Being sacked - Heroism, ignominy, deserved, and undeserved

[Whiskybreath]

It's a rare moment for them.

I was made redundant after the 2008 debacle when the contracts my company was working on in the province ended and there was nothing to replace them locally. Mrs was still working and CLC Jr had rocked up so no chance of a move to a GB office which was offerd. I duly trotted down to the Job Centre got the brief and paperwork and set off home. Being Me I decided I would maintain a spreadsheet of every CV/Application I sent off and the outcome of each because having to explain everything verbally seemed a bit stupid. Every time we got to that section of the "interview" I handed over the freshly updated sheet to the (different every time) bod. They were always taken aback and would take a few seconds to compose themselves and actually read it. They were simply expecting a "Yeah, yeah course I was looking for work".

After my mine in Tanzania went bust in 98 (I found myself the General Manager at the end, after the guy who was properly qualified for the position died of a heart attack) I unwisely decided (family pressure) to return to the UK instead of taking over the licence and making a fecken enormous fortune...) and signed on at the DSS. I lasted a few weeks of that until the unspeakably rude little creature behind a desk decided for me that I should have no further truck with them, and whether it cost me or not, I would go my own way.

My experience with the DSS convinced me that nobody with the slightest sense of dignity or self-worth should take that ghastly route; it's designed to destroy you - work your route out yourself, they're no bloody help at all. It took me 18 bloody awful months, using up great chunks of savings; I got on my bike (the Mrs's Corsa) and went to live in vile accommodation and friends' sofas in London to pester every possible employer I could find (+600 targetted CV revisions involved) and got back on the ladder. It cost, but was finally worth it, in spades. It would have been far more worth my while if I'd said 'yes' instead of 'no' back when the prospect of taking over the Merelani tanzanite concession was available, mind. Every life has its regrets. ...and people wonder why I like whisky...

 

[scoldog]

2. I had a nice technical trade in the army. A punter could walk in hand me a job, I would then go off and do the required, and a few weeks later they would receive a finished widget back from me. The equivalent US Army unit had 5 blokes to do what I did. They were all trained in a part of what we were trained in and split into 5 sub-trades rather than one.

Henry Ford method of assembly line manufacturing?

 

[scoldog]

I wrote him an absolutely gleaming reference and fucked him off into their hands.

Result.

Bastard(in the good sense)!

BOFH: Downsizing the human deadwood

Ethical relocation policy

www.theregister.com

 

[AdminVortex]

A mate of mine works at director level, and he told me a story of a new hire to the sales team. Turns out, he was a 'reformed' alcoholic.

He was sent to the US to close a deal and ended up getting plastered in a bar. The negotiations ended with him planting a fist on the potential client, before jumping in his car and getting pulled for a DUI and thrown in the chokey.

As for me, I got duped into leaving a job in the financial sector for a sales job. It turned out the job was completely mickey mouse.

Selling advertising space in publications that were never sent anywhere at up to £12,000 a pop. I'm proud to say I took 12 weeks basic pay and never sold a sausage.

I was sacked by som ******** with a can of beer in front of him who said I 'couldn't sell'

I now run a number of profitable businesses.

 

[LeoRoverman]

Possibly the same might apply, but this was a different large [American] bank, if your name was Morgan they might Chase you.

.....right across Manhattan

 

[Unremarkable]

I've just been punishing my body on a 2.5hr cycle and that almost made me want to call for Huey.

What, you expect a helicopter extraction?
What is it you do again..?

 

[Unremarkable]

A mate of mine works at director level, and he told me a story of a new hire to the sales team. Turns out, he was a 'reformed' alcoholic.

Always, in my experience, referred to as 'recovering'; the process is never completed.
I believe it was Pratchett who wrote about alcoholism as "one drink is too many, twenty not enough".

 

[Cold_Collation]

Always, in my experience, referred to as 'recovering'; the process is never completed.
I believe it was Pratchett who wrote about alcoholism as "one drink is too many, twenty not enough".

Sadly, there is no such thing as a former alcoholic. Every day is about how you manage it.

For various reasons relating to an unhappy marriage, a female friend from school started secretly drinking. No-one knew until she was rushed to hospital with multiple organ failure. She was properly caning the neat spirits.

She went dry - she had to - and years on still periodically goes back to AA to make sure she stays on an even keel.

If you’re in it’s grip, it’s as terrible a drug as any other. And legal...

