A question for the Legal SavyFollow

Well the report is in. HR called me today for a bit of clarification and said there will be an answer regarding my status tomorrow.

You're boned. Lie next time.

:)

Carnac says what?

Anyone know of a good employment attourney?

Just got a phone call about 20 minutes ago. I am terminated as of today.

Ow. I'm sorry for you too.

With this consolidation into the parent company, are there any other sackings here and there, as they find a few redundancies?

Edited, Mar 27th 2009 10:16pm by Aripyanfar

Aadyn - I am sorry to hear of your termination. I don't post much on here, but your story intrigued me. I am an HR Manager for a Fortune 200 company, so please take what I write as simply "business advice."

1. The #1 rule of thumb in the HR world: "If it's not documented, then it doesn't exist." You stated that someone flagged your file upon hire to not run a BG check. That is a huge no-no. The person who did that can still be subpoenaed and is the one whole started this mess. UNLESS, the "flag" was shredded or never existed to begin with.

2. Do you know the policy associated with BG checks at your company? Most only consider the previous seven years as "discoverable." Since these charges were over seven years ago, they cannot be considered as part of the company's decision to terminate you. I've ran a BG check where someone was found guilty of first-degree murder. In 1989. As unnerving as that was to see, I had to put a big "X" through it since I could not consider it as discoverable information.

3. Do you have a nice, shiny performance record? Any disciplinary actions against you?

4. Many companies are required to code terminations (known as a "termination event"). Examples: violation of rules/policies, insubordination, safety, destruction of company property, job abandonment, attendance, etc. It'd be smart to find out how your termination was coded.

All in all, yes, you do have a leg to stand on as far as a wrongful termination lawsuit. I'd recommend you seek representation as soon as possible. Good luck!

The flag existed. I saw it with my own eyes when the HR was local. Also the previous local HR Admin saw it too. I can subpoena that person along with the person who hired me to testify that the flag was there and that they knew of my background befor hireing me.



I do not know the Discoveralble period. I can try and get ahold of the previous HR person to find out.



Yes. No blemishes and stellar performance reviews. No Disciplinary actions.



They are sending me a packet with my vacation pay and the background check. I also requested a copy of my personel file.



Sound advice. Ill look into getting an attourney.

Lying pretty much always works if you put enough thought into it. Another great strategy is saying as little as required. Failing that, people are generally willing to overlook things if you're very rich.

Failing that.... well, you guys have guns there, right? Yeah.

I don't get compensated for unused vacation time

We are allowed to roll over 5 days each year, anything we cannot roll over and do not use before the end of April, we lose. I tried to get them to let me cash in my days, but they said no.

Last year, due to 200% work hours, and some crazy busy times, I wasn't able to take any vacation. But my boss let me fill out 5 "to be announced" time off slips. So I rolled over 5 days, and kept my other 5 days I had left.

Speaking of vacation time, I have 5 days I must use or else I lose them!

Are you sure this is legal?

Back at my old company, HQ was in Houston and HR said they can't legally make you use your vacation or you lose it in CA. It was strongly advised that we take it though.

Edit: Linky might want to rethink what your employer said.



Edited, Mar 29th 2009 7:21pm by Aadyn Litefoot

Interesting. Well, I'd rather take it anyway. I stood to lose about a month's worth when all that happened, and that's just silly.


I consulted for on a contract to configure a small company's HRIS/Payroll to accrue vacation time at the employees current salary, ie: if they took the time after a raise, they were compensated for it at the earlier, lower, rate.

For what they ended up paying on the contract, I can't imagine they derived any financial benefit.



Edited, Mar 30th 2009 5:41pm by Smasharoo

Good luck!