I'm not sure if I've been fired

(MoneyWatch) Dear Evil HR Lady,
I was fired over the phone for what my supervisor is calling "an untruthful absence" for which I used vacation days for.

They are now emailing me demanding that I come into the office at my scheduled start time and report to our General Manager once there.

I don't feel it necessary as I have already been told that it is in my best interest to not go back to the office and that I was fired. Now they are telling me something different.

First go in. What's the worst that can happen to you? Fire you, that's what. So, there's no way that going in can make you worse off than you were before.

Additionally, very few companies allow a direct supervisor to simply fire someone over the phone, on their own, without concurrence from their manager and HR. My bet is that your supervisor found himself in some hot water when the general manager found out what he did.

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Now, the question is, what did you do wrong? Exactly what is an "untruthful absence?" Personally, I don't care one whit what people do with their vacation days as long as it's not illegal or embarrassing to the company. The only time it really matters what you are doing with your vacation days is if there were many business reasons why it was a bad time to take off and you said you absolutely had to because your mother was dying/you needed an appendectomy/your daycare provider had the flu and it turns out that you wanted to go bowling. Then I'd be ticked.

But, otherwise, there shouldn't be any punishment for what you do on your scheduled day off.

Who told you that it wasn't in your best interest to go back to the office? Because, again, you really don't have anything to lose. I would go back and apologize for whatever the untruthful absence was and see where things go from there. There's a possibility that you'll get a lecture and your job handed back to you.

If that's the case, be grateful and get your behind back to work. If they lecture you and then finalize the firing, apologize again for the misunderstanding, and leave. Why be nice at this point? Because just like first impressions are important, last impressions are important as well. A future job may contact these people and you want them to remember the positive things about you.

But, go in. Take your lumps, whatever they are. If you've asked for an explanation, for heaven's sake be honest. It may turn out better than you think.

Have a workplace dilemma? Send your question to [e-mail].

[LostValley]

Well said manonthesidewalk. Whole thing makes me wonder if she worked in the 'Star Chamber."

[annie_lou_who]

It sounds like your boss is crazy. I have dealt with crazy bosses before and they are capable of anything.

I'm not sure how a company that fired you can "demand" that you do anything. That is like my ex-husband demanding me to do something. Good luck with that.

If it were me, I would start out by emailing someone in HR and asking HR if you need to bring anything with you to your meeting with the General Manager. If they say "nope, just you" then you can ask what exactly will be discussed and let him/her you would like time to prepare for their questions. If they are super vague, then you are probably going to get canned. Regardless, polish your resume. Working for a crazy person will drive YOU crazy.

Good luck!

[ManOnTheSidewalk]

Some of the advice given in this column is poor.

First off, the person writing in does not make it clear if she really was caught in a lie. "untruthful absence"? So what was it? Did she simply say she was taking a vacation day? Or did she say she was sick, and then later was found out to have been lying?? The latter is rather reasonable grounds for termination. But it might be noted that a refusal to come in and formalize her termination might complicate an application for unemployment benefits.

If she was not caught in a lie and simply took a vacation day that was due (and provided she a) gave notice, and b) adhered to well acknowledged rules for using a vacation day), then it sounds like she was being tried in absentia. I think a formal letter of resignation is in order, stating the grounds for unfair treatment. This will help with a later application for unemployment benefits, and will show to upper management that a lower manager was not playing by the company rulebook (if that really was the case; this letter is kinda sketchy...)

Going in after such a (possible?) violation of your rights as an employee only gives the employer or middle manager a chance to muddy the waters and claim that you quit -bad idea! The letter, if written carefully and sent to the right parties, _might_ (though I'm not saying it probably will...) set in motion a review of the manager that _might_ have acted unfairly, leading to a _formal_ acknowledgement that your termination needs to be reconsidered. AT THIS TENUOUS TIME ALL COMMUNICATIONS SHOULD BE DOCUMENTED IN WRITING. Meetings are a great opportunity for a company to find out what happened yet not be accountable for acknowledging what happened (e.g., sexual harassment, bias, etc.) They want to know what happened? Send them a letter with a receipt. Now at a later date they can't deny that they ever heard of the problem...