Firing hardworking employee

stringd2015

Its been five months of me trying to put things behind and move on. I have been relentlessly trying to find a reasonable justification for firing hardworking employee who got things done , got recignition from senior management but in a matter of 2 months just a week before end of probation was let go for no great reason. A new one joined the very next day. I was very much hurt as I really liked working there and was dedicated to work, it was totally unexpected came out of the blue. Any and all ideas why you would fire someone who would've been a good asset to company a SME will be very helpful.

Peregrinus

What did they say when they let you go?

What was the role you were employed for?

Ken.

Would they have had to give you a pay raise at the end of the probation?. That would be my first thought.

Tigger

In all honesty I'd never let go let alone fire a hardworking employee who was capable
Were you capable ?

Ursus Horribilis

Without knowing more it'd be hard to say. Maybe your face didn't fit or they didn't like something about you. Or if I was to be cynical, they found someone who'd cost less to employ? I wonder who did they take on instead? Could it be nepotism at play?

_Brian

Just because an employee is working their best doesn't mean they are a good employee, there may be a personality clash or language barrier

Business can be very ruthless and during probation you can be terminated for me real reason at all.

stringd2015

They hired someone with similar profile, Irish, for little less salary, the one who replaced me was a male may be with same salary. New supervisor took over the department, he removed people who showed little resistance immediately. It seemed he didn't want to make me or any non irish permanent , he seemed angry at me for reason unknown and looking back probably he didn't like my face . That must be the trigger. Thanks folks, it was a horrible company with no ethics, was finding hard to explain why I left to potential new employers. Many were fired in that company with little or no notice.

seamus

There are tonnes of potential reasons. If you were in a small company and hired on a large salary, it's possible that they had no intention of keeping you on for the long haul, but needed someone with your expertise to "get things done" as you put it.

Edit: I see you've added more detail. It's not unheard of when there's a shift in upper management for the incoming management to want to reshape the department or even the company in the way that suits them. This can be as blatant as just firing those who can be fired or as subtle as instigating changes that effectively push out the older staff by making the work unbearable.

Take solace from the fact that although you enjoyed the work up till then, you would have ended up hating it.

daymobrew

stringd2015 wrote: »

it was a horrible company with no ethics

While it is difficult to explain to new employers, be thankful that you are out of such a company for the reason above.

Mrs OBumble

stringd2015 wrote: »

just a week before end of probation was let go for no great reason.

Maybe they had a policy of not keeping anyone past the end of probation, because you get more employment rights then. (I've heard of it happening).

Just tell new employers that you were on a 12 month fixed term contract, which came to an end (could even say it was covering maternity leave, if you think they won't check it out). Do not say anything bad about the old company to the new company - just be vague about them.

stringd2015

Thanks, it was getting unbearable at times, they had to fire me as I wouldn't quit. I was getting a trival work done as my manager insisted I complete it, which made me loose focus on a ball that was dropped but we got it fixed same day , as soon as i was back on it. They betrayed me saying the projects I would be given next were important for business and asked me to ramp new person up n had em over to them, who I didn't know was my replacement.

They had made up their mind to get rid of me, so don't think anything I said or did would have made any difference. How unfortunate it is that there are no strong rights for people in probationary period for unlawful termination.

seamus wrote: »

There are tonnes of potential reasons. If you were in a small company and hired on a large salary, it's possible that they had no intention of keeping you on for the long haul, but needed someone with your expertise to "get things done" as you put it.

Edit: I see you've added more detail. It's not unheard of when there's a shift in upper management for the incoming management to want to reshape the department or even the company in the way that suits them. This can be as blatant as just firing those who can be fired or as subtle as instigating changes that effectively push out the older staff by making the work unbearable.

Take solace from the fact that although you enjoyed the work up till then, you would have ended up hating it.

Ursus Horribilis

stringd2015 wrote:

How unfortunate it is that there are no strong rights for people in probationary period for unlawful termination.

There are two ways of looking at this. Probation gives an employer the chance to get rid of an employee they've discovered isn't right for the job. The other side of course is that it can be abused.

By the sounds of things you're better off out of there. It's not the only job in the world so you'd be better off focusing your energies on trying to find a new one than obsessing about why they let you go.