Archived Possible wrongful termination.

[Espguitardude]

Before I start, I am going to go ahead and say I'm waiting on a response from corporate on this situation. A little over a month ago, I was offered a new job that sounded too good to be true. I told my HR lady at the time about the situation and told her that I wanted to try out the job, but I wanted to see if it would be possible for me to stay part time. They told me yes on the part time part. This is where things get weird. I also told them that if I liked the job I was going to be leaving. They told me that was fine, fill out this two week notice paper, but for now, we'll work on finding out what your schedule will be for at the new job, and adjust for you being part time. I thought that was a little weird, but went along with it. Every TL in the store was coming up to me saying they heard that I had put in my "two weeks." I told them that I'm still gonna work part time here and see how things go over at the new job. They all were very happy to know I was atleast staying part time, and none of this sounded weird to them.

So I tried the new job, and as I suspected, it was entirely too good to be true, and was pretty much lied to during the whole interview process. I went back to my HR and told them "Hey don't worry about making me part time, I'll be staying here." There response? "You already put in your two week notice." This is when I started getting irritated and fast. "Okay, if I've put in my two week notice, when is my last day?" They told me September 3rd. Then proceeded to ask me since I'm not working at the new job, would I be willing to work the rest of my shifts for that week, because the Mytime system had already scheduled me for two days that I was supposed to be at my "new job". I told them yes and walked out the door. The other TL's came to me and couldn't believe what happened. They had seen two week notices being reneged, and couldn't figure out why they wanted me to sign a paper for my two weeks, if I was going to be staying part time. Other team members even told me they had seen team members renege. I was by no means a bad employee, I had somehow managed to have a schedule of 8-4:30 Monday-Friday, back in electronics.

Obviously I was doing something right., and was always the go to guy for alot of issues on the sales floor, and nobody I worked with had a problem with me. September 3rd started to roll around rather quickly, but they were still letting me work the days that had they asked me to work as mentioned earlier. A family emergency came up exactly on the 3rd, (which was the worst coincidence I've ever seen.) and I went to my HR to tell her the situation. She told me if I didn't show up for these last two shifts I would be non-rehirable, even though my last day was technically that day. I said "Okay, but technically I could call out and it'd be fine right?" She rolled her eyes and said "Yes, you can. Even better if you can fine someone to cover your shift." "This wouldn't make me non-rehirable?" She then told me "No, it's perfectly fine to do that, just call in the morning, tell the TL the situation and tell them to come to me."

Given how irritated I was, I wasn't gonna risk just talking to a TL, I called and asked for her myself. Each day I called 2 or 3 hours before my shift as I was supposed to. What happened next made my blood boil and called corporate as soon as our conversation was over. "You know this dosn't save you right?" this was her exact response when I called in. "But you told me this, why has this changed?" "It dosn't save you." Like I said, I called the hotline and gave a complete description of what happened. Just wanted to get you guys opinion on the matter.

 

[Ringwraith917]

Sounds like your HR person either doesn't know what she's doing and doesn't care, or just has it out for you. I hope you get your job back at the same schedule & pay, with compensation for days you would have worked if you had not been terminated. But I doubt you'll get that last part. That would be too human.

 

[Espguitardude]

Just got a follow up on my complaint and said everything was "handled properly". If "handled properly" and "bent over" are the same thing, then I guess it was. I asked to have a representative contact me. This should be good.

 

[APredux]

You really shouldn't have filled out the two week notice paperwork. That's where they are going to get you. I'm not sure you entirely understand what that means (or at least you didn't). Now, that obviously doesn't help you out, and I'm sorry about what happened, but ignorance of what giving a "two week notice" means is not exactly an excuse.

Look at it from their perspective. First you tell them you found a new job and want to drop to part time at Target. They say ok. Then you come back and tell them that if this new job is amazing you are going to quit Target. At this point they basically inform you that if you're quitting you need (if you want to be rehirable) to fill out a two week notice. Which you then do. The two week notice is you notifying your employer about your intent to quit, it doesn't mean "I may quit or I may not."

The whole calling in issue sucks as well, and it's really unfortunate you had a family emergency. Honestly it sounds like you would have been better calling in to a TL, that way you wouldn't have been confronting her directly. In the end though, I'm not sure why you think you were wrongfully terminated. In fact you weren't terminated at all, you quit.

 

[H2Owned]

Ya I think you made the mistake when you told your eHR that you were going to quit if you liked the new job. You never tell them that!!

 

[Barcode]

Yeah you really screwed up @Espguitardude , by filling out that Voluntary Termination form, you basically termed yourself No wrongful termination.

I thought I heard that you can rescind your notice prior to your last date though, but I'm sure that can vary from state-to-state, and store-to-store.

