Help! Will I be fired?

Hi all,

So I agreed to an OT shift just over a month ago and forgot about it! My husband also had agreed to an extra shift the same day and this morning, when he was almost out the door I got a call from my work saying I was in the schedule for today.

I have no childcare and apologized profusely but said I can't come. This is technically my fault and is probably considered a "no show". However I did call back immediately and have a good reason for not coming. It will be taken as a personal day.

Is this ground for termination? I fully take responsibility but I need to keep my job and support my family, I'm reminded of people who have to leave immediately after showing up because they've become sick 'suddenly'. Technically this incident puts an equal amount of strain on the organization, but will it be viewed differently?

Hopefully if you have an excellent work record they will handle this reasonably. I don't know that I've heard of people getting terminated for such - except maybe a couple of situations where it seemed likely that it was the straw that broke a very burdened camel's back, so-to-speak. Problem employees.

If it were me I'd call my own manager on Tuesday morning and say I really messed up and still feel terrible. So sorry for the stress others had to endure. Etc.

Don't spend too much time comparing the ways other coworkers cause problems. You're right to just take responsibility and give them the opportunity to do the right thing (a warning, a verbal reprimand, whatever).

With any luck (if this hasn't happened to you before) they'll just say no one's perfect.

Good luck ~

PS - I've shown up on several occasions over the years and been told I wasn't scheduled, but I had documentation showing that I'd been recruited (by mgmt) to work that day. I've always been forgiving about this; everyone makes mistakes, so, each time, I told them it was okay and just went back home again. It paid off the one time I had a lapse similar to yours and they said, "Meh, sometimes we make the mistake and sometimes it's the nurse. No biggie." They likely have a pretty good idea when a mistake like this is sincere and when it isn't...