A performance improvement plan, or PIP, is supposed to give an employee notice of a problem with their work and a reasonable opportunity to change course and correct the issues.
Sometimes, that’s what it does. Other times, a PIP is just a clever way to create a paper trail that an employer will later use to justify a termination they’ve already decided to make.
The timing and design of a PIP can raise questions
A PIP isn’t always retaliatory, but you should ask questions whenever one comes on the heels of exercising a protected right if your prior work has always been satisfactory. For example, a PIP that is suddenly presented to you right after you made a complaint of workplace discrimination or sexual harassment – or provided testimony for someone else who did – is definitely suspect.
The other thing that can make a PIP questionable is the way it is written. A legitimate PIP should clearly tell you what you need to improve and the metrics that will be used to judge your improvement. Red flags in a PIP include:
- Vague complaints that are difficult to disprove
- Goals that can’t reasonably be completed by the deadline
- Standards that aren’t applied to your coworkers
- Requirements that depend on resources or cooperation you don’t have
- Expectations that keep changing after you meet them
If your employer is suddenly treating you very differently and has put you on a PIP after you spoke up about a problem in the workplace, it may be time to seek legal guidance. A wrongful termination may be right around the corner. Contact our firm to schedule a consultation..