I need an advice

Navigation

Key Books

Mobbing: Emotional Abuse in the American Workplace, 2002 Revised Edition

The Bully at Work: What You Can Do to Stop the Hurt and Reclaim Your Dignity on the Job

Gray Matters : The Workplace Survival Guide

[Back to message list] [Reply to this topic] [Start a new topic]

I need an advice

Posted by: kikoland
Date: 7/18/2007 5:18:36 PM

This weekend someone broke into the office where I worked. The company cell phone was stolen and the company truck as well. My boss said its' my fault because I forgot to close the window and someone got thru the window. The truck keys were left under the mat infront of the door by one of my boss friends who he allowed to drive the company truck and she was returning the truck. Who ever broke into the office took only the cell phone from inside the building. I had an extra set of keys for the truck and they were in my desk. I did not worked monday since I had requested the day off. When I walked in Tuesday to work my boss began giving me a hard time, he had me tell him all I been doing since I got hire and I showed to him all of my work. My title at this company was Human Resources making $19.00 hourly. His company never had an HR person or an HR plan. I was never trained for this position, I learned myself using the internet and some courses I had taken before while studying for my B.S degree. He did not had an OSHA log done before or any other required documentation. Basically, the HR department of his company was non existant. Today Wednesday I had to quit because he insolted me so much over the phone, I just could not take it. My boss said that my work was not good, not productive to the company and that he did not wanted to continue paying for my hours. My hours were cut from 40 to 16 with one day notice. I know I did work and very hard, but HR is a position that in a Construction company profit will never be seen coming in. I needed the job, like everyone else I have to work so I settled for the 16 hours. But, his behavior today was just intolerable. Please advise me on what to do? in the state were I live "California" employers this days do not want to hire anybody over the age of 30. I am 37 and I am a female which employers always ask the question of maternity leave and all of those "women" issues. When I found this job it was such a blessing because I had gone thru so much struggle because of my age and gender. But, now I will be facing the same issue I had before and I am sure he is not going to give me a good reference even thought the performance evaluation I received from him was excellent and good. Please Help.

Reply from:	faith
Date:	7/18/2007 10:19:00 PM
Reply:	Kikoland: Well, your boss should have insurance on his truck, his office space and the cell phone number should have been terminated as soon as learning that it was stolen. I know what you mean about the reference bit, but there is avenues you can travel if your boss goes beyond the federally mandated law of just verifying your dates of employment, position and if he would rehire you. Employers get around that issue all the time by answering that question by saying No. You probably wouldn't want to work there again anyways. If your boss does bad mouth you then you can file a discrimination lawsuit with the Labor Board. Your boss sounds like a bully as well. Maybe it's time to look for another position and het into a better environment. Good Luck!

Reply from:	goodboss
Date:	7/19/2007 9:50:00 AM
Reply:	Faith, just as an FYI, there are no laws in the US restricting employers to providing only "name, rank, and serial number" types of references about former employees. This is a very common misconception, among employees and employers alike. Unfortunately, it's just that - a misconception. Employers are legally allowed to say whatever they want about former employees, as long as what they say is true, or they believe it to be true. (And in some instances, employers are legally REQUIRED to say truthful negative things about former employees. This is because if they omit saying these things, and the prospective employer hires the applicant based on what it thinks is a positive reference, and the new hire then commits the same negative act(s) he/she committed at his/her former employer's, then the new employer will have cause to sue the former employer. And the new employer will win that lawsuit.) Regarding a discrimination lawsuit, American employees are protected against age discrimination only if they are aged 45 or over. Employees under the age of 45 have no legal protection against age discrimination. (And even if the OP were over the age of 45, her recourse would be the EEOC, not something called "the Labor Board.") The only other protections against discrimination that American employees have are those directly related to their race, religion, gender, and disability. The OP hasn't indicated that her problems with her employer are based on her race, religion, gender, or disability. While I understand this is all very unfortunate for the OP, in that she has no legal recourse for her employment problems, I do feel sympathy for those problems and hope that she'll be able to move on soon and start working for a more professional and friendly employer.

