tone of voice says a lot
Posted on 08/21/2020 4:33:57 PM PDT by SteveH
how quickly can a california company terminate an employee?
a friend of mine just got fired a couple of hours ago. the reason given was basically something like talking back to the boss or not following directions.
also how can one apply for a new job if one is fired in california? can one just say on resume "laid off"? i am under the impression that california is an at will employment state which means that employers can fire anyone for any reason including the employee's nose is too long, or too short, or whatever. is this generally correct? (in which case i would personally tend to consider fired and laid off as equivalent in California)
i am ignorant on modern day HR internals and policies. thanks for any insights.
I would just state looking for new avenues to pursue.
If the new company calls the old and says they fired him, he can sue.
Most corporations only give dates of employment and say nothing good or bad.
You can be let go for any reason. It’s the unemployment payments that are in question.
As far as a resume goes, just indicate you left. If they ask for a reference just put the name of the company or their HR department. They usually just confirm employment dates. If they get too specific, you can sue them for defamation.
Finally, he must have really mouthed off to get fired. Tell him/her to tone it down.
Nobody ever gets rid of those people.
At Will by employer, no reason needed.
A good time to check other states. She can probably state that she wanted to take time to explore her options
California is an at-will state, which means in theory tye employer can let someone go at any time without a reason if there is no employment contract in place.
On tghe other hand, wrongful termination lawsuits happen all the time in California because there are so many discrimination laws in place. At a minimum, your friend likely qualifies for unemployment. EDD has precedent Administrative cases in place, describing in detail situations where the employer is still on the hook for their UI insirance reserve to pay for all or part of a terminated employee’s UI benefits.
I am not an attorney, so the opinions here are my own - I am an administrative exec for a group of companies in California that share common ownership, and have a great HR/Payroll manager who reports to me.
Now more the more nuanced part of the answer: California labor code is extremely friendly to the employee and hostile to the employer.
If the employer engaged in one of they many protected categories of labor code violations, then the terminated employee may file a wrongful termination suit. Categories such as discrimination, hostile workplace, failure to pay overtime, failure to provide required breaks, unsafe working conditions, etc. are all basis for wrongful termination.
As far as resume is concerned, it's best to be honest. California law requires that a former supervisor may only confirm the following if asked about a former employee:
Any more information given could possibly result in legal consequences depending on what information was given out.
If the termed employee wishes to claim unemployment, the separation must be a termination and not a voluntary separation (they quit). Generally unemployment insurance is denied for dismissal with cause, which means the termination was due to hostile or illegal actions of the employee.
Hope that helps!
I fired plenty of people over the years. When an employer would call asking about them all I could say is when he started and when he left.
Did your friend think he could reasonably thought to have talked back to the boss or not followed instructions. Of course, they are kind of vague.
California is indeed an at-will employment state. However, the law also says that if the company has a procedure for firing someone (possibly including a probation period, or appeal procedure, etc.) then they can’t fire someone without going through that procedure. Many companies do in fact have such procedures since many people wouldn’t work at a place that doesn’t. I told our kids to ask about that whenever applying for a job.
I wouldn’t say it’s a layoff, since there are specific requirements for that. He should just tell his next potential employer that the job and/or environment wasn’t a good fit. Or he didn’t get along with his boss. People understand that, and usually don’t hold that against you these days.
Got a crappy boss? Good, go after his job. if he is crappy you're not the only one who notices.
Generally, efforts to battle former employers in situations like this are a big waste of time. Encourage him in his new job search.
Last time I was laid off in California it was under a hour.
Come to think of it every time I was laid off it was under an hour.
Only got fired once, my part in it was under an hour. They spent God knows how long gathering/fabricating cause. I’d been there 9 months, looking for a new job 6 of those. Don’t like working for a company that systematically cheated on government contracts...
As to the resume? Just say the dates, job duties and any noteworthy accomplishments.
In the interview? I was let go. Say how much you liked the work, and NEVER say anything bad about the boss! The company that fired him cannot say anything bad about him (lawsuit happy California) most limit their verification to job tile(s) and years worked.
This is a golden opportunity to find work in a red state. My old roommate/tenant moved to Reno on a Wednesday and found a job on Friday...
They can get fired, but will collect unemployment for any reason, even theft. I was an employer in California for awhile.
It can happen virtually overnight. It’s happened to me.
I was acting as a Whistleblower in this company that operates a number of group homes for disabled adults. I reported what I have been trained to see as violations of the Clients Rights. Numerous, blatant and repeated violations.
My reward? The CEO immediately ‘de-personed’ me. All communication from all those employees was suddenly stopped.
It was rather unnerving. Here I thought I was working with
friends. Not really. So it’s likely that management already knew of those violations happening, but decided to overlook them. Everyone discreetly avoided talking about that Elephant in the room, figuring other things were still going smoothly.
I simply had to move on with my life, and add a few more hours of work from Job B. Lucky for me, there was a Job B. already there. Yes. You can be cut loose for many reasons. Sometimes, my custom of being honest doesn’t pay off.
As Frank Sinatra once sang “That’s Life!”
tone of voice says a lot
Not true..there are a million reasons not just one reason very good people get fired
Years ago I had a great job putting together outpatient clinics for a rehab center. I had to find the location and then Get corporate to do the leases and then Market this to doctors so they would work at the clinics etc etc. I worked very hard and got several of the clinics set up. On Christmas Eve I got fired I was devastated.
I knew it was bad for the campany’s public relations issues that they would just go ahead and fire a good employee and they would accept that I would go for unemployment and not fight that. I gave unemployment the reason for my leaving was my position was phased out...hahaha ..it was phased out allright! In a couple hours.
The next week I went back to the HR department and walked into the CEO’s office and handed her a reference letter draft. I told her it would probably be best for their image in the community that when I looked for a job it appeared that the company like to hire very good people but for whatever reason I had resigned and so they wrote this nice reference letter. I asked the CEO to have her secretary type it up right now on their stationery and have her sign it. She did.
I had never before in my life ever been fired from any job so it took me a few months to recuperate and start looking for work soon I got a good job. A year later I found out the reason they fired me. Their plans for the clinics expanding had failed and eventually that company was taken over by another rehab center company. Two years later I was hired by that company that had taken over and when I walked into HR in that same building I noticed the same painting on the wall from 2 years ago. I commented on the painting and said “that’s a very nice painting.”
I hope my story helps your friend
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