Although this isn’t specific to California, it still needs to be posted:
From AP:
RadioShack Corp. notified about 400 workers by e-mail that they were being dismissed immediately as part of planned job cuts.
Employees at the Fort Worth headquarters got messages Tuesday morning saying: “The work force reduction notification is currently in progress. Unfortunately your position is one that has been eliminated.”
Company officials had told employees in a series of meetings that layoff notices would be delivered electronically, spokeswoman Kay Jackson said. She said employees were invited to ask questions before Tuesday’s notification on a company intranet site.
Derrick D’Souza, a management professor at the University of North Texas, said he had never heard of such a large number of terminated employees being notified electronically. He said it could be seen as dehumanizing to employees.
“If I put myself in their shoes, I’d say, ‘Didn’t they have a few minutes to tell me?'” D’Souza said.
Laid-off workers got one to three weeks pay for each year of service, up to 16 weeks for hourly employees and 36 weeks for those with base bay of at least $90,000, the company said.
The company announced Aug. 10 that it would cut 400 to 450 jobs, mostly at headquarters, to cut expenses and “improve its long-term competitive position in the marketplace.” RadioShack has closed nearly 500 stores, consolidated distribution centers and liquidated slow-moving merchandise in an effort to shake out of a sales slump.
Layoffs are often inevitable and companies need to do what they need to do to stay in business. That being said, there had to be a better way.
Yes, layoffs are inevitable. However, employees deserve some respect. Can you imagine walking up to your office and your keys not working? You have just been locked out, job terminated without any notice. There is a thing called the At Will Doctrine, but it would be better if you take the employee into the office tell them face-to-face that their services are no longer required. If the employees knew about the state of the company, it would lessen the blow a little.
I have also talked to some people here in Florida where they said they will refuse to shop at RadioShack because of the way they treated those employees. Do you think people should go that far as to boycott a company such as RadioShack?