You Can’t Fire Me, I Quit! (But Can I Still Have Severance?)
Parmjit Gill was a machinist at A & D Precision Ltd., before he fired himself from his job. You’re probably asking, how?
Gill was known to complain about his pay, and he didn’t take well to constructive criticism. He wasn’t your model employee for work ethic, so when he spoke about leaving, he wasn’t taken seriously.
Following a confrontation with the president of the company, Gill left the shop, assuming that he had been fired. Everyone else assumed he had finally quit. At trial, Gill’s plea for severance was unsuccessful because he neglected to express a desire to return to work – he even refused to come back after a supervisor asked him to stay.
Daniel Lublin writes about this case in his weekly article in the Metro titled, “Blunder your resignation, pay the price”. He explains that Gill’s is a common case, and employees should expect a similar outcome if they don’t follow some basic guidelines. The maxim of which is the quote he begins his article with,
“Silence is the virtue of fools.” ~ Francis Bacon