What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? ohio
Salutations Everyone!
I am not sure what I can/should do, or if there is even anything I CAN do about my current situation. I am hoping someone on here can give me some guidance. So here is the story from beginning to end. My apologies in advance for the lengthy post.
I started a new job October 14th. I went in 2 days after receiving the phone call that I got the job and signed a bunch of papers, which stupidly I did not ask for copies of. But in my defense I didn't think I would ever need them. One of the papers I signed was a form explaining I was an "at will" employee, that I was on a 90 day probation period. After the 90 days were up I would have an evaluation and if my performance was up to par my employment would be continued on. I was also allowed to read over the employee handbook, which was about 150 pages long, and told to initial a paper once I read it. I will be honest, I skimmed over 85% of it. However, I did read the section on employee termination. In the handbook it states that if an employee isn't performing the way they are expected to, or if there are any issues about any employee, including new hires, there is a certain protocol the business will follow PRIOR to terminating their employment. The protocol involved steps the organization would take, meetings that would take place, formal write ups PRIOR to dismissing an employee. Unfortunately they did not furnish a copy to me. At the time, I thought it was really cool they took those steps before firing someone. I was also told by my supervisor what was expected from me on a daily basis (what to wear, clock in and out times, requesting time off, etc.). I was told by her that we had 7 minutes prior to our scheduled time and 7 minutes after our scheduled time to clock in and out. I was told I absolutely could NEVER clock in before 7:53, that I would get into trouble because that would give me overtime, and overtime is a huge "no no". So I asked "If you were me, what time would you clock in?" and she said "I suggest you clock in at 7:53 am, but as long as you clock in before 8:07 AM its fine." I was also informed we got an hour unpaid for lunch, and it worked like the morning and evening clock ins, with the 7 minute grace period.
So I officially started work on October 14th 2013. They had me come in at 9:00 am that morning instead of 8:00 AM. The day began with a tour of the entire facility, we went to lunch, and when we came back we took common sense tests the rest of the day. The next day, more common sense tests, lunch, more tests, then around 2:00PM we began to actually train for the jobs on the computer. Mind you, I aced all the tests with 100%, and I quickly mastered the computer training as well. I received a bunch of praise for how well I did. The 3rd day we trained for half the day on the computer again, which I did great at, the second half of the day we finally went to the office we would be working at and started learning the job by watching other employees. The 4th day we again watched the other employees and around 3:00 P.M. they allowed us to take on a few patients. The 5th day we spent up front, doing the actual job. By this time I pretty much knew what I was doing, asked very few questions, and made maybe 2 small, small mistakes. The other girl they hired for the same part time position made 2 HUGE mistakes, and a bunch of small ones. Each day that week, except for the very first day I worked, I clocked in at 7:55, 7:55, 7:57, and 7:56 a.m. I wasn't late my first day either, they hadn't set up our time cards yet, so my supervisor had to go into the system and clock us in. Mind you, I clocked out each day at 5:07, 5:07, 5:06, 5:05 and 5:07 pm.
So this past Monday I was on my way to work, stopped to get gas, and when I went to leave to go to work my truck would not start. I ended up having to wait 40 minutes for someone to come pick me up, go back to my home and pick up my other vehicle and go to work. I was completely mad, upset and scared to death I would get in trouble for being 45 minutes late to work. I tried calling my job 14 times from 7:30 a-7:45a to let them know I was stuck at a gas station, and no one answered. Finally at 8:05 am after calling 30 plus times I got my second in command boss on the line and updated her on my situation, apologized like crazy, and explained to her I had tried to contact her for over half an hour to let her know. She told me it was fine, not to speed, they wanted me there alive, and that when I got there she would give me the number to the back line where someone always answers. 5 minutes later my supervisor "Krissy" text me and asked if I was ok. I didn't know who it was at first, but as soon as I realized it was her I immediately called the number she texted from and explained everything, I also told her I had talked to Debbie, and she responded that Debbie had just came to update her on the situation. The whole way to work I fretted over what was going to happen to me, when I arrived I apologized a bunch to everyone, volunteered to stay late, or forfeit my lunch break. I was told it was fine, things happen that are out of our control sometimes, and to forget about it. I even offered to bring in a receipt when I got it fixed, for their records and to show them I wasn't lying or anything. I was again told not to worry about it. Well the whole day Monday was horrible. They had updated the system there, changing pretty much everything I had just learned. Both me and the other girl made mistakes, none big tho. So Tuesday, I made sure I clocked in as early as I was told I could. So I clocked in at 7:53 am. I clocked out at 5:06 PM. I pretty much had all the changes down pat, so Tuesday went without incident. Today I clocked in at 7:56 am, worked flawlessly until 11:32 am when my supervisor "Krissy" called up front and asked me to come in the back to another woman's office, we will call her "Jessica". So I immediately went, and when I sat down Jessica introduced herself, and I said glad to meet ya. She said "I want to talk to you because of what happened this past Monday." I immediately began apologizing. She cut me off, and said "You've been late a bunch and you've only been here 8 days." shocked I said, what are you talking about? I have been here BEFORE 8 AM everyday except this past Monday! She replied "Yes, but you are a new employee, and as such, you should be at least 10 minutes early everyday." I said "I don't understand, we aren't supposed to clock in until 7:53a right? I mean, if I clocked in any earlier I would get in trouble for having overtime correct?" She said "Well, all that is really for is determining your paycheck." So I said "So, what you are telling me is you want me to come to work 10 minutes earlier than I already am, and you don't want me to clock in until 7:53 am." she didn't answer, and instead went on to say that I didn't call on Monday to tell anyone I was going to be late until "Krissy" texted me. I immediately pulled out my cell phone, turn it on and tell her that's not true at all, that I could prove to her I tried many many times to call and could not get through until 8:05 am, and I spoke to Debbie. She just looked at me. So I said, "I understand I was late Monday, I didn't mean to be late, and I tried my absolute hardest to get to work asap, it was out of my control and if they needed to write me up I understood. Her reply was "We have made the decision to let you go at this time." I was floored! I have NEVER been fired, or even reprimanded at a job! I said "Are you serious? There isn't something we could try first? Anything at all?" Her reply was "No, you have a paycheck in Rich's office, we still owe you for a week, once you return the parking permit, uniforms and keys we gave you, you will get the remainder of your pay." She got my 4 day pay check, handed it to me, I grabbed my stuff and left. I called Dr. Reagan, who is over the whole pediatrics department and spoke with her. I asked her how my job performance was, and she said it was very good. She said the "girls upstairs" all really liked me, and after a lengthy discussion, she admitted she may have acted in haste and said she would review the matter and call me back this evening. I begged her to look at my time sheet herself, and to look at my cell phone records so she could see I tried like crazy to call the day my truck broke down. She had "Krissy" call me 2 hours ago to tell me her decision to fire me was final. There is NO way Dr. Reagan looked at my time card, or she would have seen I never clocked in late.
So, I guess my question now is, do I have a case? I am not a sue happy person, but I feel like I was totally screwed over, and since the employee handbook states they have to follow a certain protocol BEFORE they terminate an employee, even new hires, and didn't, wouldn't that be a breach of contract? What should my next steps be, if any? I am familiar with some law, I used to be a legal advocate, but my knowledge is more criminal, and domestic violence related. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Dr Reagan stated during the phone call that I misrepresented myself at the interviews because I showed up wearing make up, and when I came in to work the past 3 days I haven't been wearing any. I told her I was out of makeup, and broke, and as soon as I got paid I would buy more and wear it. I didn't know it was required that I wear makeup, and most of the other women there don't wear it either. Plus, if I wear make up everyday for awhile I break out extremely bad, and I have to take breaks from wearing it sometimes.
Salutations Everyone!
I am not sure what I can/should do, or if there is even anything I CAN do about my current situation. I am hoping someone on here can give me some guidance. So here is the story from beginning to end. My apologies in advance for the lengthy post.
I started a new job October 14th. I went in 2 days after receiving the phone call that I got the job and signed a bunch of papers, which stupidly I did not ask for copies of. But in my defense I didn't think I would ever need them. One of the papers I signed was a form explaining I was an "at will" employee, that I was on a 90 day probation period. After the 90 days were up I would have an evaluation and if my performance was up to par my employment would be continued on. I was also allowed to read over the employee handbook, which was about 150 pages long, and told to initial a paper once I read it. I will be honest, I skimmed over 85% of it. However, I did read the section on employee termination. In the handbook it states that if an employee isn't performing the way they are expected to, or if there are any issues about any employee, including new hires, there is a certain protocol the business will follow PRIOR to terminating their employment. The protocol involved steps the organization would take, meetings that would take place, formal write ups PRIOR to dismissing an employee. Unfortunately they did not furnish a copy to me. At the time, I thought it was really cool they took those steps before firing someone. I was also told by my supervisor what was expected from me on a daily basis (what to wear, clock in and out times, requesting time off, etc.). I was told by her that we had 7 minutes prior to our scheduled time and 7 minutes after our scheduled time to clock in and out. I was told I absolutely could NEVER clock in before 7:53, that I would get into trouble because that would give me overtime, and overtime is a huge "no no". So I asked "If you were me, what time would you clock in?" and she said "I suggest you clock in at 7:53 am, but as long as you clock in before 8:07 AM its fine." I was also informed we got an hour unpaid for lunch, and it worked like the morning and evening clock ins, with the 7 minute grace period.
So I officially started work on October 14th 2013. They had me come in at 9:00 am that morning instead of 8:00 AM. The day began with a tour of the entire facility, we went to lunch, and when we came back we took common sense tests the rest of the day. The next day, more common sense tests, lunch, more tests, then around 2:00PM we began to actually train for the jobs on the computer. Mind you, I aced all the tests with 100%, and I quickly mastered the computer training as well. I received a bunch of praise for how well I did. The 3rd day we trained for half the day on the computer again, which I did great at, the second half of the day we finally went to the office we would be working at and started learning the job by watching other employees. The 4th day we again watched the other employees and around 3:00 P.M. they allowed us to take on a few patients. The 5th day we spent up front, doing the actual job. By this time I pretty much knew what I was doing, asked very few questions, and made maybe 2 small, small mistakes. The other girl they hired for the same part time position made 2 HUGE mistakes, and a bunch of small ones. Each day that week, except for the very first day I worked, I clocked in at 7:55, 7:55, 7:57, and 7:56 a.m. I wasn't late my first day either, they hadn't set up our time cards yet, so my supervisor had to go into the system and clock us in. Mind you, I clocked out each day at 5:07, 5:07, 5:06, 5:05 and 5:07 pm.
