Getting fired over emails or video calls is a thing of the past. These days, some bosses are taking it a step further, laying off employees over texts. And as bizarre as it gets, one employee even got fired over Facebook Messenger, that too, during a vacation.
The woman, who goes by “just_a_lego_frog”, has turned to Reddit for help. She shared screenshots of the conversation with her manager and HR, explaining the entire situation.
‘My decision was only respected once’
The woman got a job at a local restaurant, and Sundays were her weekly day off. The reason she wanted Sundays off was that she had to attend church.
“They said it was fine and gave me the job. I was still consistently scheduled for Sundays and always got a cover,” the woman wrote in her long Reddit post, before adding that her decision was only “respected” once.
She claimed that her managers and co-workers told her that she was doing a “great job”. “I’ve put in effort, never given attitude, done side work, stayed late, all of that. No one gave me any indication that I wasn’t doing enough,” the woman explained.
She added, “Fast forward to this week. I had approved time off to attend my sister-in-law’s graduation out of state. The new schedule was released, and I was scheduled again on Sunday, so I politely reminded them (again) that I can’t work.”
Shortly after this, the woman claimed that she was fired over Messenger, citing the “slow season”.
Viral screenshots
In one of the messages, as per the screenshots attached, the woman informs her boss over Messenger that she cannot work on Sundays at all. She also said that she had mentioned this during her interview and asked if he could swap her with someone on Wednesday.
The manager responded, “Okay… You need to make sure you write it in the book. Also, put it on a sling. I have your shift covered on Sunday, though.”
The woman then asked her manager if there were any other hours she could pick up, to which he said no.
‘We’ve to let you go as…’
On August 30, the manager texted her, “I am sorry to do this during your vacation, but unfortunately, we have to let you go as we head into our slow season due to your unavailability on the weekends and us needing to honour that time off for our longer-standing employees.”
The restaurant manager also told her that he could schedule an exit interview and that she could list him as a reference.
“I want to talk to HR. Or the owner, if you don’t have HR,” the woman put her foot down.
HR enters after woman fired over Messenger
The HR texted her within minutes, citing the slow season as the reason for her layoff. “We are having to cut down staff due to the end of summer, and your name was the one that came up. It also had a bit to do with your availability.”
“Thank you for your hard work and employment with us. Wish you the best in the future. If you want to list on your resume, we would give a positive review,” read the text from HR.
‘I’m a Catholic. I don’t work on Sundays’
The woman grew furious after reading HR’s message and responded with a very, very long text.
“I explicitly stated in my interview that I was available every day of the week from open to close, except for Sunday. You hired me with the knowledge that this was when I could work. This availability was not respected at all, but every week I got someone to cover so that the floor wasn’t short-staffed,” the woman replied.
She added, “I made this very clear; this availability should not be a surprise. I am a Catholic. I do not work on Sundays. If I don’t have to. I have no obligation to offer any job. Every second of free time I have.”
The employee further said that she hasn’t had more hours, and when she raised this, she was told that it was performance-linked.
“Despite this, I gave this job my best performance because it was the professional thing to do. I understand that I am the newest naturally, my name would be the 1st to be late,” the woman added.
She further pointed out, “However, I find it hard to believe that I was put on the schedule for this week, but only after I called out the repeated mistake on my schedule, you decided to let me go because of the slow season.”
“I was let go with no warning over Messenger,” the woman expressed, before adding, “This was incredibly unprofessional and quite frankly disrespectful.”
She also highlighted that it was only last week when the employees were told that this was the best summer for the restaurant, and even though they were entering a slow season, the management was making sure to give everyone as many hours as possible.
“I don’t believe how something could have happened between then and now,” she said, before asking Reddit, “What can I do?”
How did Reddit users react?
“Your next step is to call an attorney who specialises in EEOC complaints. This is a failure to accommodate religious needs and is likely a violation based on religious discrimination. A lawyer can help you with the next steps,” one user suggested.
Another added, “Be available for work on Sundays.”