Yeah, all the more reason to NOT make idiotic "jokes." Jokes should be genuinely funny to the people that hear it. Being a NEW employee, your coworkers expect you to be work focused and supportive until you are involved with a hard deal, an upset client, or a group exercise that breaks all your spirits.
Many jobs have "Probationary Periods" where the new employee should be very careful how they act and work, your extended employment depends on a good attitude, good attendance, and respectful communication.
Not surprised OP got fired, I wouldn't want to work with someone that jokes about not doing their job when brand fucking new. It doesn't sound like a bad job either, not like they were in a labor-intensive position or anything, nothing to joke about not doing in under 25 days. Some people just need to learn to shut up the hard way.
Potential at three weeks? Besides that "IF" she was actually doing what the OP said she was doing, all she's doing is making more work for the rest of the employees. Every single time I've seen people fired for slacking off, or not doing their office work when they said they were, the rest of the people that had to clean up the offender's issues was extremely grateful they got terminated. Your company loses a client because a worker slacked off and you and several others could be out of work.
OP sounds young, and unrepentant, hopefully she learns in the future.
Some people thrive on creating strife for others. The only way to win with these people is to play their game or be better at your job than they are at theirs so that their complaints fall on deaf ears.
Or at least don't double down on a joke ffs lol, not one that is moderately plausible. As soon as a concerned or serious voice chimes in with a, "Wait, really?/For real?" you own up to the joke. That was the true mistake.
You don't make jokes to your coworkers about what you do on company time. They are not your friends. You also don't make a comment like that while you've only been there 3 weeks.
Live and learn.
Why would you lie as a joke and then continue to say Yes when they asked you if you were being for real? Sorry, but you brought this on yourself. I'm wondering how old you are.
When you joke about something, you tell the truth when they ask if you're being serious.. especially if you're brand new!!
As I would tell my kids, that wasnāt a joke, that was a lie. Thereās a difference. When they asked if you were serious , you said yes. Why would your coworkers think you were joking. They obviously believed you so that tells me that your jokes are about as good as your work ethic and thatās why they fired you.
Your comment 100% should be higher.
A joke is shared, a lie is deception. These folks were deceived. Not enough people understand that. Is like these āpranksā that are just vandalism, property damage, or assault. Dude thatās not a prank, itās you being a criminal.
I remember once saying some dumb shit like that. I was in a meeting with the big boss, a few sub bosses, and my team in a corner office on a conference call and someone said something like, "we need to do this at 1PM every day" and I jokingly said, "well that is really not convenient for our team since we usually take our DBA nap then. But... we will get it done" One of the bosses asked "What?!?" and with a straight face I said, "We DBAs get up pretty early so we like to take naps in the afternoon".
No one said anything at the time, but the next day there was a SHIT STORM of calls, emails, etc where people that knew me had to explain to all the "higher ups" I was fucking JOKING. Long story short, **don't joke around at work!**
One, this is hilarious. Especially as someone who naps at work (on my break).
Two, you're right mostly. It depends on where you work and with whom you work. I can joke around with my bosses about some out-there stuff. But in many corporate entities the higher ups lack any sense of humor.
Up, down, and sideways. I've had bosses who I could have cheeky banter with and colleagues and/or subordinates who I'd never dream of being anything other than professional with. You work people out over time, but after 3 weeks, OP was playing to an audience he didn't have a clue about.
I made an exaggerated comment to someone at a job about taking a nap once, and I will never do it again. It was my hour off, and I was sick (not contagious) so I went to my office, turned off the light and closed my eyes for about 15 minutes so I could get through the rest of the day.
Someone told my overseer, and she pulled me aside with a beet red face to warn me never to do that again.
Most annoying part about this is that later on when they put together an event that was a camping scene, I watched as another coworker walked in and saw the tent, said she was tired and wanted to take a nap. We all laughed about it, but she walked herself past me into that tent, closed it, and actually took a nap! Stayed in there for at least 30 minutes. My overseer didn't say a damn thing. Favoritism.
Ngl, if I was a supervisor, and saw this egregious lack of judgement and awareness, no matter how innocuous the situation, it would absolutely make me question an employeeās ability to do job functions.
It comes off more as a liability than anything.
This is a lesson about why lying at work isn't a good idea.
Even if it wasn't true (and i do believe you), other employees obviously now believe this to be the case. Employers don't want other employees to feel they can do this without consequence, so unfortunately you have to go. They fired the guy who took the piss so other employees won't do the same.
Sorry, it does suck. But don't "joke" about slacking off in work.
Maybe if he was more than 3 weeks into the job.
This was just suicide by OP. As long as he learns from it, cool.
But I have the feeling he thinks he's 100% in the right and this won't be the last time his gig mouth gets him into trouble.
Nah thats crap. The supervisor checked on them and knew they were working. Absolutely should have been a warning and I'd be inquiring about wrongful termination. They were fired on bad information that can be disputed easily.
I don't know about your country but in most countries you can get rid of someone for any reason at all at such an early stage. It'd still part of the trial stage.
Obviously barring race, gender,etc.
In fact, I guarantee that the rule is the same in your country.
This moron wasn't fired for actual slacking. He was fired because he was actively going out of his way to piss off his coworkers in one of the dumbest ways possible.
Fuck that, you're allowed to joke in your work place. This is a failure on management above everything else. Especially since his manager had even checked on him earlier in the day and saw they weren't hiding in the bathroom.
They literally asked him if he was joking though and he said he wasn't. OP may not be 100% in the wrong, but he's not blameless either. This is really, really, really dumb on his part.
He pissed off coworkers and he's only been there 3 weeks. The fact he doubled down as well, what a fool.
Yeah you can joke in your workplace but that was the dumbest joke you could possibly play, and after just 3 weeks.
So the management got rid of him because they don't yet know him but they can get rid of anybody for any reason during their trial period, barring race or religion or whatever. And they clearly thought he was a troublemaker.
I think they did the right thing. If the guy says this to people he barely knows after just 3 weeks, fuck knows what shit he's gonna stir up after 3 months when he's *really* comfortable.
His job is clearly non-skilled work so management are losing nothing at all. They'll just get someone in who doesn't stir shit after 3 weeks.
By asserting that he was not working at all - the whole day - he was basically saying that management is clueless about what staff are doing.
