So our great American Sears Robeck and Company fired my daughter because she forgot to put the diamonds in the safe. Even though nothing was lost or stolen and it was just one time, she was still fired. She was not given a verbal warning or a written warning. She showed up on time for every single shift.
This company also stole her commission money from her. She was supposed to have 2 weeks of training. They trained her for one week and then left her alone the 2nd week. She sold a 700 dollar ring one day as well as the regular merchandise the other days. When she thought she would be paid the commission for the 2nd week they told her no she couldn't have commission since she was still in training. And yet she closed alone each night and didn't have anyone there with her during the shift.
Will they be able to cheat her out of unemployment benefits too?
She's applying for unemployment online right now. My husband doesn't think she can get it.
Grrr... I know you are all right. So why do I want to slap the crap out of the manager of that store? Where the heck is the forgiveness? It just doesn't make sense to burn through people that way. My daughter is already moving on. No matter what, I'm DONE with Sears.
Okay.. So I do agree with much of the things you all have said. But I did say clearly in the last post about this that my daughter felt terrible for making this mistake, apologized profusely, and was definitely not likely to ever make the same mistake again. She was mortified in the first place. When she woke up at 2am that day and realized what she did she wasn't able to get back to sleep.
I also want to say that while none of you know my daughter, I understand that many 20 somethings in this day in age have a terrible sense of entitlement. This is not my daughter. She has been working full-time with much overtime since she was 15 years old. She's put up with 12 hour days and no breaks and she's been in management at various jobs. She also put out a fire at McDonald's at 15 years of age when the older and so called "managers" stood around screaming. My daughter has a work ethic, never missed work, is always on time, and is good with employees, managers, and customers. She took this job because she was tired of working her keester off and not getting tipped enough because of the economy. She was tired of being put on huge tables with 20 people and then getting tipped maybe 25-30 bucks on a 500 dollar meal and not being able to take other tables during that time when the people would be there for 2 hours. I really don't blame her for wanting to leave the serving industry.
While I understand it was a grievous error, we all make them. In fact, I could tell you stories about SEARS. I have been a homeowner that has used their services a couple of times through the years and their crews did such a lousy job and Sears would not stand behind their work, so we won't use them for home improvements anymore.
I could understand a little better even if they had fired her on the spot. Having her work another week, not giving her any kind of warning, then putting her on the next schedule for a WEEK was not just rude but it was wrong.
My righteous indignation doesn't just come from "this is my daughter". My righteous indignation comes from a place of someone that has been loyal, used their services, bought a great many high dollar items like treadmills, televisions, appliances, computer monitors, eye glasses, and etc. etc.. from them for 25 YEARS.
I fully intend to dress up nice this week, pray before going down there and then I will find the manager and speak to him. I plan on cutting up my credit card and handing it to him and making sure that this is the FINAL straw with Sears. My husband feels exactly the same. They have lost two of their biggest customers.
She's a 20 something. She should be handling this herself. Time to cut the apron strings
Updated
She's a 20 something. She should be handling this herself. Time to cut the apron strings
Updated
She's a 20 something. She should be handling this herself. Time to cut the apron strings
My thought is that they were probably looking for a reason to get rid of her and this presented the perfect excuse. I could be wrong bu I am just wondering if the attitude that you are taking towards this company(finding so much they did wrong in that first couple weeks) is how she is acting as well. I am not saying how they treated her is right-just that companys HATE complainers and people that rock the boat and have a negative attitude.
Im sorry she was Let go :-( I worked for Sears for a long time...... not Fantastic.. I'll just say that!
I hope she can fight for that commission ! being in training means having a TRAINER with you at all times....
Good Luck
Wow, I really think you are overreacting. Sears doesn't owe your family or your daughter anything for being a loyal customer. Your daughter made a mistake and it cost her the job. Your daughter needs to chalk this up to a learning experience and move on.
I know you said that your daughter doesn't feel entitled, but you seem to feel entitled. This is life and we learn from our mistakes, sometimes learning is difficult but your daughter has the opportunity to rise above this and not become bitter.
Edit* I have one more thing to add, SLM, and that is that I think you should stay out of this with your daughter. I mean that in the nicest way. I have read a few posts where you referenced Joyce Meyer and I am going to share a quote with you that you and your daughter may benefit from:
"Be careful about what you think and what you say during your times of trial and tribulation. The attitude you have while in the wilderness determines how long you stay there". ~ Joyce Meyer
If you and your daughter really believe her firing was not within company policy.... then file and grievence using the proper chanels. If you daughter is old enough to work... and work closing shifts, she is too old for you to fight her battles for her. What will you accomplish by going down there and confronting her manager? How will that help her? Any new job could call this job for reference and while it will not look great she was fired... who is going to want to hire a 20 something whose mommy is going to come barreling in if something goes wrong?
Look.. i get you are upset. I get the mamma bear instinct. And you daughter sounds like a great girl with good work ethic. She will find another job. She will be ok. But you have to let her handle this on her own.
CUt your ties with sears if you wish, but dont cause a scene
As hard as it is for you to accept, your daughter violated a company policy that's probably written down somewhere. By you telling her that she doesn't deserve to be fired, you're just prolonging this difficult situation. And about her training, how do you know that the second week wasn't supposed to be unsupervised? That happens in retail all the time. I do agree that it's unfortunate she didn't get the commission, but again - that's life.
About her getting fired: she screwed up. We all do it from time to time. Now she has to live with the consequence, which is getting fired. If she's worked long enough at Sears to be eligible for unemployment, she's probably not going to get it since she was fired. That's just the way life works. It's not Sears cheating her out of anything because that's a federal law. If you're fired you don't get unemployment.
I'm sorry if this sounds harsh, but even if your daughter is the most wonderful person in the world... the same rules apply to her that apply to jerks and thieves. And the fact that her parents are great customers doesn't entitle her to a job. Sorry.
I didn't see your other post regarding this situation, but I'm commenting here, anyway.
I think the stance your taking is not going to benefit from anyone. Instead of teaching your daughter that she was unjustly fired & that she was wronged, why not teach her that this is what happens in the real world? That it's not okay to be so careless? That if you are given any degree of responsibility, you must follow through & make sure you are doing your job correctly? It sounds like you are not fond of this company, and your attitude is & probably already has rubbed off on your daughter. How old is she, by the way?
Secondly, just because you are in training doesn't mean that you are going to have someone watching you & breathing down your neck the entire time. I'm sure there's a provision in their company handbook about commissions & training periods. And just to be clear, she closed the department, not the whole, entire store, so it's not as if she had that much weight on her shoulders to begin with.
Thirdly, she did not work there for long enough to receive unemployment benefits. Nor would she get anything even if she had, because she was fired due to her own mistake, which put a company asset at risk. There is no "cheating" involved. She did this to herself & must pay the consequences.
You also have NO idea what her job performance was, and you were never there to see her work, so maybe they did use this as a convenient excuse to fire her, but really, you're her mom, of course you're going to think she's perfect.
I'm sorry, but I think your anger is misdirected & that you are teaching your daughter to have a sense of entitlement, that the rules don't apply to her & that acting like a spoiled brat will help you get your way . You should encourage her to take it as a life lesson & a mistake not to make again. She got fired because she messed up, end of story. It's her fault. How you can be so indignant is beyond me. I understand being frustrated, but really, I don't think anyone has a leg to stand on here.
Call your labor relations board and discuss this with them, maybe?
No offense, and I'm sorry your daughter was fired, but I'm sure losing 2 customers is not a drip in the ocean to Sears, and marching in there is going to further paint your daughter as a "child" not an adult. SHE needs to look into this further if she feels she was unjustly terminated LRB is the best bet.
Unfortunately I'm going to say no, she won't get the commission and no she won't get unemployment. Most retail places have the policy that while "in-training" you don't get commission because they are usually paying you more per hour during that time. Whether they conveyed that to her or not I don't think will really matter. Also, it's not unusual in retail to be left alone your 2nd week of training to see if your truly ready to be independent or not. And I'm sorry, but it sounds like she wasn't ready, leaving diamonds out is a pretty big deal and she needs to understand this. It doesn't matter if something happened to them or not, it's the point that she did wrong of what she had been taught. Also, there are some things that are grounds for termination with or without any warning and I'm sure not putting diamonds away is one of them.
Second, I thought you couldn't get unemployment if the "termination" of the job was of your own fault. Sounds like this needs to be a good lesson from her to learn from.
If they had a right to fire her she will not get unemployment. They had just cause. What she did was akin to when I was a teller supervisor leaving the money out of the vault! I would have been fired on the spot, it is a given. There is a reason items like diamonds, money and such are kept in secured building and inside a vault.
It sucks to get fired for one mistake but it was a huge!!! mistake. You will find every jewelry store has similar policies. Since it is a general policy she will not get unemployment.
I thought you could only get unemployment if you were let go and not fired. . . at least that is what my dad told me. I dunno. I was let go this past time so I qualified. Thank you economy. :(
**Edit to you WHN. They are just going to laugh in your face. Sorry, but they followed the rules, your daughter didn't. GET OVER IT. They might have lost 2 customers, but have now gained one (me), because a company that follows the rules and doesn't make conssesions for "good" employee's gets my vote. If I did the same thing, I would be expecting them to fire me. GET OVER IT!
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How much money are we really talking here for the second week of commissions? It is likely not enough to warrant hiring a lawyer and pursuing. Frankly, I would look at this as a very expensive lesson for your daughter. True, she did not get a warning. She has now learned that there are rules that should never be broken...however inadvertently.
Well, for one thing, unemployment benefits are paid based on wages from a previous qualifying period.
By that, I mean, if I'd never worked before and only worked 2 months at my first job and got terminated, I wouldn't receive any unemployment benefits because I hadn't accrued any.
If I had worked at a job for two years, switched jobs and got terminated from my new job, my benefits would be based on the earnings through my previous employer.
However, employers can fight unemployment claims. At least in California, it's worded as being terminated from employment through no fault of your own.
If you get fired for never showing up, for stealing, for breaching confidentiallity, you can be denied benefits.
Even though nothing bad happened, I suppose they could say that her forgetting to lock up the jewelry posed a danger to the security of the business, like forgetting to take the cash out of the register at the end of the shift and leaving it unaccounted for.
I know someone who has worked for Sears for 11 years in management. They wouldn't let her have time off for her son's graduation.
I know other people that have worked there and were never put on full time because that exempted the company from insurance obligations, etc.
I personally wouldn't work for them.
If your daughter isn't eligible for anything, she may just need to chalk it up as a learning experience and not beat herself up over it.
She made a mistake. I bet she won't make it again.
Missouri is an "at will" employment state meaning that employers don't have to give good cause for termination and employees don't have to give cause or notice of leaving.
Your daughter can file for unemployment, but it will depend on whether or not she has any benefits available regardless of the reason she was terminated. She will be given the opportunity to explain her side of the story.
She needs to get out and hustle for another job as well as think about how to explain her termination in a way that won't make her look bad. It wasn't theft or a deliberate mistake. It was a mistake none the less. She should own it. That will show that she has integrity even though she flubbed.
I hope it works out.
Maybe I'm the weirdo, but I totally see why you're upset! If they have it written down somewhere that the consequence for forgetting to lock up the diamonds is getting fired, then I get that. But if it's not a rule, then I think they should give her a second chance. Who doesn't make mistakes, even big ones? And what happens when you do that? Odds are you'll be more aware and more careful and more reliable than someone who has never made that mistake.
It doesn't sound like training to me on the second week if there is no one there with her. I could see letting her go out on her own and not hovering over her to let her finish training the 2nd week, but it's NOT training when she's alone. She deserved that money. Or she deserved to actually have been trained.
I think you have plenty of reasons to be upset. It sounds like she's a very responsible person and will move along and find another job. I'm sure it was a slap in the face for her. I know I would feel that way. I hope she finds a better job. That one wasn't good enough for her anyway!
Feel as upset as you want. And keep encouraging her to be the self-sufficient person that she is. She can make it past this and find something better. What a frustrating situation!
Okay, well there are certainly some red flags here and your daughter needs to talk to her supervisors and their supervisors if need be. I'm not calling your daughter a liar AT ALL, but honestly, do you know the whole the story? I don't know how old she is, or know her character at all, but I've worked in retail and there is probably more going on that you might not know about. Regardless of her reasons for termination though, she is entitled to her money and she needs to keep going above heads until she gets some straight answers. Good luck!
She needs to call human resources and file a complaint. How can they expect her to know and follow all the rules properly when they didn't train her properly? With such a large company as Sears I imagine there is department (is it human resources?) that she could ask to meet with and appeal the decision to fire her.
Sorry this happened to your daughter. Don't let her walk away without a fight. Best of luck to you both.
Well, I agree with some of the other posters- no she will not get her commission money and probably not unemployment as well. I have a friend who was fired from a job, tried for unemployment, was denied it and fought it and ended up winning. Basically, her job just didn't care enough to go through the hassle and let the unemployment thing slide. If you fight it, unemployment will contact Sears. As for the commission, they let her know up front she had 2 weeks of training. Training doesn't have to be working with someone or watching someone. It can be on your own. I worked for a recruiting company and during "training" I did everything on my own. Cold-calling, placing candidates. I placed 2 candidates during training and didn't get paid for it, because it was part of training and I was getting a set salary during that. Unfair? Yes, but that is the way it goes sometimes.
The only way she will know if she will get unemployment is to apply. There are many factors that go into a decision on this, and it varies by each situation. None of us here can answer that question. I have worked as an HR Manager and people that I have fired have been awarded unemployment. People I know who have quit a job under certain circumstances have also been awarded unemployment. The only way to know, again, is to apply.
And if her claim is denied, and she has paid into unemployment previously so that there is possible payment, the decision can be appealed.
I agree that this is a "blip" and she can move on to the next thing. The work world in these United States is harsh and unfair. We have the fewest laws protecting employees of any industrialized country in the world. For the "freedoms" we get, our employers get the freedom to fire us for any reason, or no reason, at any time. No warning is necessary. Sucks...
Sears in my experience has been a very shady company. I suggest your daughter document, document, document. EVERYTHING. Take them to court and get her commission money back and all that is due to her. GL
M
She made a mistake that COULD have cost thousands of dollars. Granted, it didn't, but I can see why they don't want to take that chance - you know your daughter's work ethic, they don't. It wasn't life threatening, but to them, she is their investment, not their daughter.
She is 20 - I would be mortified if my parents went to a former employer to 'chastise' them. I'm 36 and got fired from a job last April - I was there for almost a year. No verbal/written warnings, nothing. I was upset for about, oh, 2 hours, then I was over it. Got my benefits and got another job. I would LOVE to badmouth my company, but I won't (tempting!!).
She doesn't have to put them on a resume for being there such a short time.
Any commission issues should have been in her employment contract.
And, honestly, if you think you are going to cut up the credit card in front of a regional manager, they won't care. It's a waste of energy and time and as much as you are a consumer, you are NOT two of their biggest customers on a national/worldwide scale. Just putting things in perspective. But, good luck, Mama Bear - you have your daughter's back unconditionally and that isn't always the case! Just choose your battles - this one might not be worth it.
Her "warning" was signing all of those documents regarding security when she was hired. She blew it and she's fired. We can't always save our grown children when they make mistakes. Let her learn from it on her own. Cheat her out of commission and unemployment?? She was in training (just like at the restaurants where she worked). Unemployment after termination for security breach...I don't think so.
I'd guess she keeps looking for a new job.
It's strange they'd let her solo after 1 week and have her close alone every night.
Could be they over hired and were looking for any reason to un do it.
It happens.
I think you have to be employed for a minimum of 6 months before you are eligible for unemployment.
I'm not sure if it varies by state.
I have never been fired, but everyone I know who was fired was denied unemployment the same as if they had quit.
I worked at a jewelry store. Taking nighttime inventory is very, very important, as is locking up valuables. Certainly a firable offense, especially for a newcomer.
Also, people in training don't usually get commissions. Not sure how it works at Sears, but that's how it was at the place I worked.
Also, yes, if she was fired out of her own negligence, she likely won't get unemployment.
And do not go down there! They can still be used for her as a reference for her next job. But if you go down there and make a show out of it, then it will hurt her even more in the long run.
I'm sorry to hear this....
If she has records, then you might be able to hire an attorney..
I don't know Missouri's employment laws - right to work or not...
I hope she has documented everything and kept a record of what is due her.
