sacked

smorton

last week i was sacked from my job. i came in hung over twice. the two times were five months apart and one of them was new year's day. this was considered enough for immediate dismissal. i had no warnings or suspensions or disciplinary action of any kind on my record. i wasn't rude to customers and was still capable of doing my job.
to be honest, on new year's day i was still drunk but i cud still do the job. the second time i was neither drunk nor hung over, the manager said i was and i didn't disagree cos it wudn't have changed anything, except annoy him. i sincerely believe it wudn't have occured to him that i might be drunk if he didn't know i'd been drinking the night before.

i know the shop was in financial trouble. the manager said to the staff about a month before i was sacked: "it could all go belly up at any minute and you should start looking for new jobs".
its a small shop with about 12 employees so one person less on the payroll makes a big difference.
one week before i was sacked, may 6th to be precise, one of the staff told the manager that she's going to egypt for two weeks AT THE END OF JULY. she only works sat and sun so she only needed four days off.

he said that there was no chance of it and she should cancel her already paid up holiday or quit. with emphasis on the quit. she quit.
i take this to mean that the manager can't manage the shop with one person missing, even with nearly three months notice.

but a few days ago, the manager said to my friend that still works there that he wouldn't be replacing either of us to cut down on the wage bill. (exactly wat he said)
if he can't manage the shop for four days with one person missing, how can he manage it for the foreseeable future with two ppl missing?????????

i have four more days to appeal the ruling, do any of you think i have a case?

i'd basically be saying that it cud be considered grounds for dismissal if there was a history of other offences on my record, but i wudn't have been sacked if the shop had been doing more business

joe.

Sorry to hear that. This crowd can tell you all

http://www.comhairle.ie/citizens/

1890 777 121

LundiMardi

Just forget about it and move on. If it's just a shop then i doubt it's gonna do your career any harm.

Just tell them you won't appeal if they give you a good reference.

LundiMardi

the fact that you went into work drunk is a good reason for dismissal tbh. Especially if you're around customers all day. That doesn't say much about the place does it?

Glipmac

i would advise requesting a copy of your report work from there you can do this legaly look at your contract this may tell you about hangovers and company policy with dismissal any thing else within the file may help, dont let them deny you access to your file you can look at it by law, because it is your personal file

hope this helps

Glip :cool:

xzanti

All employers have an obligation to issue 2 warnings before a dismissal... The 1st being a verbal warning.. The 2nd a written warning and then finally sacking... if he didnt issue you with these warnings then you would have a case against him.. Did you sign a contract when you started working there??

RainyDay

You have little or no protection under Unfair Dismissals legislation until you have more than 1 years service. Does your contract mention a probationary period?

smorton

i did sign a contract. don't remember what it said tbh. i wasn't drunk the second time but i went along with it cos most of the staff have come in the worse for wear at some point and the only other action taken was someone was suspended for doing it regurlarly. thought i'd get a slap on the wrist. this was before the shop was in trouble tho.

i forgot to mention above that the reason i wasn't 100% the second time was i was up all night with my mate who was having, as they put it, "an emotional crisis."

i was totally shocked when they sacked me after that. i'm really tempted to name the shop. somebody restrain me plz.

and i posted this, went for a shower, came back to post the bit about the "emotional crisis" and there were four replies. quick work lads

Beruthiel

I'm moving this to the Work Forum
B

BeardyGit

If an employer believes someone has displayed gross misconduct they can dump you out the door without you being able to do anything about it. If you were still drunk on New Years Day and got away with it, perhaps a greater measure of caution was called for on your part - You could just as easily (and probably more justifiably) have been sacked at that time.

Don't worry about it too much - If it's all going down the pipes you'll be last in line for a pay-out and why bother fighting for a job where you could end up not being paid anyway?

smorton

and it may well do my career harm lundimardi. i'll have to explain to any potential employer that i was sacked for coming in drunk when i know i was sacked to save a bit of cash. i can't tell them that, it'll just look like i'm making excuses if they ask why i left my last job and i talk for ten mins.

they sent me a letter today that was posted the day i was sacked, obviously just before i was. it's notifying me that my contract has been changed to 14hrs a week and i should sign it and return the letter if i agree. its going in the post today

smorton

i was there for six months and the probationary period is 3 months. the shop itself isn't going down the tubes. in fact they're opening new stores but that branch isn't doing well. it's all very annoying

jhegarty

smorton wrote:

i was there for six months and the probationary period is 3 months. the shop itself isn't going down the tubes. in fact they're opening new stores but that branch isn't doing well. it's all very annoying

is there someone in a higher position (area manager) you can appeal to ?

