Getting confirmation that your layoff was never really about the job itself has a strange way of feeling both validating and frustrating all at once.

One man had long suspected his position in a maintenance department was eliminated due to internal politics rather than actual need.

That suspicion was soon confirmed when his old boss’s boss called directly, expressing interest in bringing him back.

The catch came in the compensation offer: $21 an hour, a dollar less than his starting wage nearly five years prior.

You’ll want to keep reading for this one.

Got offered my old job back after they laid me off.

So, two and a half years ago I got laid off because they were closing the maintenance department for my company, despite us having 12 or 13 houses with people with SMI, so they got damaged a lot.

This place wasn’t exactly managed competently.

I assumed it was because one of the C-suite’s husband was a contractor and she figured she could double dip.

This kind of crap happened constantly.

The employee soon learned even more frustrating information.

It was all but confirmed today when I get a call from my old boss’s boss, and he says, “Yeah, so everyone knows you were let go for interoffice politics, but everyone is either gone or in a different position. And I’m interested in going back, I enjoyed it.”

Then matters got even worse.

When I asked what the compensation was, he said $21. I was making $22 when I started there almost five years ago.

I pointed it out and that I hadn’t gotten a raise in the two years I was there, and he basically said, “I know, but that’s the posted rate.”

The employee is left feeling conflicted.

And I mean, I know he can’t do anything about it because he’s just a maintenance supervisor, but dang man, what the heck?

Felt good that they called me, though. I liked my boss and boss’s boss.

What a joke.

What did Reddit have to say?

This user agrees this employee should be earning a higher wage.

Maybe this boss could actually help more than he’s letting on.

This employee should give it to their employer straight.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a restaurant employee who decided to put the staff over customers despite the official policy.

Being a smart negotiator means recognizing when you have the upper hand.

There’s something impressively tone-deaf about all of this.

Offering someone less money despite their significant experience isn’t exactly driving a hard bargain.

It would appear this company values him enough to ask for him back, but not enough to actually pay him what he’s worth.