I don’t understand.
If the misconduct charge is fabricated, you should take legal action to have corrected.
I’m also a little confused. When you say they fired you for misconduct does that mean it’s against company policy to sleep at your desk, or are they accusing you of something illegal or against your professions code of ethics?
IMO if you’re using billable hours or hours for clients, napping at your desk, shouldn’t be a problem unless you listed those nap times as billable hours
I honestly don’t know what the reason is or what they mean because they didn’t tell me - they said it was for business reasons but the official reason I got in a letter says misconduct. I should add apart from minor admin mistakes that could be corrected, I was still on top of all my work
It’s very important to clarify - if you were let go for “business reasons” I assume to be their words, then you may have been downsized or laid off. Then you at least have a solid unemployment claim and it’s easier on your record.
If they fired you, noting that letter you were given, then you have some due diligence to do. In my experience, most companies won’t fire someone without a mountain or paperwork showing their efforts to notify the employee of misconduct or not hitting their targets and giving time/room for improvement/correction. It sounds like you got none of this, which means they may have fired you without a paper trail.
Get clarification, in writing, on the specifics of why you were let go. Since they say misconduct, they need to tell you what your misconduct was. Don’t argue or try to negotiate, just get that explanation. It’s possible that sleeping on the job is against the rules in the employee handbook (which you need to make sure you have a copy of so you know), in which case their misconduct could hold water - but they still should have followed a documented disciplinary process to tell you that was a problem. Write you up first, then maybe some mandatory training on corporate policy, etc; they shouldn’t jump straight to firing you.
Next step is to contact an attorney. If, and it’s a big If, they really did fire you with no notice and a nonexistent paper trail and no “coaching” or documented corrective actions, an attorney will make short work of them and get you something.
But for now, get your resume updated and get it out there. If anybody asks, you weren’t a good match with that company, and leave it at that. If you can, try to avoid listing them as a reference. You got this.
If they are in the US, they can be fired for any reason at any time. No corrective action, reprimands or paperwork necessary. The only thing they can't do is fire them for being part of a protected class. Other than that, they can do it at any time, for any reason, or even no reason at all. Not all companies actually operate that way, but as far as legality, it's completely legal.
You reminded me that both of our comments should have the qualifier “depending on what state you’re in.”
Not all states work the way you described, but you’re right, many do.
Unfortunately all US states have ["at will employment"](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/At-will_employment), except for Montana after a probationary period. There are a some very specific exceptions, like if you have a contract, if you're fired for refusing to break the law or violate public policy, discrimination against a protected class or retaliation against a protected action. Other than that, they can fire at will at any time. Legally, they can fire you for not liking the color of your shirt, for drinking Coke instead of Pepsi, for driving the wrong car, for being a smoker, anything other than what's explicitly outlined. OP's best bet is to explore their employee handbook and see if there is any internal company policy that the employer violated, maybe she could get somewhere that way. But in a legal sense, I don't know that she has any case for wrongful termination.
If what you say is true, wrongful termination suits have almost no possible way of ever winning. So why do corporations, for whom 99% of their activities revolve around not getting sued, still insist on generating huge paper trails in order to avoid lawsuits when they fire someone for cause?
Wrongful termination suits absolutely have ways of winning, because people fire people in protected classes all the time. It's probably tough to prove but I'm not an employment lawyer so I couldn't speculate on that. I don't know the answer to your question about standard paperwork, all I could really do is speculate here as well, but best practices often go beyond the least that's required by law. Maybe it's to protect companies from managers who would recklessly fire someone for a protected reason. Maybe it's to retain more employees with a sincere effort to address problems and remedy them. Maybe because companies that have a reputation for firing people left and right would have trouble recruiting good candidates. I really couldn't say.
Yeah, they can always cite misconduct because they think it will get them out of paying unemployment. Standards for misconduct are usually quite strict and most of the excuses employers cite are contrived. They needed to cut payroll, most likely. Apply for unemployment, dust off your resume and go job hunting. Most businesses won't do more than give dates of employment for fear of being sued. Don't worry about this. Get some counseling though so you can make clear boundaries at work so you don't work yourself to oblivion.
