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If the work environment in the company is against you, leave it for your own sake

On the Legalis forum, I read the story of an employee from a company who states that the employer is asking him to sign a mutual termination of the employment contract. He asks what to do (he does not want to), but since I know of a similar experience, that of my godchild, I fear that it is best for him to weigh anchor and seek a calmer harbor.

Thus, the employee writes that he was first hired for a fixed term, then for an indefinite term, received a raise, and has never had any proceedings initiated against him in the company nor has he been verbally told that he is performing poorly or incorrectly. However, one day his superiors called him for a meeting and told him that they were no longer satisfied with him, that he did not fit into the team, and asked him to sign a mutual termination of the employment contract. The employee refused.

Then, he writes, they handed him some hastily written statement accepting the termination, but he also refused that. I do not know how it all ended because he did not contact afterwards, but I fear, as I mentioned, that his days in the company where he works are numbered. I preemptively distance myself because the employee presented his side, so I do not know what the reason for the employer’s stance is that he no longer works for him. In other words, I can only speculate, for example, that the employer wants to bring in another worker, and the current one, according to the Labor Law, cannot be unjustly dismissed and then have another brought in to his position. Or perhaps the employee is indeed so poor that he does not fit into the company’s team, but that is difficult to explain in the termination decision.

A friend’s recommendation

The child of my godfather (let’s call him Marko) got a job in a fairly solid company, as they say – a job in his field. It is a private company whose owner was known to my godfather’s good friend, with his help the child was employed. However, at that time, the owner of the company did not need a person because he already had an employee (Veljko) in that position, but since he planned to promote that employee to a higher position in a year, it suited him to hire someone young and have that worker learn the job for the next year. Thus, Marko was actually surplus to him, but he was willing to pay him because he knew that such a person with the necessary expertise would be useful to him, which is why he even thanked my godfather’s friend for recommending him.

Marko started working (he is, by the way, a smart and educated young person from a respectable family) and the kind Veljko slowly introduced him to the job, but the problem was that their immediate boss Ivica had other plans: to bring in another person for that position. Ivica, whom the owner respected for his reasons in the complex interpersonal relationships in that company, began to bully Marko. Veljko tried to protect him, but without success. Moreover, boss Ivica turned the other employees against both of them, so poor Marko almost found himself in the crossfire. The boss had little understanding for his beginner’s mistakes, often complaining to the owner that Marko was incompetent and not fit for the job. The owner, in order to maintain peace in the house, tried to balance between him and Marko, about whom Veljko spoke only the best: that he is a nice and cultured child, that he is educated and eager to improve.

Experience teaches us

This lasted for about a year until Veljko went to a new position, and that abroad. Marko consulted with his parents, and even with me, and decided to request a mutual termination of the employment contract. The owner of the company was uncomfortable, but he readily accommodated him realizing that ‘the kid would not be able to do the job properly in such an environment.’ On the other hand, which is normal, he was not willing to change the entire department just because of Marko, so everything ended that way.

From the experience of my godchild, I want to say that for the employee who described his situation, whether he is a good or bad worker, it is best to leave the company that makes him feel knots in his stomach. Namely, if there is no good atmosphere in it, if the environment in which he works clearly sends the message that it no longer wants him, then for his psychophysical health he should say goodbye himself. Of course, taking care not to harm himself.

POST SCRIPTUM

Of course, the employee should protect himself because if he signs a mutual termination of the employment contract, he will not receive unemployment benefits. In that sense, I would suggest that he reconcile with fate, perform his job correctly, not worry too much about the environment, and wait for a dismissal. Or perhaps negotiate with the employer about some benefit he could gain if he signs a mutual termination. Everything else is just torture, as my godchild suffered, and he did not even sleep peacefully, which is why my godfather barely restrained himself from knocking on boss Ivica’s door…