I was fired because I was unable to cover a co-worker's shift-

[stormlepi]

I'm from Aurora, Colorado; US.

I was recently fired from my job because I couldn't cover a coworker's shift when they got sick. A coworker, let's call him Jim, called me around noon and told me (let's call her) Rachel wasn't going to be able to make it to work, because she fell sick. He said I would need to cover her shift(beginning at 3pm).

I then told Jim I had a class I couldn't miss, and I wasn't going to be able to make it into work(I also explained that's why I picked this day off). Jim wasn't a manager, so he said I would need to talk to a manager about the situation.

I told my manager that I couldn't cover Rachel's shift, because of my class...but he said if I didn't do it I was quitting. I explained that I wasn't quitting; and that I had did my best to cover for people before, but today I was unable.

They fired me, and said I quit: even going as far as getting two statements from other employees saying I did.

After going back into work for my next shift and clocking in; my manager told me to get out. So I clocked out and left.

But, I didn't quit. They're saying I did. Can I do anything about this?

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

File for UI. They are permitted to fire you for refusing to come to work absent a contract, CBA or prohibited discrimination.

 

[FlyingRon]

Further, it sounds like it was more than just because you didn't cover the other shift. You took unscheduled time off for an event that you knew in advance that you were going to need the day off for. Frankly, that'd be firing with CAUSE. As Ohio says, they don't even need a reason to fire you (and in this case, it appears they do). Apply for unemployment and hope the employer doesn't make a good case that you were filed for misconduct.

 

[cbg]

He told you that if you did not cover the shift it would be considered a quit. You did not cover the shift.

He is free to consider it a quit. You are free to argue that it was not. It will come down to who the UI office finds most creditable.

 

[LdiJ]

Further, it sounds like it was more than just because you didn't cover the other shift. You took unscheduled time off for an event that you knew in advance that you were going to need the day off for. Frankly, that'd be firing with CAUSE. As Ohio says, they don't even need a reason to fire you (and in this case, it appears they do). Apply for unemployment and hope the employer doesn't make a good case that you were filed for misconduct.

Huh? Where do you get that the OP took unscheduled time off? I have re-read it several times and no where does it say that.

I also think its a bit unlikely that the unemployment people will agree that it was a quit.

Employers who do this kind of thing are so incredibly shortsighted. There are flat out times when an employee is not going to be able to come in to cover someone else's shift. To let a trained employee go for such a trivial reason is just plain dumb.

 

[FlyingRon]

Perhaps I misunderstood, I thought his statement to Jim was that he wasn't going to make his scheduled shift but I see now he was perhaps saying he'd already asked for and was approved for the day off and he was saying he wasn't going to "make it in" for the fill in shift.

 

[swalsh411]

Not being able to cover a shift at the last minute, when you were not scheduled to work, is neither a quit nor misconduct. OP should file for uenmployment right away while looking for another job.

 

[FarmerJ]

Where I work many just screen with caller ID on days off and refuse to answer any number that is from a supervisor, This was not your regularly scheduled shift go file UI and expect to have to fight a bit ( hint it may help you to ask your school where these classes are held to give you a copy of your attendance records if there are any and if you happen to have a copy of your old schedules they may be handy to use too if you end up having to fight to win your claim. (If nothing else the only reason I see to fight for UI compensation is that if you win it , then its not likely this employer will try this crap again with others )

 

[cbg]

You don't think so? I think an employer who will pull this kind of stunt once isn't going to be deterred by a single employee prevailing in an unemployment claim. Particularly where the employer warned him that he would lose his job if he didn't cover the shift.

I agree that it's questionable whether this should be considered a firing or a quit. But the poster's school schedule is not the employer's problem.

 

[commentator]

The "only reason to fight for unemployment"??? If you are terminated from your job, and you file for unemployment benefits, which you certainly need to do, a decision is made by the unemployment system as to whether the employer had a valid misconduct job related reason to terminate you. Unemployment insurance is and has always been this, insurance against your being put out of work arbitrarily through no fault of your own without some income to tide you over to the next job.

Whether or not you think you have a good chance of being approved you still definitely need to file. It is not a needs based program, not based on how poor you are, and is not welfare and does not come from the taxpayers of your fair state, rather from the individual employer, which like all employers is required to keep and pay into a fund which is used exclusively for this purpose. The rate at which they are taxed is based on whether they have people who have been approved from their payroll.

If someone is fired arbitrarily, as in an "at will" state, a person can be fired for just about any reason they want to use, and files a claim for unemployment, the employer must show that they had a good misconduct reason, or the claim will be approved and their tax rates will go up.

I have seen many a manager decide to fire an employee based on asking them to work at a time they knew the employee would not be able to work, up to and including the day of a relative's funeral, the birth of their first grandchild, when a husband or child was leaving for military....these claims based on these firing circumstances tend to be approved. The question is "did the employee have reason to believe that this would be asked of them, and that refusal of this shift would result in their termination?

While a person cannot demand that an employer pay attention to and care about their school schedule or domestic issues, cannot demand a certain shift or fixed hours, there would certainly be an issue of whether there was a reasonable expectation that an employee might be called in to work the odd shift, and if there was any policy in place that said refusing to fill in for a co worker was grounds for termination.

But always, always, file for unemployment benefits when terminated. It costs nothing, there is not a down side to doing it. If the claim is approved, perhaps yes, the employer will get a little smarter about how to terminate an employee without having them approved for unemployment. That's fair enough. If they want to do so, they need to use progressive discipline, let the employee know their job is on the line, and then try to give the person a choice to change their behavior or leave. Repeated refusals to work fill in shifts may be a legitimate ground for termination. One refusal? Not so much in my mind, but they certainly need to let the unemployment system make the call on this.