Quiet quitting is a growing trend where people are putting in minimum effort at their job instead of going above and beyond. Instead of taking on large projects, staying late at work or doing other people’s work, employees are staying within their job requirements. Quiet quitting is often a resistance to hustle culture and promotes a healthy work-life balance. This trend, however, has also led to a rise in quiet firing.
Quiet firing happens when an employer creates a toxic workplace environment so that an employee quits. Here are a few signs of quiet firing:
1. An employee is being given too much work
An employer may assign an employee overdue work. This overdue work may be more than one person can handle. The due dates on this work may also be impossible to meet without taking away from an employee’s personal time.
2. An employee is removed from large projects
An employee may have been given a large project with the promise of a raise or promotion once the project is done. However, an employer may suddenly remove the employee from the project. The employer may not give the employee a reason for why they were removed.
3. An employee is given low performance reviews
An employer may give an employee a poor performance review without justification. This poor performance review could cause an employee to go on a performance improvement plan or lose certain benefits until they get a better score.
An employer may create a toxic workplace to push an employee to quit after they reported sexual harassment or discrimination. Quiet firing could be a form of retaliation against an employee. An employee who believes they are being retaliated against may need to reach out for legal guidance to learn how to protect their rights.