Can your boss fire you for interviewing for a different job?

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|Chaz|

Well-Known Member
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So my friend Lacey today told her boss she was interviewing for a different job today and she was fired on the spot. Is that legal? It doesn't sound like it's legal... but I'm not positive.
 
Do not let your employer know anything about looking for a new job until you have an offer you like. What was the reason she was fired? Is it a big or a small company? Try calling hr if they have an hr department. That or call the labor board.
 
Nah, it's a small optometrist's office. She was fired purely for telling her boss she had an interview today. They're closing up at the end of March so firing her was just making the inevitable come faster.
 
Probably not 100% legal but there might be a loop hole. Its probably not worth fighting. I heard somewhere that if you get fired you can collect unemployment.
 
Probably not 100% legal but there might be a loop hole. Its probably not worth fighting. I heard somewhere that if you get fired you can collect unemployment.

whered you hear that?
thats a complete fallacy!

im pretty sure thats not legal.. i cant recall where i heard this though.
 
Probably not 100% legal but there might be a loop hole. Its probably not worth fighting. I heard somewhere that if you get fired you can collect unemployment.

you can collect unemployment if you get fired. happened to my girlfriends dad
 
your ex employer can attempt to fight the unemployment, but will probably lose in these circumstances
i think have to be fired to collect unemployment
quitting does not usually qualify you for unemployment benefits
 
The employer can fight the unemployment, but it really depends on the state. Some states have different regulations for unemployment qualification.
 
Perhaps its legal if she was interviewing for a competing company.
 
Nah, her optometrist isn't competing with Denny's...
 
your ex employer can attempt to fight the unemployment, but will probably lose in these circumstances
i think have to be laid off to collect unemployment
quitting does not usually qualify you for unemployment benefits


Big difference between fired and laid off ;x.
 
never ever ever ever ever ever even hint that you're looking elsewhere.

if you need time off for an interview, Aunt sally passed away. or something else.
 
Being fresh on the subject.....It is perfectly legal to fire someone for almost anything in washington state. We're an Employment at Will State. That means at any time, either party can end the employment relationship if there were no express contract defining the relationship and the employee does not belong to a collective bargaining unit (union, association, etc).

I doubt your GF belonged to an secretary or optometrist union, and had a specific contract until the end of the month when the "shop" shuts its doors.
 
Yeap, they sure can fire her ass. nothing wrong with it either. I told my boss yesterday that I have an interview but, they laid me off so they can't fire me because they allow time to interview during the layoff process
 
Yes, and most of the time you can still collect unemployment if you are fired.

Here in Michigan, unless you are fired for attendance or theft you can still collect. And even at that, the employer has to take it to an appeal in order for you not to receive the benefits.

Your best bet is to still keep it to yourself if you're interviewing or seeking other positions.
 
Well, my last job we had a guy fired for "stealing" scrap aluminum that he was taking to the recycling joint and selling. No criminal action was ever taken, but technically he was fired for theft.

It's all in the interpretation I suppose.
 
washington sucks about that.

1) she can collect unemployment.
2) she shouldn't have said anything. learning lessons through life i guess
3) she should try for another admin job. there are a ton on craigslist. denny's sucks.
 
Depending on state laws they dont need any reason to fire someone. Here in Ga they have a thing called "right to work", basically an employer needs no reason at all to fire an employee, no matter how long they have worked for the company, or how good or bad they were as an employee.
 
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