{"id":2658,"date":"2024-03-14T14:10:31","date_gmt":"2024-03-14T14:10:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/collectiveaction.tech\/?p=2658"},"modified":"2024-03-14T14:10:32","modified_gmt":"2024-03-14T14:10:32","slug":"what-to-do-if-you-get-piped","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/collectiveaction.tech\/2024\/what-to-do-if-you-get-piped\/","title":{"rendered":"What to do if you get PIP’ed"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

On paper, the Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) is common practice used by management to help low-performing employees get back on track. In reality, PIPs are a disciplinary practice used by managers to exert power and control. Increasingly, it is also used as an obfuscated  form of retaliation and a precursor to firing dissident employees. As organizers, we should be on the alert when our coworkers are put on a PIP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a playbook with linked resources developed for coworkers who are supporting someone  who has been  put on a PIP, but the model is flexible and can be applied to a variety of situations, from other non-PIP disciplines. It could be adapted to be the collective action for a colleague who\u2019s been under-leveled or someone who\u2019s not getting a promotion they deserve.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the PIP is delivered<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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  1. Make sure you stress in all your interactions with your contacts that if they start to get negative performance feedback, loop you in ASAP<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Once their manager says they\u2019ll be getting put on a PIP, your contact should email their manager immediately invoking their Weingarten rights, saying that they want their union steward present at the PIP delivery meeting. Make sure you get added to any email threads or calendar invites and get forwarded any existing documentation.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Get details from your contact about what\u2019s going on, any historical context etc. Try to suss out what\u2019s motivating the PIP \u2014 is there a genuine performance issue or is there some vendetta? What\u2019s their relationship like with their teammates? Will they support them?<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. Find out what their goals around the situation are. Do they want to stay at the company? Do they want to look for another job? Do they want to try to negotiate severance? Talk to them about their other options and figure out if this PIP playbook is the best way to support them for their goals. This plan requires a lot of work; they may want to use the PIP duration just to support a company-paid job search rather than trying earnestly to pass it.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Reach out to your union staffers and leadership to make them aware of the situation and get feedback and suggestions.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Add the information to any trackers<\/a>1<\/a><\/sup> you have for member discipline (with appropriate confidentiality measures per your union\u2019s policies)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    In the PIP delivery meeting<\/h1>\n\n\n\n

    In the meeting you\u2019re there as an advocate and to push back if you can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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    1. Push back against anything in the PIP that seems unclear, out of scope for this person\u2019s role\/level, or difficult to measure. HR or labor relations will likely try to shut down edits to the PIP, but the manager might be receptive if you point out things that are truly unclear or wrong. Point out where an expectation is in conflict with the career ladder. Use your expertise as a peer: you know when things are unreasonable for your role.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    2. Ask questions:\n