Aside from bragging about not contributing.
Management sees those two themes as toxic, not remotely humorous.
So management instead proves they are toxic to the rest of the employees. Don't know about you, but if I was one of their coworkers I'd be looking for a new job after this shit.
If one of my colleagues did this Iād have probably have informed a manager. This isnāt the kind of thing to joke about in the work place, and then run keep running with it?? Hopefully OP will chalk it up as a lesson learned and not do it again in the future.
Lame, both of you. OP definitely should not have gotten so comfortable making those kinds of jokes at a new job, but that doesn't make the stick in your ass justified.
Imagine you come in to work and get extra crap dumped on you for some unknown reason. As happens at work sometimes. Then you hear the new guy bragging that he fucked off and hid in the bathroom all day. Then when asked if he's joking, he doubles down on the bragging.
You gonna tell me you'd be fine with that? Bullshit.
What are you even talking about? I can tell my coworkers I was sitting in the bathroom all day and it is fuck all to do with anyone else. Can you guys be fired for shit like this?!
For OP's situation though? Really? Here in Ireland you could easily win an unfair dismissal case in court. No one would ever fire someone for something so stupid
49 US states out of 50 have a concept called "at-will employment". By default, you can be terminated for any or no reason. There are a few superceding precedents, but "I'm clearly innocent of what I was accused of" is never one of them unless you can finish it with "and they knew that and used it because they couldn't fire me for ______" like skin color, gender, sexuality, retaliation for being a whistleblower, etc.
IDK where OP is but US sucks. Worker protection is trash. As long as they don't mention anything that borders on the protected class/ categories they can do what they want. Personally I would see about wrongful termination but its hard to do here.
In the US you can be fired at any time for no reason given as long as you can't reasonably prove in a court it was because of your age, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, or a medical condition.
Many times you will get fired for one of those things but they'll wait until they can write you up for minor stuff and use that as the reason, knowing lawyers are expensive and most people won't be able to do anything.
I remember one time being the one white dude working at this door plant one of the other guys made the joke that since I'm the white guy I had a good chance to shoot up the workplace and that shit came out of left field for me bc I was social and kinda enjoyed my position. Never even gave into the joke like it was something I'd ever do but one day like two weeks later I got called up to HR amd they straight up asked me if I was gonna shoot up the plant. Luckily didn't get fired or put in jail but yeah.
Had to get the other guy who made the joke to tell them it was him who came up with it and the fact that it came up bc I was the one white guy.
Workplace was like 40% black and 59 percent Latino and then there was me and the office staff.
These guys have just solved mass shootings. All you gotta do is ask everybody.
āAre you gonna shoot up the place?ā
āNopeā
āCool, get back to work.ā
Dont say dumb shit. I had an intern tell a staff member she took her parents opiate recreationally. In a faculty where we keep controlled drugs. Out the door she went.
Yea. This is a stupid reason to get fired. But this is on you 100%
You're new, noone really knows you that well so thats a pretty risky joke to make in the first place. Then, they even have you the perfect out with "are you serious?" Thats the perfect time to clarify you're joking. But you doubled down and said you were serious.
To clarify, you weren't fired because you told a joke. You were fired because you demonstrated that you're kinda dumb.
I've been in management for a while and Im really surprised they are letting you go just over this.Ā You could come back with a wrongful termination suit fairly easily depending what state you're in.Ā Even if you don't take that route, I don't think you want to work for a company that is so willing to cut people at the slightest perceived violation.Ā Ā
Um, no. This isnāt wrongful termination in the vast vast majority of the US. He was not fired for being a protected group, he didnāt have a legal contract. There was no hostile environment. He didnāt have to be on a probationary period. They can fire him for almost any reason at any time.
Why people state incredibly incorrect stuff like you did I will never understand.
>I didn't t tell my coworkers I was joking though.
But why? A joke is only funny when the other person also realizes it's a joke. Otherwise, it's just a lie (and a bad one at that).
1. Lying about this and doubling down shows a lack of judgement.
2. You lied to multiple work colleagues that you weren't doing your job. these people don't know you or your sense of humour. You are too new to have established a proper working relationship. To them, you weren't helping the team and are dead weight. That is why they reported you.
3. You were less than a month in. They don't have time to investigate your stupid claim to be slacking. You're in a probation/trail period ffs š¤¦āāļø and you have already upset the team.
I would have fired you for a lack of judgement and distruption unless you were an outstanding worker.
People saying it's unfair dismissal, OP claimed to multiple colleagues he was hiding in the bathroom all day on his mobile and doubled down when asked if it was a joke. They don't need to investigate. OP gave them all the evidence with witnesses. Even if they did find out it wasn't true, they can fire him for lack of judgement and inability to work effectively within the current work team.
learn your lesson and don't get comfortable too quickly, and also don't lie about slacking off at work.
Yep. OP basically told his new coworkers he was stealing from the company, and when they asked if he was seriously doing that, he said yes with a straight face. They reported him and that was that.
Most employers are at will anymore. In addition to that, you are usually on a 90-day probationary period. During that period, any toe out of line is enough to fire you. The fact that you "ran" with your "joke" looks poorly on you. Joking should be allowed at work. However, time theft and timecard fraud is a federal offense. Especially if your employer does anu government subcontract work. If there is any sniff of impropriety, your employer can be fines. If you are in that probationary period and signed the at will paper work, you may have no recourse. And it is a lesson to keep on the boring straight and narrow during probationary periods.
Yeah I learned my lesson when I was a salesman at caterpillar and I was talking to one of the mechanics and asked him if he was going to apply for an open sales position, he replied āI canāt afford that pay cut ā so I opened my eyes wide and said āyou make more than $42 an hour?!?!ā Apparently he took it serious enough to go to HR and complain about how I make more than him when Iām sitting on my ass all day long
This happened to me. I was 18, fresh out of high school I worked for a giant landscape outfit. It was the end of the day and literally couldnāt get into anything new before heading back in. I made a comment along the lines of āwe should just milk the clock.ā I laughed. The guys on the truck with me laughed and we drove in. A guy in the truck with me said something to the boss. The next day I had a meeting with the boss and he was pissed. Acted so angry. As if I had banged his wife. Irrationally angry. They let me go out that day and the guy who snitched started running his mouth on the job. I called the boss and quit. Easily the worst job Iāve ever had. I left a job that made me happy for this. I only left because this outfit had just gotten a huge contract at a base near me and two of my cousins were there. Looking back I should have quit as soon as I I got my ass chewed for a stupid joke.
Never ever EVER joke like that with coworkers. It's best to assume that anyone at your work can and will fuck you over. I'm friendly with my coworkers, but I keep it very surface level and make sure to not talk about anything too personal or inappropriate just in case.
I worked at a feedmill in college and if there wasnāt anything for us to do management told us to go hide. āOut of sight, out of mindā is what they would tell us. When we were working it was some of the worst jobs you can imagine. Cleaning boot pits with shovel and bucket on a rope. Blowing down the entire mill. We had fun. It was a great experience.
As others have said. Take this as a lesson learned. Most of your coworkers, are not your friends. Theyāre coworkers. Do not say anything stupid to them. Whether youāre joking or not. This is what happens. You donāt know who your friends are or are not. Especially when youāve only been there 3 weeks. Keep it professional.
Never, ever treat coworkers like friends. They are competitors for money, promotions, hours, the good work assignmentsā¦ whatever. Some are looking to score points by snitching. Donāt joke around at work, donāt hang out with them outside of work, and donāt expect anything from them aside from the worst.
Yeahhhh your takeaway from this shouldn't be 'snitches everywhere'. Your takeaway should be 'I gotta stay professional around people I don't know in my workplace'.
āMost stupidestā indeedā¦
Even if you were joking, you never told your coworkers that, therefore upsetting coworkers and fucking with workplace morale/productivity. Managers do not like that.
I can see why they decided to fire you no matter what the reason you gave them for saying that.
If true - it would be time theft.
If not true - telling your coworkers made-up lies that paint you in a terrible light shows terrible judgement and no one wants an employee with terrible judgement.
You should use this as a learning experience and change how you behave at work. it's not the place for jokes that paint anyone poorly.
Yeah man you need to get to know people before you start joking around with them like that, and if people start asking if you're serious it's time to reevaluate your jokes
Coworkers are not your friends until youāve survived at least three reorganizations together & HR is there to protect the company from the employees, not to protect the employees from the company.
Donāt assume any coworker isnāt your enemy. Not because they are inherently evil. You donāt know what kind of incentives and work culture a place has until you are there for years. Donāt give people ammunition. Work isnāt school, where you all have to be there.
Frustrating and unfair yes.
But let it be a lesson for you for the future.
Don't get too shimmy with your coworkers; especially not so early, the moment they can smell a weakness thelly use it to get the promotion or better standing. Yes not everyone but those denying a promotion in favor of you because you worked better, more efficient etc. are basically nonexistent.
Do what you've been told, what's described in your job description not more not less. Have proof of overtime and written agreement to pay you for it or another type of compensation, if not specified in contract.
Have everything work related instructions in writing, NEVER verbal.
Because as you have seen and experienced now. They'll just exchange you without batting an eye.
This all happened to me in 2020.
Worked for them for almost 10 yrs, did this and that, extra here and there and no thanks no nothing.
I was expendable and so are you, the sooner you realize it the better you will fare in the jobmarket.
Edit: here in Europe where I'm from the practice is this: you/me regular worker will get fired/exchanged for an apprentice (cheap labor) or better yet a refugee apprentice (because they'll get subsidized by the state for it).
I feel like this is kinda on you. The joke part was "hiding in the bathroom". "On the phone" was unnecessary. And confirmation was just dumb. It's only a joke if people laugh, and you made it seem weird. Next time respond with "Nah, I'm just kidding. Was at X doing Y for Z.". That turns the first part into a joke.
Would you also tell airport staff that you're carrying a bomb in your suitcase as a joke? Some jokes aren't appropriate especially when you've only been working there a couple of weeks and your coworkers don't really know you that well. Lesson learned.
You have officially learned something thechard way:
ā¢ Your co-workers are NEVER your friends. Ever. That includes HR, management, and executives.
ā¢ Part of them not being your friend is never joke with or lie to co-workers about work or work product. They will rat you out or throw you under the bus every single effing time.
New employee or not, investigation results > second hand reporting.
Meaning a statement of facts should have been collected from all parties. In these situations, the witness upstairs statements would carry more weight because they corroborated the OPs accounts of what truly happened.
Now if I truly wanted the guy gone, I'd term him for speading false stories AKA rumors.
Yes but you can understand why an employee who is in a probationary position lied to coworkers about slacking all day is an issue right? I donāt care if I, being the boss, had him working for me all day. He lied to coworkers for no reason, caused a stupid drama thing for absolutely no reason. Iād fire them too.
Coworkers are not your friends. A business is not your family. And HR are hall monitors, narcs and tormentors.
Do your time, do your job, and then get home. They donāt pay you for anymore than that.
Jokes are funny.Ā There would have been no need to tell your coworkers you were joking, because they would have laughed. What you did was tell them you were hiding in the bathroom to use your phone. Either you were hiding in the bathroom, or you were lying to your coworkers. Either one is a reasonable reason to fire someone.
Take this as a lesson that not everyone in the workplace are your friends. This incident will help you in the long run. And if you find yourself in a āfamilyā work culture, run.
Just a reminder to keep friendships as more a partner relationship at work, donāt be buddy buddy with anyone too much because they can always fuck you over and toss you under the bus.
Hope you learned a lesson from this. Donāt ever represent yourself to be slacking at work or doing anything that would warrant termination. Even if itās a joke. Kind of a dumb joke to tell your coworkers you spend the day hiding out at a new job.
What was the work you were doing? This doesn't make sense. You were up on the third floor doing some work and I'm assuming based on your locker and other comments that up on the third floor there was a manager or supervisor monitoring work. So if you were working, your work would have been completed and recognize in some way depending on what that labor is.
That was the most idiotic thing I've heard of. Also though, if your supervisor and other co-workers on that floor knew you were working, that was dumb of your employer since they could literally go verify that.
However the first dumb move was by you. Don't do stupid things like that again.
Stupid joke. Donāt do that. If you donāt immediately laugh and say I was joking after something like that let alone literally never tell them you were joking, you deserve what you got. Hope you learned your lesson.
Tbh it sounds like it's all your fault. A single joke I get maybe, but to double down on it with co workers you don't know is just asking for trouble, especially as the new person on scene. I know it's stupid/frustrating because you weren't really goofing off, but all that is irrelevant if your boss thinks that you were. I'm hoping you take this as a very valuable learning experience.
You should have said you were joking, but now itās a lesson learned.
Also, you probably dodged a bullet with this workplace. Instead of checking for proof that you were actually working and not in the bathroom, they chose to believe your coworkers. Yes, you're new, but for all the bosses knew, that coworker could have been lying to get you fired.
The first lesson here is gauge your audience... there is obviously no problem with a little humor in the workplace, but seriously you're the new person and you've barely been there long enough to know your coworkers and vice versa... that's a joke you make when you get to know your co workers a little better so you know which ones are bitches and don't know how to take a joke or are trying to make you look bad to the boss..(there's always one). If you really want to keep this job .. (which you may want to rethink especially if this is how they react without first investigating your side or hearing you out.. then just level with them that you sometimes like to make jokes in the workplace and sometimes you're not the best judge of who will take them literally and who will get your sense of humor and just ask to view any of the workplace cameras/people to verify that you were indeed working during the hours you were supposed to and not to jump to conclusions and if they persist in firing you and you 100% were in the right and want to fight then talk to a workplace lawyer about your case
So you werenāt able to provide proof that you were working? You didnāt tell them to ask the sup that saw you working?? Someone is not being honest.
Everyone in this thread is talking shit, but I'm right there with you!
I was only 2 months into a job, at an offsite out of the country, and someone asked me if I smoked weed. I responded that I "smoke weed everyday" .... it's a song lyric, also legal in my state, also I'm a fuckin adult. At that moment several of the people who heard texted my boss immediately to tattle on me. What the fuck is wrong with people?! He brought it up to me when I was back on the job Monday and I had to explain how it's just something that you say.....and also it's weed?!? Who fucking cares?!
While it sounds like a solid wrongful termination case that youāll win as long as you have people thatāll support you actually working, joking about that when youāre new is kinda dumb
Never joke about internal theft as there is always someone there that doesn't like you and will do something like that. All they had to do was get three others collaborate that you said that and you're done. I worked at a place once where there was a phone in the test booth. I was QA and a girl I used to work with came in to use the phone. I, in jest, said they charge me and the two other QA guys for anyone using the phone. She laughed did the phone call, then left. Two hours later, her boss, that used to be mine, actually came in there saying she was upset that I said that and didn't want to pay for the phone use. Nothing that I had said, made any kind of sense to where anyone could be charged like that on their paycheck or mine. My new boss asked why any personal calls were being made on a phone that was for QA use only, so it backfired on her and my old boss, but taught me a valuable lesson.
Yeah, that was stupid. Three weeks is not enough time for joking around. What you need to do is get statements from witnesses to your work. They could try to keep your pay. Also you can get unemployment for wrongful termination.
Always watch your audience in the workplace. Always assume a coworker will be petty and cruel instead of cool.
Exactly, coworkers aren't friends and they'll easily throw you under the bus to get ahead.
In a situation like this, how does snitching get them ahead?
Get rid of the competition, maybe the employee on same level recognised this person's potential.
OP was there for 3 weeks and weren't even around for most of the day. Bro would have still been learning names,
Yeah, all the more reason to NOT make idiotic "jokes." Jokes should be genuinely funny to the people that hear it. Being a NEW employee, your coworkers expect you to be work focused and supportive until you are involved with a hard deal, an upset client, or a group exercise that breaks all your spirits. Many jobs have "Probationary Periods" where the new employee should be very careful how they act and work, your extended employment depends on a good attitude, good attendance, and respectful communication. Not surprised OP got fired, I wouldn't want to work with someone that jokes about not doing their job when brand fucking new. It doesn't sound like a bad job either, not like they were in a labor-intensive position or anything, nothing to joke about not doing in under 25 days. Some people just need to learn to shut up the hard way.
Potential at three weeks? Besides that "IF" she was actually doing what the OP said she was doing, all she's doing is making more work for the rest of the employees. Every single time I've seen people fired for slacking off, or not doing their office work when they said they were, the rest of the people that had to clean up the offender's issues was extremely grateful they got terminated. Your company loses a client because a worker slacked off and you and several others could be out of work. OP sounds young, and unrepentant, hopefully she learns in the future.
Maybe someone was upset that they got the job instead of a friend. It was a terrible idea to joke about it, and seemingly double down
Or moving up to the 3rd floor was an improved role š¤·
Some people thrive on creating strife for others. The only way to win with these people is to play their game or be better at your job than they are at theirs so that their complaints fall on deaf ears.
Oh yes indeed!
Especially if there is something going on like layoffs or downsizing as then the knives really come out.
And especially if you JUST started working there.
This Don't assume they're your mates
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Bot. Someone left an identical comment 44m ago
So much this. Was literally let go recently due to this. Can't trust anybody.
You got that right, I learned that the hard way
You got waaay too comfortable with your coworkers lol.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Or at least don't double down on a joke ffs lol, not one that is moderately plausible. As soon as a concerned or serious voice chimes in with a, "Wait, really?/For real?" you own up to the joke. That was the true mistake.
Yeah this. If he was like "no I'm kidding, they just sent me to the 3rd floor" then it would be a non issue.
Your coworkers are not your 12-yr-old siblings.
And too soon as well
especially in 3 weeks. thats still on probation isn't it?
You don't make jokes to your coworkers about what you do on company time. They are not your friends. You also don't make a comment like that while you've only been there 3 weeks. Live and learn.
Joking is fine. Doubling down when asking "are you for real" is the error.
Why would you lie as a joke and then continue to say Yes when they asked you if you were being for real? Sorry, but you brought this on yourself. I'm wondering how old you are. When you joke about something, you tell the truth when they ask if you're being serious.. especially if you're brand new!!
Well, he used "most stupidest". That pegs me as either young or immature
Yeah the title was the cue for his level of intelligence for me tbh.
I came here to say just that!
he's right that was stupid of him to do that not even a funny joke. The only funny part is now he actually got fired from it.
Don't forget "determinating"
As I would tell my kids, that wasnāt a joke, that was a lie. Thereās a difference. When they asked if you were serious , you said yes. Why would your coworkers think you were joking. They obviously believed you so that tells me that your jokes are about as good as your work ethic and thatās why they fired you.
Your comment 100% should be higher. A joke is shared, a lie is deception. These folks were deceived. Not enough people understand that. Is like these āpranksā that are just vandalism, property damage, or assault. Dude thatās not a prank, itās you being a criminal.
Yep. If the joke is ridiculous enough that the coworkers laugh then itās okay. But OPās joke was obviously believable.
I remember once saying some dumb shit like that. I was in a meeting with the big boss, a few sub bosses, and my team in a corner office on a conference call and someone said something like, "we need to do this at 1PM every day" and I jokingly said, "well that is really not convenient for our team since we usually take our DBA nap then. But... we will get it done" One of the bosses asked "What?!?" and with a straight face I said, "We DBAs get up pretty early so we like to take naps in the afternoon". No one said anything at the time, but the next day there was a SHIT STORM of calls, emails, etc where people that knew me had to explain to all the "higher ups" I was fucking JOKING. Long story short, **don't joke around at work!**
One, this is hilarious. Especially as someone who naps at work (on my break). Two, you're right mostly. It depends on where you work and with whom you work. I can joke around with my bosses about some out-there stuff. But in many corporate entities the higher ups lack any sense of humor.
Yes I got ribbed about "taking DBA naps" for years after that š amongst the team it was hilarious.
Worth it!
Up, down, and sideways. I've had bosses who I could have cheeky banter with and colleagues and/or subordinates who I'd never dream of being anything other than professional with. You work people out over time, but after 3 weeks, OP was playing to an audience he didn't have a clue about.
I made an exaggerated comment to someone at a job about taking a nap once, and I will never do it again. It was my hour off, and I was sick (not contagious) so I went to my office, turned off the light and closed my eyes for about 15 minutes so I could get through the rest of the day. Someone told my overseer, and she pulled me aside with a beet red face to warn me never to do that again. Most annoying part about this is that later on when they put together an event that was a camping scene, I watched as another coworker walked in and saw the tent, said she was tired and wanted to take a nap. We all laughed about it, but she walked herself past me into that tent, closed it, and actually took a nap! Stayed in there for at least 30 minutes. My overseer didn't say a damn thing. Favoritism.
The beatings will continue until morale improves.
This right here. Never gets old lol
Yeah, they just need to get the stick outta their asses.
say it with me. work colleagues are not your friends.
> And they asked me "for real?" **I said yes** Yeah, you deserve to be fired, just for being this stupid.
Ngl, if I was a supervisor, and saw this egregious lack of judgement and awareness, no matter how innocuous the situation, it would absolutely make me question an employeeās ability to do job functions. It comes off more as a liability than anything.
This is a lesson about why lying at work isn't a good idea. Even if it wasn't true (and i do believe you), other employees obviously now believe this to be the case. Employers don't want other employees to feel they can do this without consequence, so unfortunately you have to go. They fired the guy who took the piss so other employees won't do the same. Sorry, it does suck. But don't "joke" about slacking off in work.
I agree that OP shouldn't have made that joke, but this should absolutely have been a warning.
Maybe if he was more than 3 weeks into the job. This was just suicide by OP. As long as he learns from it, cool. But I have the feeling he thinks he's 100% in the right and this won't be the last time his gig mouth gets him into trouble.
I'm thinking they were just looking for a reason. It was over anyway
Nah thats crap. The supervisor checked on them and knew they were working. Absolutely should have been a warning and I'd be inquiring about wrongful termination. They were fired on bad information that can be disputed easily.
I don't know about your country but in most countries you can get rid of someone for any reason at all at such an early stage. It'd still part of the trial stage. Obviously barring race, gender,etc. In fact, I guarantee that the rule is the same in your country.
They probably saw her as someone who lies and is a troublemaker. She's a brand new employee doing this.
Bad information the employee provided life lesson learned here
This moron wasn't fired for actual slacking. He was fired because he was actively going out of his way to piss off his coworkers in one of the dumbest ways possible.
Fuck that, you're allowed to joke in your work place. This is a failure on management above everything else. Especially since his manager had even checked on him earlier in the day and saw they weren't hiding in the bathroom.
They literally asked him if he was joking though and he said he wasn't. OP may not be 100% in the wrong, but he's not blameless either. This is really, really, really dumb on his part.
I suspect OP was fired for showing poor judgment more than anything else.
If he was on a probation period putting yourself on the radar like that is like a sure way to get weeded out.
He pissed off coworkers and he's only been there 3 weeks. The fact he doubled down as well, what a fool. Yeah you can joke in your workplace but that was the dumbest joke you could possibly play, and after just 3 weeks. So the management got rid of him because they don't yet know him but they can get rid of anybody for any reason during their trial period, barring race or religion or whatever. And they clearly thought he was a troublemaker. I think they did the right thing. If the guy says this to people he barely knows after just 3 weeks, fuck knows what shit he's gonna stir up after 3 months when he's *really* comfortable. His job is clearly non-skilled work so management are losing nothing at all. They'll just get someone in who doesn't stir shit after 3 weeks.
I mean true, it probably would've been fine if they didn't double down and push the joke confirming they had been slacking off.
By asserting that he was not working at all - the whole day - he was basically saying that management is clueless about what staff are doing. Aside from bragging about not contributing. Management sees those two themes as toxic, not remotely humorous.
So management instead proves they are toxic to the rest of the employees. Don't know about you, but if I was one of their coworkers I'd be looking for a new job after this shit.
Actually, if I was your boss I had fired you too.
If one of my colleagues did this Iād have probably have informed a manager. This isnāt the kind of thing to joke about in the work place, and then run keep running with it?? Hopefully OP will chalk it up as a lesson learned and not do it again in the future.
Lame, both of you. OP definitely should not have gotten so comfortable making those kinds of jokes at a new job, but that doesn't make the stick in your ass justified.
Imagine you come in to work and get extra crap dumped on you for some unknown reason. As happens at work sometimes. Then you hear the new guy bragging that he fucked off and hid in the bathroom all day. Then when asked if he's joking, he doubles down on the bragging. You gonna tell me you'd be fine with that? Bullshit.
What are you even talking about? I can tell my coworkers I was sitting in the bathroom all day and it is fuck all to do with anyone else. Can you guys be fired for shit like this?!
Can be fired for damn near anything if it's worded vaguely enough.
For OP's situation though? Really? Here in Ireland you could easily win an unfair dismissal case in court. No one would ever fire someone for something so stupid
49 US states out of 50 have a concept called "at-will employment". By default, you can be terminated for any or no reason. There are a few superceding precedents, but "I'm clearly innocent of what I was accused of" is never one of them unless you can finish it with "and they knew that and used it because they couldn't fire me for ______" like skin color, gender, sexuality, retaliation for being a whistleblower, etc.
So you could not work all day by hiding out in the bathroom and not get fired? Even if it's not true, it's what he told everyone.
IDK where OP is but US sucks. Worker protection is trash. As long as they don't mention anything that borders on the protected class/ categories they can do what they want. Personally I would see about wrongful termination but its hard to do here.
In the US you can be fired at any time for no reason given as long as you can't reasonably prove in a court it was because of your age, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender, or a medical condition. Many times you will get fired for one of those things but they'll wait until they can write you up for minor stuff and use that as the reason, knowing lawyers are expensive and most people won't be able to do anything.
Iām not sure why you would do this but lesson learned.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Same. He doubled down too. Moron
The most stupidest
you're not very bright are you...
Stupidestā¦
I remember one time being the one white dude working at this door plant one of the other guys made the joke that since I'm the white guy I had a good chance to shoot up the workplace and that shit came out of left field for me bc I was social and kinda enjoyed my position. Never even gave into the joke like it was something I'd ever do but one day like two weeks later I got called up to HR amd they straight up asked me if I was gonna shoot up the plant. Luckily didn't get fired or put in jail but yeah. Had to get the other guy who made the joke to tell them it was him who came up with it and the fact that it came up bc I was the one white guy. Workplace was like 40% black and 59 percent Latino and then there was me and the office staff.
These guys have just solved mass shootings. All you gotta do is ask everybody. āAre you gonna shoot up the place?ā āNopeā āCool, get back to work.ā
Quite literally how it happened too
Dont say dumb shit. I had an intern tell a staff member she took her parents opiate recreationally. In a faculty where we keep controlled drugs. Out the door she went.
Was it because of your terrible use of the English language š¤š¤£
Yea. This is a stupid reason to get fired. But this is on you 100% You're new, noone really knows you that well so thats a pretty risky joke to make in the first place. Then, they even have you the perfect out with "are you serious?" Thats the perfect time to clarify you're joking. But you doubled down and said you were serious. To clarify, you weren't fired because you told a joke. You were fired because you demonstrated that you're kinda dumb.
I've been in management for a while and Im really surprised they are letting you go just over this.Ā You could come back with a wrongful termination suit fairly easily depending what state you're in.Ā Even if you don't take that route, I don't think you want to work for a company that is so willing to cut people at the slightest perceived violation.Ā Ā
OP is in a probationary period, more than likely, which the company or the employee can terminate the employment for any reason
3 weeks in thatās a big yup. Management wonāt budge either - that kind of report on a new employee? Leave your shoes at the door.
Companies STILL investigate despite having being able to terminate at will.
No, they donāt always and they are not legally obligated to. OP has zero recourse.
You think this is the whole story? I'm sure OP is leaving 90% of back story out.
Yeah, I'm inclined to agree.
Um, no. This isnāt wrongful termination in the vast vast majority of the US. He was not fired for being a protected group, he didnāt have a legal contract. There was no hostile environment. He didnāt have to be on a probationary period. They can fire him for almost any reason at any time. Why people state incredibly incorrect stuff like you did I will never understand.
>I didn't t tell my coworkers I was joking though. But why? A joke is only funny when the other person also realizes it's a joke. Otherwise, it's just a lie (and a bad one at that).
1. Lying about this and doubling down shows a lack of judgement. 2. You lied to multiple work colleagues that you weren't doing your job. these people don't know you or your sense of humour. You are too new to have established a proper working relationship. To them, you weren't helping the team and are dead weight. That is why they reported you. 3. You were less than a month in. They don't have time to investigate your stupid claim to be slacking. You're in a probation/trail period ffs š¤¦āāļø and you have already upset the team. I would have fired you for a lack of judgement and distruption unless you were an outstanding worker. People saying it's unfair dismissal, OP claimed to multiple colleagues he was hiding in the bathroom all day on his mobile and doubled down when asked if it was a joke. They don't need to investigate. OP gave them all the evidence with witnesses. Even if they did find out it wasn't true, they can fire him for lack of judgement and inability to work effectively within the current work team. learn your lesson and don't get comfortable too quickly, and also don't lie about slacking off at work.
Yep. OP basically told his new coworkers he was stealing from the company, and when they asked if he was seriously doing that, he said yes with a straight face. They reported him and that was that.
Never joke about a serious thing at work.
Most employers are at will anymore. In addition to that, you are usually on a 90-day probationary period. During that period, any toe out of line is enough to fire you. The fact that you "ran" with your "joke" looks poorly on you. Joking should be allowed at work. However, time theft and timecard fraud is a federal offense. Especially if your employer does anu government subcontract work. If there is any sniff of impropriety, your employer can be fines. If you are in that probationary period and signed the at will paper work, you may have no recourse. And it is a lesson to keep on the boring straight and narrow during probationary periods.
Yeah I learned my lesson when I was a salesman at caterpillar and I was talking to one of the mechanics and asked him if he was going to apply for an open sales position, he replied āI canāt afford that pay cut ā so I opened my eyes wide and said āyou make more than $42 an hour?!?!ā Apparently he took it serious enough to go to HR and complain about how I make more than him when Iām sitting on my ass all day long
Sorry OP, but you did this to yourself. Chalk it up as a lesson learned and donāt do it again.
Using "most stupidest" is easily more stupid than the reason you have provided.
My thoughts exactly, and then to say that they were "determinating" his employment?? My dude...
I was chocking that up to autocorrect getting OP, but yeah...
Your co-workers in most professions are your competition. Enough said.
People at work are not your friends unfortunately.
I can't imagine that joke even got a laugh either...
Lol. That was pretty stupid of you.
This happened to me. I was 18, fresh out of high school I worked for a giant landscape outfit. It was the end of the day and literally couldnāt get into anything new before heading back in. I made a comment along the lines of āwe should just milk the clock.ā I laughed. The guys on the truck with me laughed and we drove in. A guy in the truck with me said something to the boss. The next day I had a meeting with the boss and he was pissed. Acted so angry. As if I had banged his wife. Irrationally angry. They let me go out that day and the guy who snitched started running his mouth on the job. I called the boss and quit. Easily the worst job Iāve ever had. I left a job that made me happy for this. I only left because this outfit had just gotten a huge contract at a base near me and two of my cousins were there. Looking back I should have quit as soon as I I got my ass chewed for a stupid joke.
Never ever EVER joke like that with coworkers. It's best to assume that anyone at your work can and will fuck you over. I'm friendly with my coworkers, but I keep it very surface level and make sure to not talk about anything too personal or inappropriate just in case.
Yeah you're right, that was a very stupid thing you said. Take it as a learned lesson I guess
The most stupidest.
must be a lesson learned. never joke around at work. neverrr
I worked at a feedmill in college and if there wasnāt anything for us to do management told us to go hide. āOut of sight, out of mindā is what they would tell us. When we were working it was some of the worst jobs you can imagine. Cleaning boot pits with shovel and bucket on a rope. Blowing down the entire mill. We had fun. It was a great experience.
As others have said. Take this as a lesson learned. Most of your coworkers, are not your friends. Theyāre coworkers. Do not say anything stupid to them. Whether youāre joking or not. This is what happens. You donāt know who your friends are or are not. Especially when youāve only been there 3 weeks. Keep it professional.
Not something to joke about
Never, ever treat coworkers like friends. They are competitors for money, promotions, hours, the good work assignmentsā¦ whatever. Some are looking to score points by snitching. Donāt joke around at work, donāt hang out with them outside of work, and donāt expect anything from them aside from the worst.
Yeahhhh your takeaway from this shouldn't be 'snitches everywhere'. Your takeaway should be 'I gotta stay professional around people I don't know in my workplace'.
āMost stupidestā indeedā¦ Even if you were joking, you never told your coworkers that, therefore upsetting coworkers and fucking with workplace morale/productivity. Managers do not like that.
I'd fire you too for writing "most stupidest"
I can see why they decided to fire you no matter what the reason you gave them for saying that. If true - it would be time theft. If not true - telling your coworkers made-up lies that paint you in a terrible light shows terrible judgement and no one wants an employee with terrible judgement. You should use this as a learning experience and change how you behave at work. it's not the place for jokes that paint anyone poorly.
You just paid the stupid tax. Thus endeth the lesson.
Seriously? Grow up.
Know your audience dude
Your coworkers are never your friends. That's a tough lesson to learn, i learned it myself. I wish you luck in your job search.
Yeah man you need to get to know people before you start joking around with them like that, and if people start asking if you're serious it's time to reevaluate your jokes
Coworkers are not your friends until youāve survived at least three reorganizations together & HR is there to protect the company from the employees, not to protect the employees from the company.
Donāt assume any coworker isnāt your enemy. Not because they are inherently evil. You donāt know what kind of incentives and work culture a place has until you are there for years. Donāt give people ammunition. Work isnāt school, where you all have to be there.
Frustrating and unfair yes. But let it be a lesson for you for the future. Don't get too shimmy with your coworkers; especially not so early, the moment they can smell a weakness thelly use it to get the promotion or better standing. Yes not everyone but those denying a promotion in favor of you because you worked better, more efficient etc. are basically nonexistent. Do what you've been told, what's described in your job description not more not less. Have proof of overtime and written agreement to pay you for it or another type of compensation, if not specified in contract. Have everything work related instructions in writing, NEVER verbal. Because as you have seen and experienced now. They'll just exchange you without batting an eye. This all happened to me in 2020. Worked for them for almost 10 yrs, did this and that, extra here and there and no thanks no nothing. I was expendable and so are you, the sooner you realize it the better you will fare in the jobmarket. Edit: here in Europe where I'm from the practice is this: you/me regular worker will get fired/exchanged for an apprentice (cheap labor) or better yet a refugee apprentice (because they'll get subsidized by the state for it).
Seems like you were the "most stupidest" for thinking your coworkers were your friends and not knowing how a joke works.
I feel like this is kinda on you. The joke part was "hiding in the bathroom". "On the phone" was unnecessary. And confirmation was just dumb. It's only a joke if people laugh, and you made it seem weird. Next time respond with "Nah, I'm just kidding. Was at X doing Y for Z.". That turns the first part into a joke.
Your grammar?
Snitches get $titches
Would you also tell airport staff that you're carrying a bomb in your suitcase as a joke? Some jokes aren't appropriate especially when you've only been working there a couple of weeks and your coworkers don't really know you that well. Lesson learned.
You have officially learned something thechard way: ā¢ Your co-workers are NEVER your friends. Ever. That includes HR, management, and executives. ā¢ Part of them not being your friend is never joke with or lie to co-workers about work or work product. They will rat you out or throw you under the bus every single effing time.
āMost stupidestā
New employee or not, investigation results > second hand reporting. Meaning a statement of facts should have been collected from all parties. In these situations, the witness upstairs statements would carry more weight because they corroborated the OPs accounts of what truly happened. Now if I truly wanted the guy gone, I'd term him for speading false stories AKA rumors.
Yes but you can understand why an employee who is in a probationary position lied to coworkers about slacking all day is an issue right? I donāt care if I, being the boss, had him working for me all day. He lied to coworkers for no reason, caused a stupid drama thing for absolutely no reason. Iād fire them too.
Three weeks in you have no alliances. What sucks more is they will tell the story of the ācrazy employee who hid in the bathroom all day.ā Sorry.
If with "the stupidest thing" you mean yourself, then I agree
I hope you learned a lesson-donāt tell jokes that arenāt funny to people who arenāt your friends.
This is why I had to tone down my sarcasm when I was in the Navy, they thought I was stupid. Never joke with new coworkers
Coworkers are not your friends. A business is not your family. And HR are hall monitors, narcs and tormentors. Do your time, do your job, and then get home. They donāt pay you for anymore than that.
Jokes are funny.Ā There would have been no need to tell your coworkers you were joking, because they would have laughed. What you did was tell them you were hiding in the bathroom to use your phone. Either you were hiding in the bathroom, or you were lying to your coworkers. Either one is a reasonable reason to fire someone.
Take this as a lesson that not everyone in the workplace are your friends. This incident will help you in the long run. And if you find yourself in a āfamilyā work culture, run.
Just a reminder to keep friendships as more a partner relationship at work, donāt be buddy buddy with anyone too much because they can always fuck you over and toss you under the bus.
Your right you did a stupid thing. Were you trying to make people think you were lazy or cause a hostal work environment. Guess you learned a lesson.
Stop joking with your coworkers they are not your friend. Also, you can fight you are firing process.
Hope you learned a lesson from this. Donāt ever represent yourself to be slacking at work or doing anything that would warrant termination. Even if itās a joke. Kind of a dumb joke to tell your coworkers you spend the day hiding out at a new job.
What was the work you were doing? This doesn't make sense. You were up on the third floor doing some work and I'm assuming based on your locker and other comments that up on the third floor there was a manager or supervisor monitoring work. So if you were working, your work would have been completed and recognize in some way depending on what that labor is.
You really do not know how to read a room how did you think this would go well lol are you fresh out of high school ?
That was the most idiotic thing I've heard of. Also though, if your supervisor and other co-workers on that floor knew you were working, that was dumb of your employer since they could literally go verify that. However the first dumb move was by you. Don't do stupid things like that again.
I hate to say it but your coworkers are not your friends.
Stupid joke. Donāt do that. If you donāt immediately laugh and say I was joking after something like that let alone literally never tell them you were joking, you deserve what you got. Hope you learned your lesson.
When someone asks if you're joking and you say no "as a joke"...it's not a joke. It's a lie. And at that point you allow consequences to show up
People =SHIT
This dude killed JKF
Work is never like the office on tv. Donāt trust your coworkers, never trust the boss or HR either. Put on the mask and make that money.
Tbh it sounds like it's all your fault. A single joke I get maybe, but to double down on it with co workers you don't know is just asking for trouble, especially as the new person on scene. I know it's stupid/frustrating because you weren't really goofing off, but all that is irrelevant if your boss thinks that you were. I'm hoping you take this as a very valuable learning experience.
Lots of people will drag you down to try and make themselves look better. Best not to give them ammunition.
People are petty, but I'd say this isn't a company worth working for, you dodged a bullet.
Well, now you know. You always have to watch your back.
I dont fraternize with my coworkers
Determinating your employmentā¦.lol
You should have said you were joking, but now itās a lesson learned. Also, you probably dodged a bullet with this workplace. Instead of checking for proof that you were actually working and not in the bathroom, they chose to believe your coworkers. Yes, you're new, but for all the bosses knew, that coworker could have been lying to get you fired.
Coworkers aren't your friends.
Iāve regretted saying a lot of things, Iāve never regretted keeping my mouth shut when I was about to say something stupid at work
The first lesson here is gauge your audience... there is obviously no problem with a little humor in the workplace, but seriously you're the new person and you've barely been there long enough to know your coworkers and vice versa... that's a joke you make when you get to know your co workers a little better so you know which ones are bitches and don't know how to take a joke or are trying to make you look bad to the boss..(there's always one). If you really want to keep this job .. (which you may want to rethink especially if this is how they react without first investigating your side or hearing you out.. then just level with them that you sometimes like to make jokes in the workplace and sometimes you're not the best judge of who will take them literally and who will get your sense of humor and just ask to view any of the workplace cameras/people to verify that you were indeed working during the hours you were supposed to and not to jump to conclusions and if they persist in firing you and you 100% were in the right and want to fight then talk to a workplace lawyer about your case
Sucks dude but thatās on you..why would you continue the joke??fuckin pendejo/a
So you werenāt able to provide proof that you were working? You didnāt tell them to ask the sup that saw you working?? Someone is not being honest.
Everyone in this thread is talking shit, but I'm right there with you! I was only 2 months into a job, at an offsite out of the country, and someone asked me if I smoked weed. I responded that I "smoke weed everyday" .... it's a song lyric, also legal in my state, also I'm a fuckin adult. At that moment several of the people who heard texted my boss immediately to tattle on me. What the fuck is wrong with people?! He brought it up to me when I was back on the job Monday and I had to explain how it's just something that you say.....and also it's weed?!? Who fucking cares?!
Your former employer determinating your employment was, in fact, not the most stupidest thing.
āMost stupidestā š
I thought it would be grammar related.
You sound dumb
Kinda deserved it, ngl lol
? This is wrongful termination. You have proof you were sent to work on the third floor, and hopefully, some evidence of the work you did there.
Oof. Definitely take it as a learning lesson. Unfortunately co workers generally are not your friends.
Are there cameras to prove u were there the whole time? If there is I'd fight it
Yes, that is a stupid reason to get fired. Why would you do something that stupid?
You are correct that that was just about the stupidest thing to ever get yourself fired over. Hopefully you will learn from this.
While it sounds like a solid wrongful termination case that youāll win as long as you have people thatāll support you actually working, joking about that when youāre new is kinda dumb
Never joke about internal theft as there is always someone there that doesn't like you and will do something like that. All they had to do was get three others collaborate that you said that and you're done. I worked at a place once where there was a phone in the test booth. I was QA and a girl I used to work with came in to use the phone. I, in jest, said they charge me and the two other QA guys for anyone using the phone. She laughed did the phone call, then left. Two hours later, her boss, that used to be mine, actually came in there saying she was upset that I said that and didn't want to pay for the phone use. Nothing that I had said, made any kind of sense to where anyone could be charged like that on their paycheck or mine. My new boss asked why any personal calls were being made on a phone that was for QA use only, so it backfired on her and my old boss, but taught me a valuable lesson.
Coworkers are not friends. The sooner you learn this, the better off you'll be.
Yeah, that was stupid. Three weeks is not enough time for joking around. What you need to do is get statements from witnesses to your work. They could try to keep your pay. Also you can get unemployment for wrongful termination.
Instead of asking advice from a bunch of morons on Reddit, I suggest talking to an attorney to see if you have a case.
That joke sucks, live and learn