Fired!!!

[Shoe_Gal]

I recently began a job in a small MD office. The doctor's wife is the "office manager" - but they also have another office manager - the one who interviews prospective employees, does the payroll, etc. The wife simply comes in for a few hours and answers the phones and walks around the office.

I have school-age children who routinely get off the bus and are home alone for about 45 minutes until my husband gets home from work. We normally have no problem getting a sitter if school is out so that we can both go to work. My husband was scheduled to have the Wednesday before Thanksgiving off so, of course, we didn't make other arrangements for child care. His boss told him Tuesday afternoon that he had to work - he is a supervisor and there was no one else to call in to cover the team. I contacted our sitter to see if she would be free to watch the kids on Wednesday. She was unable to do it as she had already made plans to go out of town to visit her father.

I informed the MD's wife of the fact that I would not be able to come into work Wednesday and explained the situation. (The other office manager was not available as she was taking time off for the holiday.) The wife asked me if I could get a sitter...I had just explained that the reason I couldn't come to work the next day was because I could NOT find a sitter. (Guess she wasn't listening the first time.) I told her again that I was unable to find a sitter and went back to work. Nothing was said about it again for the rest of the workday. I glanced at the schedule and Wednesday's patient load was very light. There is a CMA that could easily handle the patient load...as she had been doing so for the month prior to me being hired. Being new to the practice, I had just handled a FULL schedule for 2 providers alone the previous Friday without any problem.

I went home and received a call from the wife. She told me that they really needed to have someone there for the next day since it could get really busy. I explained my situation once again and she then said "Well, this will serve as your notice. You are no longer needed." She then hung up.

I live in a at-will employment state and was only there for 1 month so unemployment is not an option. I've already applied at several other facilities but have not heard from anyone yet...doesn't surprise me because of this time of year.

Has anyone else ever been through something similar?

[hppygr8ful]

I'm sorry this has happened to you - Most employer's I have worked for could really care less about your child care arrangements. They see that as your problem not theirs. I happen to have a flexible workload that can be handled by phone and fax with emergencies runs to seperate facilities so it's not so much of a concern to me as it was in the past. My current employer is so laid back and family oriented he almost bends over backward with these situations.

That being said - You have to firm up your child care arrangements so this kind of thing doesn't happen again. How old are your kids? If the oldest is 12 or older they can legally supervise their siblings. Otherwise do you have a trusted friend or neighbor you can call on in an emergency. I always try to have at least two babysitters on deck for that purpose.

Looking at it from the employer's point of view - you have to understand thay have a business to run and if they got slammed on the day before Thankgiving which is entirely possible they would have a big problem on their hands. It may have been better if you could have worked the morning and left early than take the whole day off. They may also wonder if this is going to happen frequently on such short notice.

If I were you I would call them and see if you could meet with them personally - perhaps even to pick up your last check and talk to them without being angry or upset. Tell them that this situation was quite unusual for you and you understand what a bind it put them in. Tell them what measures you have in place to prevent this in the future and see if they can give you another chance. If as you say the job was working out well otherwise they may agree.

Hope everything works out for you

Hppy

[Kdog]

The wife has no compassion. Would you want to work in that environment? I worked for a private practice once and the wife was nasty and had no concern for anyone and I found another job and QUIT

[BiggerAl]

I am sorry for your situation. I hope it works out for you. That being said, I think that you handled this wrong. Is should have been your husband's employer that was told he couldn't come in Wednesday. He was not scheduled to work and had other plans. If his boss couldn't find someone to cover then his boss can go in and cover. I hate how employers think that employees should be on call 24/7. You husband's bosses' problem was your husband's bosses' problem.

Your employer could have been more compassionate for sure. But they may have seen it as I did. You were scheduled to work already, your husband wasn't. By extension you passed your husband's bosses problem onto your boss. I know few will see it that way, but that's what happened.

From a personal perspective, my off time is MINE. If I want to help out, I will. But it is not my obligation. I am an employee, not a chattel.