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Bay Street Bears
Hi everyone.
I kinda need some advice here.
I went into work today, just like everyother day. A few hours into the shift my supervisor asked (very sickly sweet, I might add) if she could speak to me. I got up from my work. ( I accession medical specimens, numbering them, putting them into the computer, getting them ready to go onto the big lab that does the testing.) I was taken into the conference room, where another lady sat. She intoduced herself as the human resources person. I told her I had met her before about two years or so ago. She told me that she had a few questions about my time. Said that there were gaps from what the computer said and what the time clock said. My brain is beginning to shut down at this point.
I told her that there were times (everyday) when we finish accessioning what is there and have to wait for more of the couriers to come in with more specimens. I told her that I always went on my break at 10 till 6. Then I said that after lunch I sometimes pulled the order folder ( we also have to pull stock and put up stock for them) going through to see who got what and handing them out. Then I would sit and do my order entry. After that is done, I am off the computer to pull supplies and put up stock.
I have been at this job for what would have been 10 years in June.
The HR wench then tells me that that is not good enough and as of this moment I was terminated from the company.
I don't quite know what to do. All this took place in a total of about three to four minutes. My brain does not work in situations like this.
A few minutes before my "meeting" my friend and co-worker was done the same way.
A few weeks ago we were told in a meeting that there were plans to downsize. A week before that there was another meeting in which we were supposed to be able to talk to some higher-ups about things that had been going on at the branch where my co-worker had asked for a raise. I was not there, but I was told that it was all done in a professional manner. She had documents to the fact that a branch only 90 miles away was making four more dollars an hour than we were and that particular branch is in a place with a lower cost of living.
I don't know what to do. I think I am still in shock, actually.
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Speaking tonight with my friend, she has already hit the internet and is going to speak to a lawyer tomorrow. We won't get our jobs back, but the giant red letters of "YOUR FIRED" won't be on the job record...
Wendy
Chaska, MinnesotaWendy: If you were let go because your work was not "good enough", I would call Equal Opportunity office in your state. Any company who has an HR department is big enough to have to follow the law. If you were not productive enough or did things that were not what your supervisor felt was o.k. she needed to talk with you and coach you. An action plan would have been put in writing to help the employee know what they need to do to improve in their job. In other words, it is called the "performance process". How it works is a verbal warning comes first, than if the issue does not improve, it is written warning and perhaps other levels before termination. You need to get a copy of the policy and procedure for your company. You can call and have it sent to you. There is a process of moving towards termination, if you had no idea your work was not "good enough" and was point blank fired, that does not sound right....If they are downsizing, they need to be up front with you and say, your job is being eliminated. They would most likely offer a severance and so forth....Get the policy and read it.
Now on the other hand....you poor thing....I am sorry you are feeling bad....It is not easy to lose a job....I hope it all works out well for you Wendy....best of luck to you.....
many bear hugs :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
Brisbane:hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: I don't have any advice but I am so sorry this happened to you :hug: :hug: :hug:
Back Road BearsMichelle gave some excellent advice.
I seriously doubt their intentions to fire you had anything to do with your job performance. Just an excuse for the fact that they are downsizing and you were on the list to go. Even then, severance pay is in order. I'd be contacting your unemployment agancy also. I'm not one for living off tax payers money when a person is just too lazy to get a job but being wrongfully fired, if you can prove that to be the case, deserves some compensation until you can find a new job.
I've been in a similar circumstance.... it feels awful on so many levels. It's hard not to wallow in self-pity and embarrassment alternated with shock and disbelief. Doing something to seek justice might help you to feel better. Time has to ease the rest!
:hug: :hug: :hug:
I am very sorry to hear what has happened Wendy.
Michelle has given some very good advice and I am sure if you have been made redundant because of downsizing - they will need
to give you redundancy money.
I really hope that you will find another job and that things will work out well for you.
