Americans get fired for nothing

[dcsmart]

A friend of mine got fired for helping organize a union. "You can't do that," she told the bosses. Sure enough, after a visit from the union lawyer, they agreed that indeed they couldn't, so they told her to come back to work on Wednesday. She did, and they fired her immediately, "for nothing." She's still fired. That's America.

A new book by an experienced labor attorney probes the depths of American employment law then offers hope for change. The American workplace, Maltby explains, is a virtual dictatorship with few worker rights except for those won by unions and a few federal anti-discrimination laws. The book is full of outrageous stories about people being fired for little or nothing. Example: one woman was fired for having a Democratic bumper sticker on her car.
Text

http://peoplesworld.org/americans-get-fired-for-nothing/

[thunder rising]

1. And then companies complain there aren't enough skilled workers and need H1-Bs;they are so tractable

[no_hypocrisy]

2. Unless you're in a union with rights, your status is "at will".

Meaning you can be fired at the will of your employer for any reason or no reason at all.

[slackmaster]

3. It's called "at will employment"

I've had to live with it for my entire career.

[Tansy_Gold]

4. I'm about to get fired for doing my job too well

I do contractor work, so I'm not even an employee and therefore have even fewer "rights" than they do.

When a problem came up this past week, a major problem, I pointed out that I had anticipated this problem months ago and asked if there any contingency plans. I was scolded then for my negativity and told to be "nicer" to the people in charge.

The problem occurred almost exactly as I had predicted and now I'm in trouble for pointing out that someone maybe should have anticipated it other than me.

I will probably have my contract cancelled first thing Monday morning. There is no unemployment compensation for the "self-employed," no recourse.

Oh well.



Tansy Gold

[Crazy Dave]

11. Almost same situation as an employee

I was always finishing my work on time and was frequently told, not asked to help others finish their projects. I did my work while the rest were downloading games and movies and spending all day on instant messengers. If I objected I was accused of being negative and not being a team player. I simply refused one evening to work another 2 - 3 hours to finish one person's job that was due the next day at 9am. I was told that he needed to leave on time that day and couldn't work late. I stated I could not work late either and needed to leave. I was then told if I left not to come in the next day so I just quit right then and was begged not to go but left anyways.

But that was six years ago and I found another job the next day. Employers like where my wife works are loving the abuse they can put on their workers. Everyday they're threatened with, "we have 200 applications if you don't....."

[Tansy_Gold]

13. Abuse is exactly what it is

I'm fortunate that I have other resources, though they are barely adequate to cover my living expenses. A fellow contractor who got tired of the abuse has been looking for "a real job" for four months. In the same field that I'd be in, but she is younger, has more current skills and rock solid references. She has not even managed to get an interview. Jobs are scarcer than gold nuggets here.

But the employers (or whatever they wanta call themselves when the legal loophole keeps the employees at contractor status) know they have free rein, so we must live with it and survive as best we can.

There is, after all, always ripoff.com


TG

[truedelphi]

14. Boy that really sucks. here's hoping you

Don't get fired, or that if you do, you are immediately re-employed with smarter people to surround you.

[Land Shark]

5. This bears explanation because union organizing IS a protected class in some/many instances

And, apparently she was fired AFTER she STOPPED being an attempted union organizer! Hmm. I realize there could be a loophole here but I'm no union lawyer and even union lawyers don't always know everything and might not have good advice (or was misunderstood) for various possible reasons.

on edit: I may have misread paragraph 1 of the OP: Basically the employer can fire "at will" EVEN WITH A "ROCK SOLID" union or employment contract and all the worker gets is a cause of action to pursue in a grievance or lawsuit procedure. But that's not particularly remarkable, one can't stop attempted murder, even, in most cases, but they do have a right to an investigation and prosecution by the justice system.

[patrice]

6. It's ALL about cliques.

[Land Shark]

7. WA State at will rule: Can be fired "for any reason, or for no reason, or EVEN for IMMORAL reason"

yeah, I'm not kidding about the "immoral reason" it's literally in the legal test for at will emplioyment. The EXCEPTIONS are all along the lines that you can not be fired for an ILLEGAL reason.

What are the illegal reasons? Where they apply, they are discrimination of various types, retaliation for things including but not limited to whistleblowing, fired for asserting certain employment rights, etc. And attempting to organize a union has long been on my list of illegal reasons, but there could well be large loopholes in that as there tends to be some in whistleblower protections as well.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. In Florida it's called the right to work...

which means they can fire you for any reason.

[Triana]

9. I've known people who were fired for having Dem bumperstickers...

...of course the employers used "another reason" for the firing - but it was obvious nonetheless that the real reason was the bumpersticker. The 'reason' she was fired didn't seem to exist or be an issue before the Dem bumpersticker went on. . . .

[angryfirelord]

10. Contract work is another big problem

Especially in the IT industry. A lot of companies have been hiring people under the contract or temp name so that they don't get any benefits or severance packages. There really is no job security in this country anyone.

[Crazy Dave]

12. Everybody I know in IT that have found work recently....

Say it's all contract or temp and they say their salary is about $200 less a week than they were making 10 years ago.

[angryfirelord]

15. Yeah, and I'm entering that field

and I'm already having some doubts, job-security wise. I'm a junior, so I'm at the point of no return. Fortunately, my internship is with a new company, so if it works out and branches out to a job, I don't think they're going to pull that stuff like Microsoft or IBM does.

My concern is for my dad who's been in the manufacturing industry for over 25 years as an engineer and he hasn't gotten any job leads yet. Since he was on a temp position, he has no benefits from the company that will be terminating him. He said he could retire if he had to, but it would be really iffy financial-wise.

We should bring over some of Germany's labor laws.

http://www.wilmerhale.com/publications/whPubsDetail.aspx?publication=159

German employment termination law is regulated by various codes and is intended to give the employee maximum protection against unfair dismissal.

For example, the employer must observe the applicable notice period, which is ordinarily determined by law (between four weeks and seven months, depending upon the length of employment). If the employer and the employee have mutually agreed upon a longer contractual notice period, the longer contractual notice period will prevail. Any agreement on a notice period that is shorter than the applicable statutory notice period will be invalid. Generally, termination of employment can only be effected as of the end of any calendar month. The employer must therefore keep the effective date of employment termination in mind when calculating when to deliver the notice of termination.

The employer has to give a written notice of termination to the employee. The document has to be signed by the employer. All other forms of notice of termination (i.e., those given orally or by email or fax) are void and have to be redone in a proper way.

The German Termination Protection Act restricts termination of employment if the employee has been employed for more than six months when the notice of termination is given. This act applies, however, only with regard to companies that employ more than five employees. If the act is applicable, the employee may be terminated only for a “particular reason”.

The particular reasons enumerated in the act that permit termination include reasons related to the personal situation of the person to be dismissed (e.g., long-term sick leave), reasons related to the behavior of the person to be dismissed (e.g., theft or fraud to the detriment of the employer) or reasons related to the business of the employer (e.g., the employer’s decision to restructure the business, which reduces the number of positions).

Special termination protection against unlawful dismissal applies to an employee that is an officially acknowledged handicapped person, an employee on three years’ maternity leave or a pregnant employee. In these cases, prior approval of various German authorities is required (but usually very difficult to obtain).

If a company engages in a mass layoff (which is deemed to occur when the employer intends to dismiss a large percentage of its employees during a one-month period) prior approval by the employment office is required.