 

[ches]

Always get everything documented a it demonstrates a behaviour pattern on their part. If no one will document it for you then write the stuff up yourself and sign and date it. Then put it in an envelope and post it to yourself, when it arrives at your house do not open it, just put it safely away.

That way you can clearly demonstrate that you kept a record of stuff at the time and did not simply type it all up the day you decided to make the final complaint.

Serious head back on for a sec, ^ ^ this is excellent advice. In my situ cos i was diligent in using emails & the intranet messaging system, all of which had backups galore I was able to pull up all my comms chatter & show the lack of response back from management/contradictory response to their 'evidence'. As a company has to provide you with reasonable access to internal comms (esp in a grievance procedure) then if you're diligent you're already halfway to winning (if you are in the right to start with). Couple that with you being savvy & bang in an SAR & define the search to specifics as I did & something fookin explosive crops up as happened to me & you are going to win hands down.

Keep records esp digitally - it isn't easy for your average Joe to alter the digital footprint of data origin etc. When sending emails to headsheds use the request read receipt option. I did this after my reinstatement & it made a lot of difference to the speed with which my comms where read & actioned. Make sure your digital diary is linked to a personal one - I sync'ed my office outlook calendar to a separate alt personal Gmail account I set up specifically so if someone had tried to be smart with dates deleted or moving things I could check the original data. I also made sure i was in regular monthly comms with the gaffer who had made the others see sense & who happened to be the bloke responsible for HR. I ended up having a very good relationship with him to the point at my exit meeting he seemed genuinely cut up about having to let me go.

In short, trust no one in a management role unless you see evidence they can be trusted.

 

[Oyibo]

Sadly, there is no such thing as a former alcoholic. Every day is about how you manage it.

For various reasons relating to an unhappy marriage, a female friend from school started secretly drinking. No-one knew until she was rushed to hospital with multiple organ failure. She was properly caning the neat spirits.

She went dry - she had to - and years on still periodically goes back to AA to make sure she stays on an even keel.

If you’re in it’s grip, it’s as terrible a drug as any other. And legal...

One of the most depressing incidents I had to deal with at work involved a female alcoholic who fell off the wagon spectacularly.

A colleague who had worked with her before had engaged her on a six-month contract to help organise some of the data-centre's IT. Shortly after she started, the colleague, and head of department, arranged for them all to meet up in a café after work one Friday to celebrate a spurious milestone they had reached. (The milestone was probably getting to Friday!) She got squiffy and was acting a bit oddly.

The next week I got a call from the colleague to say he had a 'missing person'. A visit to her company apartment revealed the place to be in utter sh1t-state (quite literally with her knickers), and strewn with empty wine bottles. Shortly after, one of the data centre staff found her handbag in the office with 2 empty wine bottles in it. She was later found in a meeting room absolutely sparko surrounded by the Perrier bottles into which she had decanted the wine.

I had to tell her that she should go back to the apartment and have a rest. Floods of tears, crap explanations etc.

The following Monday when she didn't rock up for work we found out that she had been hospitalised twice (alcohol) and sent to a mental hospital. She had to be flown back to the UK with a nurse as an escort.

Her family, who seemed like sensible educated people, refused to RV with her when she landed. They said that they just exhausted from having to sweep up the mess every time she hit the booze again (the family had paid for many sessions of rehab).

 

[Cold_Collation]

One of the most depressing incidents I had to deal with at work involved a female alcoholic who fell off the wagon spectacularly.

A colleague who had worked with her before had engaged her on a six-month contract to help organise some of the data-centre's IT. Shortly after she started, the colleague, and head of department, arranged for them all to meet up in a café after work one Friday to celebrate a spurious milestone they had reached. (The milestone was probably getting to Friday!) She got squiffy and was acting a bit oddly.

The next week I got a call from the colleague to say he had a 'missing person'. A visit to her company apartment revealed the place to be in utter sh1t-state (quite literally with her knickers), and strewn with empty wine bottles. Shortly after, one of the data centre staff found her handbag in the office with 2 empty wine bottles in it. She was later found in a meeting room absolutely sparko surrounded by the Perrier bottles into which she had decanted the wine.

I had to tell her that she should go back to the apartment and have a rest. Floods of tears, crap explanations etc.