Lump

What shop was it. In my contract for statoil, it mentioned something about being drunk at work. If it's deemed serious enough, anything can get you sacked on the spot. Authorising fuel pumps while hammered would be reason enough for you to get sacked. If you were in a stock room, on a ladder hammered/hung over, that's reason to get you sacked.

Saying that I've worked as a security guard while drunk from the night before....

John

Kell

smorton wrote:

i was there for six months and the probationary period is 3 months.

Unfortunately thats a case of tough even if you were there after the three months. I was downsized three years ago three weeks shy of a year and was told by the Labour Relations Commission that you have to be working in a place for over 12 months before any of your employment rights kick in.

K-

WhiteWashMan

xzanti wrote:

All employers have an obligation to issue 2 warnings before a dismissal... The 1st being a verbal warning.. The 2nd a written warning and then finally sacking... if he didnt issue you with these warnings then you would have a case against him.. Did you sign a contract when you started working there??

absolutely not the case.
there are usually grounds for instant dismissal built into a contract.
warnings are for misdemeanors.

to be honest, if you can hook yourself up a new job pretty quickly, i would put it behind you. an appeal will only prolong your agony and unhappiness, and if the work is looking at sever cutbacks, it may only be a matter of time before you get the boot anyway.

regardless of whether you are in the right or wrong, if you *can* move on straight away, id advise doing that.

live and learn, and take away with you the fact taht you will never work in an environment like that again if you can help it.

smorton

i don't particularly want the job back but this guy (the manager) is a pr!ck. thinks everyone around him is a moron and he's a genius. i saw him do some very unprofessional things in my time. he gave me a uniform that was too small for me, then a few weeks later suggested i lose weight to fit into it. i told him not to make comments about my weight and he had it in for me after that. he'd cut my hours and so on. he changed my contract to less hours without telling me. i just got a letter informing me of it today.

and he was literaly grinning throughout the entire disciplinary hearing. he went to his office to take a call while he was supposed to be taking minutes and he was joking with the staff along the way. i don't want this dickhead to get away with clearly enjoying every minute of sacking me to save money

smorton

lump, they say i was drunk but there were no incidents. i was pleasant and helpful to customers at all times

WhiteWashMan

it doesnt matter if there was no incidents, or whether you were nice or horrible.
you came in drunk.

no offense, but i would have sacked you on the spot if you were in a customer interfacing position under me and wandered in drunk.

by the way, he cannot change your contract without you agreeing to it. that is against the law.

RainyDay

smorton wrote:

and he was literaly grinning throughout the entire disciplinary hearing. he went to his office to take a call while he was supposed to be taking minutes and he was joking with the staff along the way. i don't want this dickhead to get away with clearly enjoying every minute of sacking me to save money

When was the disciplinary hearing held? What incident(s) did it relate to?

smorton

it was held last thursdsay. it related to the time i came in "drunk". why

WhiteWashMan

you dont give an awful lot of details, do you?

smorton

those are the only details rainy day asked me for.

i dont know if it was the contract he changed. i know he can't change it without me agreeing. it said in the letter "terms of employment". he cut my hours and the first i heard of it was a letter from england. i had to sign it and send it back if i agreed

Elley

THe disciplianry procedure can vary from company to company, and should have been explained to you when you started your job. In one way you are lucky you weren't fired on the first occasion, but they were prob short staffed on New Years Day!

I would advise you to go in search of a new job but to also make a formal complaint to a higher person. The appeal should be made to your managers superior in any case. The procedure for your dismissal sound unethical and could be legally challenged particularly if the event on New Years Day was not recorded on your file and even more so if you did not receive a written copy of a verbal or written warning. I think you are better off ou of there but you could still put the ****s up them!