Firing via text message?


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In today's electronic culture, some find themselves crossing the line at which devices no longer help facilitate discourse, but help us avoid it. In my humble opinion, this is one of those situations:

U r sckd: worker fired by text message
A company has defended its decision to sack one of its staff by text message, claiming it was keeping in touch with youth culture.

Katy Tanner, a 21-year-old sales assistant, received the message while she was off work with a migraine, the South Wales Echo newspaper said Friday.

The text message said: "We will not require your services anymore...Thank you for your time with us."

"I don't think it's right to just text someone. At least they should have talked to me face to face," Tanner said.

"You're not allowed to text in sick, you have to phone. The fact that they texted me is a bit of double standards."

Several senior staff members at Blue Banana, a body-piercing and jewellery shop based in Cardiff, defended the decision.

But company director Jon Taylor added that an internal investigation was underway to see if "the ultimate action was ideal".

The retailer claims it tried to reach Tanner directly "five or six times" and passed on a message through her boyfriend before the text was sent.

And store director Ian Besbie added that the dismissal method was fair because texting was a part of "youth culture".

"We are a youth business and our staff are all part of the youth culture that uses SMS (text) messaging as a major means of communication," he said.

The company employs about 120 people in Britain, many of them aged under 21.
(Yahoo News/Agence France Presse)

Was the action "ideal" ... no, that was just lame and pathetic.

I'm gonna be on the road all day Friday for work and I also
have a pretty hectic weekend schedule. Since this'll be my
last post until next week ... everyone (including my blog stalker)
be careful out there and be sure to have a GREAT WEEKEND!!!

6 Response to "Firing via text message?"

  1. west_rhino 18/8/06 19:58
    Earl, it is a pretty gutlesss approach to firing someone, having had to do the same deed in person a few times. It is about as gutless as the process used at the Savannah River Site by several of the civilian contractors, one morning or at the start of a shift, your badge no longer grants you access to the facility, the nice ARMED security fellows direct you through the turn around lane, have a nice day!

    I have to wonder how the folks at the state employment commission handle a text message as evidence for intiating a claim...
  2. dawber71 19/8/06 11:18
    So Earl how was your weekend? Rumor has it, Friday was pretty good.
  3. Anonymous 20/8/06 14:01
    hope you have a lousy weekend. rot in hell
  4. Earl Capps 20/8/06 14:03
    Friday was long, tiring, and left me quite exhausted .... AAAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH.

    But I did help a turtle cross the road.

    What a softie I am.
  5. Moye 20/8/06 14:18
    I have had to let go in my career hundreds at Enron, Haliburton and Brown and Root. (No I had nothing to do with Dick Cheney leaving to run for Vice President or Enron going bust.) It would had been a lot easier if I could had sent a text message or email. Several times I had to have Security escort people off site due to threats and once in Lake Charles/Sulphur, LA. I was threatend with a gun and in Port Hudson, LA I was threatend by rattlesnakes brought in from Texas. The list goes on. The oil industry is tough work.
  6. Earl Capps 20/8/06 14:38
    Having spent about 4 years in HR and management recruiting, I learned just how much fun that is ... NOT!

    HR is never fun work, and you're always going to have run-ins like this, which really suck, but it's part of the turf. Nobody likes losing a job, but sometimes it happens.

    In the end, it can be the best for all concerned. After all, I don't think I'd want to be employed somewhere they didn't want me, any more than they'd want me to work for them.

    Better to be somewere I'm wanted, needed, and appreciated - which I can say for my current employer. A GREAT TEAM!!!

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