Reply from:	kikoland
Date:	7/19/2007 4:11:00 PM
Reply:	Thank you for the advice to both Faith and Goodboss. I no longer work for my boss, I did not felt comfortable after he called me every name in the book and told me my work was not bringing profit in...HR is not a profitable position, and it was difficult for me make him understand that. I know deep in my heart that I work and earned my money. I left an average HR program for his small business. I am thankful to him for the opportunity because I learn something I can add to my résumé. But, what really bothers me is the truck issue. The person who broke into the office did get in thru the bathroom window, but from the inside he/she only took the cell phone. The truck key was left outside under a mat by one of my boss friends and that is how the people who steel it took the truck, because the keys were outside. The truck keys that I had, I returned to my boss and did let him know that the truck was not missing because I had left the keys in the office, but because his friend left the key outside. But, still I was blamed for the disappearance of the truck and the phone. I quit because I could not tolerate his insults and intimidation.

Reply from:	goodboss
Date:	7/20/2007 8:02:00 AM
Reply:	There's nothing you can do about your former boss blaming you for the loss of the truck and the phone. While he's within his legal rights to tell your prospective employers that he blames you for this, I think that they'll probably take this with more than a little grain of salt (because it sounds more than a little nuts). I recommend that as you proceed through your job search, you don't tell prospective employers about the truck and the phone until they ask for your references. When you're asked for references, hand over your former boss' name and contact information (along with other references that will provide positive information about you), and explain what happened truck and cell phone and how your former boss is mistakenly blaming you for their loss. This "end-run" tactic will probably work in your favour. Note: I'm an executive-level HR person who's been in the HR/legal advisory field for over 20 years, and I agree with you - HR and construction don't mix well. However, that doesn't mean you should give up on HR as a career, it just means you should focus your HR job search on other industries. Good luck!

Reply from:	clarity
Date:	7/21/2007 2:32:00 PM
Reply:	KikoLand: Happy to hear that you have moved on from your former place of employment. However, I slightly disagree with goodboss in that anything can be said. Remember, it can come back to bite them in a way they will not pleased. Best of luck in your new work environment.

Reply from:	goodboss
Date:	7/22/2007 3:22:00 PM
Reply:	To clarity: I didn't say that former employers could say "anything" about their ex-employees, I said that former employees can legally say anything that's true or that they (the former employers) believe to be true. This is perfectly legal - if you don't believe me, ask an attorney.

Reply from:	HRmgr
Date:	8/3/2007 10:23:00 PM
Reply:	A lot of attorney's in Florida advise their clients to only verify statements that the past employee makes to a new prosective employer; leaving opinions completely out. My HR department will tell the verifing agent if someone was employed the length of time they claimed but are not authorized to tell their opinion on someone's work ethic.

Reply from:	goodboss
Date:	8/5/2007 1:53:00 PM
Reply:	Attorneys and legal consultants (like me) often advise our employer-clients to limit their reference information on former employees to the name/rank/serial number type of reference, and to avoid discussing former employees' work performance and other issues. However this in no way means that it's illegal to do this - all it means is that attorneys and legal consultants (like me) are trying to get our clients to be very very careful about what they say to former employees' prospective employers. No matter what we tell our clients to do, it's still legal for them to say whatever they want about their former employees, as long as what they say is true, or they believe it to be true. (Also, I think it would be very inappropriate for HR department staff to comment about their organizations' former employees' work performance - not because it's illegal to do so, but because I believe it's a professionally unethical practice and not HR's place to do so, unless the former employee actually reported directly to that HR staff member. Certainly I have never allowed any of my HR staff to comment publicly on the work performance of employees they didn't have a reporting relationship with - again, not because it's illegal - it isn't - but because it's unethical.)

To reply to this topic or add a comment, just complete our 20-second registration process which is free and confidential. If you have already registered, you need to log in.

[top]

Login

Registration is confidential, free, and has a number of benefits.

Copyright � 2007 The CMR Group. All Rights Reserved.
No part of this site may be copied or reused without express written permission.
All trademarks are properties of their respective owners. Privacy policy.

Navigation

Key Books

I need an advice

Login

Search

Popular Items

Corporate Sponsors