Entertainment And News

Boss Reaches Out To Laid-Off Worker To Ask Her To Do Something 'No One Else Knows How To Do' & She Defiantly Stuck Up For Herself

Photo: TikTok
Woman talking about former CEO's request

In 2022 and 2023, there have been mass layoffs in various industries, leaving employees scrambling for survival. One woman was in the midst of dealing with her loss of income when her former company circled back to ask an "outlandish" favor of her.

A recently terminated woman by the name of Kiki Rough recently turned to TikTok to share the correspondence between her and the CEO of the company that had recently laid her off. She started the clip by saying, “I had to calm down before making this video because… the audacity!”

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She said the CEO asked her to do contracted work after being laid off.

The CEO contacted her in a message that read, “I wanted to check in with you to see if you would be available to do a final run of the customer reports including January. Our customers are asking, and it would be great if we can support them”.

He went on to say that the Rough would be paid for the temporary project as a contractor and receive an hourly rate for the work performed. Still willing to help, she outlined all of the steps that would go into completing the project.

Rough also explained to the CEO that if she were to take on the task at an hourly rate, she would lose her unemployment compensation. Instead, she proposed that she be paid for the full week to make up for the loss of unemployment benefits.

The boss had his own take on what was required of the woman, how valuable she was, and how long it would take, so refused to accommodate her needs.

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He responded by telling her that he expected her to do similar work to some she had done in the past and expected the work to take no longer than a couple of days, so paying for full weeks of work was out of the question.

According to Rough, “He essentially says 'You’re not worth the week’s pay. You can [do] it for me hourly.'”

She took his response as a clear indication that whether she lost her only source of income or not was irrelevant to him.

In response to his blatant disregard for her well-being, Rough told the man that if he did not send her a week of pay, she would not be able to perform the work for him. Needless to say, the two could not agree on payment for the job.

Rough explained that she had no qualms about sharing the conversation on social media since she felt her former employer was attempting to exploit her. She told viewers that when she was laid off, she never received any severance pay and was not given notice that her employment was being terminated.

In the end, she marveled at the fact that employers are still treating employees unfairly and using them to meet the needs of the company without considering any potential ramifications workers may face.

To be clear, Rough was partially correct about losing benefits. Unemployment rules may differ from state to state, but generally, if you take on work while collecting unemployment benefits, the amount you were paid that week must be reported when making your claim. That amount will be deducted from your benefits for the week worked.

In fairness, the CEO could have extended an olive branch and offered to pay the full week. But since he did not, Rough would receive no financial benefit from helping her ex-employer out unless they hours paid were more than her weekly benefit amount.

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NyRee Ausler is a writer from Seattle, Washington, and author of seven books. She covers lifestyle and entertainment and news, as well as navigating the workplace and social issues.