The following Monday when she didn't rock up for work we found out that she had been hospitalised twice (alcohol) and sent to a mental hospital. She had to be flown back to the UK with a nurse as an escort.

Her family, who seemed like sensible educated people, refused to RV with her when she landed. They said that they just exhausted from having to sweep up the mess every time she hit the booze again (the family had paid for many sessions of rehab).

A very close family member ended up in rehab twice within the space of months a couple of years ago. He was back in the pub the evening of the second day of being released.

I was effectively primary carer. It was absolutely exhausting - and these things have a way plugging into one's own mental health issues. I slightly came apart at the seams as a result, and needed counselling help.

Any acknowledgment, or thanks? Nope. Not a bit. Not even a text message. Calls went unanswered.

A mutual friend ran into my relative in a pub some months later. Said relative said that 'he just wanted to be left to live' his life.

You can't help some. Some don't deserve it.

 

[Joshua Slocum]

A very close family member ended up in rehab twice within the space of months a couple of years ago. He was back in the pub the evening of the second day of being released.

I was effectively primary carer. It was absolutely exhausting - and these things have a way plugging into one's own mental health issues. I slightly came apart at the seams as a result, and needed counselling help.

Any acknowledgment, or thanks? Nope. Not a bit. Not even a text message. Calls went unanswered.

A mutual friend ran into my relative in a pub some months later. Said relative said that 'he just wanted to be left to live' his life.

You can't help some. Some don't deserve it.

Got a brother in law like that , banned from drink driving four times , lost a very good well paid job , and his HGV licence ( senior Vehicle Examiner) , lots of other wierd unexplained happenings, like his car getting stolen, and it turning up locked and alarmed half a mile way from his house and neatly parked ??, Borrowing money , borrowing my wifes credit card after coming out of hospital, needed it to pay a few bills, 3 months later the grey look on her face told me something was wrong ( I had not been consulted) probably would have said yes, but put something in writing, he was not returning her calls, got her ot cancel the card there and then
20 minutes later he rings up, in a pub, payment for meal refused, I offered to go over with the cash !!
That cost us a lot of money, and when he next saw us he commented on our shit car, the money in the building society for a decent car, paid the credit card bill off, and I bluntly told him,
carried out work on his house, he never paid for the materials , never helped , so I left it a mess and walked out , unusual for me
stiffed a few other family members for money, ( 10K a time) meanwhile he had a massive pension pot left over from his first job, but he did not want to break into that, and to cap it all, made a big fuss of telling all of us that he is leaving his flat to his young friend in his will and we are getting nothing.
The only bit of Sun on the horizon, was when he was all over facebook, which my kids use, and picked up and related to me about
looking for some woman who had vanished owing him money !!! , it seems she was a regular in the pub, broke, social housing, dole the rest of it ( ie a lazy workshy druggiepisshead) she was offered a job but needed a car to commute, so got him to sign as a guarantor.
Oddly, if you were on a limited budget, most people would go for a small cheap car, cheap to run cheap to fix, nah she had to have an AUDI, 3 years old sports estate, next day she is in pub showing it off, then !! never seen since
he is having to raid his pension pot for the full cost of the car as she only paid a small deposit, the car was re sold inside 2 days
hard to feel any pity for him

 

[PuriPuriManTumas]

Between my military and contractoring careers I had three years in Port Moresby, wherein I had numerous PNG chaps/esses working for me. One of the areas in which some were employed was the heavy earthmoving/quarrying and concrete mixer trucks maintenance workshops.
I’d had occasion to administer two of the duty “three strikes” counselling sessions, as required by the PNG Labour Department, to one bloke, who was a very good tool-maker/mechanic, who and who had been remarked upon by his direct, expat, boss for high work ethic, ie working under vehicles during lunch/breaks etc and offering to do overtime.
His problems were mainly related to himself “counselling” his missus, and thereby causing mayhem in the employees accommodation in the compound, and receiving unauthorised visitors to his flat during nightimes (an infraction of his employee accommodation). He’d been referred to me for another chat, which would have resulted in dismissal, and did not appear at the specified time.
That PNG has a huge “raskol” problem is well known, and when the RPNG Constabulary came looking for him, it should not have come as a surprise when a couple of the other blokes casually mentioned “... it’s probably ‘coz he was going to get done for making homemade handguns” during all those extra working times. My PA came in to see me a couple of weeks later as he was waiting in the Sales Office, to ask if he could collect his tools, as he had a new job lined up! The RPNGC Commissioner mentioned to me that his work was very highy regarded amongst the Raskol element, and his prices were extremely favourable ...

