Should my current employer harm my future job prospectives

TonyaM73, ASN, RN · Jul 20, 2010

I don't understand. You called out 1 time last month and 1 time this month and then you were late 1 time, right? This is not excessive especially if you could produce a doctor's note from your son's visit. I would have asked them to product the record of the absenses and tardies and then looked up the company's policy on attendence. With both in hand I would have asked the employer about this. My company's policy is that 3 absences in a month is excessive and after 3 tardies it equals another absence. So your situation would be well under this.

At this point since you did not give them 2 weeks notice and it seems that you left on bad terms, you need to find out from your Human Resources office if you are rehirable. If so, then they would tell a prospective empoyer that, if not then you are pretty much guarenteed that you will not get a good reference from that employer. Good luck!

llg, PhD, RN · Jul 20, 2010

You probably made a few mistakes in the way you handled the situation, and yes, they could come back to haunt you. When confronted by your manager about your call-in's etc. you should have written "your side of the story" as well as you could and placed that in your file to assure that the proper facts would be included in any review of your record. You could have asked your manager to sign and date your statement as well so that you would have documentation that your side of the story would not be removed. (Keep a copy of everything for yourself, too.) Another option is to actually write your side of the story on the paper you sign for HR.

Anyway ... you should have documented your side of the story in the permanent record. Also, you should have reviewed the attendance policy upon hire and discussed it as part of your orientation. Each place is different and those of here on allnurses have no way of knowing whether or not you followed that policy to the letter or not.

Also, if you were not in 100% compliance with your employer's policy, then writing it up for your file is a reasonable thing for your employer to do. It sounds like they weren't really going to punish you -- just give you a warning this time and put it in writing to document that you had been informed of your deviation from the standard. While that's not a great thing to have happen, it's not the end of the world and is pretty common in some institutions (where 1st warnings are not taken seriously unless the pattern of behavior continues.)

As far as resigning on the spot, that's usually a bad idea. It's usually best to "count to 10" before taking that big step -- if only to give you a chance to review everything, document everything appropriately, and manage your resignation properly to avoid any negative repercussions from your departure. You should always give proper notice, etc. and conduct yourself as a professional in these situations. When you don't, it invites negative outcomes.

I don't say these things to "kick you when you are down," but rather to help you assess your situation clearly from the perspective of a future possible employer. You should be prepared to discuss the situation (including any mistakes you made) with potential employers as you apply for your next job. Also, I wanted our inexperienced readers to learn from the situation.

As for what to do now ... find out your status with HR. Are you ineligible for re-hire? If that's the case (which it might be), you'll need to practice explaining this to possible employers. It's a little bold, but you might try apologizing for the resignation and ask if that "ineligible for rehire" could be changed if you worked out a proper notice. Your request would probably be refused, but it you apologized very nicely and they really need someone to cover your scheduled shifts, you might get lucky and get that reversed so that at least they would say you were eligible for re-hire.

eriksoln, BSN, RN · Jul 20, 2010

I was going to say also that resigning on the spot is never good. One of those things that, at the moment seems like a wonderful idea then..............we have regrets.

IDK if your boss can mess up future opportunities for you or not TBH. I've heard both sides of the argument. Some will tell you "No way, its against the law to say anything other than if you were employed there or not." Others will say "Oh yeah, those managers talk. Its like a secret society."

It was during a meeting, after graduation from nursing school, that I decided they could if given the opportunity. The career counselor got into the subject of how one HR will talk to another. He explained how they can get around the laws and get their point across. So, I've always gone with what he said with him being the professional on such issues.

Things I remember and have seen that may help:

1. Be preemptive. Don't deny having left on bad terms and tell your side of the story.

2. Show a non-resentful approach to discussing your old employer. Don't get into the "Oh, you won't believe what they did. That place was bad and I had to get outta there" stuff. The pat answer for what you thought about your former employer should be "Nice place, not a good fit for me." Nothing more.

3. Be mindful, although managers/HR talk to one another, it is a business and not all of them are friends. Someone will take a chance on you despite anything your former employer says. When they do, you have to seize the opportunity. You say call offs and lateness were the issue with the former employer (in their eyes). Well, be certain you are well in the door before your first call off or lateness at the new place. Someone will take a chance on you, decide the other employer may not be telling the whole truth, but might hire you with the idea of keeping an eye on your situation.

4. Don't deny having worked for the person or leave them off your application. This will only lead them to think you know you did something wrong and don't want it to come up.

caliotter3 · Jul 20, 2010

You allowed them to run you off the job. Based on their treatment of you once you presented your family problems, you can most likely expect no glowing recommendations to prospective employers. Think about how you will present yourself to future employers and move forward. There is nothing you can do about the past situation except to learn from it. In the future do not discuss your family problems. Come up with solutions on your own and be at work when necessary otherwise you run the risk of this situation happening again.

eriksoln, BSN, RN · Jul 20, 2010

You allowed them to run you off the job. Based on their treatment of you once you presented your family problems, you can most likely expect no glowing recommendations to prospective employers. Think about how you will present yourself to future employers and move forward. There is nothing you can do about the past situation except to learn from it. In the future do not discuss your family problems. Come up with solutions on your own and be at work when necessary otherwise you run the risk of this situation happening again.

