- Developer in Milan fired weeks after refusing a pay cut request by manager
- He earned £3,500 monthly under a signed employment contract for four months
- Post refusal, he faced micromanagement, passive-aggressive messages, and criticism
A developer working for an IT consulting company in Milan has claimed that he was fired weeks after refusing a request from his manager to take a pay cut. The post has sparked a discussion online about workplace retaliation and employee rights. The developer shared his experience in a Reddit post, saying he had been working at the company for around four months. He was earning 3,500 pounds a month under an employment contract that he said had been agreed upon and signed by both sides.
According to the developer, the situation changed when his manager approached him and said the company was reviewing its costs. He was asked whether he would be willing to accept a lower salary.
He claimed that his relationship with the company deteriorated after that. He alleged that he began receiving passive-aggressive messages and was subjected to increased micromanagement.
"I said no, obviously. I wasn't even rude about it; I just said, 'No, sorry, I'm not accepting a lower salary than the one we agreed on.' Am I wrong? Now every small thing became a problem: random criticism, passive-aggressive messages, and getting micromanaged for stupid shit. I knew it was coming," he wrote in the post.
The developer said that, a few weeks later, the company terminated his employment, citing poor performance. He claimed that before the salary discussion, he had never received complaints about his work or been warned about performance problems.
"The crazy part is before the salary discussion nobody ever, never, ever complained about my work. Now I actually have a pending lawsuit with them because this whole thing feels shady as f**k honestly and Inhave no intention of getting scammed by another corporate. WTH of a world we live in? If anybody of you is in a lawsuit with a previous employer, please let me know what happened and what did you did because I don't really know how to move," he added.
See the post here:
I got fired because I refused to lower my salary
by u/my_peen_is_clean in jobsearchhell
His post has prompted discussion about what happens when an employer attempts to renegotiate an employee's salary after a contract has already been signed. Meanwhile, there is no independent confirmation of the company's reasons for requesting the pay reduction or terminating his employment.
Many users said that such episodes highlight the uncertainty employees face when companies attempt to cut costs after hiring. One user wrote, "Sounds like they were trying to avoid having to fire you initially by offering a lower salary, and they possibly took it personally when you declined."
Another said, "Italy is notorious for labour abuse." A third added, "Constructive dismissal and retaliation for not agreeing to contract change."
