Well here in the EU, you have job protection if you are on maternity/paternity leave... at least from the experience I have had in seeing lay-off's around me but a couple that were on maternity leave still have their jobs to come back to.
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A new Dad, days later, laid off from work.
- Thread starter Autokon
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I don't believe you can be let go because of paternity leave.
There's a fine line. Many states have "at will" employment, meaning that both the employer and employee have the right to terminate the working relationship at any time, with or without reason (except for protected status). Essentially, you're free to quit and they're free to terminate you.
FMLA does require employers to maintain an employee's position, but there are some exceptions.
In most of Europe, usually singles are fired first, then people without children, ...
That's good on one side, on the other side it sucks especially for singles since if they get fired the lose everything.
The reason they do that is the singles are easiest to fire with out worrying about discrimination lawsuits but the very act of targeting singles first is illegal. It is just even harder to prove the case.
Wow lots of replies.....thanks ALL for the support. I of course have since filed for unemployment. I received a final check + vacation (I never took any!) and my severance will come in a huge lump sum next week. Wife works, well, is on leave but has a stable job...and we saved for many months. So, were actually OK. I just need a new job =)
Back to the applying grind!
Again, thank you all so incredibly much. I'm having the time of my life with my new baby girl. She's the world.
And just for you fine folks, she gives you this big smile
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/823/24301121299083678131249.jpg/
Back to the applying grind!
Again, thank you all so incredibly much. I'm having the time of my life with my new baby girl. She's the world.
And just for you fine folks, she gives you this big smile
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/823/24301121299083678131249.jpg/
Wow lots of replies.....thanks ALL for the support. I of course have since filed for unemployment. I received a final check + vacation (I never took any!) and my severance will come in a huge lump sum next week. Wife works, well, is on leave but has a stable job...and we saved for many months. So, were actually OK. I just need a new job =)
Back to the applying grind!
Again, thank you all so incredibly much. I'm having the time of my life with my new baby girl. She's the world.
And just for you fine folks, she gives you this big smile
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/823/24301121299083678131249.jpg/
All I can say is "Aaaaaaaaaaaawwww............" I just wanna reach through the screen and smoosh that tiny Baby Doll.
You indeed have reason for that BIG smile.I do hope you'll be working soon, but then again there's nothing sweeter than being around for those Morning Baby Babble sessions.....the very best sounds in the world. So perhaps a few weeks home with that is the Bright side of unemployment.
Some stuff to think about... No right or wrong answers, just things you should know as you move forward in your search... you don't want to be thinking of answers when talking to people or during an interview.
* What do you like doing?
* Are you an individual contributor, or do you like to lead and delegate?
* What do you NOT like doing?
* What specifically about your last job did you like? Not like?
* What types of people do you find yourself enjoying working with?
* What sort of achievements can you point to in your career?
* Have you been able to save your company a verifiable amount of money or effort?
* Have you been able to increase your company's revenues in some way? How much?
* What did you like about your last company/position?
* What did you not like?
* Were you moving forward?
* Do you like small, medium or large companies? Why?
* Do you like handling problems as they come in, or do you go looking for problems to solve?
* What sort of people did you look up to at your last job? What positions did they have?
* What sort of people did you feel bad for in your last job, and why?
* What sort of skills - hard and soft - have you picked up over the last 3-4 years, and what are they?
* Name a few tough situations that you helped with recently, how did you make a difference personally?
* What hobbies do you (did you, now that you're a papa!) have?
* What do you excel in, either at work or outside of it?
* What's your main passion?
Of course, don't reply to the forum! Just ask yourself these questions and write down some notes and reflect on them a bit. You may find, as others have noted, an opportunity where you didn't expect it - you'll need a way to understand whether or not it's a good opportunity (e.g., moves you forward) or a false move. Plenty of times I've taken a sideways move in my career because the move eliminated the ceiling I was under. But if you don't at least have a general idea of where you want to go, you may not recognize a good opportunity.
One recommendation I'd make is to get onto LinkedIn if you aren't already. Most jobs are gotten through connections; many recruiters put job openings right on LinkedIn. I'm getting contacts from recruiters about once a month this way. By the way, always be friendly with recruiters... if you make a good impression, they'll keep you in mind.
Also, make sure your CV is in good shape - but also in such shape so that when it gets chopped up by contractor houses, recruiters and staffing departments it's still decent.
Don't let the bastards wear you down!
* What do you like doing?
* Are you an individual contributor, or do you like to lead and delegate?
* What do you NOT like doing?
* What specifically about your last job did you like? Not like?
* What types of people do you find yourself enjoying working with?
* What sort of achievements can you point to in your career?
* Have you been able to save your company a verifiable amount of money or effort?
* Have you been able to increase your company's revenues in some way? How much?
* What did you like about your last company/position?
