You just lost your job. Now, you’re wondering if you were terminated or laid off? There are just two differences.
- Terminated = Fired = Let Go
- Laid off = Let Go
Basically, when you’ve been “let go” from your job, you could have been either fired/terminated or laid off. On the other hand, when you’ve been “laid off” from your job, this is different than being fired/terminated. In every instance, the phrase “let go” applies.
Why the distinction? In case your next employer asks, you will know how to answer this question. When you file for unemployment, EDD wants to know why you’ve lost your job. If you resign, you get nothing.
In a lay off, the EDD typically does not follow up with an interview. In a termination, which is another word for “firing”, they will want to follow up. They want to interview you to make sure you didn’t do anything illegal, like threaten someone, used physical violence, harassed another employee, got caught sleeping on the job, or stole from the company. At best, they want to hear that you have performance issues so that they can give you benefits for your unemployment claim. EDD will verify your story with your former employer, too. After all, your former employer paid for your unemployment insurance. They will now be paying your unemployment.
Typically, when you off-board from your former employer, they give you paperwork, stating your reasons for leaving the company. This reason is what you list when you file an unemployment claim with the EDD.
This is important because the EDD will verify the reasons for your unemployment before it approves your benefits.
What’s the Difference Between Terminated and Laid Off?
In a firing, the company let you go from a position that they intend to find a replacement. The company usually tells you that you were the reason, not them. For example, they say you were under-performing by not solving enough bugs or not meeting your sales numbers.
In a layoff, the company lets you go for financial reasons. The company is having money issues and needs to eliminate your position to save money. Perhaps, the company was recently acquired or merged with another company. There are now duplicate positions. The lay off happened because there’s no need to have two of everything.
Sometimes, there is no difference between the two. Yet, terminology is everything to the EDD and determines how soon you receive unemployment benefits. It, too, affects what you will say at your interviews.
For example, I worked for a company that would lay off people once or twice a year. Each year, they would lay off 100 to 200 people. The first lay off typically took place in July, with the second around October or November. It happened like clockwork. By the same time next year, HR had hired a new group of people to replace those positions. Sometimes, they rehired those that they let go. They had zero choice but to do what the owner asked. Weeks later, behind the owner’s back they hired those individuals. Certainly, in this case the layoffs were really firings because the positions remained. So, do you say you were fired or laid off? If you find yourself in a similar situation, it’s better to say the company laid you off rather than fired you.
Getting Laid Off Is Better Than Terminated
For one, it’s easier to collect unemployment. EDD will usually ask no questions when you submit your claim online. They start paying. If you utter the word “fired” or “terminated”, then you’ll have to go into details the why. They typically want to interview you to discover the reasons for your termination. They will check with your previous employer. At your next job interview, you’re in a sticky situation. You have to explain what happened without sounding hurt and angry. Then, you have to explain what you learned from the situation so that you can avoid a repeat at your new job.
What if you worked as a contractor? The client no longer wants you. They claimed you are a poor fit for their company culture. To be clear, the client here is the company for which you did direct work, not the recruiting firm that hired you and is paying you directly. The client adds that you failed to meet some metric. This sounds like a performance issue, right? It sounds like the company has indicated to your firm that it no longer wants to keep paying you. Your firm has no money to pay you. Have you been terminated? Sure sounds like it?
This is where being a contractor comes with advantages. You can simply tell your next employer that the contract ended and leave things at that. With certainty, your client ended the contract.
There Will Always Be Unknowns
Your manager may be nice enough to let you know why he or she has decided to part ways. Can you trust what they say? It depends. I was having lunch with some old coworkers. One guy was recently let go. He said the manager cited under-performance. as the reason. The manager claimed that our friend was a poor fit with the company culture. They needed someone who can, given minimal instructions and guidance, get stuff done on his or her own. Our friend was not closing out enough Jira tickets and that metric was cited, too, for the company not renewing the contract. We were surprised to hear this, given we have worked with our friend for almost 5 years and know how he works. We know that he takes the initiative to get things done with minimal guidance.
Covering Their Asses
Oftentimes, your former manager says these things to cover their behinds. They want to head off lawsuits. By making it your fault, they absolve themselves of any responsibility and accountability. They have documentation, proving their innocence and your incompetence. Yes, they will document that they discussed the reasons why they decided to let you go. You understood because you sat there and talked with them. If this is the first time you find yourself let go, then this is costly to your mental health. You feel like crap. Your confidence is shot all to hell. You have fear and anxiety as you look for your next job. This could happen again is always in the back of your mind.
The simple fact is you will never know all the reasons behind their decisions. They will never tell you.
What Do You Say at Your Next Interview? Terminated or Laid Off?
