What to do just in case I lost my job?

December 28, 2009 1:27 PM

I just received (over the holidays) what may have been an inadvertent indication of my termination at work. What do I do?

I received an end-of-year statement today from one of my company's insurance contractors which shows a final service date (for me) of 12/31/2009. I haven't quit and I've received no word of anything. I've been there 5 years. My most recent review placed me at a 2 on a scale from 1 (highest) to 5 (lowest).

I realize it could be a mistake or a corporate glitch or something. I would be surprised if I were terminated either for cause or for a layoff, but anything can happen these days and I have made a few mild enemies this year, so now I'm spooked. This is all a bit disconcerting, but I've calmed down after sitting with it for a while and repeating to myself in a calm voice "while it's possibly not true, let's take some action just in case".

My part of the company (Fortune 100) is shut down for the Holidays, so there's no one to talk to in HR. I can still log in remotely, so I'm taking the following few steps: 1) downloading all prior performance reviews I can get. 2) downloading all prior pay stubs I can get. 3) downloading some pertinent emails praising my work.

My questions are these: Am I overreacting? Assuming I'm not, what else should I be doing? In theory, I've got a week's access to my accounts at work. I don't think I'll be able to get in touch with anyone who could officially (or even unofficially) answer any questions because, as I said before, they're all away on holiday.

N.B. : Part of my job gives me IT admin privs at work on both Windows and Unix boxes. I've heard such folks are usually fired without warning after their privs are suspended to protect the company. This makes me think this could just be a bureaucratic foul up. Again, I don't want to take any chances.

N.B. 2: I'm do NOT want to cause any technical or legal trouble for my employer, but I do want to take actions that will protect me, just in case.

Thanks in advance from a stressed out worker (supposedly on vacation).

posted by dopamuehl to Work & Money (27 answers total)

It kind of makes sense that an end of year statement would end 12/31. (?)

In any case, you've done what I would do. How about calling the insurance company and asking them if it's standard?
posted by A Terrible Llama at 1:30 PM on December 28, 2009

I think you're over-reacting. I have a similar end-of-year statement, and I'm certainly not being let go. I would read that as the last day of the calendar year you're being paid for, not the last day, period.

I quite hope I'm not incorrect.
posted by iftheaccidentwill at 1:30 PM on December 28, 2009

The only other thing I could think of is to ship out and scrub any personal information on your machine. Files, emails, chat logs, browsing history.

Hopefully, it's just an accounting peculiarity, but you are right to prepare, just in case.
posted by ignignokt at 1:32 PM on December 28, 2009

You *could* be freaking out over nothing - it's entirely possible that this particular insurance contract terminates EOY, and the next contract starts 01/01/10.
Other than that, I'd say ensure that any of your personal work that's on a work computer is removed (including e-mail), and that you've saved copies of work you may want to show as "examples" in the future.
posted by dbmcd at 1:32 PM on December 28, 2009

I received an end-of-year statement today from one of my company's insurance contractors which shows a final service date (for me) of 12/31/2009.

Couldn't that just be an ineptly phrased was of saying, "Final Service Date [FOR 2009]". Given your good performance review, and the fact that nothing else seemed wrong, I think you're misinterpreting the form.
posted by jayder at 1:32 PM on December 28, 2009

The benefits enrollment package at my company is one calendar year. Each year we have to re-enroll, and each year we get a year end statement for that year. If this is just insurance statements you are looking at, I think it is very tiny possibility that you are being terminated.
posted by Roger Dodger at 1:33 PM on December 28, 2009

ineptly phrased was of saying

Rather, "ineptly phrased way of saying"
posted by jayder at 1:33 PM on December 28, 2009

Also, you're assuming 'service date' is your service to your employer-- it could be the insurer's service to your employer.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 1:34 PM on December 28, 2009

Our employee insurance coverage generally changes from year to year based on God knows what - usually minimally but sometimes dramatically - this may just reflect a company-wide tweak to your benefits large enough to be considered a new plan or policy(?)
posted by jalexei at 1:35 PM on December 28, 2009

Bring in an external hard drive and back up all your stuff immediately, get it out of the building (maybe your car) as soon as you're done.

