Just been sacked for the first time ever after a funeral

[PrueD]

On Monday I was at a funeral and yesterday I was off on compassionate leave. When I returned today the director sacked me. Been there 9 months.

Before now, I hadn’t been made aware of any issues in my one to ones, the last one being a week and a half ago. I had told my manager a month ago about my terminally ill relative. It was harder to work at my usual capacity at this time but I was still doing a good job on important projects. The main problem I had was they kept piling on more work on top of existing work.

I said I would’ve liked the chance to address any issues and they said they don’t have capacity to support and that’s it. I’m in shock, having an awful week as it is.

Is it a marketing/comms agency you work for OP? It sounds like it from your description.
If so, unfortunately this is common in the industry that sometimes your face just doesn't fit and the second you have one mistake, or one client complaint then your being managed out the door.
However most people in the industry know agency life is ruthless and not the right fit for everyone so it should be an issue to get another role.

@EmmaMaria no need to be so rude

Oh and also, they would probably give you a reference, my company always does for the people we let go. They won't probably say WONDERFUL things but they say you were there for such and such time, we're always reliable, punctual blablabla... so if you think you'll need a reference, ask for one. They won't pit bad things on it.
Good luck

It isn't shameful for you OP. The most exemplary employees can find themselves on the receiving end of unprofessional behaviour by poorly managed organisations. I bet once you start telling people they will regale you with their own horror stories about lousy employers. Please put this thought out of your head - onwards and upwards! 🤗

@Ohnobackagain It is not rude to ask people to stop giving incorrect legal advice. You are potentially making a bad situation worse.

So that senior manager who commented that you wouldn't like the new employer - drop him an email saying something to the effect

Dear
Remember on my last day you said I wouldn't like the new employer - well guess what they've just let me go !
Know of any openings anywhere which might suit a skilled, experienced hard worker ?

In other words - hit that network right now, get others looking out for you. Good luck - you can do this

@PrueD ignore what I said about ‘may have recourse’. While I did not mention rights, it was misleading and others have corrected this, as they should.
@AngelicKaty @EmmaMaria

It’s not shameful. People are getting terminated like this left, right and centre. My sibling has just had this happen to a workplace friend. The friend was not performing badly - only been in the job a few months, management need to lay people off due to rising costs or whatever and he was convenient. So they laid him off

please don’t be embarrassed. Newish employees are the easiest targets - you can hardly lay someone off for this reason if they’ve been there 10 years - because they’d rightly say well hang on - been her 10 years with no probs and they have more rights.

you were just an easy target

Not for someone of under two years service

Under 9 months, so not unfair dismissal unless discriminatory (race, sex, etc)

Go back to your old company and work for the nice manager! It's a no brainer. Tell them, it turned out they were right and the new place was toxic.

I'm so sorry OP, that sounds absolutely awful. I'm sorry for the loss of your grandmother, and getting sacked on top of that is horrendous. Don't feel ashamed - I can understand why you feel it, but it's not something you should feel ashamed of.
I'm not an employment lawyer, but I fear that at 9 months in, you aren't in a strong position. It's worth a quick chat with an employment solicitor, though, nothing to lose.

That pretty sums up the reason I left my last project
The existing manager (who gave me the contract) left on long-term (stress related) sickness
Her replacement was a vile, dishonest, micromanaging cow
I made sure when I gave my zero days notice that her manager knew the reason
Three months later, the client got back to me saying she'd been fired "for all the reasons that you know about" and asking me to come back and continue the project
I didn't return, for reason unrelated to her with that awful client (e.g. Persons of Restricted Mobility cannot visit their HQ, where I was supposed to work, as they didn't have a fire safety certificate for the building due to zero evacuation plans for PRMs from the 4-8th floors) but crikey did I feel vindicated :)

Strongly implies it's them, not you, that's the problem

A very similar thing happened to me after taking a day off to visit my mum in hospital. They said they couldn't support me if I was going to be distracted by a family illness. I'd been there around 6 months so nothing I could do.

It was also my birthday.

@Jertzy oh that’s horrific, I’m sorry.

they also used the word ‘support’ during the conversation, as in unwilling to do so.

this moment of big grief is one of those things that happens a small number of times (well depending on family size!) and they couldn’t just give me a moment. I’ve worked hard for them, including many late nights I could’ve been by my grandmothers side instead. Reminds you you’re just a cog.

Sorry for your loss op. That's really shitty and stressful. I know it won't help but will you be responding to the letter to say it's a shame they hadn't raised any issue previously and their letter is still very vague on the reasons for your termination?

I completely understand you being worried about others finding out and thinking somehow it's on you but you have worked with people in this circle and they will know different. Keep reminding yourself of that and tell people so they can support you.

Think it is worth approaching previous company. Be as honest as you can about 'being sacked' but very much deal with it as a bit of a mystery, all seemed fine but a recent change of management is the only thing that would make sense. Everything was fine up to that point.
Would you be able to get a reference from the manager on mat leave?
On one occasion, I requested an alternative referee for my new job, as my abusive ex still worked at the previous company. Not sure if you can do something similar in this situation.
You might be able to get some legal advice to ensure the previous company don't give a rubbish reference, which is totally unjustified.

Just want to quote Ariela’s excellent post to make sure you see the kind of thing you can communicate about your last position to prospective employers. It’s very well phrased and if you read it a couple of times, you’ll feel more comfortable answering questions. Good luck with your job search.

That would daft to lie, payroll could see your earnings and it would be clear that you’d been working otherwise where did the earning come from?

It’s not you it’s them!

Don’t let the b**tards get you down!

I second this. It doesn’t make you bitter or incompetent it’s generous to the company but it doesn’t look great for the previous company either given you were fired after compassionate leave. Clever in the way it’s worded. And will show the op can look at the situation objectively.

@Loopytiles , This is OP's thread, she can choose what to take away from it.
A public forum is about different opinions & no one made you the thread monitor.

@AngelicKaty Then OP will do just that if she so decides.

Good luck OP.

Jesus H Christ on a bike. The two year rule applies unfortunately but what shit fuckery is this 🤷‍♀️ you know you did your job, your manager is on mat leave and your micromanaging temp manager let you go. Trust yourself this is either because you had time of for a funeral and or the new manager is an incompetent weirdo who doesn't like you. Plus they have previous for it. The fact you just delivered a project as well, perhaps they can't be arsed to pay temps? Likely they would be hellish to work for in the long term as they are morally vacuous. When you feel better, you will realise they did you a favour. Your right to be hurt, confused, and upset but you did nothing wrong.