It’s tempting to tell the truth. You want to tell your prospective employer why you were terminated. You have ethics. Should you?
Before we answer this question, this is what happens when your prospective new employer verifies your employment history by calling your old company. The HR of your former employer will tell them only these three things:
- Your job title
- Your start date
- Your end date
While they can disclose the reason for your departure, most companies will decline. For example, the Acme Corporation let go of you because of performance issues, with written document proving your incompetence. They disclosed this private document to your prospective new employer. You now have grounds to sue Acme for violating your privacy and slandering your good name. It’s slander because in most cases, the company made everything your fault to protect itself. When HR discussed the reasons for your termination with your new company, they in essence saved their own reputation at the expense of ruining your reputation with so-called faults that probably will fail to hold up to scrutiny in court.
That being said, some job sites suggest you tell the truth and disclose the reason for leaving your last job. The rationale is your new company may eventually find out and decide to fire you later. Remember that for liability reasons, most companies will keep quiet the reason for your departure. The only way they can find out is if your old manager talked to someone at your new company, which again is illegal because of privacy violations.
(Note: Do you see the irony of a company keeping quiet the reasons for your dismissal even though it was under-performance? If that’s really true, then what do they have to fear from telling the “truth” to your potential new employer?
It’s Just a Job
For these reasons, I suggest you simply say the company went through layoffs. Your interviewer will go no further with questions. This suggestion holds even if you were terminated. Remember: You’re trying to get a job, not into heaven. There is little advantage to telling the truth, especially if the truth harms your chances. Companies have little loyalty and allegiance to its employees. At the first inkling of a downturn in the economy or lower-than-expected revenues, they start cutting the workforce.
This said, if you decide to tell the truth, then practice and rehearse to the point you can tell the story without getting angry and vindictive. Rehearse to the point you’re just stating facts without passion. Then explain what you learned from the situation so that you can avoid a repeat. You are telling a story as a narrator without any emotions attached to it.
Telling a story rather than appearing to be a victim is important here. Your new employer worries you will bad-mouth them when you leave. To them, past-performance is indicative of future performance.
(Try to) Enjoy Your Time Off
Even though getting let go can come as a shock, especially if this is your first time experiencing this, please remember to be kind and gentle to yourself. It’s easy to become obsessive and anxious, whether you were terminated or laid off, and lose your self-esteem and confidence. This can leave you in a state of shock and leave you scrambling. Unless you work at a government job, forced joblessness will be imposed upon you at some point in your working life. You can head off a lot of the pain and uncertainty by making sure you have an emergency fund already in place. Be prepared to endure a few months of unemployment, perhaps even up to 5 months, before you’ll land another job.
Now that you’re unemployed, try to enjoy the time off. After all, you’ll have a whole lifetime to work. Unemployment is but a temporary state. At jobs where your position is direct, you get 2 weeks’ worth of vacation every year, if you’re lucky. If you work as a temporary employee or a contractor, then typically you get nothing. So, you might as well enjoy the time off.
Yet, I know it’s hard to see the bigger picture when you’re scrambling to find a job. It’s hard to enjoy yourself when you put resumes out there and never hear back from companies. With each passing day, sitting at home bored but not being able to go anywhere because you’ve lost your sole source of income, you wonder how you’re going to pay the bills if unemployment continues.
Be Outcome Independent
It’s a good idea to keep writing in your gratitude journal, especially during these times when things seem dark and bleak. Maintain a positivity mindset. Going into a job with a scarcity mindset scares away potential employers. If you go into interviews with an outcome-independent mindset, then you’re more likely to get the job. It’s counter-intuitive to say this but people want what they cannot have. If you act like you don’t care if you get the job or not, then you’re more likely to get the job. Put it another way: If you appear desperate at a job interview, that scares away potential employers.
Being aware of and working on your mind-set during these times will be helpful towards keeping you sane on your job search. It will help you to appear more confidence when you do land a face-to-face interview, whether in person or over Zoom. If you are nervous talking over video conferencing, then practice by talking over video. There are sites that connect people with common interests. Use these as opportunities to practice talking over video conferencing so that you dull your nervousness.
Summary
To the question that started this article, “Was I terminated, laid off, or let go?” It’s better to say that you were laid off because of the negative connotations of getting terminated/fired. Firings may be through no fault of your own, though the employer sure wants you to think this.
On the plus side, you’re now spared from having to put up with a company that oftentimes could care less about your development and had zero interest in helping you to get better place at your job. Yes, some of your manager’s feedback could be truthful. Only you can tell through context whether it’s true or not. Look on the bright side: You’re spared a slow, demoralizing spiritual death by having to stay with the company, too afraid to take action and change your circumstances. Someone else decided for you. This opens up even better opportunities for you.