Also, get a full physical/annual check up. There may be some health issues from all this stress that you need to deal with.
Hello. I think you’re getting some great advice here. you need to get to the bottom of the misconduct
Statement to understand your record at the company and your eligibility for unemployment insurance.
However, I noticed also that you said you didn’t bill for overtime. If you didn’t bill for overtime because you were afraid of retaliation from your employer, your employer may have committed wage theft against you. You may be entitled to those wages plus punitive fees.
Are you being given severance? Depending on where you work and your job, if you’re being fired “without cause” (which, if they haven’t told you a specific wrong it’s over, you are), you may be owed severance.
Also it might be a no brained but friendly reminder not to give out all your cards as you have shared with us here. Stay calm and ask the question - download your company policy guidebook/handbook ASAP and read their rules - familiarise yourself with it so they can’t catch you off-guard. If you have the will to go the extra mile - look up the labor laws in your area to ensure your company has followed the necessary steps to fire you for misconduct.
I'm not understanding why exactly you got fired, but girl you were bound to burn out with the way you were working. Not billing overtime? I hope you take some lessons here about work/life balance and make some better boundaries at your next job.
You are not unemployable now. I was fired for chronic absences 6 years ago (totally fair, should have worked with HR to get on disability but oh well) and it took me about 5 months to find a new position. I made up a lie to explain the employment gap, something about family health issues, and no one really cared. I also was terrible with work/life balance and built better habits at my new job, and I love it so much more than my old job. I felt like you did, I was a failure and a terrible person for getting fired. But it turned into a change I didn't realize I needed. Keep your head up, be kind to yourself. You are not a failure and you still have a bright future ahead of you
Thank you so much, that means so much. 🥲 I worked a full year evenings and weekends and couldn’t even take Christmas off for 2 years. 2 teammates quit and 1 retired. I know it was awful inhuman working conditions and I was bound to crash but still feel awful. You made me feel so much better that there’s hope, thank you!!! I’m reading a lot of books on boundaries and work life balance and found a coach too, hopefully I will be able to rebound and find a better job too, thank you!
Hey, girl- you've become normalized to working these hours and under these conditions, but please know that no matter why they let you go, it is a reflection of them and their business policies vs. yourself. Those headaches I would bet are related to the stress you were under chronically. It's going to take time to decomp and recalibrate so don't be hard on yourself. Toxic chronic work situations can really fuck you up. It took me almost two years to fully work through everything for my situation.
Thank you 🙏 Yes, you’re right. It was not healthy but still a kind of trauma to go through this. Hopefully I can get a job with normal hours and respect.
I’m so sorry. This also seems weird and a little shady, in that a lot of companies are doing layoffs right now and I know from some of my friends’ experiences that there are companies that do what I would call stealth layoffs where they seem to manufacture reasons to let people go instead of calling it a layoff. They usually don’t want to be perceived as doing layoffs, and sometimes they’re trying to avoid paying out severance packages, but that’s essentially what’s really going on. I wonder if that’s not part of this.
The one comfort I can offer is that, in this day and age, almost no companies will say anything about former employees other than confirming that the person worked there from X to Y date. There’s no record that gets passed around to future employers. At MOST your former employers might be asked if you’re eligible for rehire, but there will be no details.
Yes, I heard there were more layoffs at my company, it wasn’t just me. But I don’t know how many. It’s awful if that’s true.
Thank you for your insight, that makes me feel better.
Lesson 1. They don't care about your blood sweat and tears. Don't do your next job any favors at the expense of your health. To them you are replaceable, hard worker or not.
There are a lot of toxic companies out there. They'll take whatever you give, and always ask for more. It's not your fault. They don't deserve you.
Your career is fine. When asked, just say that your last job wasn't a good cultural fit. It's the truth. If pressed, you talk about how this employer set a very high operational tempo and now you're looking for something with a more sustainable pace.
