u/Icy-Consequence3914

European, mid-career professional. Less than a year in at my current job, on a fixed-term contract with significant time left. White-collar advisory role.

HR told me I'm being terminated.

A few hours later, HR messages me on WhatsApp asking me to send a resignation email. Not a termination letter from them — a resignation from me. When I pushed back, she said "it won't stay in your files for future background checks if you resign, it'll be smoother for both sides, this is how we do it here."

Here's what's making my stomach turn as I think about it:

• A few weeks ago I suddenly received a "Performance Under Review" email with senior people in cc, assigning me a target with a new function (that I was originally not hired for) and is wildly unrealistic for the timeframe.
• Then, less than a month after the first performance email ever lands in my inbox, they want me out. With a resignation letter from me.

What I think I know (please correct me):

• Whether I resign or get terminated benefits will be the same (30 days notice, no gratuity/ILOE since less than one year on the job, same visa grace period, etc.)
• If they terminate me without legitimate cause, I'm owed notice and potentially compensation for early termination (up to 3 months), and I have grounds for a MOHRE complaint if they try to dress it up as performance.
• The "it won't appear in your files" line in your files for future background checks. that's just a lie, right?

Grace period is going to be tight on my visa side too, so the clock is brutal.

What I need from this sub:

1. Has anyone actually lived through the forced-resignation play here? What did you do? What worked, what didn't?
2. Is the "won't appear in files" line as much of a lie as I think? I'm mostly worried about the weight it will have on future background checks by future employers.
3. Anyone been to MOHRE on a performance file like this, what did mediation actually look like?
4. Recommendations for a labor lawyer who'll do a fast consult?

Thank you. Haven't slept.

Mid-career professional. Less than a year in at my current job, on a fixed-term contract with significant time left. White-collar advisory role.

HR told me I'm being terminated.

A few hours later, HR messages me on WhatsApp asking me to send a resignation email. Not a termination letter from them — a resignation from me. When I pushed back, she said "it won't stay in your files for future background checks if you resign, it'll be smoother for both sides, this is how we do it here."

Here's what's making my stomach turn as I think about it:

• A few weeks ago I suddenly received a "Performance Under Review" email with senior people in cc, assigning me a target that has nothing to do with the function I was originally hired for and is wildly unrealistic for the timeframe.
• Then, less than a month after the first performance email ever lands in my inbox, they want me out. With a resignation letter from me.

What I think I know (please correct me):

• Whether I resign or get terminated benefits will be the same (30 days notice, no ILOE since less than one year on the job, same visa grace period, etc.)
• If they terminate me without legitimate cause, I'm owed notice and potentially compensation for early termination (up to 3 months), and I have grounds for a MOHRE complaint if they try to dress it up as performance.
• The "it won't appear in your files" line in your files for future background checks. that's just a lie, right?

Grace period is going to be tight on my visa side too, so the clock is brutal.

What I need from this sub:

1. Has anyone actually lived through the forced-resignation play here? What did you do? What worked, what didn't?
2. Is the "won't appear in files" line as much of a lie as I think? I'm mostly worried about the weight it will have on future background checks by future employers.
3. Anyone been to MOHRE on a performance file like this, what did mediation actually look like?
4. Recommendations for a labor lawyer who'll do a fast consult?

Thank you. Haven't slept.