Furious at ds work dismissal

[OneGreyBiscuit]

This is more has my 19 year old ds employers been unreasonable. He's just been sacked for being unreliable. For context - he accepted a new job about a month ago. He informed them of where he lives which is about a forty minute train journey away. He is a few minutes late everyday because of the trains and they said they were ok with it. He's just come off holiday (which he informed them of) and went back today. He was sent an email before today telling him to get an earlier train so he's on time. Fair enough, so he did and would've continued doing. At 9 he was called into a meeting to tell him his contracts been terminated for unreliability. He was only informed of getting an earlier train from today, so how can they dismiss him like this? If he continued to get the later train and continued being late then I'd understand but they've not even given him a chance. I'm absolutely furious. And to add insult to injury he still had to pay for his waste of time and money train fare this morning.

i think you could have suggested he take an earlier train.
i hope he gets another job soon

I suspect that as unemployment ticks up new starts telling their employer that certain things are "non-negotiable" will fade a bit, LOL. Maybe the young chap who got the boot thought his timekeeping was "non-negotiable"?

I think the issue here OP is that you've taken what your son's told you as gospel but I suspect it's not quite as he's painted.
I can imagine an employer, knowing how unreliable trains can be, being ok with letting the odd late start slide when there have been genuine delays. What I find highly unlikely is that they've agreed that he can start late every day just because he can't be arsed getting the earlier train.
If I was an employer I wouldn't take kindly to someone who is late every day also then taking leave within their first month on the job.

And THIS is exactly why “Gen Z” are stereotypically not fit for the workplace.

Because of their hysterical and aloof parents.

He interviewed for the job and signed a contract agreeing to the terms of employment. No one would support an employer changing the terms of employment after the contract had been signed so why should the employer tolerate an employee not sticking to their side of the agreement. If her son wanted more flexibility he could have applied for a job that offered that or explored the possibility with this employer before he agreed to their terms.

I echo your thoughts.

Neither the OP nor her son understands the definition of accountability.

He was obviously crap at the job as well as late every day

We have no idea if the employer is inflexible. OP's son just turned up late every day. We don't know what they would have said if he'd asked to adjust his working hours.

For God's sake, he is an adult, get to work on time. It's not that difficult.

Maybe your son got the wrong end of the stick when he first got there a few minutes late and they said it's okay, like a one off thing? And then it just gets too much maybe? Hel have to take it as a lesson learnt for the future with a new job, good luck to him hope he gets a new one soon

I think this is a horrible thread, maybe there's only a train every hour so he'd have to wait around for 55 minutes every day before his job started.

Did they actually say they were ok with him being late OP? Or did DS just assume that was the case because they didn't say anything about him being a little late? Could he make the 5 minutes up at the end of the day?

I think it was mean of them to not at least give him a warning but he can learn from this and move on. Best thing to do IMO is to support him in finding another job.

Ok I've calmed down and back. I've been messaging my ds who's absolutely gutted (snicker, snicker, serves him right). I've seen many comments about him taking holiday - he was asked in his interview if he had any holiday booked (which he did and was paid for) and informed them of this, and still took him on. The thing that annoyed me was there was no second chance, just pay for an unnecessary train fare, come in earlier and sacked within 5 minutes. Where I work people who are not up to the job are at least given a second chance before getting the boot. The job was in finance, so not retail, hospitality, healthcare. They obviously had someone else lined up before he went back today. I've told him to learn a lesson from this and not to take anyone on their word. From all who've suggested he's not telling me the truth, maybe maybe not, but I can only get his side of the story. I know from what I've put, I'm still going to get, tough shit he should've got earlier train but I'm a mum and I feel awful for my son, so shoot me. He was at his previous job for two years and had no warnings as far as I'm aware. And at least he wants to work.

Are you saying he went in and they fired him and sent him home there and then? They need to pay him for today and his notice. What did they say about that?

Some people on here are absolute arseholes who just love sticking the boot in. I would say that there might be more to this. If I thought a young person was otherwise capable of coming good I’d have told him to be on time in future as part of his interim probation review. Having said that if there were other issues with general initiative I might not bother but they would know they weren’t meeting expectations. There’s nothing to be done but failing probation shouldn’t be a shock.

"This is just another life lesson and stage of character building. If you start work at 8 common sense says aim to get there for 8:30."

He tried that, didn"t work it seems?

Maybe there is. And maybe he should have considered that when taking the job?
My mum doesn't drive and used to have to get up at 6am so she could get a bus that got her to work an hour before she needed to be there. Because the next one would get her there 15 minutes late

You can't just change your working hours because you're reliant on public transport.
Or... you can't just change your hours without actually agreeing it with your employer, which he clearly hasn't done.

I think he set the wrong tone from the start op in his new job.

He was never going to make a good impression by telling them he would be late every day, rather than using his initiative to get the earlier train.

It gave the impression he isnt really bothered about the job rather than seeming keen and enthusiastic

A horrible thread? Come off it🤣. This is real life.

If there’s only a train every hour then the lad needed to suck it up and get the early train. Or he could have realised that the commute wasn’t practical and declined the job offer.

We all can’t base our contracted working hours around public transport schedules.

That really stinks @OhThePotential , that is the kind of thing you don't forget however long ago it was. Around the time I was first job hunting (the 90s) tevery other job advertised a 'young dynamic workplace' to attract candidates, there really was the impression of an ideal personality being pushed which everyone was expected to fit into.

Yes, they meant ok that day not every day!

Imagine the interview - If you give me a chance I will be going on holiday for a while next week and when I come back I will be late every day - Fuck Off LOL.

Or you let them know, ask, and if they say yes that is fine do it. Hmm, sounds familiar.

So when they said "we are OK with it" they didn't mean it at all. Was it some kind of test? Were they lying? Did the person who said it was OK not actually have authority to do so and has been pulled up for it?

He is owed his pay for today and if there is anyone decent then they own him an explanation.

He was late everyday, is he sure they said this was ok.? He needed to get the earlier train from the start and be on time

How he gets to work and any inconvenience he might experience getting there on time his not his employers concern. He agreed to the hours when he applied for and took the job. You can't unilaterally decide you'll take the most convenient train for you and arrive late everyday. If he wanted an adjustment to his hours he should have asked.

The 1-5 mins late was approved. The holiday was approved.
It is very common for people to already have holidays booked when they interview for a job.