It has been almost two weeks now, but I was fired for what my company called “Job Abandonment”.
My job was a Software Remote Support Rep. We took Calls, Emails, and one person per day was on Live Chat. However, the Live Chat is essentially “Work on email cases and answer a Live chat maybe 3 or 4 times a day because its rare anyone chats in”. We were supposed to have a total of 13 people total on the team. 12 on the phones and 1 on chat. But a few months ago, the management decided to promote half the team without having anyone to replace them, so we had 5 people for a month and a half. We had to cancel Live Chat for that time.
We finally got replacements trained and got back to 13 and my first Chat day came around. It required me to wake up 2 hours earlier than normal compared to my normal Phone shift, but I loved doing chat. However, on this day, I woke up sick and my voice was completely wrecked. Good thing I am on chat, right?
2 hours into my shift, I'm about to take my first break and I get a Slack message from my boss. 6 of the 12 people on the phones had called in sick and the phone queue was getting backed up. So they had made the decision to turn off Live Chat for the day and needed me to hop on the phones.
I let them know that I had not had a Chat Day in over 2 months at that point. And on top of that, I was sick and unable to speak. I was told that this was a job requirement, and they needed me. I let them know if this was the decision they were making, then I would be the 7th person calling in sick. (I explained again that I was sick). This is where a bit of miscommunication came in. They replied to me saying, “Well, we will be getting the other software support team to help out.” Which I took as, “in addition to you.” I later found out that they meant they were going to allow me to continue on chat, but they did not make that apparent.
So I clocked out and was asleep within 5 minutes. Came in the next day, no issues. No write-ups. No warnings. Nothing. But last Monday, I was asked to join a meeting. I get in and my boss, their boss, and HR was in the Zoom. I was informed I was being terminated due to Job Abandonment. That I was not eligible for any form of severance or Unemployment.
I've spoken to two different Labor Lawyers in my state. They pretty much said I am SoL because my state needs a LOT to prove wrongful termination.
Just needed to vent…Now I am unemployed with absolutely no financial pillow. I've submitted around 25 resumes over the past week or so.