Ask Me Help Desk - Being fired

I was recently fired for being tardy. I have a medical matter that I told the employer about and they asked for a doctor letter which I took them. I was told I would be given another chance with the letter. I was fired today for being late. I was told that they seemed I was trying to set my own hours. I would have had over 40 hours if I had worked my regular scheduled and I called in and told them I was going to come in late today so not to get over 40 hours. When I went to work I was then fired for being late. What is my legal standing on this matter

If you are still in your probationary period, they can fire you for any reason. I don't think there is anything that you can do.

Depending on where you live, you can be fired for no reason at all. It's called work at will. You can quit for no reason with no notice and they can fire you for any reason without notice.

Habitually being late is a good reson for termination as they are expecting a job to be done and you are not there to do it. Maybe your company does not care if you get 40+ hours, and it is up to your employer to send you home if you are going over the alloted time.

Medical condition or not, employers expect you to clock in by a specific time. If not, they fire you.

A lot of places ask upon hiring, "Can you perform the essential functions as outlined in the job description, with or without an accommodation?" That way they know ahead of time what accommodations you'll need for medical reasons or whatever.

You should have gotten permission to come in later rather than take it upon yourself to set your hours. You could have shown up ontime and advised your supervisor that you would be "over" your 40 hours for the week and what do they want you to do? Never take it upon yourself to "guess" as you will usually guess wrong.

And yes, they can fire you for being tardy. You had no idea if you would have been over your 40 hours or not as you did not work that day yet.

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinkiedooter

You should have gotten permission to come in later rather than take it upon yourself to set your hours. You could have shown up ontime and advised your supervisor that you would be "over" your 40 hours for the week and what do they want you to do? Never take it upon yourself to "guess" as you will usually guess wrong.

And yes, they can fire you for being tardy. You had no idea if you would have been over your 40 hours or not as you did not work that day yet.

You should have read the whole thing I did call in and tell a supervisor I was coming in late and the reason. You sound like a typical person who is afraid of losing their job to someone better, even though you aren't doing your job right. And yes I would have known rather I would have got over 40 hours because unlike you evidently I can add to 40.

Note: you called in and "told" the supervisor you were going to be late, sorry you don't tell supervisors anything you call and ask permission to be late

And guess what, the people you are making fun of have their jobs and you, who don't know how to follow simple work rules, don't and I suspect will have work problems until you learn you have to respect and follow work rules to keep a job.

No one owes you a job, you owe them for hiring you and keeping you working.

And of course you can add to 40, since you don't have much else to do.

I agree with Chuck. When you apply to a job you are telling that employer that you are willing to adhere to their rules and that you are there to work FOR THEM.

Anyone can come up with an excuse to be late, or to call in sick, or to leave work early. Hopefully you've learned from your mistake. In my field if you would have done that, you would have been fired on the spot, all of your licenses would have been pulled, and you wouldn't be able to work in that field again.

By the way, how long did you say you worked there?

P.S. Please don't be so rude to our patrons. Everyone is here to help. And assuming that someone's M.O. for saying something and making a rude comment about it is unnecessary. Thanks.

Quote:

Originally Posted by turbodad

you should of read the whole thing i did call in and tell a supervisor i was coming in late and the reason. you sound like a typical person who is afraid of losing their job to someone better, even though you aren't doing your job right. and yes i would of known rather i would of got over 40 hours because unlike you evidently i can add to 40.

Yes, I read your entire OP Turbo. I said you were fired for being late even though you were warned not to be late. Your "excuse" of calling in and telling the supervisor you were going to be late due to you'd be working over your 40 hours per week was just (as I had previously stated) taking it upon yourself to set your own hours. Apparently you don't get it, do you? You were already warned not to be late and what did you do? You were late again with some lame excuse. Your company obviously felt you were not taking their warning seriously hence you were fired. As I had stated previously you should have gotten permission to be late - instead you called and told them are two distinct different things. And yes, I have worked in offices for 40 some years both as a supervisor and an employee. A little courteous behavior goes a long way. Demanding gets you nowhere. You'll soon learn.:D

