to get out of that feeling of being trapped, at least start looking for new work. Even if you don’t get an interview for a very long time, I promise you will feel better. You will begin to see that there are other companies, other jobs and other careers out there. Even the act of making a resume is empowering. Instead of feeling like someone or something else is controlling your life and destiny, you will feel that you are taking back at least a little of the power.

And if you are lucky enough to get offered a job that you like, accept it and tell no one. Go to your boss the next day and hand in this letter:

Dear Boss,
It would appear that my contributions to this company are not as appreciated as they once were. While I have made efforts to attempt to satisfy your requirements, I am not certain that I will be able to succeed in that regard. It may be best that the company and I part ways. While I would like to make it clear that I am not resigning my employment and will continue to give 100% to my job responsibilities, if I were to be offered a reasonable severance package which recognizes my years of service and position, I would give it very serious consideration. I look forward to hearing from you.

If the boss is going to bite, it will usually happen within a week. If not, you give up and tell them you are leaving anyways. If the boss does bite, you get a severance package and a new job, and best of all…the last laugh.