by Anonymous
(Florida)
I was the general manager of this company and there has never been any rules as to when it’s ok to be in or out of the store. I have had to be there at all times of night and day. I stepped down from my position to the co-manager of the store.
An employee said she had 50 dollars in her pocket when she left cash and did not realize it. She called me at 4:30 am. I got up out of my bed and drove down to the store, went in and put the 50 dollars back in our safe cash. The employee met me at the store. I always have tried to make sure everything at my job was in order. My district manager wasn’t very happy about my decision to step down in management because its difficult to find a general manager on the spot. I think he fired me due to his extended feelings about the previous situation. That is my opinion. Actual termination was being in the establishment during non-operational hours. It never has been a problem before for any reason. I wasn’t in the establishment for anything other than to fix a problem. I had to leave town at 6:00 am the next morning and that”s why i didn’t just wait until the next day. so what do you think about this?
Hi Anonymous,
If you say there is not a written rule or policy that would cover your action as a violation…that’s a positive thing you can use to establish you were not aware of the rule.
I would also go as far as to ask you if the employer has a written policy or rule that would find you in violation of a rule if you had not done what you did.
What you did not address…so I cannot is: Were there prior written warnings? Unless the rule violation was so egregious that an employer would have no alternative, but to fire you, they really need to follow their progressive discipline policy.
Most states look at the final incident, they want to know if you had been previously warned about violating the rule, they want to know if you had been informed your job would be in jeopardy should another violation of the rule occur.
The fact that it had never been a problem before would lead me to ask WHY NOW? If your manager has been aware of incidents in the past and not taken any action.
I would also ask you…if when you stepped down did it relieve you of any special duties or authority to act as you did? Is there a possibility that as the general manager you were allowed to do this, but as a co-manager you would have notified someone first?
Just some thing to ponder.