Hugs
Carolyn
:hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: Don't know what to say, but here's some hugs from me to you....... :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
Ellen
Seamore CollectiblesWendy,
So sorry to hear about your day.
Time to hit the couch and hug all the bears..
Real Deal BearsI just don't know what to say, but I feel for you :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
Hope tomorrow looks brighter :hug: :hug: :hug:
Oh my gosh Wendy..... yes I also agree with Michelle. That company is trying to wiggle out of having to pay you severence pay. THey are banking on hoping that you don't know to call the Equal Opportunity office I'm sure.
Waggle BearsI agree that Michelle gave excellent advice. I would add that you certainly have an HR file and if you've been there 10 years, you should have had yearly evaluations of your work. As Michelle said, you should have known way ahead of time if your work was less than satisfactory because your supervisor should have been going over your evaluation with you and setting goals. It wouldn't hurt to contact an attorney and perhaps he could get your HR records.
I wish you luck. When we first moved to the desert, I got a job with a well-known agricultural company...well, long story short, at 6 months I was called in and "laid-off," along with many others, due to downsizing. The was, the company treasurer had recently died and with that came the discovery that she kept two sets of books. Of course, management knew that all along, blah, blah, blah.
But I cried when they told me and I cried all day. It was the most humiliating experience I'd every had...I'd never had anything but excellent evaluations throughout my job history. It was devastating so I do understand and I do feel your pain. But you have to remember it was not your doing.
"a bear by kim"I WOULD DEFINATLY SEEK PROFESSIONAL ADVICE, IF YOU WERE IN THE UK WE HAVE CITIZENS ADVICE.
YOU HAVE WORKED THERE FOR TEN YEARS, HAVE YOU EVER HAD A VERBLE WARNING OR EVER BEEN GIVEN THE IMPRESSION THAT YOUR WORK WASNT UP TO SCRATCH?
IT SEEMS TO ME THAT BY FIRING PEOPLE THEY DONT HAVE TO PAY OUT REDUNDENCY MONEY AND THEY ARE PICKING UP ON PETTY REASONS.
ID GO FOR UNFAIR DISMISSAL, IF YOU WERNT UP TO THE JOB, HOW COME YOU HAVE WORKED THERE FOR SO LONG.
PEOPLE LIKE THIS MAKE ME SO ANGRY, WEVE ALL COME ACROSS COMPANIES LIKE THIS AT SOME POINT, I USED TO WORK FOR A SMALL PRIVATE COMPANY, THERE WAS ONLY 3 OF US, THE BOSSES PET, HIS SISTER IN LAW AND ME, I WORKED THERE FOR A WHILE AND WHEN BUISINESS WAS SLOW, I GOT FIRED BECAUSE I WASNT SUITABLE,HE NEVER EVEN TOLD ME TO MY FACE, HE RANG THE PET AND SHE TOLD ME.
I NEVER HAD A DAY OFF SICK OR PUT A FOOT WRONG AND I CONSIDER MYSELF TO BE A REALLY HARD WORKER, LONG AND SHORT OF IT, HE HAD TO PAY ME MY STANDARD WAGE FOR THE TIME I WAS OUT OF WORK, LUCKY FOR HIM IT WAS ONLY A WEEK.
HE GOT OF LIGHTLY, BUT 1 YEAR LATER HE WAS BANCRUPT, WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND!
IF I EVER BUMPED INTO HIM ID LAUGH IN HIS FACE..... GEEEES IM ANGRY FOR YOU.
HOPE IT SORTS ITSELF OUT XXXX
Posts: 1,836I'm sorry to hear about your circumstances...unfortunately shifty back door HR procedures are like a plague in today's world..... accountability only seems to be on the employee's head and not the employer.
