Difference Between Laid Off and Fired

When talking about employment, one usually uses terms such as firing or laying off for employees whose services are no longer required in the workplace. When simply put, being fired or laid off means you are out of a job. However, in legal terms, both give different meanings to the idea of termination.

Generally speaking, firing is directly related to performance, behaviour or personal actions of an employee. When someone is fired, it usually implies that his or her performance has not been up to par. In other circumstances, one can be fired because of misconduct, where he has harassed a co-worker, misbehaved with  employers or simply shows up for work in an intoxicated state.

On the other hand, lay offs can be related to economic downturn, mergers or takeovers, where a company is looking to reduce its overall cost by downsizing. It can further be a result of a decision where the employees services are no longer suited to the company’s new, long term goals. It may not be because of lack of performance or skill but due to external factors, which may be out of everyone’s control.

For most individuals, laying off may be the preferred way to leave their position in a company as it does not negatively impacts his or her image or integrity. Moreover, you may be entitled to get unemployment benefits as most states require that you must not lose your job through your own fault.

Firing is considered a harsh way of leaving an organization, which further puts a question mark on your integrity and the ability to follow workplace ethics. Moreover, you will not be getting an unemployment compensation or insurance.

Laying off may still leave the employee better off in terms of getting re-hired when the company’s situation improves or when his or her skill set is in demand again. However, for fired employees, they must look at other opportunities to put their careers back on track.