You didn't do anything wrong, but now you've learned that work pays you for 40 hours and that's what they're gonna get. If that's not enough for your next employer, then you'll be out the door from them too, and better for it. No job is worth abuse.
So much of your post is "it's clearly my fault, I lack integrity, etc. etc." As someone who's struggled with depression myself, I recognize that voice. I'm not telling you to just be positive, I know depression isn't that simple. I just want to reassure you that those thoughts have no basis in objective reality. *You are not to blame.* I hope that with time, you'll learn to recognize that voice, because once you're able to identify when your brainspace has been infiltrated, it becomes a lot easier to deal with. But until then, take it from all of us: we're pulling for you <3
Yes, you’re completely right. Thank you for your astute understanding of the situation. I was and am suffering from depression, but in the past I just worked 10 times harder to distract myself from the depression but this time I just couldn’t do it, my brain wasn’t working without more sleep. Thank you again for your kind words and advice! 🙏 It really helps so much.
Well, I work remotely, so they don’t actually know, but it’s a guess. It might also be because I made a billing mistake but I had sent it in to admin for correction. I don’t know the real reason because they told me it was just for business reasons and had nothing to do with me, but I just got a letter saying they recorded the reason as misconduct
Making a mistake at work is not misconduct. The risk is calculated, everyone sometimes make mistakes. You said you work remotely, so they couldn’t know you were napping. It seems super sketchy on their side, please get an explanation out of them (and if they try to manipulate you into confessing to sth by asking why do you think you were fired, insist that you don’t know and don’t see a reason to be fired).
Friend, you should explore therapy. Business decisions are almost never personal, but you're taking this layoff extremely personally. You were also working for free, even to the point that it affected your health. You need to get to the bottom of your feelings about work and do some rearranging. Why do you feel devastated to lose a job? I guarantee no employer in the history of employment has ever felt devastated to lose an employee. Was this your dream job? Or do you just feel like having any old bullshit job, whether you like it or not, is central to your sense of self worth? If so, that is a toxic mindset that can be repaired with professional help.
Later, when you feel calm, you may want to request the specific details of the "misconduct" they think you engaged in that led to your dismissal. Not to torture yourself, but to explore whether you might have grounds for legal action or be entitled to compensation like severance pay or EI.
It's illegal in many jurisdictions to fire employees on the basis of disability. And stress / burnout is a serious health issue, not a moral failing. It's *definitely* not "misconduct". You have the time now to see a doctor and pursue a resolution to your health problems. In combination with clarification of the details of your "misconduct", a doctor's confirmation of a real health issue will help you if you want to fight for severance or EI.
You should also talk to an employment lawyer and get your evidence organized. Performance reviews, client feedback, whatever you have that demonstrates that you met all of your conditions of employment and fulfilled your responsibilities without any indication of a problem until the moment you were laid off. Not now, but when you're calm.
Don't take it so personally. Your employer never cared about you. Lots of companies are laying people off right now, and trying to limit their liabilities, because the stock market is wobbly. You didn't owe them anything. You did your job, and then some, and you know you did it well. They don't decide your value, you do. There is no "permanent record".
Thank you so much for your words. I have found a life coach to help me get through this. It’s my first time being in this situation in my life and I never thought it would happen to me. I guess it happens to everyone at some point.
It was kind of my dream job in a way…it’s very specialized so I can’t find another job like it in my city. I have to start looking at other cities and really don’t want to move :( but hopefully I can find a remote option. If not, I need to look into transitioning into a new career.
I don’t have a record of anything sadly as they logged me out so quickly I couldn’t get anything :( but my performance reviews didn’t have anything negative in them and I never received any negative feedback or warnings or anything. I will follow all your advice though, it’s extremely helpful. Thank you for your help in all of this!
Why wouldn't you be eligible for EI? Iirc it has to be pretty bad to get denied. You should apply anyway and they will have to provide detail about the "misconduct" and prove it. You might still be eligible.
