Vocabulary building Getting rid of employees

When employees do something wrong to dismiss sb [dıs`mıs] – She was dismissed for misuse of company property. to fire sb [faıə] (more informal) – We fired him for dishonesty. to remove sb [rı`mu:v] (used especially about people with important jobs) – He has been removed from the company’s board. to sack sb [sæk] (BrE; used informally or in newspapers) – The company sacked its chief executive after a series of poor results. When employees are no longer needed or a company needs to save money to make sb redundant (BrE) – More than 100 workers have been made redundant. to lay sb off [ֽleı `Of] – The company has laid off 200 of its employees. to terminate sb [`tə:mıneıt] (especially AmE) – They are obliged to compensate terminated employees. to downsize [`daunsaız] – Big companies are downsizing and increasing their temporary workforce. to delayer [dı`leıə] (= to reduce the number of levels of management) – Restructuring and delayering have meant redundancies for many experiences people.

b) Study the following definitions.

to dismiss [dis`mis] sb	to officially remove an employee from their job; (often passive) to force someone to leave their job: Edwards claimed that he had been unfairly dismissed; to dismiss sb for sth: He was dismissed for gross misconduct. to dismiss sb from sth: Jackson was dismissed from her job because of the allegations.
to fire [faiə] sb	to make someone leave their job, sometimes as a punishment: She was fired for refusing to comply with safety regulations.
to remove [ri`mu:v] sb	to dismiss somebody from their position or job; to take away someone’s power or position, especially in politics: Officials who were involved in the scandal were removed from office.
to sack [sæk] sb	BrE informal to tell someone they can no longer work at their job: Hundreds of workers are to be sacked at the factory.
to make sb redundant [rı`dAndənt]	BrE if someone is redundant, they have been told they must leave their job because they are no longer needed: redundant workers. Be made redundant: 5,000 miners were made redundant when the tin market collapsed.
to lay sb off	to end someone’s employment, especially temporarily, because there is not enough work for them.
to terminate [`tə:mıֽneit] sb	formal if something terminates, or you terminate it, it ends or you stop it.
to downsize [`daunֽsaiz]	to make a company or organization smaller by reducing the number of workers.
to delayer [di:`leiə]	BrE to reduce the number of levels of management within an organisation.

c) Check your translation.

to dismiss sb	розпускати; звільняти; знімати з роботи;
to fire sb	амер. розм. звільнити, вигнати з роботи;
to remove sb	усунути; зняти з посади;
to sack sb	звільняти (з роботи);
to make sb redundant	звільняти (через скорочення штату, згортання виробництва);
to lay sb off	амер. припиняти роботу (підприємства); звільняти працюючих (зазвичай тимчасово);
to terminate sb	завершувати; покласти кінець; звільняти (працюючих);
to downsize	скорочуватись (про організацію), зменшуючи штат працюючих;
to delayer	реструктурувати (організацію), зменшивши кількість рівнів управління.

Task 19. Translate into Ukrainian paying attention to the words in italics.

1. He was dismissed as incompetent. 2. If you’re late again you’ll be dismissed (from your job). 3. The worker was dismissed for laziness. 4. He’s the person responsible for hiring and firing. 5. Get out! You’re fired! 6. Mr Green was removed from the chairmanship of the club. 7. That officer must be removed from his position. 8. I’ve just been sacked. 9. Any official found to be involved in bribe-taking would be sacked on the spot. 10. My neighbour was made redundant late last year. 11. Eight permanent staff were made redundant. 12. Seventy men at the factory were made redundant because of falling demand for our products. 13. 100,000 federal workers will be laid off to reduce the deficit. 14. During the recession they laid us off for three months. 15. The company terminated 25% of its workers. 16. You must know John, Mr Adamson’s putting pressure on me to terminate you. 17. Recession forced many companies to downsize. 18. American manufacturing organizations have been downsizing their factories. 19. Jim is a consultant who’s helped dozens of companies downsize. 20. To delayer means to prune the administrative structure of (a large organization) by reducing the number of tiers in its hierarchy.

Task 20. a) Read and translate the passage paying special attention to the words in italics.

“Firing” is a common colloquial term in the English language (particularly used in the USA) for termination. It is also often known as being “dismissed”, “sacked” (a term particularly used in countries from the old British Empire), “released”, “discharged”, “canned”, “axed”, “given walking papers”, “let go”, “relieved of duty”, “given a pink slip” or “given one’s P45”.

Dismissal (referred to informally as firing or sacking) is the termination of employment by an employer against the will of the worker. Though such a decision can be made by an employer for a variety of reasons, ranging from an economic downturn to performance-related problems on the part of the employee, being fired has a strong stigma in many cultures.

To be fired, as opposed to quitting voluntarily (or being laid off), is often perceived as being the employee’s fault, and is therefore considered to be disgraceful and a sign of failure.

Finding new employment may often be difficult after being fired, particularly if there is a history of being fired from previous jobs, if the reason for firing is for some serious infraction, or the employee did not hold the job very long. Job seekers will often not mention jobs that they were fired from on their resumés; accordingly, unexplained gaps in employment are often regarded as a red flag.