* What did you not like?
* Were you moving forward?
* Do you like small, medium or large companies? Why?
* Do you like handling problems as they come in, or do you go looking for problems to solve?
* What sort of people did you look up to at your last job? What positions did they have?
* What sort of people did you feel bad for in your last job, and why?
* What sort of skills - hard and soft - have you picked up over the last 3-4 years, and what are they?
* Name a few tough situations that you helped with recently, how did you make a difference personally?
* What hobbies do you (did you, now that you're a papa!) have?
* What do you excel in, either at work or outside of it?
* What's your main passion?
Of course, don't reply to the forum! Just ask yourself these questions and write down some notes and reflect on them a bit. You may find, as others have noted, an opportunity where you didn't expect it - you'll need a way to understand whether or not it's a good opportunity (e.g., moves you forward) or a false move. Plenty of times I've taken a sideways move in my career because the move eliminated the ceiling I was under. But if you don't at least have a general idea of where you want to go, you may not recognize a good opportunity.
One recommendation I'd make is to get onto LinkedIn if you aren't already. Most jobs are gotten through connections; many recruiters put job openings right on LinkedIn. I'm getting contacts from recruiters about once a month this way. By the way, always be friendly with recruiters... if you make a good impression, they'll keep you in mind.
Also, make sure your CV is in good shape - but also in such shape so that when it gets chopped up by contractor houses, recruiters and staffing departments it's still decent.
Don't let the bastards wear you down!
A business that used this criteria per se would be sued for discrimination. The only criteria for losing people is 'who can be lost with the least affect on the business'. For example, experience comes over time, so younger people are more likely to be single and have less experience, older people are more experienced and more likely to have a kid. It is an indirect relationship; the business is using experience as the criteria.
Bad luck to the OP and I hope a new job comes along soon.
Hey, hey...watch it! What you're asking is almost akin to workers' rights. We simply cannot have such things! To suggest such a thing is anti-business and un-American.
Congratulations on your new baby
But sorry to hear about your job :/ Hope you find a new one okay!
But sorry to hear about your job :/ Hope you find a new one okay!
This new Dad is still having all sorts of trouble...and I'm a damn good interviewer/job hunter. Just bad timing all around it seems. I've had a few interviews here and there...was told I was over-qualified for two, pending a return phone call after a recent in person 4th interview.
ARG!
Wife goes back to work next week, she knows how hard I've been job hunting and applying. A tad bit of depression is starting to kick in due to the Husband/Dad not pulling his weight factor. Thats in my mind though, my Wife is the greatest and has been helping me through and through.
Blah... Sorry, figured I'd update those who posted here and have been a true help, I really appreciate it guys.
ARG!
Wife goes back to work next week, she knows how hard I've been job hunting and applying. A tad bit of depression is starting to kick in due to the Husband/Dad not pulling his weight factor. Thats in my mind though, my Wife is the greatest and has been helping me through and through.
Blah... Sorry, figured I'd update those who posted here and have been a true help, I really appreciate it guys.
I admire you're attitude towards all that you've got going on at the moment. Keep it up! I wish you the ABSOLUTE best of luck.
I do happen to do a bit of side work...since I'm an IT, computer repair, consulting etc and even a bit of videography/image editing. I'm just going to have to increase that sort of work until I find something more permanent.
I was so happy to see your update. Sorry the job hunt is so frustrating for you, but it's a really positive sign that you can put your talents to good use in the interim.
Meanwhile, just enjoy this time with your precious Baby. Just think, you are totally there to see all those Firsts - the adorable toothless Baby Babble, sitting/wobbling/crawling. This phase goes all to quickly, and you are lucky enough to be right there with her, to enjoy every wondrous moment.
This might be a good time to use this as an opportunity to be fully self-employed. Doing IT services can get you started, but as you are doing it, look for ways to build a product. Products bring residual income, where services do not (unless you are able to sell service contracts).
Good luck!
They are afraid you'll bugger off when something better comes along.
That costs them time and money training you, and then they have to do it all over again. Makes it hard to get your foot in the door for a potential change of career.
An immediate thought is a Performance Bond, but I have never heard of it being used to assure your fealty to a company, for a set length of time.
Unfortunately, very true.
Forget it, that will never happen. Not necessarily a bad idea, but it won't float.
To the OP:
* If your resume is too good, you'll get those "overqualified" responses that you've mentioned. Consider downgrading it just a tad.
* Make sure you _look_ like you're employed right now. Not busy, but employed. How you pull this off is up to you. If you have a LinkedIn page, I hope you haven't changed your employer. If you have, set it back if you can.
* Consider getting in touch with contract houses. These were huge 10 years ago, they're probably making a comeback now. Aerotek is a fairly major player in this arena, but there are others. Note: don't downgrade your resume for a contract house!