I resigned and my boss turned around and fired me...?

[city living]

Originally Posted by the_grimace

He's done this to other people before, but it doesn't make the experience feel any better. I do have a copy of the letter and I also have my colleagues who can ALL back me up that I actually resigned (Since I told them I was resigning and they saw my letter, etc), but like others said, I ended up signing his stupid termination letter in the heat of the moment/being disgusted, and here we are.

At least my colleagues are willing to provide me positive references (they were shocked to hear what he did) and they reached out to me to say so.

I had one job that was an absolute NIGHTMARE. They would flat out give people bad references for no reason. This is what I do----I have one person who is in a management position at that job still (everyone else is pretty much gone) and whenever people call, he verifies my employment. I trust him because not only do we keep in touch (he is still a friend) but he doesn't lie. This place is like your place OP in that there is no HR department---it is TINY.

No one has to lie for you in this position. Just make sure you have the information ready to go---your start and end dates, your pay scale, etc. Depending on the place, they may or may not ask about why you left but some places don't. Your reference can simply say, "I only verify dates of employment," if someone asks about the terms of your separation. So, this manager usually gives them my dates of employment, how much I made at the end and sometimes they ask what type of employee I was.

Originally Posted by mochamajesty

What do you need protection from?

You have another job lined up.

If you think that your former co-workers are going to put their jobs in jeopardy by 'backing you up' it is not going to happen.

Why do you need references if you have another job? What am I missing?

For any of the jobs I apply for, you are required to give your last seven years of employment history. Sometimes more. I just had some issues applying for a new job because they could not verify my employment, since some of these places had since been closed down.

So, if OP plans on applying for a new job in three years or so, he'd most likely have to include it on a job application. Most people aren't staying at jobs forever.

Originally Posted by the_grimace

We don't have an HR department or even an HR individual....

In my state the law says I technically would have been eligible for Unemployment benefits since the employer "accelerated" my leave from the company, and while I would have loved to apply for them, I don't think I would have qualified only simply because I was already technically a full-time employee of my new company. I had completed all onboarding and orientation, but delayed my first working day till the following week as a courtesy to my previous employer and to help transition things and wrap things up. There was really no gap in employment to collect benefits for, but YES, I would have loved to file the claim for even a week if I could....

Read my response above---have a person who can vouch for you. And if you're going from one job directly into the next companies are less likely to stress on the fact that someone might have been fired.

[Disgustedman]

I think you should forget about it. I really doubt that the previous employer will seek to destroy you or give a bad reference after so long and most likely will not remember you.