職場過招之如何面對裁員

Monique： Hey， Chad. What’cha looking at there？

Chad： Oh， hey， Monique. ①I’m checking out the 1）classified ads in the city paper.

Monique： Checking the classifieds？ What are you looking for？ Chad： I’m just 2）browsing through the job listings.

Monique： You’re scaring me， Chad. Did you quit your job？ I thought you loved working at the law firm.

Chad： I didn’t quit. ②I do love it there， but the talk around the water cooler is that the firm has fallen on hard times. Some people even think there may be a round of layoffs looming in the future.

Monique： Ouch. ③Are you worried you might be on the chopping block？

Chad： Maybe. It’s hard to say. Either way， I’d better be prepared. I spent a lot of time yesterday polishing my resume， and I check the job listings every morning.

Monique： Sounds like you really are worried！

Chad： ④I just don’t want to end up out in the cold all of a sudden. I’ve got bills to pay， you know！

Monique： I don’t think you have to be so dramatic. There are lots of regulations about layoffs and 3）severance pay. Your employer can’t just fire you out of the blue.

Chad： What makes you so sure？ I’ve heard some horror stories.

Monique： Such as？

Chad： My friend’s friend’s friend’s wife got laid off while she was pregnant. She’s pretty sure they wouldn’t have cut her if she wasn’t expecting. If they can do that to a future mother， what do you think they’d do to someone like me？

Monique： ⑤Don’t get ahead of yourself. It’s illegal to fire someone because of a pregnancy. She probably would have gotten laid off either way. Besides， did she get a severance package？

Chad： I don’t know. I didn’t ask.

Monique： Usually， employers give one month of severance pay for each year you’ve worked there.

Chad： I’ve been with the firm for three years now. So， you mean if they lay me off then they’ll have to spot me three months’ pay？

Monique： Maybe not exactly three months， but that’s the legal standard. Also， if a company is planning 4）massive layoffs， they usually have to let the labor unions and local authorities know beforehand.

Chad： I haven’t heard anything from the union. No news is good news， I guess.

Monique： Certainly is.

Chad： ⑥But what if they decide to axe me for some trumped-up charge to avoid paying a fair severance？

Monique： I won’t say that hasn’t happened before. The best thing to do is to keep a copy of all your contracts and employee handbooks. Even the handbooks can be legally binding. If you can prove that you haven’t broken the rules， then you can sue them for firing you.

Chad： I wonder how much I can get for suing the firm？ It’s probably more than I’m making now. This is beginning to sound like a pretty good idea…

Monique： Oh， dear. You’ve worked at a law firm for just three years， and you’re already dreaming of getting rich in court.

Chad： I kid， I kid. ⑦But if they try to fire me for no good reason， they’d better be ready to lawyer up！

Monique： Chad， they are lawyers…

莫妮克：嘿，查德。你在看什么呢？查德：噢，嘿，莫妮克。我在看市報上的分類廣告。

莫妮克：看分類廣告？你在找什么？查德：我只是在瀏覽招聘啟事。

莫妮克：你這是在嚇我，查德。你辭職了嗎？我原以為你喜歡在律師事務所工作。

查德：我沒有辭職。我確實喜歡那里，但是我在飲水機旁聽到公司的狀況很不好。一些人甚至認為很快就會有一輪裁員。

莫妮克：哎呦。你擔心自己的飯碗可能不保？

查德：也許，很難說。不管怎樣，我還是先做準備。我昨天花了很多時間來修改簡歷，而且我每天早上都會查看招聘啟事。

莫妮克：聽起來你真的很擔心！

查德：我只是不想突然被遺棄。你知道的，我還有賬單要付！

莫妮克：我認為你不需要那么夸張。有關裁員和解雇金都有許多相關的規定。你的老板不能突然就解雇你。

查德：你為什么這么肯定？我聽到了些很可怕的事。

莫妮克：例如？

查德：我朋友的朋友的朋友的妻子在懷孕期間就被解雇了。她很確定如果不是因為她懷孕，他們是不會炒她魷魚的。如果他們對一個準媽媽都那樣，你認為他們會怎么對像我這樣的人？

莫妮克：別想那么遠。因為懷孕而解雇某人是違法的。也許無論怎樣她都會被解雇的。此外，她得到解雇金了嗎？

查德：我不知道，我沒有問。

莫妮克：通常，每工作一年，雇主就會給你一個月的賠償金。

查德：現在我已經在公司三年了。那么，你意思是如果他們解雇我，就要付我三個月的薪水？

莫妮克：也許不完全是三個月，但這是法定的標準。同時，如果一家公司打算大規模地裁員，他們通常必須提前告知工會和地方當局。查德：我沒有從工會那邊聽到什么。我想，沒消息就是好消息。

莫妮克：當然。

查德：但是如果他們打算給我捏造一些罪名來逃脫支付解雇金呢？

莫妮克：我不能說這事以前沒有發生過。最好的辦法就是保留所有合同和雇員手冊的副本。即使是雇員手冊也具法律效應。如果你能證明你沒有違反規定，那么你就可以起訴他們解雇你。

查德：我在想起訴公司我能得到多少賠償？應該會比我現在賺的多。這聽起來是個好主意……

莫妮克：噢，親愛的。你才在一家律師事務所工作三年，就已經開始想通過打官司發財了。

查德：我開玩笑，開玩笑而已。但是如果他們沒有正當理由來解雇我，就準備應訴吧！

莫妮克：查德，他們就是律師……CS

Smart Sentences

① I’m checking out the classified ads in the city paper.我在看市報上的分類廣告。

check out： find information about sth.（查看，查找）。例如：

I’m going to check out the high-speed train schedule to Wuhan for my parents.

我打算給父母查一下到武漢的高鐵時刻表。

② I do love it there， but the talk around the water cooler is that the firm has fallen on hard times. 我確實喜歡那里，但是我在飲水機旁聽到公司的狀況很不好。

fall on hard times： experience difficult times， especially financially（遭逢艱難時世，處境艱難，尤指經濟上）。例如：

Since the war， his family business has fallen on hard times.

開戰以來，他的家族生意就非常不景氣。

③ Are you worried you might be on the chopping block？ 你擔心自己的飯碗可能不保？

on the chopping block： usu. means sb. is in danger of losing his＼her job（通常指某人有被解雇的危險）。例如：

Our team has not turned out a successful product in two years. I think we are all on the chopping block.

我們組兩年都沒有推出成功的產品，我覺得我們的飯碗可能都不保了。

④ I just don’t want to end up out in the cold all of a sudden. 我只是不想突然被遺棄。

out in the cold： excluded， neglected， ignored（被排除在外，被冷落）。例如：

He was left out in the cold at work because he does not like sports.

他由于不喜歡體育而在公司受到了冷落。

⑤ Don’t get ahead of yourself. 別想那么遠。

get ahead of oneself： do too much， too fast； be more advanced than the current situation（超前）。例如：

Our son is just in his sophomore year. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and talk about career planning.

兒子現在才大二，別想那么遠，現在就談孩子的職業規劃還早呢。

⑥ But what if they decide to axe me for some trumped-up charge to avoid paying a fair severance？ 但是如果他們打算給我捏造一些罪名來逃脫支付解雇金呢？

trumped-up： fabricated， made-up（胡亂編造的，捏造的）。例如：

My roommate lost the scholarship because of some trumped-up accusations.

我的室友因為一些捏造的罪名而沒能獲得獎學金。

⑦ But if they try to fire me for no good reason， they’d better be ready to lawyer up！ 但是如果他們沒有正當理由來解雇我，就準備應訴吧！

lawyer up： get ready to fight in court（準備應訴）。例如：

When poor people can’t afford to lawyer up， they can only rely on legal aid.

窮人無力聘用律師應訴時，只好靠法律援助了。