 

[Northern_Biff]

Between my military and contractoring careers I had three years in Port Moresby, wherein I had numerous PNG chaps/esses working for me. One of the areas in which some were employed was the heavy earthmoving/quarrying and concrete mixer trucks maintenance workshops.
I’d had occasion to administer two of the duty “three strikes” counselling sessions, as required by the PNG Labour Department, to one bloke, who was a very good tool-maker/mechanic, who and who had been remarked upon by his direct, expat, boss for high work ethic, ie working under vehicles during lunch/breaks etc and offering to do overtime.
His problems were mainly related to himself “counselling” his missus, and thereby causing mayhem in the employees accommodation in the compound, and receiving unauthorised visitors to his flat during nightimes (an infraction of his employee accommodation). He’d been referred to me for another chat, which would have resulted in dismissal, and did not appear at the specified time.
That PNG has a huge “raskol” problem is well known, and when the RPNG Constabulary came looking for him, it should not have come as a surprise when a couple of the other blokes casually mentioned “... it’s probably ‘coz he was going to get done for making homemade handguns” during all those extra working times. My PA came in to see me a couple of weeks later as he was waiting in the Sales Office, to ask if he could collect his tools, as he had a new job lined up! The RPNGC Commissioner mentioned to me that his work was very highy regarded amongst the Raskol element, and his prices were extremely favourable ...

WTF is a "Raskol" when its at home.

 

[dingerr]

Possibly the same might apply, but this was a different large [American] bank, if your name was Morgan they might Chase you.

Bank of America?

 

[dingerr]

WTF is a "Raskol" when its at home.

 

[PuriPuriManTumas]

WTF is a "Raskol" when its at home.

PNG “Tok Pisin” (=pidjin English, the major language for most of the population) for “rascal”, the term used to cover a multitude of antisocial elements who live off the illegal fringe ... which in PNG’s case seems to be about 60% of the population. With over 300 dialects, a common language has developed from the mixture of phonetic understanding of German and English, mixed with a considerable anount of the various dialects ... for example below: “road work ahead ... all car must stop ... lookout for red sign”. Very sensible, and can be quite poetic ie “lukim yu behain” means “see ya later”.

 

[postman_twit]

One of the most depressing incidents I had to deal with at work involved a female alcoholic who fell off the wagon spectacularly.

A colleague who had worked with her before had engaged her on a six-month contract to help organise some of the data-centre's IT. Shortly after she started, the colleague, and head of department, arranged for them all to meet up in a café after work one Friday to celebrate a spurious milestone they had reached. (The milestone was probably getting to Friday!) She got squiffy and was acting a bit oddly.

The next week I got a call from the colleague to say he had a 'missing person'. A visit to her company apartment revealed the place to be in utter sh1t-state (quite literally with her knickers), and strewn with empty wine bottles. Shortly after, one of the data centre staff found her handbag in the office with 2 empty wine bottles in it. She was later found in a meeting room absolutely sparko surrounded by the Perrier bottles into which she had decanted the wine.

I had to tell her that she should go back to the apartment and have a rest. Floods of tears, crap explanations etc.

The following Monday when she didn't rock up for work we found out that she had been hospitalised twice (alcohol) and sent to a mental hospital. She had to be flown back to the UK with a nurse as an escort.

Her family, who seemed like sensible educated people, refused to RV with her when she landed. They said that they just exhausted from having to sweep up the mess every time she hit the booze again (the family had paid for many sessions of rehab).

To be fair, Data Centres can have that effect on people!

 

[Unremarkable]

PNG “Tok Pisin” (=pidjin English, the major language for most of the population) for “rascal”, the term used to cover a multitude of antisocial elements who live off the illegal fringe ... which in PNG’s case seems to be about 60% of the population. With over 300 dialects, a common language has developed from the mixture of phonetic understanding of German and English, mixed with a considerable anount of the various dialects ... for example below: “road work ahead ... all car must stop ... lookout for red sign”. Very sensible, and can be quite poetic ie “lukim yu behain” means “see ya later”.View attachment 546090

I especially like 'bagarup'; to have an accident.

 

[PuriPuriManTumas]

I especially like 'bagarup'; to have an accident.

... or to ensure no accidents: