Killing three birds with one stone

[Hardwinter]

So I was recently hired by an employer that is a bit too strict on their employees and lacks leniency. For more context, the employees of this establishment are four people, including me. On top of that, two of the four employees are my friends. Thus, what my friends told me is that if I leave, both of them will get fired since the owner wants to get rid of employees that are friends with each other? Essentially, this made me contemplate on whether to leave my job or stay since I don't want both of my friends to be fired. Therefore, I am curious, are employers allowed to fire a group of people just because the group is close to each other, I really don't want my friends to lose their jobs. Thank you very much!

This is in California.

 

[cbg]

Based solely on the information in your post, yes, the employer is allowed to fire a group of people for the reasons you suggest.

 

[xylene]

Employers are allowed to downsize and they are allowed to prefer employees who do not fraternize.

Bluntly, I think you need to think if your friends really have your best interests at heart in in this situation.

 

[Shadowbunny]

So I was recently hired by an employer that is a bit too strict on their employees and lacks leniency. For more context, the employees of this establishment are four people, including me. On top of that, two of the four employees are my friends. Thus, what my friends told me is that if I leave, both of them will get fired since the owner wants to get rid of employees that are friends with each other? Essentially, this made me contemplate on whether to leave my job or stay since I don't want both of my friends to be fired. Therefore, I am curious, are employers allowed to fire a group of people just because the group is close to each other, I really don't want my friends to lose their jobs. Thank you very much!

This is in California.

The bolded sentence makes no sense whatsoever. You're saying that the boss doesn't want employees to be friends, so he'll fire them if you leave. But you also say that you're already friends with your coworkers. So how would you leaving make any difference at all? You're already friends -- if he was going to fire them for being friends with you he would have done so already.

 

[adjusterjack]

what my friends told me is that if I leave, both of them will get fired

I think your "friends" may be BSing you and the real reason they don't want you to leave is that they will have to pick up the slack until you are replaced.

 

[LdiJ]

The bolded sentence makes no sense whatsoever. You're saying that the boss doesn't want employees to be friends, so he'll fire them if you leave. But you also say that you're already friends with your coworkers. So how would you leaving make any difference at all? You're already friends -- if he was going to fire them for being friends with you he would have done so already.

I read it differently. I read it that the boss doesn't care if employees are friends, but won't keep employees who are friends of an employee who quit or was fired.

I personally don't buy the story. If an employer only has 4 employees the last thing that the employer would want is to have three of the four leave at the same time.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

It really doesn't matter how we interpret the friend issue. The employer would not be violating any law if he were to terminate the other employees.