Quiet Firing in California: Is It Legal?

The work landscape continues to evolve, making it more important than ever for employees to understand their legal rights. One emerging trend in the employment sphere is known as silent termination or quiet firing. Quiet firing involves using management techniques to discourage an employee from staying in their job and to resign on their own. These cases can be very complex legally, and it’s important for a worker to know the differences between termination and wrongful termination.

According to a recent Gallup survey, over 50% of workers have encountered termination at some point in their professional work experience. In some cases, companies may try to avoid the negativity and hassle of formal terminations, making the work environment so frustrating or toxic that employees are practically forced into quitting.

There are many reasons that your employer might be trying to get you to leave of your own accord. For example, if you have a contract with a severance agreement offered if you’re terminated on their end, the company may be hesitant to terminate you. But they may

Signs You May Be Getting Pushed Out with Quiet Firing

There are several red flags to be mindful of when it comes to quiet firing. The first is withholding feedback such as when work performance evaluations become nonexistent or infrequent, leaving you unable to course correct or understand their true evaluation of your work performance.

The second condition is known as reduced responsibilities, wherein you’re no longer being given challenging projects or tasks, essentially being blocked from any meaningful work.

Exclusion is the third common indication of quiet firing, which means you are isolated from team meetings or colleagues, fostering a lack of information, difficulty in completing your work tasks, and a sense of disconnection.

Fourth are negative performance reviews that have no improvement plans connected to them. When you receive critical feedback without any resources, support, or concrete steps to improve your performance, this can lead to quiet firing. Finally, resource deprivation can lead to quiet firing when essential equipment or tools become unavailable, making it difficult to perform your job at a high level.

Causes Behind Silent Termination

Quiet firing can occur as a result of unintentional consequences, deliberate acts by managers, cultural factors and economic reasons, among others. California law protects employees from quiet firing, however, by rights that include safeguards related to constructive discharge, labor code standards, whistleblower laws, and protections under FEHA.

The Fair Employment and Housing Act, for example, protects employees from harassment and discrimination based on protected characteristics. For a constructive discharge claim, if the work environment becomes so intolerable due to the employer’s inactions or actions that any reasonable person would feel compelled to resign, this may lead to constructive discharge.

Do You Need a Lawyer for Quiet Firing Cases?

Due to the complexities involved in these employment law cases, it is extremely important to find an attorney who is highly experienced in managing these claims. You may also have the ability to move forward with a quiet firing claim if you reported labor code violations or whistleblower concerns and are protected by these additional laws.

If the tactics involved in your silent firing scenario violate certain provisions of the California Labor Code, such as safety regulations, wage and hour laws, or other employment standards, you may have grounds for legal action against your employer. California laws also protect employees who blow the whistle on violations of regulations or illegal acts within their company. If an employee is being quietly fired as a whistleblower retaliation, they could be protected under these laws.

Evidence is one of the most important aspects of any quiet firing case. Working with an attorney familiar with quiet firing may help you organize your evidence to make a strong case. With so much on the line for your future, it’s critical to find someone who can keep you informed at every stage of the case.

Not every indication of being let go from your job will rise to the level of quiet firing, but there is a strong correlation between decreased employee engagement and quiet firing. In addition, a survey revealed that over 63% of employees were likelier to leave their organizations due to poor feedback, and those employees who are quietly fired experienced three times higher rates of anxiety and depression.

Need help with a suspect case of silent termination? Let our CA employment lawyer give you some insight into your rights and possible next steps.