I'd include all your e-mail in case you need to point to an old message in the future: "Of course I documented that issue, here's a copy of the e-mail I sent you on xx/xx/xxxx at xx:xx". Speaking from experience, it's also useful if a co-workers asks for help in the future - then again I quit, I wasn't laid off.

Also back up any code or scripts or documentation you wrote - I refer to my old work all the time when writing code. Of course you don't want to distribute this stuff, your employer owns it, but it's for your reference.

Maybe make a copy of the company directory, with phones/e-mails, in case you need to call people up for references or letters of recommendations?

I wouldn't clear out my desk, but I'd clean out all my drawers - I hear in some companies the security guy stands over your shoulder after you're sacked, assuming they don't just FedEx you your stuff a month later.
posted by exhilaration at 1:36 PM on December 28, 2009

Call your insurance company and ask them if this indicates a policy termination, or just a change in policies.

There might be some policy changes that take effect on 1/1/10, so it may be that this a statement that covers your policy as it stands through 12/31/09, before any changes happen.

Or perhaps your company is switching insurance providers, in which case this would be a group termination. In any case, call your insurance customer service line and ask what that 12/31/09 is all about.
posted by DrGirlfriend at 1:36 PM on December 28, 2009

Since you've been there for five years, do you still have any previous (say, 2008 or 2007) end-of-year statements from the insurer? If so, check the syntax of those. Hopefully you will find the same happened in previous years, only you didn't notice it.

I agree with comments upthread: you're probably being a little over-sensitive, but you're quite right to take precautions (as suggested) just in case. It can certainly do no harm to retrieve all your personal stuff you want to keep and scrub the rest.

Certainly hope it works out well for you.
posted by aqsakal at 1:37 PM on December 28, 2009

Thanks for all the quick replies. Removing personal info was something I hadn't thought of. The exact wording that's got me going is this:

"The statement is intended to remind active participants enrolled for the 2009 plan year that ***** will honor claims for eligible expenses or services incurred prior to their Final Service Date."

The term "Final Service Date" is used a couple of times. Other terms are "Final Filing Date", etc.

May be nothing. May be bad. Anyone seen anything along these lines before?

Thanks again. Just "hearing" your voices is helpful.
posted by dopamuehl at 1:39 PM on December 28, 2009

I'm with everyone else's reading of this: you've misread the letter from the insurance provider and that 'end of service' date is for the insurer, not for your job.

Relax this week. If your reading is wrong (i.e., this is the insurance policy's end date), then you'll have needlessly worried. If your reading is correct... well... there's nothing for you to do till January 1 (January 4th?) anyway as the unemployment office is likely closed till then.
posted by LOLAttorney2009 at 1:39 PM on December 28, 2009

Insurance coverage has to be renewed each calendar year so the letter is basically saying that the terms of your coverage for calendar year 2009 will end on 12/31 and you have a deadline to file any 2009 claims under those terms. I am 99.99% sure that this is not an indication that you are being let go.
posted by Kimberly at 1:46 PM on December 28, 2009

Insurance plans are renewed on an annual basis and many companies like their plan year to match the calendar year so I would doubt this means you are losing your job. More likely I would think that your company changed their plan or insurer for 2010 which means the 2009 plan is cancelled as of Dec. 31, 2009. Insurance companies are ALWAYS sending out letters like this, when I worked for an insurance broker we would get calls from people all the time who were freaking out because they thought their insurance was cancelled when really it was just that a small change in the plan meant that the old plan was cancelled and a new plan was put in place.
posted by magnetsphere at 1:46 PM on December 28, 2009

"The statement is intended to remind active participants enrolled for the 2009 plan year that ...

Has a comfortingly generic sound to it -- but you really should just call them. That's a high level of anxiety to put up with for more than a couple of hours.
posted by A Terrible Llama at 1:50 PM on December 28, 2009

Can you email a co-worker/friend and ask them if they received correspondence from the same insurer with similar (or different) wording? I'm with everyone else in that, to my eyes, this sounds like standard end-of-year, change of annual policy language, but our sample size is about as small as possible. If a co-worker has a letter from the same insurer that is either the same or different, you can parse this with much greater accuracy.
posted by mosk at 2:00 PM on December 28, 2009

It's always a good idea to back up personal data, including reviews and work you've done. Make sure you have email addresses you might need, esp. for references.

