I was fired for choosing to spend time with my family over the holidays! Am I wrong? (employees, collect)

[Bchen2]

I don't know weather it was justify enough to fired me from where I was working at but I worked for a Real Estate Startup providing IT Support and pretty much I was asked if I could come in on the holiday ( Christmas and New years) and weekend to catch on some tickets and clean up storage be there for coverage although I declined politely because they told me it was optional this place was a great place to work but work life balance was pretty terrible and I was constantly asked if I could come in the weekend and work and catch up on things but I kept saying no. I wanted to spend time with my girlfriend and family over the holidays and we went out of town to Las Vegas

First Im just a help desk tech not really much level 1 and 2 support and this company was 8pm to 6pm as their official business hours and when I first started I was pretty much shown the ropes of the company their ticketing system, programs they use to install and ways of how they handle printers, the storage room, assigning IT equipment everyone their work very long hours expect ME...

soon as I come back from new years a few days after they mention something about performance issues not what was expected and my experience is not what they expected and I was pretty much fired. In a way I was kinda happy but man I just was disappointed they wasted their time hiring me and now I am on UI Benefits.


but the IT Director kinda expected me to put work over my families and expected a lot out of me. I don't know why I was fired but they really made it seem it was because of that as I was doing my job right and had some small screw ups at times ( dropped coffee accidentally on a desk, juggling 5 things at once, put the wrong image in a laptop once )

and the IT Director didnt seem so happy that I was going out of town for the holidays even though these holidays off I was entitled to with the company

I mean am I wrong ? or was I just a bad fit for this place? Could I have saved myself from being fired?

[bUU]

First, a lot will depend on what state you're employed within. Georgia, for example, is a right-to-work state, and so a lot of things that employers cannot do in some other states they can do with impunity here in Georgia. Second, it may also depend on why they fired you. If they fired you for cause, and you have documentation showing that their cause is bogus (i.e., you refused to work during a holiday, after being assured prior to being employed that you would not have to work during a holiday), then you might have a cause of action. If, on the other hand, you were fired without cause, i.e., laid off, then you probably don't have a cause of action. Here in Georgia, an employer can legitimately base a decision to fire you (as opposed to someone else) solely on the basis of the fact that you refused to work on a holiday. Third, it may also depend on your employment status. If you were employed in the context of a probationary period, then the employer may have a lot more leeway to make such judgments about your performance than they would otherwise.

[flynnroc]

Originally Posted by bUU

First, a lot will depend on what state you're employed within. Georgia, for example, is a right-to-work state, and so a lot of things that employers cannot do in some other states they can do with impunity here in Georgia. Second, it may also depend on why they fired you. If they fired you for cause, and you have documentation showing that their cause is bogus (i.e., you refused to work during a holiday, after being assured prior to being employed that you would not have to work during a holiday), then you might have a cause of action. If, on the other hand, you were fired without cause, i.e., laid off, then you probably don't have a cause of action. Here in Georgia, an employer can legitimately base a decision to fire you (as opposed to someone else) solely on the basis of the fact that you refused to work on a holiday. Third, it may also depend on your employment status. If you were employed in the context of a probationary period, then the employer may have a lot more leeway to make such judgments about your performance than they would otherwise.

You're refering to 'At-will emloyment', not 'Right-to-Work'. Second, every state in the U.S except Montana is an 'At-will' state.

[Brian_M]

M'eh... I remember being "let go" from a IT helpdesk in the 90's, about half the people were "let go" and there were ads in the papers for the next month looking for new hires.

It's just the nature of that particular level of business. It's a bottom tier job and managers use those firings to cover for their own incompetence (not meeting goals set by Their bosses, blame it on the people they fire). It has absolutely Nothing to do with your work quality, ethics or anything else. Don't worry too much about it.

Hopefully you get enough time in that you can springboard into a better position. I turned 1 years of shift-work phone support (yes, overnights) into an on-site business hours desktop support job and just took off from there. Hope you have the same luck.

