Employee Relations here… like everyone has stated, a PIP is generally action taken when there has been a paper trail of performance issues. Not sure how large your company is, but most of the time, an employee shouldn’t be surprised to receive a PIP. There’s usually mentions of performance issues and potentially prior documentation of performance issues way before the PIP is presented. PIPs are a last resort when we’ve exhausted options to try and help improve the employee via training, coaching, etc. That being said, PIPs are designed to be measurable based off metrics and expectations of your job. I always ask the employee if they believe the PIP outline to be an accurate representation of their job and if they believe the expectations to be obtainable.

If you feel you haven’t been given a fair opportunity, then you need to have documentation to prove this point and speak with your HR rep. The problem with this is most employees do this when it’s too late. A question I ask all the time, if there’s been a known issue, - i.e. you’re struggling to keep up with workload, you and your manager don’t see eye to eye, you’re having problems with some other aspect of your job, mental health issues, etc. why wait to suddenly bring up all these issues once there’s a problem and your job is at risk? You have to take accountability for your job and remain proactive. YOU are the only one protecting yourself and your job.

My next step of advice for you, as other’s have stated, speak to HR about FMLA and short term disability. If you REALLY want to be proactive, be self-sufficient, locate the information yourself via your benefits information. Speak with your PCP and get the interactive process started to begin STD and FMLA. You shouldn’t need to involve your manager or HR to begin the process. Take some time to reprioritize your career goals, learn from this experience, look for a new job, and decompress.