You know, maybe I missed it, but are you in a right to work state? If so... behold the door. I can't believe that you weren't given an employee handbook and orientation along with documents to sign stating you had read / been informed, whatever about the policies and graounds for dismissal. It may very well be that in a probationary period ( 30 to 120 days ) the type of "work ethic" and issues with conformity and authority just weren't fitting in with management's idea of a smooth operation. I have fired people for being a disruptive force to the staff / shift because they just couldn't follow directions or could not and would not go from A to B without trying to change the route in between. I do that daily with a toddler & 2 teens... I don't need to do it at work too. In most fields today, there are plenty of people willing to get to work on time and I myself am at work 15 to 20 minutes early, we are not ALLOWED to clock in until 7 minutes before the hour... I do it as a respect thing as to get the person who is on the shift in front of me a chance to get out of there and makes sure I walk my floors and doublecheck my patients before I take responsibility for them. Over the course of a week, it's an hour to 2 that I GIVE to my employer and my patients. I'm a professional. My coffee, bathroom, food, whatever... in those 15 to 20 while I'm getting report from the previous shift. Now, having SAID that, I can not tell you how many times I have lost a patient or had a complication arise or just have MASSES of charting and paperwork to do at the end of my shift. I am fortunate to be in an indusrty that is fairly secure and pays pretty well even if you count the unpaid hours. Point being... yes, I have clocked out and then stayed to finish as not to rock the boat and ride the clock. You'd be amazed how quickly someone will finish a tedious task on their own time. Our hospital will call you on your cell or at home and make you come back for anything you missed, so doing it half assed isn't really an option. I knew these things when I chose my career and I DEAL with all the elements of my profession. I don't think on an HOuRLY basis. And my time has value and meaning to me... 5 years into my career I am in management and well respected in my organization. It's my work ethic and no excuses attitude that has gotten me there and for me it is always "what about the patient?"

The sense of entitlement that comes across in your initial post and the defensive posture in the following ones belies a certain type of personality. Good luck in getting another 40 hour / week job. I suggest you leave your independent thinking and individuality at home or properly channeled. BTW... most people don't get fired the FIRST time they are late and it sounded as though you had been giiven a "verbal" warning already... what did you think they meant when they said "Do not be late ANY MORE?"

Quote:

Originally Posted by turbodad

i was recently fired for being tardy. i have a medical matter that i told the employer about and they asked for a doctor letter which i took them. i was told i would be given another chance with the letter. i was fired today for being late. i was told that they seemed i was trying to set my own hours. i would of had over 40 hours if i had worked my regular scheduled and i called in and told them i was going to come in late today so not to get over 40 hours. when i went to work i was then fired for being late. what is my legal standing on this matter

My question is "why are you late"? Try waking up earlier so you won't be late. You do not have a case.

Quote:

Originally Posted by turbodad

Quote:

Originally Posted by twinkiedooter

You should have gotten permission.

You should have read the whole thing I did call in and tell a supervisor I was coming in late and the reason. You sound like a typical person who is afraid of losing their job to someone better, even though you aren't doing your job right. And yes I would have known rather I would have got over 40 hours because unlike you evidently I can add to 40.
You should have read the whole thing I did call in and tell a supervisor I was coming in late and the reason. You sound like a typical person who is afraid of losing their job to someone better, even though you aren't doing your job right. And yes I would have known rather I would have got over 40 hours because unlike you evidently I can add to 40.

Let me point something out here. You came to us and asked for help. The people here, including twink, donated their time and experience to answer your question. Whether it was the answer you wanted or expected is immaterial as long as the answer is accurate (which it was). But instead of appreciating that they made an effort to help (even if the answer was inaccurate), you chose to attack and without basis.

This seems to be an attitude problem that probably contributed to your getting fired. If you had to make doctor's appointments that would interfere with your work hours, you needed to ASK PERMISSION FIRST. You were given a warning about this and you chose to ignore that warning.

So the bottomline is you were fired with good cause and have no one to blame but yourself.

Quote:

Originally Posted by turbodad

you should of read the whole thing i did call in and tell a supervisor i was coming in late and the reason. you sound like a typical person who is afraid of losing their job to someone better, even though you aren't doing your job right. and yes i would of known rather i would of got over 40 hours because unlike you evidently i can add to 40.

Here's a wild legal opinion - you were fired as much for your attitude and sense of entitlement as you were for not showing up on time.

And it's would HAVE, not would have. Good, though, that you can add.