It's likely that it's a false alarm, but appropriate to be cautious.
posted by theora55 at 2:12 PM on December 28, 2009

Maybe there's another policy that starts on 1/1/10, and your note refers to the end of this policy.
posted by frecklefaerie at 2:45 PM on December 28, 2009

Nthing the insurance thing. Did your company change insurance carriers? Did you go to a different plan or benefit level within your existing insurer? Did the provisions of your policy change in a major way? if the answer to any of these questions is yes, then the old policy must terminate before the new policy takes effect, and the notification of this is technically a termination of coverage, even though to you the change is seamless and easy. Not to worry.
posted by pdb at 3:16 PM on December 28, 2009

If you were going to fire someone, why would you tell the insurance contractor first? There are very few losses to the company involved in insuring you for two weeks while they're waiting to lay you off. Now, companies have done stupid things like that before, so I'm not saying you should rely on them being intelligent about all this, but think about what you're saying: you mention that, in order to make sure that tight security is maintained, you're under the impression that if they were going to fire you they'd do it fast, taking away your user privileges and then showing you the door in one fell swoop. If it's standard security practice not to let someone know they're being fired until it happens, wouldn't it be sort of silly to turn around and inform the insurance contractor a month beforehand?

Again, I've known companies that have done much stupider things, so I'm not putting anything past them. I'm only pointing out that such a policy would hardly make sense to any intelligent person in charge of it. Firing somebody isn't exactly some big process that takes weeks of planning and preparation, so I have a feeling your sense that they would have already set wheels in motion if they were going to fire you is probably incorrect. Unfortunately, if an employer wants to fire you without warning, there's very little stopping him.
posted by koeselitz at 3:16 PM on December 28, 2009

Bring in an external hard drive and back up all your stuff immediately, get it out of the building (maybe your car) as soon as you're done.

I'd include all your e-mail in case you need to point to an old message in the future: "Of course I documented that issue, here's a copy of the e-mail I sent you on xx/xx/xxxx at xx:xx". Speaking from experience, it's also useful if a co-workers asks for help in the future - then again I quit, I wasn't laid off.

Also back up any code or scripts or documentation you wrote - I refer to my old work all the time when writing code. Of course you don't want to distribute this stuff, your employer owns it, but it's for your reference.

Maybe make a copy of the company directory, with phones/e-mails, in case you need to call people up for references or letters of recommendations?
posted by exhilaration at 3:36 PM on December 28 [+] [!]

I disagree with this advice, given that you almost surely are subject to some kind of confidentiality agreement (or, barring that, at least a common law obligation of confidentiality) that would preclude you from taking much of this information. This kind of behavior will appear very suspicious and may actually get you fired, if discovered, even if you weren't on a to be term'd list.
posted by seventyfour at 3:44 PM on December 28, 2009

"The statement is intended to remind active participants enrolled for the 2009 plan year that ***** will honor claims for eligible expenses or services incurred prior to their Final Service Date."

This really sounds like the insurance company letting you know that is you want claims to count towards 2009 deductibles, limits, etc... they need to be submitted before a particular date, in this case 12/31/09.

Or your insurance could have just accidentally dropped coverage for everyone in your company (like ours did) which will result is some rather vague but dire sounding letters. But will turn out to not actually be a problem for anyone.
posted by grapesaresour at 3:54 PM on December 28, 2009

Nothing wrong with taking precautions, but I think you're stressing needlessly. The "Final Service Date" for the "2009 Plan Year" is logically going to be 12/31/09. Dig out a copy of the policy, if you have it. The term "Final Service Date" is probably defined somewhere. I'm willing to bet it refers to the last date for which payments will be made in a given "plan year," and has nothing to do with your employment status. Enjoy the rest of your vacation!
posted by messica at 5:05 PM on December 28, 2009

It's always a good idea to back up personal data, including reviews and work you've done. Make sure you have email addresses you might need, esp. for references.

I would be VERY careful doing this. You probably do not own the work that you have done as an employee of this company, and you can very well get fired (and sued, even) for downloading this kind of work. Contact information for colleagues is one thing, but taking "company property" is quite another.
Anyway, otherwise I agree with everyone else that you are probably worried over nothing. This sounds pretty standard for insurance terms.
posted by ch1x0r at 7:40 PM on December 28, 2009

What happened?
posted by cashman at 8:31 AM on January 5, 2010