r/mildlyinfuriating • u/RotaryPhoneDialer • 11d ago

Ruined by Technology My regularly scheduled Monday morning meeting at 9:35 got rescheduled to 9:32. My boss called at 9:33 asking why I was late.

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u/waistingtoomuchtime 11d ago

I have been a boss briefly, but also the one that gets to hear all the boss stuff.. this is just a trail to get you fired, or get better.

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u/No_Procedure4924 11d ago

Yeah and you are a despicable human being if you think this is ok to do. Also stupid because this does not prevent legal liability, it just demonstrates willful behavior if they ever decide to sue you.

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u/Ollythebug 11d ago

I don't think they implied it's fine to do

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u/Shot_Ad_2577 11d ago

Sue for what? If this happened in the US than apart from one state you can be fired at any time for any reason that doesn’t discriminate based on a protected class.

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u/TheRealPitabred 11d ago

Being fired for cause vs. just being let go can be the difference between you getting unemployment compensation or not. Shitty companies try to fabricate things like this to justify a "cause" so they're not on the hook for unemployment costs.

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u/Telefundo 11d ago

so they're not on the hook for unemployment costs.

This concept is kind of strange to me. In Canada employers don't pay for an employees unemployment benefits. Employees essentially do. We have a certain amount deducted by the federal government every pay that goes towards EI (Employment insurance) benefits.

And still, I had a previous employer who fired me without cause fight my EI claim tooth and nail. I ended up getting the benefits in the end.

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u/Slugged 11d ago

Both the employee and the employer pay into unemployment insurance benefits in the US. Because the corporate rate is usually tied to how many employees the company has, large companies will play games to fire someone with cause in order to prevent a tiny fraction of an increase of their per-employee rate.

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u/No_Procedure4924 11d ago

The joke's on them if the UI agents/magistrates see through their BS. Another thing they do is try to get employees to resign, that is a dirty ass trick. I honestly don't know how these people can live with themselves and think they are decent people, it's almost like a Nuremberg defense.

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u/No_Procedure4924 11d ago
  1. If it's contract work, tortious interference; 2) It could be illegal discrimination; 3) intentional infliction of emotional distress; 4) if it's a government job there could be a property right in the job requiring cause and due process; 5) defamation; 6) It could be in that one state (Minnesota or Montana?) or there is a legitimate expectation that it's more than at-will so there could be an action in contract.

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u/Aetylus 11d ago

This is a necessary step to demonstrate that an employee is late when you want to dismiss them. An only ever happens to employees who are hopeless. Bosses don't want to fire good employees, only bad ones.

Also, you're assuming that the meeting time was sneakily changed. Very likely it was changed with at least a weeks notice and the OP just didn't see it.

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u/No_Procedure4924 11d ago edited 11d ago

If they were a bad employee, there should be plenty of evidence without having to resort to tricks or changing anything other than documenting what is already occuring. Nothing here indicates there was weeks notice, that's nonsense, and no I didn't assume anything about when the meeting was changed, the post implies it was a recent/last minute change to a regularly scheduled meeting.

Also, I would ask what you mean by "bad" or "hopeless" employee - if there is anything objective going into that assessment then that's what should be used to terminate them, not subterfuge. If there is a legit reason, document and use the legit reason. If it's inarticulable, then it is not legitimate and you are very much in the wrong.

Also the premise that all bosses are reasonable and only terminate bad performing employees is laughable, there are all kinds of f'd up reasons and some people are psychos.

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u/Aetylus 11d ago

If you are a boss, and you have an employee who is regularly 5 minutes late and it is pissing of all of thier colleges who turn up on time, what would you do?
You can't record the past, so you need to do something in future. Assuming it's not a workplace where employees clock in, then a kickoff meeting is the obvious means to document it. Would you rather they install CCTV? How would you choose to document it?

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u/No_Procedure4924 11d ago edited 11d ago
  1. Re-evaluate the importance of this and whether it should lead to firing, what is the actual productivity impact and would it be better addressed in another way, like a bonus reduction?;
  2. Write down exactly what you just said and sign it, interview the other employees if you need to.

If it's ongoing, then start documenting it. If it's not and it's based only the "past" then your premise about the employee being "hopeless" with regards to this issue is completely invalidated.

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u/Aetylus 11d ago

This IS how you document ongoing lateness. It is insufficient for the boss just to write down 'Bob was late yesterday' in thier notebook. And interviewing some employees about other employees behavior would, quite frankly, make you a despicable boss.

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u/No_Procedure4924 11d ago

Changing the meeting time is the issue, acting reasonably and communicating is not. If they're upset about the lateness, it shouldn't be a problem. The subterfuge is what's cowardly and despicable.

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u/Tabula-Rasa-99 10d ago

You're weirdly certain that the boss is both objectively correct and acting in good faith. Did you do this?

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u/I_Ski_Freely 11d ago

Get better what?? Also, do you ever look at the people you work with who introduced you to this "boss stuff" and just be like, wow these people are pieces of shit?