[Kibbiekat]

The way you tell the story, it's hard to tell. Did you tell them you already had travel plans that couldn't be changed, or did you tell them you want to spend time with your GF? When you are new to a job, saying "no" is not a good idea. Making it sound like you can't come in would sound better at least.

Edit : On Christmas and New Years Day, or on the weekends leading up to them? If on the holidays themselves, that's pretty crappy of them to ask. I wouldn't sweat it much.

[bUU]

Originally Posted by flynnroc

You're refering to 'At-will emloyment', not 'Right-to-Work'.

Of course - teaches me to type in replies before I'm fully awake in the morning.

Originally Posted by flynnroc

Second, every state in the U.S except Montana is an 'At-will' state.

Well, let's dig deeper into this. What I was actually referring to is the lack of 'public policy exceptions' to 'at-will employment'. What is necessary to assure that the employer has the kind of free reign to do practically whatever they want, in the manner that I alluded to earlier, is the lack of such public policy exceptions. Seven states don't have any such exceptions: AL, GA, LA, ME, NE, NY, RI. The other 43 states have at least some measure of protections for employees from the kind of capricious terminations I was referring to, though even among those states the kinds of extent of protection varies.

[Serious Conversation]

IT is one of those fields that, unfortunately, often ends up working on holidays, especially lower end jobs like help desk.

[stanley-88888888]

Originally Posted by bUU

First, a lot will depend on what state you're employed within. Georgia, for example, is a right-to-work state, and so a lot of things that employers cannot do in some other states they can do with impunity here in Georgia. Second, it may also depend on why they fired you. If they fired you for cause, and you have documentation showing that their cause is bogus (i.e., you refused to work during a holiday, after being assured prior to being employed that you would not have to work during a holiday), then you might have a cause of action. If, on the other hand, you were fired without cause, i.e., laid off, then you probably don't have a cause of action. Here in Georgia, an employer can legitimately base a decision to fire you (as opposed to someone else) solely on the basis of the fact that you refused to work on a holiday. Third, it may also depend on your employment status. If you were employed in the context of a probationary period, then the employer may have a lot more leeway to make such judgments about your performance than they would otherwise.

i think in most situations you can collect ui as long as you are not a criminal... i.e. fired for theft (timesheet), fraud, violence, ...

edit: i'll roll the above statement back. i think refusal to work would be a reason to be denied ui which is probably what the employer in this case is gonna' claim. but the spilling coffee thing, re-imaging wrong laptop, ... even though they are the op's fault i dont think would result in a denial of ui ?

christmas and new years are federal holidays so do all non-essential employees have off ?

[bUU]

Originally Posted by stanley-88888888

i think in most situations you can collect ui as long as you are not a criminal... i.e. fired for theft (timesheet), fraud, violence, ...

The technical term for those things, collectively, is, "fired for cause".

Originally Posted by stanley-88888888

edit: i'll roll the above statement back. i think refusal to work would be a reason to be denied ui which is probably what the employer in this case is gonna' claim.

Of course, but the employer still has the option, in that scenario, to fire for cause or not. Even if it is clear that refusal to work is valid cause, the cost of UI to the employer may not be high enough (especially for a newer employee) for them to take the risks associated, or incur the potential hassles, or take the time to document the cause, with firing for cause. Or they may simply be unaware or unsure about their standing in doing so. That's why knowing whether the OP was fired for cause or not is important.

Originally Posted by stanley-88888888

but the spilling coffee thing, re-imaging wrong laptop, ... even though they are the op's fault i dont think would result in a denial of ui ?

Incompetence can be a valid cause, but again there are risks, hassles, and documentation requirements.

Originally Posted by stanley-88888888

christmas and new years are federal holidays so do all non-essential employees have off ?

There is no federal law requiring private employers to give their employees holidays.

[ihatetodust]

Agree with Serious Conversation, low level IT is going to have weekend, night, holiday work.

"No" is not generally an option when talking to your new employer!