TOTAL VENT...I JUST GOT FIRED-UPDATE

goldenguru

Active Member
I don't know about the laws in your state but isn't there a federal law about family/medical leave?

Contact your local NLRB (National Labor Relations Board). If you have a legal foot to stand on they represent you free of charge. They love to go after employers ...

I'm really sorry. But, for heavens sake you did the right thing.

Who says sexism isn't alive and well in our 'enlightened' culture. Give me a break.
 

KFld

New Member
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Suz</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Linda took the words out of my mouth. I don't know about NY but PA is an "at will" state so you can be terminated at any time for just about any reason. Plus, as a new employee you probably didn't have any paid leave accumulated yet which also complicates the works.

It doesn't make your boss any less of a jerk, though. :grrr:

I'm sorry, Melissa.

Suz </div></div>

I was going to post that exact reply. I don't know if this was asked or not, but was it a union position. If there is a union, they can't just fire you like that. Doesn't sound like it was though.
 

saving grace

New Member
Sorry thank you, What a jerk that guy is, I know you probably cant see it now but he did you a favor, you dont want to work for a guy like that anyway. Things happen for a reason and he just paved the way for you to find a better job working for a better boss that has kids and will understand that life happens especially when children are involved.

My babygirl was in the exact situation this week as baby J, home from school on Monday, I had to call in then Tuesday she attempted to go to school and ended up getting dismissed at 9:15, I didnt get to work until 11:30am, she was put on antibiotic for ear infection on Tuesday Wednesday is my day and she was home from school again, she went to school on Thursday but by Friday morning the Nurse called me again, so back to the doctor we went, and sure enough the first antibiotic didnt work so she had gotten worse high temps and stomach ache.

Baby J is all that matters right now, he is with you for a reason, and you are the person that will take the best care of him and thats what you are doing.

I am really sorry about your Job, I am not sure what you do or how much you liked your job but I am confident that you will find something better.

Grace
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
Hey T,

Sorry about the job. Mostly sorry that you had to work somewhere with a pedantic jerk like that. Seriously, there will be a better job down the road, with a better person to work for. We don't deserve to be treated like cattle in the workplace and those of you who are? Keep looking, there are nice employers out there that have an understanding of what it's like to try to raise a family and have 2 people working.

As far as writing him ANY sort of letter? OHHHHH bad move. Don't!!! It can and will be used against you in court. If you send a letter with any emotion in it at all or ask him how he would feel if...it can come back to bite you. They will paste you out to be an unstable mother who is over stressed and emotional to the point that it lowered your job production. A compliment is nice, a letter is nicer.

Also don't assume you will get unemployment. He can pull your attendance records and make a nightmare out of it. Telling unemployment "But I had kids, they were sick" doesn't help your case. Stick to the facts, you were a good employee, you were complimented several times regarding your job performance, you requested and were approved for most of your days off, and the ones you weren't approved for you had someone keep in contact with the office due to extenuating circumstances. NO EMOTION.

And yes, take it to the labor board, but for goodness sakes don't tell him. And you can talk to an attorney about wrongful termination and possibly sue, but you had better have your duckies in a row. Chronic absenteeism from any job regardless of the situation is not a good thing - I know - I was a single Mom in a strange town, no family NO friends and difficult child was outrageous A LOT. I can't tell you how many jobs I lost due to that.

Now I have a job, where I'm appreciated, not yelled at...and the boss has 2 young children and a wife that does not work. But she can't imagine how she would work with 2 kids. Something to keep in mind for your next interview.

Good luck TF...you won't need it; you're dynamic, fantastic, skilled and a good person. Maybe your next employeer will be human.

Hugs
Star
 

svengandhi

Well-Known Member
NY is an at will state. Were you still within any probationary period when they fired you? Were you given an employee handbook? How big is the company? I think that more than 50 employees is the trigger for FMLA and the like.

Check the NYS Dept of Labor website. You can file for UI on there and you can check your eligibility online. They also have an excellent job search function. I was downsized last year 2 weeks before Christmas after 22 years with my company. I found a job on that website and started in early Feb, I love my new job.

You probably haven't built up enough days to be out. For your next job, you can tell them that you have a baby to take care of and offer to take some days unpaid if you have an emergency. This might make it easier for them to handle. I did that at my place because I went from 7 weeks vacation down to 2. I took a week unpaid when my kids had off from school.
 

chrisi

New Member
I don’t understand, I was an equal opportunity employer. That means that I will employee anyone equally that can get the job done. I’m sorry that if a person only works 10 hours a week, (because the kid is sick, or has a school play) can’t get a 40 hour job done. That is not my problem… I need the 40 hour job done.

I had this situation, a woman had a sickly baby, she showed up 2 days a week for 2 or three hours, but the job required 40 hours per week, not 5 or 6. when she was dismissed and replaced with someone that could do the work, a lawsuit quickly followed. (no surprise since her father in-law was a lawyer. Oh did I mention that her husband was independently wealthy?)

Well when it was over, she won her lawsuit, I was out of business, and 18 other people was out of work. (all with families)

But hey, it’s all about the baby right? Not about a job your paid to do. If you have a baby, you should get paid for nothing. I will never start another business, I will never employee people again.
 

Suz

(the future) MRS. GERE
Chrisi, it's unusual for someone to join our site, not introduce themselves or write a profile, and then have their first post be such a mean-spirited one. If you can't adapt to the "a safe place to land" philosophy we have here you need to re-think your membership.

Suz
 

BusynMember

Well-Known Member
I have Executive Function issues and horrible Learning Disability (LD)'s and have been fired so often that I can smell when it's coming. When I contacted a lawyer I was told that in an "at will" state they can fire you simply because they don't like your smug expression. They don't even need to tell you why you were fired, although I was always told. Now that I have a DOCUMENTED disability, and a job, it would be touchy for the company to fire me without doing all it could be help me (they are a government employer), and I could file a complaint. I still may lose. In the US, there are no protections for any employee who isn't in a Union, and most companies have cut out Unions and will fire you for trying to start one. It's sort of just "tough luck to you." I hate how we have no protection here, but we don't. I'm so sorry you lost your job, and hope you can find a more accommodating one. I'd definitely be upfront with the next employer. If it's spoken before you're on the payroll, in my opinion, it helps.
I used to fall into deep depressions and even despair each time I got fired. Don't do that. It doesn't help.
 

Hound dog

Nana's are Beautiful
Be glad you don't work for your boss anymore. What a total JERK! :grrr:

Sorry about the job. husband has had it happen a couple of times, too.

((((hugs))))
 

TYLERFAN

New Member
Hi family:

NY is an "At Will " State which pretty much s--- for the workers..... :hammer:
I have no monitary complaint with how he paid me ( He docked a salaried employee...a NO-NO in NY :nonono:) because I made too much money to be protected by that law...... :hammer: :hypnosis:
:censored2: are they talking about? So, again for me I lose because I have no "male part". I am really still very mad.....and I feel alot of pressure to get another job when I really would like to get the "right " job for a change GRRRRRRRRRR :rolleyes:
I SURRENDER!!!!!!!!!! :doctor:

GOD, GRANT ME THE SERENITY TO ACCEPT THAT WHICH I CANNOT CHANGE,
THE COURAGE TO CHANGE THE THINGS I CAN,
THE WISDOM TO KNOW THE DIFFERENCE.
AMEN :angel:

THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT, THAT'S WHY I STILL COME TO THIS BOARD
LUV YOU GUYS!!!

Blessings,
Melissa
 

VLong

New Member
Melissa,
I hope Baby J is on the mend and I too work in an "at will" state. I was fired back in 2006 for bogus, made-up reasons and after about 24 hours I felt so much better. I spent at least 4-8 hrs a day sending out resumes, surfing the Net for a job and two months later found the job of my dreams and every time I drive by my old company (which by the way is on a downward trend...ahh Karma!) I just smile and say Thank You!

I know the stress you must be feeling, but take this time to find the "right" job, like you said. But treat everyday like you are still working. Put in the hours to find the right job and you will. You deserve so much better than to be treated like you were by the Jerk!!

Hang in there and I'll keep my fingers crossed that you find the job you were meant to have in no time!

Also, even though I got fired, my old company fought the unemployment for 5 weeks, but in the end they lost and I received a 5 week unemployment check. Made me feel much better. They really have to have great evidence and reasons for your firing and it sounds like they don't have a leg to stand on!

Vicki
 

TYLERFAN

New Member
Hi family:

Thank You again for all the support.
I just wanted to clarify....the jerk that fired me HAS children....3 :hammer:
He always put on this tough guy act......It is his loss, not mine.
I'm over it.
What I can't get over, is the unfairness, and injustice of the situation. Workers here need more protections.....especially women! What he did, I believe produced alot of negative "karma" for him. What goes around, comes around.
Baby J is alot better today...... :smile: :bravo: :warrior:

Blessings,
Melissa :angel:
 

Star*

call 911........call 911
Send a thank you card to his wife. Tell her that while you're sorry he wasn't able to keep you as a working mother, you're really relieved to not have to face him anymore every day.

(I'm kidding I'm kidding)

-it should be a sympathy card

:hammer:
 

Marguerite

Active Member
Just because a bloke has kids, doesn't mean he's not sexist or even gives a rat's about what women have to do.

My old boss was like this - he would sling off at me for every second I took off because of my kids, even though I was scrupulously careful to make sure he did not lose any of my time - I would make sure he got my extra time to compensate. My all-male co-workers didn't help, either. Their WIVES (who all stayed home to look after their kids, as good wives should) were the ones who were good mothers. The men would go home and be met by tidy, clean, quiet children who let daddy put his feet up and read the newspaper...

All I could do was make myself indispensable in other ways. I also arranged with husband to have equal time minding the kids - when we had a kid with an infectious disease, husband & I would schedule alternate days minding the kid at home. This was hard on both of us - HIS co-workers weren't too sympathetic, either.

We had a new directive that came in, all heads of department were sent a list of staff members who had taken absences over the past year that were more than five separate absences - did the department head think that this staff member should get a warning letter?
This was left to the department heads. My department head said, "Yes, send the letter to ALL my staff who qualify." So I got a letter. If I had taken en entire week, for example, when I had a medical certificate to cover it (and also had the sick leave to cover it) I would not have got the letter. When my child was sick and I took every second day while husband took the other days - this amounted to three separate absences in the one week. By coming in to work, I was getting my job done, but now I was being penalised. I talked to my department head, and then with his help talked to the personnel department head who had authorised the new directive.

Meanwhile in the department next door, a female technician had got the letter also, but her male colleagues had not. She knew the male colleagues often had Mondays off because they were hung over, and had more absences than she had. She talked to her department head - he told her that although she had provided medical certificates for each absence, they were marked as from the Women's Health Centre, which means that she was taking time off for "female troubles" and so was not entitled to consideration.

In other words, a hung-over male colleague could get a GP to write him a note saying he had a headache, and be allowed to get away with this, but the female who MAY or MAY NOT have had to see the doctor on female-related issues, was not considered to have a 'real' medical reason.

The working world is still very male-controlled and still very sexist. I found I did best when I played the game as a male, not as an outraged female. I would smile sweetly and ignore sexist comments, but I would quietly document it all and often be sexist back. A bloke calls me darling, I call him sweetiepie, in front of the other men. They got the message, fast. back off, hands off, she has claws. But we can't fire her, she's too good at her job.

Success is the best revenge.

My sister had a poster on the wall where she worked - I made one for my work space too (which I shared with men). It read, "A woman has to do twice as much as a man to be considered half as good. Fortunately, it's not difficult." My male co-workers objected but I told them I would only take it down when they could prove me wrong.

Marg
 

TerryJ2

Well-Known Member
I'm glad Baby J is better.
That's important.
I do believe that what goes around, comes around.

My husband had an employee who was a single mom, and she kept taking so much time off, it was getting crazy. One day she took her son to the emergency room to get stitches, then brought him back to the office, where he sat under the desk and colored for the rest of the day.
My husband didn't know he was there until it was almost time to go home! Wow. She somehow pulled it all off at once.
He was getting ticked because she kept taking so much time off, but when he saw what had happened, he felt guilty (and relieved) that she had come back that day. It was emotional and professional money in the bank for her, for sure!
But it's very hard to do that with-a crying baby.
Sigh.
 

chrisi

New Member
Does it never end?

First, I would like to apologize for the way I just jumped in here. I have updated my profile the best I can with such limited information input presented. It is just that this subject just strikes me in the heart. I have recently taken a position as VP for a local service company, and one month into the challenge I have found an employee who’s wife is pregnant with their first child. She is about 6 weeks into the pregnancy, but in the past 14 business days, he has taken off 20 hours (2 full days, and half day) for baby stuff. Reviewing his time sheet, none of this time was documented as vacation, sick or personal time. Just free time off I guess. Not to mention the time lost with his wife calling him every 30 to 60 minutes, also taking away from the job.

I had a sales meeting with a customer in which he attended, in the 3 hour meeting, his wife interrupted with 4 phone calls. All of which he took making sure the customer knew she was pregnant with every call. We lost the sale.

If not for my previous experience, he would be on my short list for the unemployment line. We are paying him to do a job that he did great until the “pregnancy” Now it's just not getting done.

My question is, why do people think they get special treatment because they are having babies. What is wrong with expecting 40 hours work for 40 hours pay.

This is an example of what is wrong with our society, while I was working my way up the food chain, I worked hard and did what it took to feed my family. Now in this workplace, our workers think that because they have kids, they are owed food, shelter. Work comes second.

I don’t want to hear about your preg wife, I don’t want to hear about your kids play, if you need time off, take it, but report it, as something. Otherwise you are stealing and robbing from the company other team members.

If you are missing hours, not getting your job done and lying on your time sheet, you should be fired. Even if it is because your too busy taking care of your baby.

I just don’t see what’s wrong with that. Please someone give me a good argument why someone paid for 40 hours should only have to work 20 because they had to go to 3d ultrasounds.

Chris
 

witzend

Well-Known Member
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: TYLERFAN</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Hi family:
Workers here need more protections.....especially women! What he did, I believe produced alot of negative "karma" for him. What goes around, comes around.
Baby J is alot better today...... :smile: :bravo: :warrior:

Blessings,
Melissa :angel:
</div></div>

First off, Mel, Big hugs. I hope that rat gets a hairball.

Secondly, to you and everyone else without a real contract and working in an "at-will" situation, I'm going to bring up what has unfortunately become a dirty word in the past couple of decades. UNION.

People complain because from time to time unions protect people who aren't worthy of it. It's absolutely true that this happens. But for every one guy who gets away with something, 1,000 others are protected. And the union goes to bat for the one guy hoping that the 1,000 others might even gain in the future, or at least hold on to what they already have at the next bargaining session do to their representation of the slob.

husband's boss complained to us that the linemen that work for their company are union, and the linemen's safety record is counted in with theirs at the end of the year when bonuses are given out. The couple hundred linemen are the only union workers in this company that employs tens of thousands. It probably wouldn't be that way if she and husband had a union to bargain with them, or they would have found a way around it, but instead they are offered a contract every year and if they don't like it they can quit. I told her flat out that if she didn't like what was in her contract it's because she didn't have any bargaining power.

This same company paid it's CEO a salary $750,000 in 2003, and a bonus (yep, the linemen's accidents counted against her too) was $1.3 million dollars. She left the company about 4 months later and she got a $3.75 million severance package. husband got an $8,000 bonus. His boss probably got $12,000. It seems to me that they could use a union. Dues are a lot less than what people have given up in benefits in the past 20 years, falling for B. S. that unions are robbing from them. Unions protected people like them for a century, and gave us most of the safety and fairness regulations on the law books. WTHeck does that woman need with $5 million in one year when she walked away from her job after making a profit by laying 1,000's of people off?

OK, I'll get off my high horse now.
 

Marguerite

Active Member
Chris, your work situation actually sounds quite different. And ironically, it does seem to be the blokes who have more luck in getting away with this sort of thing.

But where an employee has been told by the boss that she is doing a good job; where the termination doesn't actually mention anything about having to take time off for the baby; where the boss has been kept fully informed and had every opportunity to say, "This isn't good enough, I need you here doing a job, find someone else to mind the baby," and doesn't - I consider a sacking like this to be cowardice.

I've worked in situations with this sort of injustice. I managed to survive although frankly, it would have been more sensible for me to leave and go elsewhere instead of constantly fighting the male supremacy in the place. I made myself indispensible to the boss and he valued it - and yet, if I needed to use my sick leave (of which I literally had months accrued) for anything 'female-related', I never heard the end of it.

When I took time off for the kids I put in appropriate leave forms AND worked extra to make up for it. They were never shorted because of my kids - in fact, I think they got a lot more out of me. When my male colleagues were doing the same, nothing was mentioned. One bloke would arrive several hours late "and leave early, to make up for it," the boss joked.

There are double standards and they so often involve our kids.

It's not fair, but it's true - as women, we have to work twice as hard to be considered half as good. Chris, you should be able to step up to your boss and say, "He needs a warning letter, he is losing us business." So why can't you? Because, I suspect, you are female and the offending worker is male. "Aw, it's their first baby," the boss will say. "Give him some slack."
But a woman, off with morning sickness? Watch the job, girlie!

Chris, this is a site for parents of kids with often fairly major problems. This particular form on this site is for non-kid issues. If you have a child in the difficult child category, we are happy to have you on board. But if your issue is workplace-related only, I think you're in the wrong area.

Marg
 
Top