Singapore Expats

Hello everybody,

I am working for a global investment bank and my manager told me that I am going to be terminated and the HR will set up a meeting with me next week around 10th, 11th. I will be given 1 month's notice.

I am pretty much prepared for it and I have been looking for jobs in Singapore for sometime now and I have been unsuccessful. I am planning to go back to India after I get terminated here.

Now comes the tricky part; I will get severance allowance of 3 weeks salary for every year worked. If my termination date is after 17th May, I stand to earn additional 3 weeks salary compared to before 17th May.

My manager is on very good terms with me and he suggested to me that I take a week's sick leave so that the HR will contact me only after 17th April so that I stand to get the additional 3 weeks salary.

My manager told me email him and the HR just a day before the termination meeting date, stating I am sick and cant come to office and postpone the meeting by one week. My manager also doesn't know if this will work as planned but he is trying to help me. He also told me "officially" he only has to tell me about the meeting with HR and nothing about the termination.

Sorry for the long post, I was wondering, what do you guys think? Will I be able to pull this off?

First of all, I am not sure which doctor will give you a week's sick leave. Most doctors will only give 1-2 days for things like cold, back pain, etc.

Then, it could well be that HR is also aware of your first anniversary with the company (they're not stupid, you know) and they can issue you a termination notice on the date they prefer, any time before 17th. Whether or not you receive it immediately is irrelevant. Sick leave doesn't protect you.

So I don't see that you have much to gain here all things considered. It would be much better if your manager can convince HR to have your last day be after 17th May... Maybe some important project you have to finish...

I think the behaviour from your manager is unprofessional and naive, and I would suggest you ignore his idea and think of your long-term future rather than how to grab a few more ill-gotten dollars.

I wouldn't trust anyone who is prepared to try and shaft his employer in that way; there are far more ethical ways to negotiate a severance package and / or leave a company with your morals intact.

And we wonder why the Subconns think we thing they're a bunch of immoral, corrupt clowns with the integrity of a rotten tomato.

If you're just as bad manager really wanted to save your stupid ass he would come up with legitimate reason to keep you on past the 17th.


/musttakemymeds

I'm with Billy and PNGMK. Don't be a total f*cktard and think about how this will look for you moving forward and for anyone else from your country or outside of Singapore for that matter.

If you have a conscience, it may be worthwhile mentioning that your manager suggested this to you, HR would surely be happy to hear of this.

Although, I suspect you'll go ahead and do it anyway, as the questions you have asked don't seem to be due to conscience, more whether it will work or not.

I'm glad you are going back to India, building up trust for any foreigners in Singapore is hard enough without this kind of sh*t, we don't need people like you here thank you very much. (Before anyone gets angry, I refer to his attitude, not his race)

Thanks everybody, I really appreciate everyone who has responded. I still don't know what I am going to do, but given that 1) Its unethical 2) Even though my manager has suggested this, he is also at a high risk here, because the HR will then suspect him of revealing out to about my termination. 3) If I still go ahead and do this, there is a risk that they wont give any severance, as severance is a discretionary thing and not part of my contract or anything, its a good will gesture. My company has been really nice to me, I would rather not be an asshole while leaving.

Yahaan wrote: 1) Its unethical 2) Even though my manager has suggested this, he is also at a high risk here, because the HR will then suspect him of revealing out to about my termination. 3) ...there is a risk that they wont give any severance, as severance is a discretionary thing and not part of my contract or anything, its a good will gesture. My company has been really nice to me, I would rather not be an asshole while leaving.

Yahaan, pls reread what you wrote, still really don't know what to do ???

If you want to be an asshole why not also pocket some tea bags from the pantry and perhaps one or two pens from the stationery cupboard before you leave too? [sarcasm intended]

I'm 99% certain the termination date was set to avoid this payment. I hope it's not a prevalent case in your company.

As I suggested; see if your boss has some urgent need to keep you on.

First up sorry to hear your situation and hope you will be able to find an another job soon.
Regarding your termination payout situation, you might want to discuss this with your HR at the time of your exit interview. In most cases a weeks worth of pay is not very significant and very often during retrenchment HR's are quite sympathetic and are likely to oblige.

If your severance is discretionary, then I definitely wouldn't bother with any unethical scheme. Nevermind that they will already suspect something fishy if you take 1 week sick leave when you're about to be terminated.

Just be open and talk to your HR about this when you have your termination talk. At least you are prepared, in this sense your manager warning you is a good thing.

Just move on, in my experience risking stuff to get just a few more dollars just isn't worth it.

Hello people,

Just to update, I went to office today and attended the meeting setup by HR and my manager also attended it. As expected I was given 1 month notice and my last day is 9th May, short 1 week to get another 3 weeks of severance(I am going to get 6 weeks severance as of now). I have requested the HR to try and extend my last date by another week so that I get the additional 3 weeks severance and she told me she will speak with the right people and get back to me.

I would like to thank everyone who helped me make the right decision. I don't care anymore whether I get the additional 3 weeks or not. I feel much better, now that I did the right thing.

Well done that man, better to go about it the right way, you could have ended up with some terrible situation had you gone about it as you were thinking of. At least you can move on conscience free no matter what the outcome.

Yahaan wrote:Hello people,

Just to update, I went to office today and attended the meeting setup by HR and my manager also attended it. As expected I was given 1 month notice and my last day is 9th May, short 1 week to get another 3 weeks of severance(I am going to get 6 weeks severance as of now). I have requested the HR to try and extend my last date by another week so that I get the additional 3 weeks severance and she told me she will speak with the right people and get back to me.

I would like to thank everyone who helped me make the right decision. I don't care anymore whether I get the additional 3 weeks or not. I feel much better, now that I did the right thing.

well done !

well done and best of luck for your future job!

I'm glad you decided to choose the ethical path to deal with your termination. Wish you the best thenceforth.