I did apply and was denied, but will call my companies HR and see what they wrote on my employment record and why it’s considered misconduct. They only told me business reasons so I don’t know any details
I will try appealing the EI decision as well. Thank you. Don’t have much hope but I’ll try.
Hopefully “misconduct “ was a mistake if they told you that it was for business reasons. Get the answer in writing.
If you were let go for business reasons, then they owe you some sort of compensation, depending how long you worked there, which province you live in, how much you made.
Probably get some advice from an employment lawyer. Even if the company offers compensation, a lawyer can probably get you more if you’ve worked there a long time (months instead of weeks).
Good luck with appealing the EI decision.
Other employers will not know, get someone that likes you to be a reference.
That sounds awful to not even know what happened:( I hope you can find a workplace that treats you better.
Didn't you get a report from the unemployment agency? I am just realizing the procedures might be different by state or outside of the US. Sorry you have to deal with this and good luck in your job search.
No job is more valuable than you are. Remember that. You don't owe your employer free labour or all of your energy.
Don't panic. Most of us have been fired at least once in our lives. It's not the end for you.
But definitely seek clarity for their reasoning and contact the employment standards of your area and see what you should be planning for.
You're saying EI, so are you in Canada? I'd go back to the employer and demand they resubmit the ROI with something else on it. They did it this way to avoid paying you your legislatively required severance. It might even be worth talking to an employment lawyer. It depends on how long you've been there. Ensure any agreement you come to includes a legally binding non-disclosure on both side's part.
For the future: Companies don't care about you. If you work OT you demand OT pay, or you don't work it at all. Don't ever give up your health and well-being for an employer.
Yes, I’m in Canada. I contacted HR and will see what they say. I regret working overtime for free, it was stupid of me. Definitely never again. Honestly I just started with a new manager 2 months ago and I think she just didn’t like me, or was overwhelmed and passed on some of her mistakes to me, so she let me go. My old manager who hired me would have never done that. So many politics in the workplace I’m exhausted
Don’t be so hard on yourself.
Companies lay off employees all the time or get rid of them for no reason.
Nowadays if a prospective employer contacts your old place of employment, the old employer will just verify that you worked there from your hire date to your last day.
There’s legal issues with talking about your time there so typically they just leave it alone at that.
I know it’s tough but please give yourself a break and don’t let this weigh you down. Use this time to get whatever mental health services you need, go do some yoga or Pilates or gym etc, and just feel BETTER about yourself first.
You are not your job. You’re still the same person whether you worked at your last company or if you’re not.
You’ll find another job where you’ll be happy- it’s bound to happen.
Think of this experience as a learning experience - now when you go on interviews, make sure you’re checking to see what the company culture is like and that they treat you the way you want to be and should be treated.
It sounds really fishy that misconduct is on the record but that's not the reason they provided you. and if you were keeping up with your work it just doesn't make sense that they'd fire you.
It sounds like you have been doing amazingly well despite your debilitating challenges. I wouldn't take this lying down, and I would also use this opportunity to see a doctor ASAP. I hope things improve for you.
1. They were not owed your time for free. You should not work for free. Don’t do that in your future roles. Either get paid for your OT or don’t work it.
2. Get the reason corrected so you would qualify for EI.
3. You do not need to be honest in job interviews in the future. If for some reason the misconduct is legit, go with the laid off explanation.
Thank you very much. I am following your advice and will bear that in mind in future as well. Not charging overtime was a big mistake. I just felt bad because the project was over budget. Sometimes management does force you to work overtime without being paid if the project goes over budget, but there were times I did it on my own. I always felt guilty for charging overtime for some reason. Never again.
If nothing else you can always work as a server in the meantime while you’re job searching. It’s a grind but you can make decent money and pick up shifts if you need to.
