Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Two minutes late coming in the door could mean missing the morning team meeting or not getting to a work station on time to relieve the night shift person. How would you like to work night shift and be on pins and needles wanting to get out of there and get home to sleep and your relief is LATE??
Two minutes late coming in the door could mean another 10 minutes to change out of your coat and boots and put on your work apron and maybe another 5 minutes to take a pee. So it's 15 minutes late in reality.
Your start time is the time when you must be ready to start the job, not the time when you are dragging yourself in the door.
Your start time doesn't mean you get another 15 minutes after arrival to BS with your coworkers about your weekend before you actually start working.
People today have no sense of time. They are always running late, they don't allow for traffic snafus.
This is why one company recently mandated that they will pay people by the exact time they clock in. So if you clock in 2 minutes late, you will be docked pay, which to me is only right. Why do you think you can "steal" 2 minutes from your employer?
I suppose my question would be, why not give a written warning first? It seems a bit extreme to go straight to termination (unless the job is exceptionally time-sensitive, such as a radio maintenance operator, where a tiny bit of dead air time costs thousands of dollars.)
I suppose my question would be, why not give a written warning first? It seems a bit extreme to go straight to termination (unless the job is exceptionally time-sensitive, such as a radio maintenance operator, where a tiny bit of dead air time costs thousands of dollars.)
Or, as has been said many times, the two minutes was a convenient breakpoint and the boss had seen enough over the previous two days to know it wasn't going to work out. Sometimes you just know. Why delay the inevitable?
It's also possible that this employer knew this person had a lateness issue in her previous jobs because they may have checked up on her. The previous employers may have even fired her for lateness before. But maybe the employer felt she was qualified enough to take a chance on her despite the previous complaints about her. Only saying this could have been the situation, that she had a reputation of lateness but was being given another chance and now she blew it.
I don't think previous employers are allowed to say things like that. They can only confirm the person worked there and the duration of the employment.
However I agree with your other post. And it isn't "these days". There are always, have always been, people like that. They have no sense of time, or they just have no consideration for anyone else. My lovely boss, whom I was devoted to, she was one of those that didn't seem to understand time. I asked her once wasn't her commute kind of long, especially in winter, and she said "well it only takes about 20 minutes". This is not true. Her home was at least a 30 minute drive from work, even longer in winter, and again, you need to take into account parking and walking from the parking lot to get here. There is no way she ever EVER made it to work in 20 minutes. But she put her time in and then some, and she was the boss, so in the bigger picture, it didn't matter.
Other people can't seem to grasp that part about getting into your work station and all that. they think "it takes me 10 minutes to get to work so I don't have to leave until 10 to 8."
Well it probably takes at least 2-3 minutes to get into their car and pull out. They aren't counting that. And they aren't counting the other end, parking, and getting out and into work. They are only counting the ten minutes from the moment they pull onto the road until they pull into the parking lot. So they are consistently every single day 7-8 minutes late. I used to work with someone like that and no one ever said anything to her about it and it drove me insane, because, yes it affected MY position, because I had to be responsible for her student, in addition to my own, until she got there.
Then the ones who just don't care. I worked in human services for 20 years, home respite care, and there were certain families that just wouldn't come home. They would lie and tell you what you wanted to hear, and then just not bother showing up until hours later. This often made me late getting to my next family. Or simply made me really late coming home.
This young woman had a learning moment there, but whether she will learn anything and turn out to be a productive member of the work force is anyone's guess. We can hope I suppose.
I don't think previous employers are allowed to say things like that. They can only confirm the person worked there and the duration of the employment.
That's an urban myth. Many employers have such policies but it generally isn't governed by law. They can say what they want but might be held accountable for damages if they can't prove it true. But even if they win a lawsuit or complaint it will cost them time and money so best to just not say anything at all. Nothing good can come from it. It's hard to be accused of slander if you never said anything.
The other urban myth is that they can't legally ask you certain things. You can ask questions about age, race, sex, religion, national origin, etc. all day long but since it's illegal to make a hiring decision on those things then you're just exposing yourself to liability for nothing gained.
I don't think previous employers are allowed to say things like that. They can only confirm the person worked there and the duration of the employment.
However I agree with your other post. And it isn't "these days". There are always, have always been, people like that. They have no sense of time, or they just have no consideration for anyone else. My lovely boss, whom I was devoted to, she was one of those that didn't seem to understand time. I asked her once wasn't her commute kind of long, especially in winter, and she said "well it only takes about 20 minutes". This is not true. Her home was at least a 30 minute drive from work, even longer in winter, and again, you need to take into account parking and walking from the parking lot to get here. There is no way she ever EVER made it to work in 20 minutes. But she put her time in and then some, and she was the boss, so in the bigger picture, it didn't matter.
Other people can't seem to grasp that part about getting into your work station and all that. they think "it takes me 10 minutes to get to work so I don't have to leave until 10 to 8."
Well it probably takes at least 2-3 minutes to get into their car and pull out. They aren't counting that. And they aren't counting the other end, parking, and getting out and into work. They are only counting the ten minutes from the moment they pull onto the road until they pull into the parking lot. So they are consistently every single day 7-8 minutes late. I used to work with someone like that and no one ever said anything to her about it and it drove me insane, because, yes it affected MY position, because I had to be responsible for her student, in addition to my own, until she got there.
Then the ones who just don't care. I worked in human services for 20 years, home respite care, and there were certain families that just wouldn't come home. They would lie and tell you what you wanted to hear, and then just not bother showing up until hours later. This often made me late getting to my next family. Or simply made me really late coming home.
This young woman had a learning moment there, but whether she will learn anything and turn out to be a productive member of the work force is anyone's guess. We can hope I suppose.
In most medium to large size businesses or corporations policy usually is only personnel may give references.
Generally yes, things may be limited per official policy to confirming dates of employment, but there are tons of other ways of getting information from previous employers via back channels.
Anyone who has looked for a job, gotten through all interviews and even made an conditional offer of employment pending reference/background check only to be told later "we went with another candidate", knows something was said. Thing is neither previous employer or HR is going to expose themselves to possible lawsuit by showing their hand, so that's that.
In many businesses, careers, occupations, professions or whatever the world is pretty small. Mangers, supervisors, others high up food chain including vice-presidents, presidents, etc... often know each other. They may have attended same schools/colleges, belong to same professional or social situations, live in same area.... There are all sorts of ways for private conversations to pass along references or opinions of a person.
Above is how people end up "black listed". They cannot prove if of course, but are totally unable to get work in their profession or whatever for reasons linked to prior employment.
Most states are legally at will working environments meaning you can be fired without cause. Remember an old boss telling us he could let employees go just because he didn’t like their haircut.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