I learned this when I got divorced. Talked to people I thought were friends when I was kicked out of the house and living out of my truck for awhile (paying for a hotel would have meant not being able to put the down payment on an apt.). Next thing I knew, my manager asks me if this is why I called off on a Saturaday (my place is fair concerning call offs/lateness, with weekends being the exception, they despise weekend call offs).

I've noticed since then some people decided I was the "poor little black sheep" on the unit. Always giving me advice on how to "get my life back" and "reach your goals". Didn't know being divorced and calling off ONE TIME, on a saturaday, made you such a loser. I got very tired of it TBH.

sukh :), BSN, RN · Jul 20, 2010

You probably made a few mistakes in the way you handled the situation, and yes, they could come back to haunt you. When confronted by your manager about your call-in's etc. you should have written "your side of the story" as well as you could and placed that in your file to assure that the proper facts would be included in any review of your record. You could have asked your manager to sign and date your statement as well so that you would have documentation that your side of the story would not be removed. (Keep a copy of everything for yourself, too.) Another option is to actually write your side of the story on the paper you sign for HR.
Anyway ... you should have documented your side of the story in the permanent record. Also, you should have reviewed the attendance policy upon hire and discussed it as part of your orientation. Each place is different and those of here on allnurses have no way of knowing whether or not you followed that policy to the letter or not.
Also, if you were not in 100% compliance with your employer's policy, then writing it up for your file is a reasonable thing for your employer to do. It sounds like they weren't really going to punish you -- just give you a warning this time and put it in writing to document that you had been informed of your deviation from the standard. While that's not a great thing to have happen, it's not the end of the world and is pretty common in some institutions (where 1st warnings are not taken seriously unless the pattern of behavior continues.)
As far as resigning on the spot, that's usually a bad idea. It's usually best to "count to 10" before taking that big step -- if only to give you a chance to review everything, document everything appropriately, and manage your resignation properly to avoid any negative repercussions from your departure. You should always give proper notice, etc. and conduct yourself as a professional in these situations. When you don't, it invites negative outcomes.
I don't say these things to "kick you when you are down," but rather to help you assess your situation clearly from the perspective of a future possible employer. You should be prepared to discuss the situation (including any mistakes you made) with potential employers as you apply for your next job. Also, I wanted our inexperienced readers to learn from the situation.
As for what to do now ... find out your status with HR. Are you ineligible for re-hire? If that's the case (which it might be), you'll need to practice explaining this to possible employers. It's a little bold, but you might try apologizing for the resignation and ask if that "ineligible for rehire" could be changed if you worked out a proper notice. Your request would probably be refused, but it you apologized very nicely and they really need someone to cover your scheduled shifts, you might get lucky and get that reversed so that at least they would say you were eligible for re-hire.

thanks for your suggestions. i emailed them today as they had put my schedule to be taken by other nurses that they can consider my resignation letter as 2 weeks notice. to this the manager who sets the schedule happily agreed and she said that they are happy that i am giving 2 weeks notice. can you please tell me where i stand now

Neptuneschyld · Apr 11, 2011

I'm so annoyed that we really can't give an honest 2 week notice.

Everything is supposed to be so diplomatic, but what if the reason

you are leaving a job is because of the company's unfair/unsafe

practices. Where I'm employed they are doing us dirty and have

been for a while. 3 LPNs quit in the last 5 days, and I've heard 5

others discussing finding work elsewhere. Now all of a sudden they

want to throw us a BB-Q, but concerns are still not being addressed

to the point that I am quitting also. I would love to give them a 2 week

notice that goes something like this:

Giving a prize of $25 for re-naming the employee retention committee and an employee barbecue is nothing more than a magician's slight of hand trick to distract everyone from the horrible things that have been going on in this company lately . I'm sure I'm not the only one who's insulted by the assumption that we could be manipulated in this fashion.

If there is any REAL concern about employee retention then the concerns of the employees should be taken into consideration. Problems that we are having and ways to make things better should not be cast aside without what appears to be a second thought. I fear saving money is the only REAL concern and not what's in the best interest of the employees or the residents. Permanent under staffing, sweat box hallways, and disciplinary actions without justification are just a few of the many concerns of your employees that are falling on deaf ears.

It appears to me that this company is not really concerned with retaining all of it's current employees, but only those who will continue to ignore what's going on and the new employees, who at this moment, do not yet know any better.

Happily that makes me that I am neither.

This is my two week notice.

Yours Truly :redbeathe