Boss tells employee they're going to be fired on April 31st as a "joke"

via Laura Chouette

Employee stares at email in confusion.
_{The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.}
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Would LOVE to know what was on the back page

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Maybe that's the "April Fools" part?
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So. This is an incredibly formal email template.
I'm not seeing like, any jokes here, are you?
There's the line about the decision not being made lightly. There's the line after it, mentioning that there are documented concerns. There's even that line about the final paycheck and unused time off. Where even is the joke here?
Maybe, just maybe, it would be funny if there was an office in-joke snuck in there. It'd be super funny if it ended with a line, in size 48 font, unmissable, that surprise! This employee is getting a raise instead!
But no. This employee is left confused and mildly infuriated.
As people noted, a lot of them would've ignored the mistaken date and just assumed they were fired. How many people even know that April only has 30 days? Not all of us can remember that kind of thing off the tops of our heads.
It comes off as an unkind message, even if it is apparently a joke.
Are you... sure about that?

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It doesn't sound AI to me. It sounds like a template letter

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The paragraph about the decision not being made lightly is the real tell. There are a bunch of reasons thrown in there that an HR worker could select for the proper usage for each person. The boss here just didn't bother to make any changes.
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People were rightly concerned about this person's future

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This was my first thought, too

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Wouldn't most of be stunned and upset the moment we read this? Sure, we might off-handedly notice the wrong date going on. But nothing else, and i mean nothing else, in this letter is screaming out "Hahahaha jk! It's a joke!" It's a highly serious form letter. What's so funny about that?
Even if this was the funniest, silliest joke in the world to both boss and employee, I think HR needs to get involved here.
Either this was a botched firing of a different employee, a botched firing of THIS employee, or a weird joke with no punchline. Unless this person chimes in to share what their boss was thinking, or what their dynamic is, it's just too bizarre to not involve HR.
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via Vitaly Gariev

Boss laughs to himself after sending "joke" firing email.
_{The image does not depict the actual subjects of the story. Subjects are models.}