Loopholes

I got my official termination letter yesterday. Toward the end of the day, my boss popped in the lab and placed a single piece of paper on my desk with a "That's for you." He turned around and nearly made it all the way out of the lab but then turned back around and asked me to go to his office for a few minutes to talk.

He wanted to know if I would come back to work for him should his grant get funded. He would know in July and the money would kick in around November, leaving me with a short window of unemployment. I assured him that I would be happy to come back, provided I didn't have a different, full-time job. He kind of laughed and told me that he was right there with me when I explained that I would be happy to come back to THIS postdoc, it's just that I can't face the prospect of having to start the whole process from scratch. We also chatted for a bit about how long S and I plan to be in this area of the country and what factors might change that. It was a nice change from his earlier "I don't want to care about this at all" attitude.

While I was in there I asked what my termination was being considered. Yes, I am not being renewed because the department cannot afford me and yes, I am being asked to stop working before my contract is officially up (to me, that's being laid off). But, I was only give a letter of termination. I didn't get any of the other paperwork that J had received about COBRA, how to start collecting unemployment, etc. I had a suspicion that my institution was going to cheat a little bit as far as my unemployment was concerned and chalk it up to the fact that I did not hold up my end of the bargain - I didn't get external funding and so this isn't a matter of being laid off, it's a matter of just not renewing my 1 year contract (even though I'm not working until the final day of that one year contract). My boss confirmed my suspicions with lots of reassurance that this was not his decision and he realizes that it's a horrible situation. I guess it's a good thing that my contract was up naturally within one week of the end of the fiscal year - otherwise the institution really would have had to claim responsibility.

To top it off my termination letter was worded kind of like this:

Dear C,

Last year you were given a 1 year contract blah blah blah. Continued training in my laboratory was contingent on you receiving outside funding - unfortunately I haven't been able to secure this funding and so I have determined the need to eliminate your position.

Your position at Institution X will be eliminated as of June 30, 2009 and therefore your last day of work at Institution X will be June 30, 2009. You insurance coverage will cease on June 30, 2009 as well. Your contribution to Institution X is greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,The Boss

My poor boss had to word that so that it came across as solely his decision and responsibility for my elimination. I felt horrible upon reading it. Needless to say, my opinion of where I work has declined significantly the more I find out about how they are handling this situation. This would not happen if I ran science.........