Dismissed from work - what to say to prospective employers?

purplepardalis

Where I work (not just the company but the geographical area and all industries in it) a sabbatical is seen as a worthwhile thing to do. Taking a few months for yourself at an appropriate time is to be applauded. My firm quite happily grants sabbaticals.
I also hire people as part of my job and would never look down on someone who has had a planned work break and who could tell me why they did during it and why.

Vader123

Uncertain wrote: »

Others may have a different opinion!

Yes I know, thats why i stated it was just my opinion.

Uncertain wrote: »

I used to work with a couple of small to medium sized "professional" outfits where if your face didn't fit you were out the door. All legal niceties were ignored and the firm's solicitors were just instructed to "sort it". A few month's salary or more and a couple of grand in legal fees were regarded as a normal operating cost!

If they wanted them out within a year and discounting discrimination then there is no need for "legal neceties" you can just fire with/without a reason.

Vader

shikoku

busterian wrote: »

Let me get this straight.

You had been there 4 years and not once had anyone raised any concerns about your peformance? Did you not have appraisals or reviews?

Were you called to a meeting and then told of your dismissal or did they follow the correct procedure?

This is what you need to be addressing, what you describe sounds to me like redundancy negotiations with the employer trying to pull some sort of fast one.

What you say to a new employer is that you were made redundant. I wouldn't give a moments concern to the reference, they have no grounds to give you a bad one.

Uncertain

Vader123 wrote: »

If they wanted them out within a year and discounting discrimination then there is no need for "legal neceties" you can just fire with/without a reason.

Yes, but this was often much further down the line - rather like the OP here!

RachelUK

Uncertain wrote: »

I used to work with a couple of small to medium sized "professional" outfits where if your face didn't fit you were out the door. All legal niceties were ignored and the firm's solicitors were just instructed to "sort it". A few month's salary or more and a couple of grand in legal fees were regarded as a normal operating cost!

I think this is pretty much what happened with me, the company are not short of money! :mad:

We did have appraisals each year in November and mine were all fine - not outstanding but 'Good' or 'Fair' on all areas of my work. There were no follow ups or any warnings to 'improve or you are out of the door'.

A colleague has had the same thing done to him and his solicitor has said that he may have grounds for unfair dismissal.

I don't think I really want to go down the path of fighting them, I just want to try and move on, get a better job and put it behind me, and if I can negotiate a better settlement then I'll try.

KiKi

Hi Rachel

I agree with you - move on. You got a CA which is good!

In an interview I would say that you were looking for a new challenge, and some structural changes were being made in your organisation. You decided to look for something new which would offer a different challenge (in a different sector / industry etc, if appropriate).

You can legitimately say you *are* looking for a challenge, and they *have* made a change: asking you to go!

Best of luck with whatever you do.
KiKi

SarEl

Setting aside the fact that I think you are entirely crazy to accept what is being offered - it is a rubbish deal and the employer must be laughing all the way to the bank.... And setting aside the fact that no matter what company policy is I would never settle for a basic reference as part of a compromise deal where the employee has done nothing wrong, because as part of a compromise deal they can compromise anything, including normal policy, and darned well write a good one or I would see them in tribunal....

Never lie to a potential employer. Any savvy interviewer, and there are quite a few out there, can spot a lie or subterfuge, and will assume the worst. Most people are simply not as good at lying as they think they are. So no "sabbaticals" or "new challenges". If asked for the reason you left it's a simple one sentence "I terminated my employment under the terms of a compromise agreement, and I am not permitted under the terms of that agreement to discuss the reasons why I left". Any decent employer will interpret this as "the employer did something really, really bad, got caught, and had to pay me off" - the assumption is that the employer is in the wrong and not the employee, even though this isn't always the case! A few employers may take this as "this person is trouble, they will land me in a tribunal" - for those, believe me, you don't want to work for them! Any employer who thinks like this has some reason to believe that employees could find a reason to take them to tribunal. Any decent employer doesn't fear that because they make every effort to get their employment practices right.

Uncertain

RachelUK wrote: »

I don't think I really want to go down the path of fighting them, I just want to try and move on, get a better job and put it behind me, and if I can negotiate a better settlement then I'll try.

I can understand that point of view. The financial bottom line is not everything but what you don't want to do is look back later and regret your decision.

At the very least make sure you negotiate something significantly better than their first offer. Any solicitor worth their XXX pounds per hour should be able to manage this.

kickwhamstunner

When a prospective employer asks why you left, just say that "my contract came to an end" without specifying the exact reasons for that. Hopefully, they'll assume it was a fixed term appointment.

Vader123

kickwhamstunner wrote: »

When a prospective employer asks why you left, just say that "my contract came to an end" without specifying the exact reasons for that. Hopefully, they'll assume it was a fixed term appointment.

Again bad advice.

Any decnt interviewer will say "Oh, was it a fixed contract"

"No"

"So why did it end?"

"Er......"....


Game over.

Vader