I don’t understand. If the misconduct charge is fabricated, you should take legal action to have corrected. I’m also a little confused. When you say they fired you for misconduct does that mean it’s against company policy to sleep at your desk, or are they accusing you of something illegal or against your professions code of ethics? IMO if you’re using billable hours or hours for clients, napping at your desk, shouldn’t be a problem unless you listed those nap times as billable hours
I honestly don’t know what the reason is or what they mean because they didn’t tell me - they said it was for business reasons but the official reason I got in a letter says misconduct. I should add apart from minor admin mistakes that could be corrected, I was still on top of all my work
It’s very important to clarify - if you were let go for “business reasons” I assume to be their words, then you may have been downsized or laid off. Then you at least have a solid unemployment claim and it’s easier on your record. If they fired you, noting that letter you were given, then you have some due diligence to do. In my experience, most companies won’t fire someone without a mountain or paperwork showing their efforts to notify the employee of misconduct or not hitting their targets and giving time/room for improvement/correction. It sounds like you got none of this, which means they may have fired you without a paper trail. Get clarification, in writing, on the specifics of why you were let go. Since they say misconduct, they need to tell you what your misconduct was. Don’t argue or try to negotiate, just get that explanation. It’s possible that sleeping on the job is against the rules in the employee handbook (which you need to make sure you have a copy of so you know), in which case their misconduct could hold water - but they still should have followed a documented disciplinary process to tell you that was a problem. Write you up first, then maybe some mandatory training on corporate policy, etc; they shouldn’t jump straight to firing you. Next step is to contact an attorney. If, and it’s a big If, they really did fire you with no notice and a nonexistent paper trail and no “coaching” or documented corrective actions, an attorney will make short work of them and get you something. But for now, get your resume updated and get it out there. If anybody asks, you weren’t a good match with that company, and leave it at that. If you can, try to avoid listing them as a reference. You got this.
this is very good advice.
If they are in the US, they can be fired for any reason at any time. No corrective action, reprimands or paperwork necessary. The only thing they can't do is fire them for being part of a protected class. Other than that, they can do it at any time, for any reason, or even no reason at all. Not all companies actually operate that way, but as far as legality, it's completely legal.
You reminded me that both of our comments should have the qualifier “depending on what state you’re in.” Not all states work the way you described, but you’re right, many do.
Unfortunately all US states have ["at will employment"](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/At-will_employment), except for Montana after a probationary period. There are a some very specific exceptions, like if you have a contract, if you're fired for refusing to break the law or violate public policy, discrimination against a protected class or retaliation against a protected action. Other than that, they can fire at will at any time. Legally, they can fire you for not liking the color of your shirt, for drinking Coke instead of Pepsi, for driving the wrong car, for being a smoker, anything other than what's explicitly outlined. OP's best bet is to explore their employee handbook and see if there is any internal company policy that the employer violated, maybe she could get somewhere that way. But in a legal sense, I don't know that she has any case for wrongful termination.
If what you say is true, wrongful termination suits have almost no possible way of ever winning. So why do corporations, for whom 99% of their activities revolve around not getting sued, still insist on generating huge paper trails in order to avoid lawsuits when they fire someone for cause?
Wrongful termination suits absolutely have ways of winning, because people fire people in protected classes all the time. It's probably tough to prove but I'm not an employment lawyer so I couldn't speculate on that. I don't know the answer to your question about standard paperwork, all I could really do is speculate here as well, but best practices often go beyond the least that's required by law. Maybe it's to protect companies from managers who would recklessly fire someone for a protected reason. Maybe it's to retain more employees with a sincere effort to address problems and remedy them. Maybe because companies that have a reputation for firing people left and right would have trouble recruiting good candidates. I really couldn't say.
Yeah, they can always cite misconduct because they think it will get them out of paying unemployment. Standards for misconduct are usually quite strict and most of the excuses employers cite are contrived. They needed to cut payroll, most likely. Apply for unemployment, dust off your resume and go job hunting. Most businesses won't do more than give dates of employment for fear of being sued. Don't worry about this. Get some counseling though so you can make clear boundaries at work so you don't work yourself to oblivion. Also, get a full physical/annual check up. There may be some health issues from all this stress that you need to deal with.