 

[PugMuffin]

Yeah... you've really screwed yourself here. First, by telling your employer your intentions of leaving them for a "better" job, and second for signing a two week notice. You really shouldn't mention other job opportunities to your employer, especially if said employer is Target because TMs aren't hard to replace (there's no shortage of people who are willing to work here).Basically, Target doesn't need you, they need someone to do your job, so when they hear you want to leave, they don't typically feel too inclined to keep you. Since you signed the termination papers, it's considered voluntary termination; in other words, you fired yourself, Target didn't, so this most likely won't be seen as wrongful termination. Sorry to be blunt here, but that's kind of just how it is.

 

[Barcode]

Yeah... you've really screwed yourself here. First, by telling your employer your intentions of leaving them for a "better" job, and second for signing a two week notice. You really shouldn't mention other job opportunities to your employer, especially if said employer is Target because TMs aren't hard to replace (there's no shortage of people who are willing to work here).Basically, Target doesn't need you, they need someone to do your job, so when they hear you want to leave, they don't typically feel too inclined to keep you. Since you signed the termination papers, it's considered voluntary termination; in other words, you fired yourself, Target didn't, so this most likely won't be seen as wrongful termination. Sorry to be blunt here, but that's kind of just how it is.

You sir have an awesome sig.

 

[Leonhart621]

Most of us here is in agreement at you pretty much screwed yourself.

 

[Producer]

Yeah, that's not a wrongful termination. Like everyone said, you can't tell them that you're planning on leaving if you like the other job, and you definitely have to read and understand everything you're signing before you put your name down. Tough break, but hope things turn out better for you. I know a lot of stores are hiring regular team members right now before the big push to bring on seasonal tm's in october. Maybe you can apply to another one if there's one nearby, but my best advice is to not look back.

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Learn from it. Don't say why, if you are going to stay part time.

 

[Guest]

Never fill out a 2 week notice unless you are actually going to quit. Rookie mistake, brah.
Once you sign that 2 week notice, you are out the door in 2 weeks. My condolences and sympathies. But next time, never sign something like that unless you actually going to quit your job. If you're going to work 2 jobs, change your availability.

And last thing, the people in HR at your store are either idiots or hate your guts.

 

[awbuckit]

< Worked in HR for 6 yrs.
We had a few TMs who quit their job to try another one. Came back a short time later. We did a "Termed in Error" electronic form and all was good. They came back at the same pay and with their same TM #.
They could've done this. Either your HR people are idiots or they really have it out for you.

 

[tgtguy]

We had a guy in our store who quit last year in Nov....he told the etls, it was a for a better job...meanwhile he was telling the rest of us that he didn't want to have to work at Spot through the Holidays cause it was just to hard on him ( yeah whatever). So, he quit....and wouldn't you know it that in Jan when things were slow as hell....he came back...and they rehired him. He had done this one time before as well. So, with that being said if the etls "like" you pretty much anything is possible just as if they don't like you...they can really screw you over. I say this over and over again...I do not trust any TL, or etl, document, document , document...and even then it may not be enough. You have to cover your own hiney cause they sure as hell wont .

 

[consume]

Let this be a lesson to whoever wants to try out a new job, don't mention it until you're sure it works out for you. Ask for the time off you need, but if they ask, it's personal

Never flaunt that you found a better job

 

[Hardlinesmaster]

Sometimes, you may need to come back to spot.

 

[bullseyekindaguy]

Let this be a lesson to whoever wants to try out a new job, don't mention it until you're sure it works out for you. Ask for the time off you need, but if they ask, it's personal

Never flaunt that you found a better job

And always read before you sign!

 

[Mhugh220]

This would have gone down way differently at our store. If you are a TM, my first response to your inquiry would have been "Technically you're not a full time employee. That's reserved for TLs and above." This seems to be even truer with Target increasing benefit requirements. If you are a TL, I would say "we don't have part time TLs, so you'll have to decide which job to pursue or step down." Second, I would have you do an availability change, not a termination form, as a termination form would imply you are leaving. With that form you'd also be told that if rehired, you would lose your pay grade. If you did revoke your 2 week notice before your last day then we would pretend it never happened and life would go back to normal. Before changing your availability I would let you know that by doing so I would have to find a replacement, and if I did, you wouldn't get those hours back if you reopened your availability. It would be unfair to replace you then tell that TM that I changed my mind if you decided to return.

Sounds like your HR set you up for failure. A termination form is exactly how it sounds, terminating your employment - not shortening your hours or stepping down. I hope to hear your decision gets reversed. Your termination should have never happened and your only fault is trusting your supervision. Sorry to hear this happened.

 

[SFTOnThree]

Let this be a lesson to whoever wants to try out a new job, don't mention it until you're sure it works out for you. Ask for the time off you need, but if they ask, it's personal

Never flaunt that you found a better job

And always read before you sign!

The last time I didn't read before I signed, I got to spend 6 years in the military. All cause I said "Sure, I want to travel after high school...."

 

[consume]

Let this be a lesson to whoever wants to try out a new job, don't mention it until you're sure it works out for you. Ask for the time off you need, but if they ask, it's personal

Never flaunt that you found a better job

And always read before you sign!

The last time I didn't read before I signed, I got to spend 6 years in the military. All cause I said "Sure, I want to travel after high school...."

Thank you for your service, Sir.