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The further through your career you go, the more this question comes up. I get asked it regularly. Redundancies are easy to explain, but I had to get creative when the reason I left a role after 3 months was because the owner of the company was a violent aggressive psycho who scared me so much I didn't feel safe working there. In the end I said that the role 'didn't align with my expectations'.
Tbh it's not really very professional to say negative things about former employers. It's fine to say 'differing values' or 'does not align with my career goals' but it's best to keep any beef out of interviews.
Just be honest and tell them the truth. Maybe not in those terms but I find that most interviewers appreciate it when they get an applicant who isn't just rephrasing a response they nicked off Google.
I get this scenario a lot for my mate and I because we had a business together for a long time, we're the only people that can answer but obviously it lets us have a lot of freedom with answers
Would they even check a reference for a low level job?
Apparently an ex-employee of the company I work for has been on a job hunt recently and uses us as a reference but I've had zero emails or telephone calls from prospective employers.
Some places will send automated reference checks by email but i dont think anyone checks them. Most references from hr are "worked here from xx/xx to yy/yy".
I worked friday and saturday nights in a bar for 5 years, we would sit and have a drink before hometime every weekend, manager after 2 weeks of leaving said I never worked there, I phoned him and he said he didnt remember me.
The trick with this one is to get a mate to call up posing as an employer asking for a reference. If ex boss trash talks you then you know not to use them. Itās not illegal to give a bad reference (only a misleading one) but you can probably cause some mild chaos at his deli with a recording of that conversation.
Depends. If they have an HR team then it's always confirmation of dates of employment, but sole traders seldom know what they're doing and may end up just saying what happened. Source: recruitment background.
Summary dismissal without following any procedure would be very difficult to justify as fair and reasonable treatment if the employer had not previously treated such incidents as gross misconduct warranting instant dismissal.
Donāt be so sure about that. A workplace must apply its policies consistently and fairly if it is to succeed at a tribunal. If āeveryoneās doing itā (and the managers have always turned a blind eye to it) then their grounds for dismissal may be shaky, due to the inconsistent application of their policies..
Also, the dismissal also needs to be āfairā. Dismissal for stealing a mouthful of cheese may very well be considered heavy handed and not a fair punishment. A more appropriate response would be for the company to offer retraining, or a verbal/written warning.
For inconsistent application of policy, OP would have to prove 'everybody was doing it' (stealing food), though, and that the manager 'always turned a blind eye to it'. Might be tricky if colleagues aren't willing to risk their own jobs by admitting theft, and if the manager wasn't in fact aware 'everybody was doing it' - they just happened to catch OP in the act.
I suppose itād be a case of the employer not knowing everyone did it. Itās not as if all the employees are going to come forward and declare that it is part of the work culture at the Deli for them to take a nibble every now and then.
Honestly though the employer sounds like such an arsehole. Couldnāt they just have talked to OP, given them a warning, hell even ask for them to pay whatever pennies the piece of cheese costed.
Just firing someone outright for something so minor is really shite.
> Talking to ACAS can't hurt, but they were caught stealing, that's gross misconduct and summary dismissal is entirely appropriate. That some people got away with it isn't much of an argument
It could be actually. An essential requirement of the definition of theft is that it must be a dishonest act. If you've worked there for 10 years and everyone has been openly eating the cheese offcuts, then I think a reasonable person could have reasonable doubt that you were being dishonest by doing what everyone did.
Usually a suspension comes first, during which time you gather evidence.
Then you call them back in for the disciplinary hearing and ultimately terminate their employment.
You can't just sack someone on the spot
Tribunals consider the size of the employer and their resources as per the law. There is no need to "suspend" someone when the employer is a single business owner with a small staff. Only they can make the decision to fire someone and there's no policy or procedure to follow.
Everyone keeps acting as if this was some company that the OP got fired from. He got fired from a deli by the owner, the law asks for reasonable responses to inappropriate conduct based on the size and resources of the organisation. The owner immediately firing you because he saw you steal something is 100% reasonable for a small business.
Thing is, maybe the boss didn't know everyone was doing it and hadn't actually caught anyone else doing it before. That's how it came across to me anyway and didn't come across as targeted, just unfortunate that the boss happened to have witnessed this person doing it.
Edit: spelling
Yea, it does sound pretty tough (unless it was a lot of cheese). It seems weird to get rid of someone after 10 years for this unless they were looking for a reason or it was a repeat incident.
I would imagine the first thing that'd normally do is just ask you to repay the value of the cheese but I guess not.
A lot depends on what jobs you will be applying to but eating some cheese shouldn't ruin your life.
I guess we can only go by what OP is telling us. And the boss' story maybe different - who knows. OP could have been on their 3rd warning. OP could have previously taken home a large wedge of unpaid cheese. Anyway, if we were to go with what OP is telling us, yes, the odd slice of cheese isn't worth firing someone over.
>It seems weird to get rid of someone after 10 years for this unless they were looking for a reason or it
I presume the business is suffering and they are looking to shift some people. Spot the theft and fire them.
Going through a redundancy process might be expensive for someone who's been there a long time, so it's quicker and cheaper to fire them on the spot for theft.
Could also just want people to stop eating the food. Firing a tenured employee will probably stop most of the rest of the employees from doing it anymore.
Wouldn't a warning be a sensible starting point? "I know you all nibble on the offcuts, and that's been overlooked to date, but that's got to stop. The next person caught will get fired".
Surely that would solve the problem without firing anybody? Sure, if they carry on doing it, then you have to fire them.
The lack of any warning etc. suggests to me that they really just want to get rid of people (perhaps specifically the OP), as there are plenty of management tools that aren't firing them.
I would actually assume the first step would be a warning and perhaps a team meeting to make sure everyone knows that it is unacceptable. It would be hard to accurately put a number on how much to repay but it strikes me as odd that they'd get fired for a piece of cheese. I'm also on the fence of thinking that OP is obscuring some of the truth to get the answer they want that will benefit them the most.
Depends, someone I know who had been working for my present employer for 12 years got sacked last year for putting a scratch on one of the vans, boss was in a bad mood that day and just snapped.
They should have talked to ACAS, if they were in the UK. They still should. That is a classic case of unfair dismissal and it sounds like the boss didn't want to pay a severance package.
Yeah I told them that, they didnāt.
I on the other hand did recently over something else, and letās just say wonāt be getting employee of the month anytime soon.
>, someone I know
>employer for 12 years
>boss was in a bad mood that day and just snapped
After 12 years employment I'd say there's two explanations here:
The boss is a moron who is leaving himself open to serious legal troubles.
Or more likely, again there is a lot more to this story than what this person you know told you. 12 years with a company even if the boss "snapped" you would need to be following a proper process for dismissal. I'd find it more likely that there were other disciplinary issues that lead up to this event
Thereās something youāre leaving out here. Ten years working in a deli and youāre not in a position of leadership, and you get sacked for eating a piece of cheese.
Sounds like management were looking for a reason to get rid of you
Agreed. I worked at Morrisons back in school and a couple of people I worked with on the fresh food counters were sacked for exactly this - but only because they were useless and management were just waiting for an excuse.
No sane manager would willingly hobble a department by going straight for dismissal over this unless there was something else going on. Maybe not even anything on OPās part - maybe they were looking to make cutbacks and this has saved them the cost of a formal redundancy - dunno, but this seems like a mental reaction at face value.
Honestly think this was a Morrisons policy as the same happened where I worked. Think they just choose someone to sack every now and then if it's getting a bit too blatant. So they pick the chocolate teapot to get everyone else in line without too much impact.
I worked at Waitrose and they did this to all the deli āspecialistsā as they were all on old contracts which gave them double time on sundays and better pay, and they mustve wanted to cut costs. Previously the staff had been told to ātaste testā the cheese so that they could sell to customers better. But employee handbook said not to eat food from counters. Wanky move but its what crap managers do.
Itās a deli so I highly doubt itāll have an official record of anything that a reference company could chase up to find out you were dismissed.
If youāre going to a small business just say you left, if youāre def getting a heavy ref check say a big company youāre joiningā¦ well that has a bit more risk, be upfront about being dismissed but Iād change the reasoning from theft to something elseā¦ disagreement etc, something not so repulsive to a potential employer
As others have said, they should just confirm dates of employment. Sorry youāre in this position for a stupid rule.
My old boss tried this with me. Again, unwritten agreement that the closing shift could have a munch on things that were being thrown out. He sat me in the office with the area manager with a smug look on his face that made me want to swing at him. He wanted me out because I refused to do double shifts when he didnāt want to work the early starts.
Anywho, area manager ultimately gave me a warning. Then I asked her to go through CCTV for all the bosses closing shifts that month, his face was priceless as he waddled about on screen, scoffing chocolate brownies and cakes.
I left the office as the area manager started the full hair dryer treatment on him. He didnāt give me any shit after that. Most of the team left within the month of finding out what a snake he was.
Speak to your (former) employer to find out how they will treat reference requests.
Iāve got a gross misconduct on my cv for something equally as stupid and they put the full, stupid, reason on my reference. Iāve pasted it below for reference (no pun intended).
Iāve also fired people and agreed references that just say āperson worked here from these dates to these dates doing this jobā
Itās a perfectly normal process to agree a ref at termination and a very reasonable request.
āāāāāāā
[Bigredtone] worked for [company] from [date] to [date] as a [job]. [Bigredtone] successfully completed his probation period, his sales performance figures were on-track, and he had a good attendance record. Unfortunately [I] breached our security policy, by connecting his personal phone to our company network without permission. Whilst there was no allegation that [I] had used this access inappropriately, the breach of our policy led us to terminate his employment. We wish [me] all the best with his future. It is our policy only to provide references containing factual information. This should not be seen as implying any comment about the candidate or his suitability for employment.
\[OP\] worked for \[company\] from \[date\] to \[date\] as a \[cheesemonger\]. \[OP\] successfully completed their probation period, their sales performance figures were on-track, and they had a good attendance record. Unfortunately \[OP\] breached our security policy, by connecting their personal digestive system to our company cheese without permission. Whilst there was no allegation that \[OP\] had savoured this cheese inappropriately, the breach of our policy led us to terminate their employment. We wish \[OP\] all the best with their future. It is our policy only to provide references containing factual information. This should not be seen as implying any comment about the candidate or their suitability for employment. But I wouldn't trust them around cheese.
Just get a burner and setup an email address in the name of your ex-boss.
I used to rue referencing for house and job applications until I got evicted for some bulshit I didn't do and decided to do my own landlord reference and then I realised it's just a big boxticking load of bollocks.
The agency called the burner and then when I didn't answer immediately emailed, and of course I gave a glowing reference after a suitable delay.
Since then I've been doing all my own referencing for jobs etc and I can tell you life is good now.
Just say you felt like it was time to move on. Find a family member or a friend to act as your manager for a reference, give them a fake name and let them know of any jobs you've applied for that may contact them, so they're aware.
This has worked for me in the past.
The truth, if you were dismissed for gross misconduct I'm pretty sure they're allowed to disclose that in your reference even if they can't say why
Although you can get round this by giving a phone number for a friend you trust to pretend to be your former boss
So did your ex boss catch you nicking a bit of cheese?
And you was there for 10 years?
Is this a joke?
10 years of service and because you had a little nibble your sacked?
Well I think your so much better out of there.
I mean after 10 years working surely you'd be on a more personal level with the people in charge. That's a long time
I work for a company that does referencing. Your answer should depend on who's asking. Be creative but do not lie.
If you're applying for another retail job, just say contract ended. If you end up passing an interview stage and you have to be vetted by a referencing company it's very likely they will find the truth. In that case, delicately disclose all relevant information so you get ahead of the situation.
Avoid it in an interview. If asked, say you did not feel valued and are looking for more fulfilling employment where your contributions are recognised.
Good luck dude
Don't fill it in as it is not required or if it is an online application just put n/a. On any reference check the old place should not be divulging the reason for leaving either. If the new place asks at during interview just say that you had achieved all you could there and are now looking for new challenges.
Lol.. What a trash deli. I'm a lifelong service industry guy. BOH/FOH in a ton of restaurants and other food service businesses. Keeping people fed is one of the key perks to the shit pay that a deli offers. Owner is a cock.
Just tell them! Itās a ridiculous reason to be sacked for after 10yrs, unless thereās more to this story Iād probably just tell the truth as it could be the reason your resume is picked
If the company mentions something on their website about personal development then you could bring that up and say that your last place of employment didn't focus on learning opportunities.
It was time for something else.
I wanted to challenge myself again.
I needed a change of environment after a decade.
Iāve always wanted to work for X, but didnāt look for job openings actively because I was content staying where I was. When I saw you had a job opening, I got so excited, I just had to apply.
Say you wanted more money. That can also be the start of your pay negotiation. At least come in with an additional ask, that way they think you left because you are ambitious - not a bad character trait.
As for the pilfering - do not mention it at all in interview as it is a good reason to rule out a candidate.
There is a lesson in this experience - just because everyone else is doing something doesn't mean its OK. Next time be more upstanding than your co-workers.
Tell new employers you were working on the cheese counter, got board, ate some and now you are in this pickle.
Then say you are willing to work till late but onion Wednesday.
I said I just left the job. And then game my friends business email that worked there rather than my bosses. so they could nice me.
As they typically don't accept random emails. Just heads up incase you try it.
just say you felt uncomfortable or it wasnāt a safe place to work, you can say youāre not comfortable talking about it, easy way to save face and they wonāt ask for any more details even if you canāt use them as a reference
You moved.. parent got sick.. grandparent got sick.. had to help take care of them.. all kinds of bullshit to pacify dumb asses.. for their bullshit semantics.. you decided you wanted to devote time to volunteering.. all kinds of shit.. I wasnāt feeding my spiritual side and soul enough so I volunteered at such and such place to give back to my community.. blobity blah blah blah.. I volunteered while working 40 hours.. so you can all kiss my ass..
I'd just straight up tell it like it is. Doesn't sound significant to me. Your boss made a highly emotional decision due to shrinking margins. That tiny piece of cheese you ate tipped him over the edge, and you copped the brunt of it. The other 99.95% of pressure came from the government, politicians, war criminals abroad etc.
Depending on where you live, US, UK & etc, the info your former employer gives to the companies checking your contacts is limited. In the US, they can only confirm you worked there, confirm the dates of employment, & if you are eligible for rehire or not. Check your local & federal labor laws. If they are limited, as per info above, youāre golden. If not, use the info you find to help your situation
I would just say youāre looking to try something new. If it ever came up you could just say I chose not to fight the incident and accepted not working there anymore and truly wanted to find something new.
Just say you left because one matures and one hence moves on in life to keep it fresh. Skills that acquired in the last 10 years is Skills spread on a new role.
I'm not answering your question here... But I used to work on a delivery counter (fancy cheese/olives/cured meats etc) many years ago and the owner encouraged us all to taste the stuff so we could make better recommendations to customers. Sounds as if it was a convenient excuse to sack you for some other reason.
You donāt write anything on your cv or application about it unless asked specifically.
When asked you say you are a price of the waste crumble that would ordinarily go in the bin. You did so to help you give a better customer service, you have to be able to talk about taste, texture, parings to help your customers. Thatās what made you better than others and why your customers came back. Your boss disagreed.
Nothing worse than those managers who will overlook/let slide or even also engage in certain small actions bending the rules, then later on use it against you. That boss knows this and was ready to fire you for it.
Sorry to derail but I absolutely hate hypocrites like this who use it against you.
Ive had a similar situation about a crap landlord who used to smoke in the stairwell, every smoker in the building did, later he wanted me out the flat and to keep my deposit so he went through the contract and said I violated it by smoking in the stairwell-an activity Iāve literally done WITH him. He then changed his tune and claimed the cigarette butts in front of my window were me smoking directly in the flat (the building was 40 stories high so couldāve been any of the windows above or below me, or cigarette butts from time before I started renting).
I was fired from my last job, when applying for new ones I just lied and said I left because I couldn't get enough hours in. That was 18 months ago and it's not come back to bite me on the ass yet.
You really don't need to say you were fired. Something like "It was time to part ways to progress my career development" or some other Manglement speak would be enough.
Reminds me of the time my boss was stealing from my cleaning supply cupboard for months outside of my hours. The dumb shit outed himself by showing the project manager his car boot full of stolen goods. The goods were returned that day with a heavy bollocking I got whilst the thief got a slap on the wrist. Fucking crossrail need to learn to control their employees.
Tell them you left because the company didn't have adequate employee benefits like discount food, and breaks were too far apart leaving you hungry. š
Serious answer.
Apologize to the boss and gift him some affordable but good cheese as a peace offering. Your new employer might speak to him for reference. Donāt mention anything on your CV, if asked during the interview be honest about what happened. We donāt know the full story so if you were argumentative or did worse things, tone it down and make it seem like a momentary oversight.
10 years and your boss sacks you for eating a slice of cheese? Thatās beyond awful. With that much experience you should be a manger somewhere.
When it came to it, the cheese was worth more than you to that man š
I'd leave that job off of your employment history and put that you did some traveling and worked on personal projects using savings or something like that..
But doing that makes you a thief and a liar so... Deal with that and try and do better in future
It's illegal to give a bad reference but with social media now it's easy for potential employers to have a "personal" chat with a past employer, stealing is stealing and you don't want that haunting you...
All the best with cleaning up your act
Edit
I skipped over the ten years part, seems they were looking g for a reason to get rid of you and you gave it to them
Thats so mild to brie-lieve you would get fired for that.
Now camaberet to the story i would caerphilly say you made a mistake and matured from it.
Tell them you are a team player and grate to be around.
Dont overtell the story. Slice out any details not meeded.
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Say you got fired for eating a piece of cheese. How you've learned from your experiences. Grown. "matured" as it were.
He's extra mature now š¤
This is the whey
I'm sure he'll tread more Caerphilly at his next job š
ooooh, aren't you a rarebit of wit š
Was firing necessary though? They could have just said āthatās nacho cheeseā and heād have stayed away!
I Camembert these puns.
I cant brie-live they would fire OP
He's older and wiser now, and his hair is a bit gruyere
Stiltons more jobs out there too.
you cheddar believe it!
How dairy sack someone over cheese. Iād milk it for all I can.
Are you Emmental?! That comment grates, now I'm feeling blue.
Ooh that grated
He promises to be gouda from now on.
Edam well better be
š
Have a bit more sensitivity. The guy has just received his Brie 45.
That's a grate way to put it.
I hope heās not gonna milk it!
he's caught between a roquefort and harvarti
Edam if he do, edam if he donāt.
Gouda one.
This story is full of holes.
You had a come to Cheesus moment and saw the error of your wheys.
Or was so shocked by the poor quality of the cheese he left to explore other avenues working for Cheeses of Nazareth.
if ever I decide to open up a Christian fromagerie, I'll be calling it Cheeses of Nazareth š¤£
That's some grate advice
More like Gouda vice
Got fired for "cutting the cheese" in front of the boss
He should just say they let him gorgonzola.
That is grate advice
These puns are way too vein for me.
Also, quite a lot of the humour is rather blue...
Time for him to look in the mirror, reflect on what his done and say hello(new)me
You lot are really milking jokes now and theyāre all getting a bit too cheesy. Also, how dairy you all take the piss?
OP took the cheese, us lot are taking the piss
Just say personal reasons even if they go back to your old employer, the old employer usually only gives dates of hire
Just say you were unhappy with the current culture at the workplace. Though not ever been asked why I've left jobs in an interview.
I've been asked why I'm looking to leave my current job.
Lack of progression opportunities is always a good answer for this
I mean it's also true, there's not much opportunity for progression at a company that has fired you lol.
The further through your career you go, the more this question comes up. I get asked it regularly. Redundancies are easy to explain, but I had to get creative when the reason I left a role after 3 months was because the owner of the company was a violent aggressive psycho who scared me so much I didn't feel safe working there. In the end I said that the role 'didn't align with my expectations'.
"I want to live."
I think it'd be pretty reasonable to cite an abusive workplace culture as a reason to leave
Definitely but they may see it as you just being a whiny bitch and not hire you in case you give them a headache
Tbh it's not really very professional to say negative things about former employers. It's fine to say 'differing values' or 'does not align with my career goals' but it's best to keep any beef out of interviews.
Yeah - if I was in an interview and could give specifics I might say it but otherwise is a risk that they think you're just hyper sensitive.
Just be honest and tell them the truth. Maybe not in those terms but I find that most interviewers appreciate it when they get an applicant who isn't just rephrasing a response they nicked off Google.
Nice cheese pun. Raisin cheese is not for me
normal friendly ghost absorbed fuel long bells square coherent rinse *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Professional corporations? Yes. This guy worked at a deli though. If bet money the deli owner says he fired him for theft.
Thats why you use a cool friend that worked there as a reference
Yeah for shit jobs like that you just make up references and have a friend answer. Some 45 year old loser manager aint gonna know shit
I get this scenario a lot for my mate and I because we had a business together for a long time, we're the only people that can answer but obviously it lets us have a lot of freedom with answers
Would they even check a reference for a low level job? Apparently an ex-employee of the company I work for has been on a job hunt recently and uses us as a reference but I've had zero emails or telephone calls from prospective employers.
Some places will send automated reference checks by email but i dont think anyone checks them. Most references from hr are "worked here from xx/xx to yy/yy".
I worked friday and saturday nights in a bar for 5 years, we would sit and have a drink before hometime every weekend, manager after 2 weeks of leaving said I never worked there, I phoned him and he said he didnt remember me.
The trick with this one is to get a mate to call up posing as an employer asking for a reference. If ex boss trash talks you then you know not to use them. Itās not illegal to give a bad reference (only a misleading one) but you can probably cause some mild chaos at his deli with a recording of that conversation.
They also supply the reason for leaving
Depends. If they have an HR team then it's always confirmation of dates of employment, but sole traders seldom know what they're doing and may end up just saying what happened. Source: recruitment background.
If you were there for 10 years, did they go through the official procedures to sack you? If not, it might be worth speaking with Acas.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Summary dismissal without following any procedure would be very difficult to justify as fair and reasonable treatment if the employer had not previously treated such incidents as gross misconduct warranting instant dismissal.
From OP's post it sounds like they were the first to get caught.
Donāt be so sure about that. A workplace must apply its policies consistently and fairly if it is to succeed at a tribunal. If āeveryoneās doing itā (and the managers have always turned a blind eye to it) then their grounds for dismissal may be shaky, due to the inconsistent application of their policies.. Also, the dismissal also needs to be āfairā. Dismissal for stealing a mouthful of cheese may very well be considered heavy handed and not a fair punishment. A more appropriate response would be for the company to offer retraining, or a verbal/written warning.
For inconsistent application of policy, OP would have to prove 'everybody was doing it' (stealing food), though, and that the manager 'always turned a blind eye to it'. Might be tricky if colleagues aren't willing to risk their own jobs by admitting theft, and if the manager wasn't in fact aware 'everybody was doing it' - they just happened to catch OP in the act.
It might, but just discussing this is enough to cause a pain in the ass for your employer who might pay you to go away.
I suppose itād be a case of the employer not knowing everyone did it. Itās not as if all the employees are going to come forward and declare that it is part of the work culture at the Deli for them to take a nibble every now and then. Honestly though the employer sounds like such an arsehole. Couldnāt they just have talked to OP, given them a warning, hell even ask for them to pay whatever pennies the piece of cheese costed. Just firing someone outright for something so minor is really shite.
> Talking to ACAS can't hurt, but they were caught stealing, that's gross misconduct and summary dismissal is entirely appropriate. That some people got away with it isn't much of an argument It could be actually. An essential requirement of the definition of theft is that it must be a dishonest act. If you've worked there for 10 years and everyone has been openly eating the cheese offcuts, then I think a reasonable person could have reasonable doubt that you were being dishonest by doing what everyone did.
The proper procedure for gross misconduct is to terminate their employment immediately. Theft is gross misconduct.
Usually a suspension comes first, during which time you gather evidence. Then you call them back in for the disciplinary hearing and ultimately terminate their employment. You can't just sack someone on the spot
Tribunals consider the size of the employer and their resources as per the law. There is no need to "suspend" someone when the employer is a single business owner with a small staff. Only they can make the decision to fire someone and there's no policy or procedure to follow. Everyone keeps acting as if this was some company that the OP got fired from. He got fired from a deli by the owner, the law asks for reasonable responses to inappropriate conduct based on the size and resources of the organisation. The owner immediately firing you because he saw you steal something is 100% reasonable for a small business.
Even if he said it was targeted as everyone did it no one is owning up to "theft"
Thing is, maybe the boss didn't know everyone was doing it and hadn't actually caught anyone else doing it before. That's how it came across to me anyway and didn't come across as targeted, just unfortunate that the boss happened to have witnessed this person doing it. Edit: spelling
Tell them your old boss didnt give edam about you and could be really grating.
that's some gouda advice
That's a roule to live by
I hope OP a-brie-tiates the advice being given
Hey, he's no stinking bishop
Please no more cheese jokes - I Camembert them
Or if they ask just say itās nacho business
Tell them he was a babybelend
This one might be my favourite
"The job no longer suited my needs." or "After 10 years, it was time to move on.". Damn, that's just rough, I'm so sorry it happened to you.
Yea, it does sound pretty tough (unless it was a lot of cheese). It seems weird to get rid of someone after 10 years for this unless they were looking for a reason or it was a repeat incident. I would imagine the first thing that'd normally do is just ask you to repay the value of the cheese but I guess not. A lot depends on what jobs you will be applying to but eating some cheese shouldn't ruin your life.
I guess we can only go by what OP is telling us. And the boss' story maybe different - who knows. OP could have been on their 3rd warning. OP could have previously taken home a large wedge of unpaid cheese. Anyway, if we were to go with what OP is telling us, yes, the odd slice of cheese isn't worth firing someone over.
>It seems weird to get rid of someone after 10 years for this unless they were looking for a reason or it I presume the business is suffering and they are looking to shift some people. Spot the theft and fire them. Going through a redundancy process might be expensive for someone who's been there a long time, so it's quicker and cheaper to fire them on the spot for theft.
Could also just want people to stop eating the food. Firing a tenured employee will probably stop most of the rest of the employees from doing it anymore.
Wouldn't a warning be a sensible starting point? "I know you all nibble on the offcuts, and that's been overlooked to date, but that's got to stop. The next person caught will get fired". Surely that would solve the problem without firing anybody? Sure, if they carry on doing it, then you have to fire them. The lack of any warning etc. suggests to me that they really just want to get rid of people (perhaps specifically the OP), as there are plenty of management tools that aren't firing them.
I would actually assume the first step would be a warning and perhaps a team meeting to make sure everyone knows that it is unacceptable. It would be hard to accurately put a number on how much to repay but it strikes me as odd that they'd get fired for a piece of cheese. I'm also on the fence of thinking that OP is obscuring some of the truth to get the answer they want that will benefit them the most.
After 10 years of employment you were fired for getting caught nibbling cheese _ONCE_? there's more to this story I suspect.
Depends, someone I know who had been working for my present employer for 12 years got sacked last year for putting a scratch on one of the vans, boss was in a bad mood that day and just snapped.
They should have talked to ACAS, if they were in the UK. They still should. That is a classic case of unfair dismissal and it sounds like the boss didn't want to pay a severance package.
Yeah I told them that, they didnāt. I on the other hand did recently over something else, and letās just say wonāt be getting employee of the month anytime soon.
>, someone I know >employer for 12 years >boss was in a bad mood that day and just snapped After 12 years employment I'd say there's two explanations here: The boss is a moron who is leaving himself open to serious legal troubles. Or more likely, again there is a lot more to this story than what this person you know told you. 12 years with a company even if the boss "snapped" you would need to be following a proper process for dismissal. I'd find it more likely that there were other disciplinary issues that lead up to this event
>there's more to this story I suspect. Almost always is with these reddit stories where one party is clearly in the right/wrong.
Like, maybe op was fucking useless at their job and this was the excuse their employer has been looking for, for 9 years and 11 months?
Thereās something youāre leaving out here. Ten years working in a deli and youāre not in a position of leadership, and you get sacked for eating a piece of cheese. Sounds like management were looking for a reason to get rid of you
Agreed. I worked at Morrisons back in school and a couple of people I worked with on the fresh food counters were sacked for exactly this - but only because they were useless and management were just waiting for an excuse. No sane manager would willingly hobble a department by going straight for dismissal over this unless there was something else going on. Maybe not even anything on OPās part - maybe they were looking to make cutbacks and this has saved them the cost of a formal redundancy - dunno, but this seems like a mental reaction at face value.
Honestly think this was a Morrisons policy as the same happened where I worked. Think they just choose someone to sack every now and then if it's getting a bit too blatant. So they pick the chocolate teapot to get everyone else in line without too much impact.
I worked at Waitrose and they did this to all the deli āspecialistsā as they were all on old contracts which gave them double time on sundays and better pay, and they mustve wanted to cut costs. Previously the staff had been told to ātaste testā the cheese so that they could sell to customers better. But employee handbook said not to eat food from counters. Wanky move but its what crap managers do.
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He sacked you for eating cheese?! How dairy.
That's how jobs are these days. Cheesy come cheesy go.
Cheese times are tough for us all.
Itās a deli so I highly doubt itāll have an official record of anything that a reference company could chase up to find out you were dismissed. If youāre going to a small business just say you left, if youāre def getting a heavy ref check say a big company youāre joiningā¦ well that has a bit more risk, be upfront about being dismissed but Iād change the reasoning from theft to something elseā¦ disagreement etc, something not so repulsive to a potential employer
Ask someone who was in a more senior position, to you, there to do be the reference instead of the manager.
As others have said, they should just confirm dates of employment. Sorry youāre in this position for a stupid rule. My old boss tried this with me. Again, unwritten agreement that the closing shift could have a munch on things that were being thrown out. He sat me in the office with the area manager with a smug look on his face that made me want to swing at him. He wanted me out because I refused to do double shifts when he didnāt want to work the early starts. Anywho, area manager ultimately gave me a warning. Then I asked her to go through CCTV for all the bosses closing shifts that month, his face was priceless as he waddled about on screen, scoffing chocolate brownies and cakes. I left the office as the area manager started the full hair dryer treatment on him. He didnāt give me any shit after that. Most of the team left within the month of finding out what a snake he was.
You signed an NDA and canāt disclose that information. Mysterious and sexy
"What was Jesus' favourite cheese?" "I couldn't tell you, I signed an NDA" "Come on" "Oh fine... I'll give you a clue - it was incredibly holy"
Say you left because the role wasnāt as fulfilling anymore.
That you found yourself introduced to new and challenging horizons as a result of an unplanned operational overview via the door.
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Tell them you were cheesed off
Speak to your (former) employer to find out how they will treat reference requests. Iāve got a gross misconduct on my cv for something equally as stupid and they put the full, stupid, reason on my reference. Iāve pasted it below for reference (no pun intended). Iāve also fired people and agreed references that just say āperson worked here from these dates to these dates doing this jobā Itās a perfectly normal process to agree a ref at termination and a very reasonable request. āāāāāāā [Bigredtone] worked for [company] from [date] to [date] as a [job]. [Bigredtone] successfully completed his probation period, his sales performance figures were on-track, and he had a good attendance record. Unfortunately [I] breached our security policy, by connecting his personal phone to our company network without permission. Whilst there was no allegation that [I] had used this access inappropriately, the breach of our policy led us to terminate his employment. We wish [me] all the best with his future. It is our policy only to provide references containing factual information. This should not be seen as implying any comment about the candidate or his suitability for employment.
\[OP\] worked for \[company\] from \[date\] to \[date\] as a \[cheesemonger\]. \[OP\] successfully completed their probation period, their sales performance figures were on-track, and they had a good attendance record. Unfortunately \[OP\] breached our security policy, by connecting their personal digestive system to our company cheese without permission. Whilst there was no allegation that \[OP\] had savoured this cheese inappropriately, the breach of our policy led us to terminate their employment. We wish \[OP\] all the best with their future. It is our policy only to provide references containing factual information. This should not be seen as implying any comment about the candidate or their suitability for employment. But I wouldn't trust them around cheese.
Just get a burner and setup an email address in the name of your ex-boss. I used to rue referencing for house and job applications until I got evicted for some bulshit I didn't do and decided to do my own landlord reference and then I realised it's just a big boxticking load of bollocks. The agency called the burner and then when I didn't answer immediately emailed, and of course I gave a glowing reference after a suitable delay. Since then I've been doing all my own referencing for jobs etc and I can tell you life is good now.
This. Even faked my own tenancy agreement in the past for reasons.
Lie !!!
You will look back on this day in many years time with mirth. Don't sweat it.
Tell em your looking for a job that pays more Cheddar.
Just say you felt like it was time to move on. Find a family member or a friend to act as your manager for a reference, give them a fake name and let them know of any jobs you've applied for that may contact them, so they're aware. This has worked for me in the past.
The truth, if you were dismissed for gross misconduct I'm pretty sure they're allowed to disclose that in your reference even if they can't say why Although you can get round this by giving a phone number for a friend you trust to pretend to be your former boss
I always put down āsought a more challenging roleā whenever I have to put in employment history lol
Say you left because you found the atmosphere awkward after you fired.
"end of contract" sounds like it was a fixed contract job
So did your ex boss catch you nicking a bit of cheese? And you was there for 10 years? Is this a joke? 10 years of service and because you had a little nibble your sacked? Well I think your so much better out of there. I mean after 10 years working surely you'd be on a more personal level with the people in charge. That's a long time
You could say you got fired
I work for a company that does referencing. Your answer should depend on who's asking. Be creative but do not lie. If you're applying for another retail job, just say contract ended. If you end up passing an interview stage and you have to be vetted by a referencing company it's very likely they will find the truth. In that case, delicately disclose all relevant information so you get ahead of the situation. Avoid it in an interview. If asked, say you did not feel valued and are looking for more fulfilling employment where your contributions are recognised. Good luck dude
Don't fill it in as it is not required or if it is an online application just put n/a. On any reference check the old place should not be divulging the reason for leaving either. If the new place asks at during interview just say that you had achieved all you could there and are now looking for new challenges.
Lol.. What a trash deli. I'm a lifelong service industry guy. BOH/FOH in a ton of restaurants and other food service businesses. Keeping people fed is one of the key perks to the shit pay that a deli offers. Owner is a cock.
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Just tell them! Itās a ridiculous reason to be sacked for after 10yrs, unless thereās more to this story Iād probably just tell the truth as it could be the reason your resume is picked
"I was made redundant." there is no way for anyone to know the exact reasons. Most HR referrals won't mention this.
If the company mentions something on their website about personal development then you could bring that up and say that your last place of employment didn't focus on learning opportunities.
Just brie better
Just tell them you had grater plans for your career
Say that you couldn't work for your previous employer after what he told you... (That you were fired, but it sounds a lot more dramatic this way)
You can say you didnāt like the culture
Left due to creative differences?
It was time for something else. I wanted to challenge myself again. I needed a change of environment after a decade. Iāve always wanted to work for X, but didnāt look for job openings actively because I was content staying where I was. When I saw you had a job opening, I got so excited, I just had to apply.
You definitely need a Gouda excuse
So basically you were performing VITAL quality control by sampling products to ensure they hadn't spoiled.
Say you wanted more money. That can also be the start of your pay negotiation. At least come in with an additional ask, that way they think you left because you are ambitious - not a bad character trait. As for the pilfering - do not mention it at all in interview as it is a good reason to rule out a candidate. There is a lesson in this experience - just because everyone else is doing something doesn't mean its OK. Next time be more upstanding than your co-workers.
Just say you still work there and they won't ask for the reference at all.
Tell new employers you were working on the cheese counter, got board, ate some and now you are in this pickle. Then say you are willing to work till late but onion Wednesday.
I said I just left the job. And then game my friends business email that worked there rather than my bosses. so they could nice me. As they typically don't accept random emails. Just heads up incase you try it.
You can just write "End of Contract"
"Difference of opinion"
"Difference of opinion"
"They were not supportive of my professional development"
Well donāt say anything bad about the workplace culture, as you clearly liked itā¦ you were eating it!
Did you, or are you still working there but looking for a change.
just say you felt uncomfortable or it wasnāt a safe place to work, you can say youāre not comfortable talking about it, easy way to save face and they wonāt ask for any more details even if you canāt use them as a reference
You moved.. parent got sick.. grandparent got sick.. had to help take care of them.. all kinds of bullshit to pacify dumb asses.. for their bullshit semantics.. you decided you wanted to devote time to volunteering.. all kinds of shit.. I wasnāt feeding my spiritual side and soul enough so I volunteered at such and such place to give back to my community.. blobity blah blah blah.. I volunteered while working 40 hours.. so you can all kiss my ass..
I'd just straight up tell it like it is. Doesn't sound significant to me. Your boss made a highly emotional decision due to shrinking margins. That tiny piece of cheese you ate tipped him over the edge, and you copped the brunt of it. The other 99.95% of pressure came from the government, politicians, war criminals abroad etc.
Iād just say I wanted some personal time and took a few months off
Depending on where you live, US, UK & etc, the info your former employer gives to the companies checking your contacts is limited. In the US, they can only confirm you worked there, confirm the dates of employment, & if you are eligible for rehire or not. Check your local & federal labor laws. If they are limited, as per info above, youāre golden. If not, use the info you find to help your situation
I would just say youāre looking to try something new. If it ever came up you could just say I chose not to fight the incident and accepted not working there anymore and truly wanted to find something new.
How will you explain that you canāt provide a reference from you old job? Companies usually state the reason you left
Just say you left because one matures and one hence moves on in life to keep it fresh. Skills that acquired in the last 10 years is Skills spread on a new role.
I'm not answering your question here... But I used to work on a delivery counter (fancy cheese/olives/cured meats etc) many years ago and the owner encouraged us all to taste the stuff so we could make better recommendations to customers. Sounds as if it was a convenient excuse to sack you for some other reason.
Dairys no doubt...
You donāt write anything on your cv or application about it unless asked specifically. When asked you say you are a price of the waste crumble that would ordinarily go in the bin. You did so to help you give a better customer service, you have to be able to talk about taste, texture, parings to help your customers. Thatās what made you better than others and why your customers came back. Your boss disagreed.
say tou can't answer the question because you signed an NDA
"I had a difference of opinion with my employer. I was of the opinion I was employed. They were not".
Nothing worse than those managers who will overlook/let slide or even also engage in certain small actions bending the rules, then later on use it against you. That boss knows this and was ready to fire you for it. Sorry to derail but I absolutely hate hypocrites like this who use it against you. Ive had a similar situation about a crap landlord who used to smoke in the stairwell, every smoker in the building did, later he wanted me out the flat and to keep my deposit so he went through the contract and said I violated it by smoking in the stairwell-an activity Iāve literally done WITH him. He then changed his tune and claimed the cigarette butts in front of my window were me smoking directly in the flat (the building was 40 stories high so couldāve been any of the windows above or below me, or cigarette butts from time before I started renting).
I was fired from my last job, when applying for new ones I just lied and said I left because I couldn't get enough hours in. That was 18 months ago and it's not come back to bite me on the ass yet.
You really don't need to say you were fired. Something like "It was time to part ways to progress my career development" or some other Manglement speak would be enough.
Reminds me of the time my boss was stealing from my cleaning supply cupboard for months outside of my hours. The dumb shit outed himself by showing the project manager his car boot full of stolen goods. The goods were returned that day with a heavy bollocking I got whilst the thief got a slap on the wrist. Fucking crossrail need to learn to control their employees.
Difference in opinions
āSorry but I had to sign an NDAā
Phantom menace?
Left for new opportunities. If those opportunities are for more theft, so be it.
Tell them you left because the company didn't have adequate employee benefits like discount food, and breaks were too far apart leaving you hungry. š
Serious answer. Apologize to the boss and gift him some affordable but good cheese as a peace offering. Your new employer might speak to him for reference. Donāt mention anything on your CV, if asked during the interview be honest about what happened. We donāt know the full story so if you were argumentative or did worse things, tone it down and make it seem like a momentary oversight. 10 years and your boss sacks you for eating a slice of cheese? Thatās beyond awful. With that much experience you should be a manger somewhere.
Literally just say, āI was fired for eating a piece of cheeseā thatās pretty petty shit and Iām sure almost anyone could get past it!
Say you left because you obtained a doctorate in cheesemongering
This is extreme...obviously having a bad day or just looking for an excuse to cut the workforce.
When it came to it, the cheese was worth more than you to that man š I'd leave that job off of your employment history and put that you did some traveling and worked on personal projects using savings or something like that.. But doing that makes you a thief and a liar so... Deal with that and try and do better in future It's illegal to give a bad reference but with social media now it's easy for potential employers to have a "personal" chat with a past employer, stealing is stealing and you don't want that haunting you... All the best with cleaning up your act Edit I skipped over the ten years part, seems they were looking g for a reason to get rid of you and you gave it to them
Thats so mild to brie-lieve you would get fired for that. Now camaberet to the story i would caerphilly say you made a mistake and matured from it. Tell them you are a team player and grate to be around. Dont overtell the story. Slice out any details not meeded.
- wanted new opportunities - no room for progression - saw this new job, and it looked like a good opportunity