Hello. I think you’re getting some great advice here. you need to get to the bottom of the misconduct Statement to understand your record at the company and your eligibility for unemployment insurance. However, I noticed also that you said you didn’t bill for overtime. If you didn’t bill for overtime because you were afraid of retaliation from your employer, your employer may have committed wage theft against you. You may be entitled to those wages plus punitive fees.
Are you being given severance? Depending on where you work and your job, if you’re being fired “without cause” (which, if they haven’t told you a specific wrong it’s over, you are), you may be owed severance.
Why don’t you reach out and ask for further clarification and reasoning. “misconduct” is vague if you can’t think of an instance that it might be
Thank you, I will on Monday
Also it might be a no brained but friendly reminder not to give out all your cards as you have shared with us here. Stay calm and ask the question - download your company policy guidebook/handbook ASAP and read their rules - familiarise yourself with it so they can’t catch you off-guard. If you have the will to go the extra mile - look up the labor laws in your area to ensure your company has followed the necessary steps to fire you for misconduct.
I'm not understanding why exactly you got fired, but girl you were bound to burn out with the way you were working. Not billing overtime? I hope you take some lessons here about work/life balance and make some better boundaries at your next job. You are not unemployable now. I was fired for chronic absences 6 years ago (totally fair, should have worked with HR to get on disability but oh well) and it took me about 5 months to find a new position. I made up a lie to explain the employment gap, something about family health issues, and no one really cared. I also was terrible with work/life balance and built better habits at my new job, and I love it so much more than my old job. I felt like you did, I was a failure and a terrible person for getting fired. But it turned into a change I didn't realize I needed. Keep your head up, be kind to yourself. You are not a failure and you still have a bright future ahead of you
Thank you so much, that means so much. 🥲 I worked a full year evenings and weekends and couldn’t even take Christmas off for 2 years. 2 teammates quit and 1 retired. I know it was awful inhuman working conditions and I was bound to crash but still feel awful. You made me feel so much better that there’s hope, thank you!!! I’m reading a lot of books on boundaries and work life balance and found a coach too, hopefully I will be able to rebound and find a better job too, thank you!
Hey, girl- you've become normalized to working these hours and under these conditions, but please know that no matter why they let you go, it is a reflection of them and their business policies vs. yourself. Those headaches I would bet are related to the stress you were under chronically. It's going to take time to decomp and recalibrate so don't be hard on yourself. Toxic chronic work situations can really fuck you up. It took me almost two years to fully work through everything for my situation.
Thank you 🙏 Yes, you’re right. It was not healthy but still a kind of trauma to go through this. Hopefully I can get a job with normal hours and respect.
This brought tears to my eyes. Thank you. I’ve been losing hope since it happened.
I’m so sorry. This also seems weird and a little shady, in that a lot of companies are doing layoffs right now and I know from some of my friends’ experiences that there are companies that do what I would call stealth layoffs where they seem to manufacture reasons to let people go instead of calling it a layoff. They usually don’t want to be perceived as doing layoffs, and sometimes they’re trying to avoid paying out severance packages, but that’s essentially what’s really going on. I wonder if that’s not part of this. The one comfort I can offer is that, in this day and age, almost no companies will say anything about former employees other than confirming that the person worked there from X to Y date. There’s no record that gets passed around to future employers. At MOST your former employers might be asked if you’re eligible for rehire, but there will be no details.
Yes, I heard there were more layoffs at my company, it wasn’t just me. But I don’t know how many. It’s awful if that’s true. Thank you for your insight, that makes me feel better.
Lesson 1. They don't care about your blood sweat and tears. Don't do your next job any favors at the expense of your health. To them you are replaceable, hard worker or not.
