fired for unknown reasons?

Although I’m pretty sure I was fired for calling in sick too many times, I’m not 100% positive. No one has made any attempt to contact me, ask me for my uniform back, or anything, and the other employees and managers completely ignore me when I go shopping there. (I worked at a store.)

The last time I spoke to the manager (when I called in sick) he was extremely rude and intimidating. I really don’t want to speak with him again. In fact, I never want to go to the store again. In fact, I want my next job to be in any market other than retail, working for someone who is very soft-spoken who would not dare scream at anyone who was sick.

A friend told me that you can get unemployment simply for your boss’s failure to properly warn you of an impending termination. However, this is the same friend of mine who thought that Paris was the capital of Germany, so I’m not too sure how reliable of a source she is. I would discount it save for the fact that a few other people have also told me that a failure to communicate termination is grounds for getting unemployment. But I really don’t know and could use some advice…

Thank you,

Annie.

P.S.(I am also maybe 75% sure that the REAL reason I was fired is because I got my hair-cut short and was no longer regarded as “pretty,” but I would never get anyone to admit that.)

Hi Annie,

Paris, Germany LOL. Do they still teach geography in school?

How do you know you were fired? Did anyone say “You’re fired”? My concern would be that the employer would say you were no longer employed because you abandoned your job .. that’s a voluntary quit.

Can you prove you were calling in because you were sick?

Actually your friend is partially right about being warned your job is in jeopardy .. especially for attendance issues.

It would have been nice to know what state you’re in .. just to gauge your odds because all state unemployment department have their own “personality” and rules.

The general advice to the “other party” is to be very careful about firing people for being sick.

Illness is a reason for not being at work that is “beyond our control” therefore it’s harder to sustain misconduct was present in the “final incident”.

Comments for fired for unknown reasons?

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Can I collect if….

by: Anonymous

Hi, I am (I believe) still employed..I was laid off as of June 8th (officially with letter and all) so over that weekend, I was notified that a job opened up and that I qualified, On June 8th, I went for the interview and passed. On June 9th, I went to work and read the job description (which I agreed to because I was desperate for a job) and didnot really read it carefully and realized I had to do payroll for 100 people. I was scheduled at my other job for days off for vac. I told that to new superv and she gave me a form which I filled out. I dont know if they got approved or not. After coming home on the 9th, I got sick because of the commute (so stressful) and thinking about screwing up someones payroll. I had diarhhea and very very sick. I stayed home for 3 days and called out sick..Next 4 days I was schedule for vaca which I took. Called out sick the next day, got up, thinking of that commute and the work I am not qualified to do. I called HR and they told me I am qualified and I am on probation for 3 months. If I dont pass, I will probabobly get terminated. My question is, can I collect? Thank you in advance.

Hi,

I do see possibilities .. given that you don’t think you are qualified to do payroll, which might make the work “unsuitable” but quite frankly, if you want me to discuss this .. since I still have a lot of blank spots that only asking you questions can fill in .. I think I’m going to have to pass on developing a personally tailored argument for you .. but if that is what you want .. I offer phone consultations.

We could talk about your prior experience and training and determine whether it is suitable work and even if the commute is to great to be suitable work.

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steph fired

by: stephh

i worked for dunkins for 3 years and i was fired cuz they said i called out alot but i have to call back tomorrow to see if they have proof and if they dont can i collect ? just need answer

Maybe .. but if they don’t have the proof tomorrow .. they can still appeal and provide the proof at a hearing and then you would have to repay everything you did collect ..

How’s that answer?

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so I finally went in…

by: Anonymous

I finally just sucked it up and went in to ask my boss what’s going on. He was in a meeting but told me that I could come right on in. So great. I get to inquire about my termination in front of a bunch of people I don’t know…

He explained to me that he needed someone who could work more hours, and I was only averaging two or three hours a week. (Never mind that he was only SCHEDULING me for two or three hours a week, despite the fact that I had asked him if I could work more hours before.)

It’s a pretty weak excuse, but it was good to finally hear why I had gotten the can. Or had I? I asked him if that constituted as a lay-off or a firing. He said I could go ahead and say that I was laid off if I wanted to.

I also showed him the birth certificate he had been nagging me about for the past six months, which I finally found last night after rummaging through my entire garage. He and the other people in the room just laughed at me and said “Oh boy! A birth certificate! Wowza!” I took it upstairs to the bookkeeper, who seemed a lot more pleased to see it.

