Five promises for the worst day at work.
The Fair Layoff Pledge is a public commitment from employers to lay people off with honesty, clear information and real help finding what comes next.
- A person tells you, plainly: Everyone we lay off hears it from a person, on the same day, in plain words.
- Everything in writing, on the day: People leave the meeting with their dates, their pay and any severance terms on paper.
- A soft landing: We help people find what comes next, and we don't fight their unemployment claims.
- Your things and your records: People keep what they need to look for work, and nobody has to come back for a box.
- Respect for your time: We give notice as early as we can, and we don't cut pay off over the holidays.
Too many people learn they've lost their job from a locked account, a mass video call or a rumor. Then they wait days for the details that decide their next month.
Careerminds, an outplacement company, surveyed 1,000 US workers in 2025. Only 27% of the laid-off workers heard the news first from their manager or HR. More of them, 34%, heard it through gossip.
Every employer that signs hands out a one-page last-day sheet with the dates and contacts that matter. It links to free job-search help from the Job Seeker's Union.