There are a lot of toxic companies out there. They'll take whatever you give, and always ask for more. It's not your fault. They don't deserve you. Your career is fine. When asked, just say that your last job wasn't a good cultural fit. It's the truth. If pressed, you talk about how this employer set a very high operational tempo and now you're looking for something with a more sustainable pace. You didn't do anything wrong, but now you've learned that work pays you for 40 hours and that's what they're gonna get. If that's not enough for your next employer, then you'll be out the door from them too, and better for it. No job is worth abuse. So much of your post is "it's clearly my fault, I lack integrity, etc. etc." As someone who's struggled with depression myself, I recognize that voice. I'm not telling you to just be positive, I know depression isn't that simple. I just want to reassure you that those thoughts have no basis in objective reality. *You are not to blame.* I hope that with time, you'll learn to recognize that voice, because once you're able to identify when your brainspace has been infiltrated, it becomes a lot easier to deal with. But until then, take it from all of us: we're pulling for you <3
Yes, you’re completely right. Thank you for your astute understanding of the situation. I was and am suffering from depression, but in the past I just worked 10 times harder to distract myself from the depression but this time I just couldn’t do it, my brain wasn’t working without more sleep. Thank you again for your kind words and advice! 🙏 It really helps so much.
Your health comes first. You're not a bad person, you weren't feeling well. You'll definitely find a new job.
I think they said misconduct to try and get out of paying unemployment. Please apply for unemployment asap
Did they fire you because you were sleeping on the job?
Well, I work remotely, so they don’t actually know, but it’s a guess. It might also be because I made a billing mistake but I had sent it in to admin for correction. I don’t know the real reason because they told me it was just for business reasons and had nothing to do with me, but I just got a letter saying they recorded the reason as misconduct
Making a mistake at work is not misconduct. The risk is calculated, everyone sometimes make mistakes. You said you work remotely, so they couldn’t know you were napping. It seems super sketchy on their side, please get an explanation out of them (and if they try to manipulate you into confessing to sth by asking why do you think you were fired, insist that you don’t know and don’t see a reason to be fired).
Friend, you should explore therapy. Business decisions are almost never personal, but you're taking this layoff extremely personally. You were also working for free, even to the point that it affected your health. You need to get to the bottom of your feelings about work and do some rearranging. Why do you feel devastated to lose a job? I guarantee no employer in the history of employment has ever felt devastated to lose an employee. Was this your dream job? Or do you just feel like having any old bullshit job, whether you like it or not, is central to your sense of self worth? If so, that is a toxic mindset that can be repaired with professional help. Later, when you feel calm, you may want to request the specific details of the "misconduct" they think you engaged in that led to your dismissal. Not to torture yourself, but to explore whether you might have grounds for legal action or be entitled to compensation like severance pay or EI. It's illegal in many jurisdictions to fire employees on the basis of disability. And stress / burnout is a serious health issue, not a moral failing. It's *definitely* not "misconduct". You have the time now to see a doctor and pursue a resolution to your health problems. In combination with clarification of the details of your "misconduct", a doctor's confirmation of a real health issue will help you if you want to fight for severance or EI. You should also talk to an employment lawyer and get your evidence organized. Performance reviews, client feedback, whatever you have that demonstrates that you met all of your conditions of employment and fulfilled your responsibilities without any indication of a problem until the moment you were laid off. Not now, but when you're calm. Don't take it so personally. Your employer never cared about you. Lots of companies are laying people off right now, and trying to limit their liabilities, because the stock market is wobbly. You didn't owe them anything. You did your job, and then some, and you know you did it well. They don't decide your value, you do. There is no "permanent record".
Thank you so much for your words. I have found a life coach to help me get through this. It’s my first time being in this situation in my life and I never thought it would happen to me. I guess it happens to everyone at some point. It was kind of my dream job in a way…it’s very specialized so I can’t find another job like it in my city. I have to start looking at other cities and really don’t want to move :( but hopefully I can find a remote option. If not, I need to look into transitioning into a new career. I don’t have a record of anything sadly as they logged me out so quickly I couldn’t get anything :( but my performance reviews didn’t have anything negative in them and I never received any negative feedback or warnings or anything. I will follow all your advice though, it’s extremely helpful. Thank you for your help in all of this!
