Tiktok trend: When employees post their termination online under #layoff and what labor lawyers say about it

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Sorry, you are fired:

Brittany Pietsch has recorded her termination interview and will not be fobbed off with the usual platitudes

Photo: tiktok.com / @brittanypeachhh

Earlier this year,

Brittany Pietsch

looks worriedly into her camera. She works at the US Statup Cloudflare – and is about to be laid off. Because she already suspects what's coming, she films the conversation. What follows is a nine-minute recording of a termination conversation that takes place remotely.

Pietsch goes on the attack in the conversation and wants to know why she of all people is being fired. Her interlocutors cannot give her a concrete answer. Pietsch posted the video on the social media platform Tiktok, the recording went viral, thousands commented, and the video was also shared on other networks such as Instagram. Pietsch's video is so popular that Cloudflare CEO

Matthew Prince

(49) feels compelled to make a public statement on Twitter. The trend of sharing your resignation with thousands of users is being discussed in various US media outlets.

Wave of layoffs in the USA

Pietsch is not the only one who records her resignation and posts it online. A number of people are currently sharing their terminations on Tiktok using the hashtag #layoffs - even if it cannot be precisely verified for some whether they are actually seeing real terminations. The US tech sector started the new year with a wave of layoffs after companies hired massive amounts of staff during the pandemic. Software giant Microsoft wants to lay off around 1,900 employees in its gaming division, while Snapchat is currently laying off around 10 percent of its global workforce. Companies in Germany are also currently cutting jobs: Europe's largest software manufacturer SAP wants to lay off staff, as do Bosch and VW. Miele also wants to cut jobs, manager magazin reported exclusively.

Labor lawyer Klaus-Stefan Hohenstatt

from the major law firm

believes that confidential discussions about dismissals are also recorded and posted online in this country

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer for possible. “In Germany, only written terminations are effective. What you could record, however, are conversations in which the dismissal is communicated and explained.” However, this is risky for the ex-employee.

Companies in this country can file criminal charges

The recording and publication of such conversations could have criminal consequences in Germany, says the employment lawyer, who also advises companies on procedures for identifying legal and compliance violations. He refers to Paragraph 201 of the Criminal Code, which criminalizes the recording of words that are not spoken in public. It is also a criminal offense to place such recordings on the market, i.e. to share them with others. This also applies if only voice recordings and not the accompanying image are shared.

In such a case, companies could file a criminal complaint in Germany. Those affected could then face a fine – and a prison sentence is also possible. In addition, he sees another, immediate risk for those affected: termination without notice by the employer, because recording and publishing a conversation about termination could constitute a breach of confidentiality. In the event of a dismissal without notice for behavioral reasons, the person affected could even lose severance pay or monetary benefits that would still be possible in the event of a dismissal for operational reasons.

PR nightmare for the old employer - and the effect on future employers

A video like Brittany Pietsch's attracts attention on social media - but can also make it more difficult for the person concerned to find a new job. New employers could be deterred by such an inclusion, said Hohenstatt. Applicants would have to expect that so-called background checks will be carried out to see how someone positions themselves on social media. If companies discover the video, it could have a negative impact on the application: “The behavior shows a certain disloyalty; it shows that you are prepared to make confidential conversations public.”

But it is also possible that the video will go viral and people will show solidarity with the person concerned. Then the employer's public image suffers. In Pietsch's video, for example, many users are critical of how Cloudflare communicated the termination to her. As one user commented on LinkedIn: "It's obvious that you have the world on your side and Cloudflare has a PR nightmare on its hands."

“Companies can’t communicate enough when it comes to layoffs”

Hohenstatt also sees the risk of loss of image. When it comes to redundancies for operational reasons, companies cannot communicate enough, says the labor lawyer, who also advises companies on restructuring. “It is not uncommon for legal disputes to be brought about because the manner in which the termination is given is perceived as hurtful – not because the termination itself is viewed as unlawful.” For this reason, too, people who conduct termination discussions should have a connection with the person being dismissed – unlike the Brittany Pietsch case. “Then there is less of a feeling of being treated like a number,” says Hohenstatt.

According to her LinkedIn profile, Pietsch herself is still looking for a job - but has already secured collaborations. She now takes her followers on Tiktok with her into her everyday life - for a 12-kilometer run or for shopping. She now also gives career tips on the social media platform - and refers to critical comments on her video.