Leaving work - some useful vocabulary

We are living in strange and difficult times with the coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately, many companies will go out of business and many people will lose their jobs. I thought I'd make a mini lesson on this topic to teach you some useful vocabulary.

​go out of business / go under / go bust = be forced to close down
lose your job = not have a job any more

Some more vocabulary
You resign or quit when you decide to leave your job. This could be because you've been offered another job, because you want to have children or because you hate your job! Quit is a more informal word than resign and it sometimes has a more negative feeling to it.
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​Hand in your notice is similar to resign but it means to write a letter saying that you are going to leave at a certain time. Your contract might say that you have to give four weeks' notice, for example.

You retire when you stop work because of your age, usually around 65, but this depends on your country and your job. When you retire, you get a pension. This is the money that you get when you stop working. You might get a state pension from the government, a workplace pension from your employer or a private pension if you have paid into one.

If you are fired or sacked, it means you lose your job, usually because you do something wrong or don't do a good job. You can also say that the boss gives someone the sack or that an employee gets the sack.

If you are made redundant, it also means you lose your job but this time it's not your fault. The company doesn't need you or can't pay you any more. Your employer usually has to give you notice (tell you in advance) and the number of weeks depends on how long you have worked for them. They may have to give you redundancy pay.  This is money to compensate you for losing your job.

A grammar note
Did you notice that some of the verbs I used are passive? Fire, sack and make redundant are possibly used in the passive more often but they can be active too.

Active: The boss fired him because he was always late.
Passive: He was fired because he was always late.

Active: They sacked him because he stole some money. (They gave him the sack.)
Passive: He was sacked because he stole some money. (He got the sack.)

Active: The factory is making half of the staff redundant. 
Passive: Half of the staff are being made redundant.


If you would like to know how to improve your English vocabulary and how to remember new words, this e-book will help you:

English Vocabulary Challenge E-book