So this past Monday I was on my way to work, stopped to get gas, and when I went to leave to go to work my truck would not start. I ended up having to wait 40 minutes for someone to come pick me up, go back to my home and pick up my other vehicle and go to work. I was completely mad, upset and scared to death I would get in trouble for being 45 minutes late to work. I tried calling my job 14 times from 7:30 a-7:45a to let them know I was stuck at a gas station, and no one answered. Finally at 8:05 am after calling 30 plus times I got my second in command boss on the line and updated her on my situation, apologized like crazy, and explained to her I had tried to contact her for over half an hour to let her know. She told me it was fine, not to speed, they wanted me there alive, and that when I got there she would give me the number to the back line where someone always answers. 5 minutes later my supervisor "Krissy" text me and asked if I was ok. I didn't know who it was at first, but as soon as I realized it was her I immediately called the number she texted from and explained everything, I also told her I had talked to Debbie, and she responded that Debbie had just came to update her on the situation. The whole way to work I fretted over what was going to happen to me, when I arrived I apologized a bunch to everyone, volunteered to stay late, or forfeit my lunch break. I was told it was fine, things happen that are out of our control sometimes, and to forget about it. I even offered to bring in a receipt when I got it fixed, for their records and to show them I wasn't lying or anything. I was again told not to worry about it. Well the whole day Monday was horrible. They had updated the system there, changing pretty much everything I had just learned. Both me and the other girl made mistakes, none big tho. So Tuesday, I made sure I clocked in as early as I was told I could. So I clocked in at 7:53 am. I clocked out at 5:06 PM. I pretty much had all the changes down pat, so Tuesday went without incident. Today I clocked in at 7:56 am, worked flawlessly until 11:32 am when my supervisor "Krissy" called up front and asked me to come in the back to another woman's office, we will call her "Jessica". So I immediately went, and when I sat down Jessica introduced herself, and I said glad to meet ya. She said "I want to talk to you because of what happened this past Monday." I immediately began apologizing. She cut me off, and said "You've been late a bunch and you've only been here 8 days." shocked I said, what are you talking about? I have been here BEFORE 8 AM everyday except this past Monday! She replied "Yes, but you are a new employee, and as such, you should be at least 10 minutes early everyday." I said "I don't understand, we aren't supposed to clock in until 7:53a right? I mean, if I clocked in any earlier I would get in trouble for having overtime correct?" She said "Well, all that is really for is determining your paycheck." So I said "So, what you are telling me is you want me to come to work 10 minutes earlier than I already am, and you don't want me to clock in until 7:53 am." she didn't answer, and instead went on to say that I didn't call on Monday to tell anyone I was going to be late until "Krissy" texted me. I immediately pulled out my cell phone, turn it on and tell her that's not true at all, that I could prove to her I tried many many times to call and could not get through until 8:05 am, and I spoke to Debbie. She just looked at me. So I said, "I understand I was late Monday, I didn't mean to be late, and I tried my absolute hardest to get to work asap, it was out of my control and if they needed to write me up I understood. Her reply was "We have made the decision to let you go at this time." I was floored! I have NEVER been fired, or even reprimanded at a job! I said "Are you serious? There isn't something we could try first? Anything at all?" Her reply was "No, you have a paycheck in Rich's office, we still owe you for a week, once you return the parking permit, uniforms and keys we gave you, you will get the remainder of your pay." She got my 4 day pay check, handed it to me, I grabbed my stuff and left. I called Dr. Reagan, who is over the whole pediatrics department and spoke with her. I asked her how my job performance was, and she said it was very good. She said the "girls upstairs" all really liked me, and after a lengthy discussion, she admitted she may have acted in haste and said she would review the matter and call me back this evening. I begged her to look at my time sheet herself, and to look at my cell phone records so she could see I tried like crazy to call the day my truck broke down. She had "Krissy" call me 2 hours ago to tell me her decision to fire me was final. There is NO way Dr. Reagan looked at my time card, or she would have seen I never clocked in late.
So, I guess my question now is, do I have a case? I am not a sue happy person, but I feel like I was totally screwed over, and since the employee handbook states they have to follow a certain protocol BEFORE they terminate an employee, even new hires, and didn't, wouldn't that be a breach of contract? What should my next steps be, if any? I am familiar with some law, I used to be a legal advocate, but my knowledge is more criminal, and domestic violence related. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Dr Reagan stated during the phone call that I misrepresented myself at the interviews because I showed up wearing make up, and when I came in to work the past 3 days I haven't been wearing any. I told her I was out of makeup, and broke, and as soon as I got paid I would buy more and wear it. I didn't know it was required that I wear makeup, and most of the other women there don't wear it either. Plus, if I wear make up everyday for awhile I break out extremely bad, and I have to take breaks from wearing it sometimes.
) you were an intelligent person who was on this forum to give correct advice to those in need of it. I guess I was wrong too.