Career Lessons: 26 Times People Lost Jobs Over Inappropriate Behavior

In your work life, the thought of getting fired for one reason or another has probably crossed your mind at least once. Even if it was a “what if” scenario that had no solid ground in reality, or even if you know all too well that one particular faux-pas could cost you the job contract.

According to recent data from Blind, an anonymous network for professionals, one in five respondents (21%) to the poll which asked “How often do you think about getting fired?” said they think about getting fired every day. An equal percentage of respondents (20%) said they think about being fired weekly or monthly and 131 respondents (6%) said they think about being fired every other day.

There are many reasons why an employee can get themselves fired. But what’s interesting is that employees and employers have somewhat differing opinions about what causes people to be fired from jobs, this research from Airtasker showed.

Airtasker’s report was based on data from a survey of 831 individuals who have lost a job and 93 employers, and it had some interesting findings. Respondents who have been fired from a job say they think it occurred because of personality conflicts (30% cite this as a key reason), because their boss was a jerk (23%), because of office politics (19%), and because of poor performance (18%).

Meanwhile, employers say the last person they fired was let go because of attitude issues (57% cite this as a key reason), because of personality issues (41%), because the person was not completing their job as described (40%), and because of poor attendance (34%).

To find out more about the procedure of getting fired and the hold it takes on both an employee and an employer, previously we spoke with Dawn Moss, the founder of “Your Interview Coach” set up in 2013 to help both candidates and hiring managers through the complexities of the recruitment and selection process.

“It’s a less than easy process to fire someone in the U.K., both legally and ethically,” Dawn said. “In terms of the process, there are lots of factors to take into consideration; reason for dismissal, performance, capability, gross misconduct, length of service, etc.” Although Dawn reminded us that she’s not an employment lawyer, she said that these situations can get complex.

“For a manager, it’s tough as they were the person to hire them in the first place and I can imagine there are a number of emotions attached to letting someone go. In my experience, most managers didn’t like getting to the point of firing someone and most have probably supported the person to get up to speed prior to starting the dismissal process,” Dawn explained.

This is why the hiring process is absolutely essential to get right the first time. The career coach also noted that the amount of management and HR time it takes to manage a poor performer is draining.

For those who’re wondering, Dawn confirmed that there’s definitely a right and a wrong way to fire an employee. “There are companies that don’t follow any process and unfortunately, if an employee has served less than 24 months, they cannot usually file for unfair dismissal. There are some exceptions, if an employee feels they are being dismissed because of a protected characteristic, for example,” she explained.

“However, if it’s performance-related or a personality clash, it can be fairly easy to dismiss someone without any warning. Most reputable companies will want to follow a structured process. As mentioned previously, most managers I’ve worked with want to support the individual first and dismissal is a last resort,” Dawn concluded in a previous interview.

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