As I was leaving, a few of my obviously indispensable former colleagues were having a spit contest in the back room. Clearly the mark of professionalism…

At any rate, I’m very glad to finally know the reason. I’m going to go to the unemployment office first thing tomorrow morning.

Thank you so much for all of your help! This site is wonderful, and so informative!

Best wishes,

Annie

You too Annie. You might be shy, but I wish everyone was a gutsy as you:)

Good Luck,

Chris

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Sorry for the confusion.

by: Anonymous

My last day was around New Years. No one told me that anything was wrong. It was a very normal work day. It was the only day I was scheduled for that week. The boss posts a weekly schedule in the back room every Friday.

On Friday, I came to check next week’s schedule and discovered that I had no hours posted next to my name. I thought this was odd and asked one of the managers on duty, who said that it was probably due to reducing labor, blah blah blah, and that I hadn’t done anything wrong to his knowledge. That statement was then confirmed by my coworkers. (The big boss was out of town, and I didn’t really want to confront him in any case.) So, figuring I just had the week off, I went on my merry way.

The next week, once again, my name was on the schedule. Once again, everyone told me that the store was probably just cutting back hours due to slow business, so once again, I went on my merry way, but this time I was a tad more suspicious, considering that my co-workers were all scheduled for their regular shifts…

Then, come Friday, yet again, I went in to check the schedule, only to discover that my name had been removed completely. To boot, everyone was ignoring me, avoiding eye contact, etc., I started to cry, and ran out of there, completely embarrassed. I wanted to know what had happened but I’m a shy person, I avoid confrontation whenever possible, and the last time I had spoken with my boss he frightened me — and that was just over the phone.

A few days later my mother called the store regarding my W-2. That’s when the bookkeeper told her that I ‘no longer worked’ there. That was a little over a week ago.

No one told me anything, had me sign anything, etc. Just nothing. I was just suddenly removed from the schedule and pretty much lied to about the reason. (Although my co-workers may not have known they were lying at the time.)

I could really use the unemployment money because I just moved out on my own and was counting on my job to help me pay my bills, rent, etc. At the same time though, I’m somewhat grateful that I no longer work there, because it was not the best work environment and some of my co-workers were, well, cliquish, let’s just say. Plus standing up all day was really taking a toll on my back. (I think I’ll get a sit-down job, this time!)

I hope that makes more sense.

Thank you for your time!

Annie

Annie,

I hope you get unemployment too. Let me know what the determination says.

My biggest concern for you is that the employer will say you quit by job abandonment and that may cause you some trouble.

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not sure…

by: Annie

Thank you for responding!

The whole thing is very confusing. The first time I heard that I officially no longer worked there was, embarrassingly enough, from my mother. She had called the bookkeeper to ask about when my W-2 would be mailed out. The bookkeeper informed my mother that she had intended to withhold my W-2 until I brought along another form of I.D., but since the Boss had informed her that I “no longer worked there,” they would mail it within the week. No explanation was given as to why I “no longer worked there.”

When friends of mine go into the store and ask about me, they are either told that I don’t work there any more or that I was fired, (followed by laughter. My former co-workers were obviously quite mature.)

I have a feeling that it must have had something to do with my frequent health problems. I believe I was sick 9 times in the 6 months I worked there. (Including one very costly ER visit!)I obtained a doctor’s note for all but 3 times, (2 for a flu that was going around that nearly everybody else called in sick for as well, and once for an ear infection, but my doctor told me she didn’t think I’d need a note for that one.)

But I was never once told that my frequent sickness was a problem, or that I was in danger of losing my job because of it.

Also, I live in Oregon, if that helps.

Thank you,

Annie

(And yes, lol at Lily and her spotty geography. She’s a genius when it comes to money management, though.)

Yes, I’m married to a man who is a genius with money management .. if he were not .. I would have had to of given up this website a long time ago.

Hmmmm. I guess my question is why it is that you were never told you were fired.

I guess I’m having a problem with the sequence of events and concerned that even if “co-workers” are giggling about you getting fired .. (friends could be witnesses for this)

Tell me about your last day at work and at what point after that you discovered .. through your mother you no longer had a job.

Since you worked in retail .. can I assume they posted a weekly schedule? Did you call your boss after your mother told you that you’d been fired according to the bookkeeper?

I have concerns because I can see an employer arguing that a “reasonable person” wouldn’t have left it at that .. they would have called their boss to at least find out if it was true for certain.