My advice would be to gather those items already mentioned...policy/procedures/ exact dates of occurrences, reviews, request your personnel file be mailed to you asap, etc. Write down today, when it's fresh in your head, the exact account of what happened during your termination. Write down the names and numbers of anyone who witnessed what happened or who can attest to working procedures, expectations, work-flow, policies, requests, emails, circumstances, etc. After you have clear documentation... then seek solid, reputable, and proven legal counsel. Most don't collect any fees unless you see a settlement, so get a good attorney from the get go. Meet with a few and interview them, you don't have to go with the first guy in the phone book. Let them hear your case, read your documentation and then let them take it all up with the state and other agencies. The EEOC can be a little more pro corporation than we'd like to think and having solid legal representation is almost required to navigate the time frames and requirements. Contact unemployment immediately to set up a case and receive income...you paid into it for 10 years, it's yours to use now that you're in need.
(10 years is a long time to work for a company and then be suddenly terminated without warnings of any kind.......does anything "happen" at 10 years? An increase in time off, being "vested" in a pension/savings plan, etc ??? Things to consider and take to your attorney)
Good Luck.
:hug:
~Chrissi
EDIT: PS....The time clock part......if the reason for your termination is based on time discrepancies between a manual time clock and a PC clock (???) either you or your attorney request the companies policy and system in place to ensure that those 2 mechanisms are constantly in synch and accurately reflecting true time. If they're willing to loose a ten year associate based on that reason......well, they must already have super dooper system in place to ensure it's accurate time tracking. OR if it's about work that you were requested and required to do offline, without a PC, and THEN they said you were slacking or not online "enough" during those times...have your job functions all written out for your attorney to see. Give him/her a typical daily timeline of what you do and how you do it (handwritten tasks, inventory tasks, tasks at your desk, away from your desk, on the pc, off of the pc, etc. If Tuesdays were different than Wednesdays write that down too. If your job requires you to be "offline" at times, then it requires it.
One more tip....put any/all requests it in writing, via email or certified mail. Phone calls and verbal discussions , never happen in today's world...(even if they really did happen).
2nd Edit: Just thought I'd add this one last piece too......if they were speaking of downsizing (layoffs) and then (very stupidly) decided to wronfully terminate instead....keep your eyes and ears open for hirings in that facility, esp for the job you were performing. When layoffs happen a company can not rehire for that position for a specific time (say 6 months)...they can bring you back, but they can't fill that position with a lower paid person or a new person. If they fire you (a 10 year person with a "higher" pay scale) and then hire a newbie at a lower rate....well that's a big wrongful termination case. Again, good luck
BruinwerksSounds like you are getting some good advice here, so I will send you a bunch of these:
:hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
I'm really sorry for what happened to you.
Cheryl
Bay Street BearsHas anyone told you guys how wonderful you all are today? Thank you's to everyone!! I was up all night long, not able to do anything, I couldn't get this out of my head. I have called the employment office, told my side, he said it might be a few weeks before I know if I can make a claim.
One thing about the reviews, they never would in ten years let us have a copy of them. I really never thought anything about this. All of mine were very very good reviews, I couln't have asked for anything better. This is something we will have to discuss with the lawyer.
Another co-worker called me last night and said that when the supervisor announced to everyone in the lab that we no longer worked for the company, she said you could have heard a pin drop. After that they stayed in the lab to discourage any talking.
Thank you all so much for responding, you have certainly made me feel better, and given some excellent advice! :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: Wendy
Waggle BearsWendy...glad to see you're feeling a little bit better about this...since you realize it really had nothing to do with you.
But you say you never got a copy of your evaluations? Do ask your attorney about this because I thought it was required of an employer to give the employee a signed copy on the day of his face-to-face evaluation. And you should also be able to review your own HR file. What...your file is so confidential that not even you can see it? Sounds like questionable business practices to me.
Glad you'll be seeing an attorney. People don't often want to because they think it's expensive. I was a legal secretary for 15 years (in my younger days) and you'd be surprised what one visit to the attorney can accomplish. Sometimes it only takes a letter from a law office to get what you need....it can be money well spent in many cases.
Good luck...keep us posted.
Dolls N Dreamsso sorry that happened to you :hug:
