To think you don't fire your employee in a public place within earshot of dozens of strangers?

[BipBippadotta]

This has been haunting me all day.

So this morning I was sitting in a branch of Pret, when a woman a table over started talking incredible loudly on the phone about a team member of hers who was underperforming. She was clearly on to her HR department, announcing her intention to fire this person, asking how much notice she'd have to give them, what severance pay, etc.

A moment later, she made another phone call, asking someone to come and meet her in Pret 'for a brief chat'. I thought, surely she's not summoning her employee to an entirely public place to be sacked? Cos you'd have to be a sociopath to do that, right?

A woman came in & sat down, the first woman told her perfunctorily she was 'no longer suitable for the role', talked her through what she would be paid, offered her the opportunity to clear out today or work a notice period. Bizarrely, she also told the sacked employee the team were going out for drinks and asked if she would be coming along! Throughout this the employee looked mortified, and at one point seemed on the verge of tears, and left when the conversation was done.

Just to reiterate, this was the middle of a coffee shop, 10:30 AM, so quite a few people in there but still quiet enough for EVERYONE in there to hear the entire conversation. I heard what this woman was being paid for her notice period. I heard all the reasons she was considered to be underperforming.

Sacker then got on the phone to HR, said it was done, had a little chuckle about how the sackee had 'got a bit emotional'.

Am I being U to think that this is unbelievably unprofessional behaviour?

And was I U to have left a little note to this effect on her table, as I had to leave for an appt before she was done chortling down the phone about her former employee's public humiliation?

Shocking behaviour and terrible for the poor humiliated sacked person. Laughing about it afterwards with HR is particularly unprofessional. You were right to send the note.

My previous job, the only workplace I've ever left because of hatred rather than career progression, suffered from this.

They had a meeting room and directors' offices, but for some reason thought it better to conduct HR meetings in the branch of Bill's in the commercial premises under the office.

When I resigned, they took me there for my exit interview.

Just highlighted the 'all sorts of wrong' way that they conducted themselves and I cited it (whilst in Bill's, for everyone round to hear).

The worst ever I've been witness to as in a property developer's office. I was there in a supplier capacity checking invoices at someone's desk to try to get payment, a boss person called for everyone's attention, asked 'Person A' to come to stand beside them, then announced that Person A was saying goodbye today as they were no longer suitable for the company. Then turned to Person A and told them they had 5 minutes to clear their desk.

It was surreal and horrific at the same time.

I've been interviewed several times in Cafes, but I'm a Nanny so its a bit of a strange profession anyway.
Never been sacked in one though! Been sacked via text message however...

Didn't Phil Collins dump his wife by fax?

I blame "The Apprentice" for some of this kind of thing. Sets a really bad, highly visible example.

I was instructed to sack someone in a busy city centre coffee shop! The meeting was arranged by my line manager and hr. They said they had chosen that particular one as she might 'kick off' and they would rather I was in a public place!! It was awful. Because of this and countless other awful situations I was put in I no longer work for this company.

Apparently so, Bip,

Would be great if this thread was put on Fbook or in Mail for sacker to see. Would love this to go viral.

LetTheSunShine so HR thought this was a good idea? And, thinking the employee might 'kick off', rather than offering to back you up in the meeting, line manager and HR thought they'd leave you on your own with her in a place where totally uninvolved strangers might get caught in the fray? Christ almighty. Glad you're out of there!

Must say I have secretly been hoping sacker was on MN so she could get a taste of what it's like to have a bunch of total strangers up in her business.

YANBU I have heard all sorts of shouty pillocks talking about all sorts of inappropriate stuff on their phones in public places (and occasionally in offices). In many cases the phone seems superfluous as the person at the other end could no doubt hear them anyway.

Wish you had filmed the Sacker! Obviously not the poor person getting the sack.
I had a termination meeting in Costa. We were negotiating my exit rather than a sacking, but the HR Team managed to shout all kinds of slurs and potential personal info about me loud enough for my friend who was at the next table to hear

I refuse to participate in exit interviews - if the company cared about employees they wouldn't need to wait until I left to ask why I wasn't happy, and there's no benefit in talking to people who don't care.

Yep *bipbipp' that's pretty much it! I'd never met the girl before either. She was being sacked for being threatening her manager and her area manager so I was called to do the dirty work! HR wouldn't leave the comfort and safety of head office (different part of the country) and my line manager was far to busy to deal with such a low level sacking. Oh yes very glad to be out of there! (i was instructed to sack more people in the 6 months I worked there than I have in my whole management career.)

kelsoooo a safe guarding meeting in a pub ? So glad that people who can make a difference take it so seriously
i feel so gruby , so you fucking should , I only wish you weren't trying to be humerus
Jesus ........

fuckyoujamieoliver it wasn't my choice to have it there and made it perfectly clear I wasn't happy about it, to the extent I made my manager write it down in my statement.
So I wasn't being fucking numerous I was saying that it's fucking awful so called professionals conduct themselves in that manner.

Don't ducking get on your high horse when you've clearly extrapolated the wrong information from my post

This is what 'hot desking' working from home and unreasonable lone worker policies have led us to
I have conducted appraisals and supervision on park benches - think sunny day and only place I could find with no one in earshot
Informal stuff in cars or coffee shops
I have to meet clients in a public place for safety but try and choose a quiet time of day and they choose the venue
DM came round the other evening and told me about a new charity cafe her church were running which was struggling to get customers - my first thought was yay out of office space!
That said I would never sack someone in a cafe!

Your note sounds reasonable, and so glad you confronted her. I perhaps would have added "Dear Indiscreet Bitch" at the start, with "P.S. do you always behave like a cunt?" at the end.

Glad my note sounded reasonable. I was a bit worried she might think the 'does your HR department know...' bit was threatening or blackmaily. I would have been mortified to receive that note. But then I wouldn't sack someone in a cafe. So I have to assume she's got a far thicker skin than I do.

Good for you for leaving a note. I hope she was chastened, but probably not.

A supermarket manager bollocked a member of staff in front on me of the till once. None of us in the queue knew where to look. It was so embarrassing for the woman he was telling off and us. I didn't intervene because I thought I'd make it even worse for her.

Afterwards I followed him, asked for his name and told him I was going to complain to HQ about his unprofessionalism (I love that word. It makes me feel so grown up ). He told me she was always skiving off in the back rooms. I said to stop making it worse. Her work record was none of my business. I didn't want to know. I was willing to accept that she might need telling off, but in an office, not on the shop floor in front of everyone because it's embarrassing for everyone concerned.

I even said that's what I would do with my employees - I don't have any employees, just a cat who doesn't take any notice of me - but I thought that added weight to my argument.

We used to eyeball each other in the weeks afterwards. I told someone on the customer services till I didn't like him - I wasn't there to report him , I needed to get some points put on my Nectar card and he was there being an officious prick to someone else. She waited until he'd gone and whispered that they all hated him.

The other managers are all fine. It was just him.

I don't see the checkout woman or him around any more. I really hope he hasn't gone on to greater things, but the way some businesses are, you never know .

Oh dear I frequently do business in cafes! But I wouldn't dream of sacking someone in one.

When I interview someone for a position with our dog walking business, I usually invite them to come for a walk with me. That's actually the main part of the interview (although the interviewee won't know that at that point, I describe it as a 'chance to have a chat')

If I'm happy with the person and they fulfil all our requirements, the boring bit involving paperwork will take place in a cafe. I don't really want them in my private pigsty home, and the coffee shop down the lane makes a much better latte than I do!

I've thankfully never had to let someone go for being useless, only because I didn't have enough work to justify keeping them and I've alway operated a 'first in last out' policy in that case.

There's sometimes a good thing about this.

DH was in a local cafe and overheard two men discussing someone they were planning to employ. It became clear that it was our friend who managed a chain off licence, also local.

He'd told us that he had an interview with a firm of wine importers and was really keen but nervous about his chances because he'd been told other people were in the running.

DH earwigged and it became clear that they were going to employ our friend but wanted to beat him down on salary. They talked about figures and benefits and what they would say in case he asked for this or that. It was really detailed. They planned a Good Cop, Bad Cop strategy.

DH paid his bill as quickly as possible and legged it to the off licence to fill our friend in .

People are just really stupid or as they said in 1943:

That's actually the main part of the interview (although the interviewee won't know that at that point, I describe it as a 'chance to have a chat')

Some people don't, but just to give you a heads up, some of us have worked that one out.

MadamDeathStare I've witnessed some memorable sackings. Things have got far less entertaining since people stopped drinking at lunchtimes.