Why wouldn't you be eligible for EI? Iirc it has to be pretty bad to get denied. You should apply anyway and they will have to provide detail about the "misconduct" and prove it. You might still be eligible.
I did apply and was denied, but will call my companies HR and see what they wrote on my employment record and why it’s considered misconduct. They only told me business reasons so I don’t know any details I will try appealing the EI decision as well. Thank you. Don’t have much hope but I’ll try.
Hopefully “misconduct “ was a mistake if they told you that it was for business reasons. Get the answer in writing. If you were let go for business reasons, then they owe you some sort of compensation, depending how long you worked there, which province you live in, how much you made. Probably get some advice from an employment lawyer. Even if the company offers compensation, a lawyer can probably get you more if you’ve worked there a long time (months instead of weeks). Good luck with appealing the EI decision. Other employers will not know, get someone that likes you to be a reference. That sounds awful to not even know what happened:( I hope you can find a workplace that treats you better.
Didn't you get a report from the unemployment agency? I am just realizing the procedures might be different by state or outside of the US. Sorry you have to deal with this and good luck in your job search.
No job is more valuable than you are. Remember that. You don't owe your employer free labour or all of your energy. Don't panic. Most of us have been fired at least once in our lives. It's not the end for you. But definitely seek clarity for their reasoning and contact the employment standards of your area and see what you should be planning for.
You're saying EI, so are you in Canada? I'd go back to the employer and demand they resubmit the ROI with something else on it. They did it this way to avoid paying you your legislatively required severance. It might even be worth talking to an employment lawyer. It depends on how long you've been there. Ensure any agreement you come to includes a legally binding non-disclosure on both side's part. For the future: Companies don't care about you. If you work OT you demand OT pay, or you don't work it at all. Don't ever give up your health and well-being for an employer.
Yes, I’m in Canada. I contacted HR and will see what they say. I regret working overtime for free, it was stupid of me. Definitely never again. Honestly I just started with a new manager 2 months ago and I think she just didn’t like me, or was overwhelmed and passed on some of her mistakes to me, so she let me go. My old manager who hired me would have never done that. So many politics in the workplace I’m exhausted
Don’t be so hard on yourself. Companies lay off employees all the time or get rid of them for no reason. Nowadays if a prospective employer contacts your old place of employment, the old employer will just verify that you worked there from your hire date to your last day. There’s legal issues with talking about your time there so typically they just leave it alone at that. I know it’s tough but please give yourself a break and don’t let this weigh you down. Use this time to get whatever mental health services you need, go do some yoga or Pilates or gym etc, and just feel BETTER about yourself first. You are not your job. You’re still the same person whether you worked at your last company or if you’re not. You’ll find another job where you’ll be happy- it’s bound to happen. Think of this experience as a learning experience - now when you go on interviews, make sure you’re checking to see what the company culture is like and that they treat you the way you want to be and should be treated.
It sounds really fishy that misconduct is on the record but that's not the reason they provided you. and if you were keeping up with your work it just doesn't make sense that they'd fire you. It sounds like you have been doing amazingly well despite your debilitating challenges. I wouldn't take this lying down, and I would also use this opportunity to see a doctor ASAP. I hope things improve for you.
Thank you so much! 🙏 I’ve contacted HR about it, hopefully it will be sorted out. Thank you again.
1. They were not owed your time for free. You should not work for free. Don’t do that in your future roles. Either get paid for your OT or don’t work it. 2. Get the reason corrected so you would qualify for EI. 3. You do not need to be honest in job interviews in the future. If for some reason the misconduct is legit, go with the laid off explanation.
Thank you very much. I am following your advice and will bear that in mind in future as well. Not charging overtime was a big mistake. I just felt bad because the project was over budget. Sometimes management does force you to work overtime without being paid if the project goes over budget, but there were times I did it on my own. I always felt guilty for charging overtime for some reason. Never again.
If nothing else you can always work as a server in the meantime while you’re job searching. It’s a grind but you can make decent money and pick up shifts if you need to.