#WorkplaceDilemma #ClientCare #FiredOverKindness
Hey everyone, I need to vent and get some advice on a frustrating situation that just went down. So, I work in home health care and got fired the day before a holiday because I gave a client a ride home for free in the middle of a heatwave. 🤦♀️
Here’s the deal:
– I violated a policy about not socializing with clients outside of work hours, which honestly no one follows.
– I genuinely care for the people I help and just wanted to make sure my client didn’t suffer in the scorching heat.
– I got reported for my act of kindness, and my employer considered it gross misconduct and gave me the boot.
But here’s the kicker:
– They waited until after I worked another shift to fire me because they didn’t want to find a replacement right away. 🙄
– I was a top-notch employee, always getting perfect reviews and working hard for them.
So, yeah, FML indeed.
Do you think this is fair? What would you do in my shoes? Should kindness really be punished this way in the workplace? 🤔
As for a solution, maybe there could be more flexibility in policies to account for acts of genuine compassion and care for clients. What do you all think about that? Let me know your thoughts and advice! 💭🙏
I bet a newspaper would have a field day with this
i’d talk to your local news station
As a teacher, among the warnings we were given at the beginning of each year was to never ever give students we were not related to a ride anywhere. As our AP put it, even if it was raining and you see a soaked student walking to school, pray for the rain to stop and keep moving. Only administrators were allowed to transport students, and that was only under specific circumstances, such as during field trips.
Unfortunately, you know that you violated the rule, and there’s nothing to be done about it. Hopefully, you can get something else quickly.
Tell your family, because you’re only giving yourself even more stress by keeping such a big secret.
This isn’t socialization. You randomly encountered a client off-site who was in need of help.
Your company could be planning to fire people, so they are taking any opportunity that arises.
Do you have any protections? A government agency that oversees your company, region, or industry?
Does your contract lay out your obligations to help clients? It’s possible a different section argues you were required to help.
I once got fired for paying someone’s 39 cent balance so they could get their keys to their apartment and move in that day. They were from out of town and didn’t have a local bank to go to, and didn’t have cash to go get a money order for the shortage, so I wrote a check from my own account and deposited it. Otherwise they would have had to come back the next day after staying in a hotel for the night. I accidentally forgot to change the money order box to the check box on the deposit screen, and I was fired for “falsifying financial documents”.
I am so sorry this happened to you and your client. I work for a nonprofit and work with individuals with disabilities too. Before I moved into a more administrative role I was out in the community with clients and we have the same rules. It sucks when its so hot and all your client wants is a ride home and you have to say no.
My mom worked as a home aid for visiting nurses for almost 20 years. She would take laundry home and wash it for free and save her clients money for something else they needed. She would go to a client’s house during storms to make sure they weren’t stuck in the dark alone. She gave them rides on weekends when they needed help off the books. She would have been fired a hundred different times if they enforced the rules like they did to you. I’m sorry you were punished for being a good person. I don’t understand the way those kind of people think.
Let the client you helped know about this.
You should have called you boss and let him make the decision. What you did was basic kindness but you seemed to know it was against the rules.
Go tell news. There are a ton of people out in the real world that will come support you.
I don’t understand why you’re embarrassed by this. You didn’t fraternise or socialise with a client. You offered someone who know and came upon a ride home on a hot day. You were a decent human. They just happen to be a client. There’s some mental gymnastics they’re going through if they’re twisting it into gross misconduct. Were you in a work vehicle? Did you buy the drink on a company card? Like, this is pretty ridiculous on their end.
Escalate the shot outta this. You have nothing to lose now that you’re actually fired, so get your management chain fired too. Local news, and most definitely email some folks several levels above whomever made the call to let you go. Leaving a client without a ride would be a huge negative for the company. You only did what’s right, make it well known.
just because your job is heartless doesn’t mean you have to be.
I have a relative who works in home health and aides are never allowed to drive clients around. It’s not covered under insurance….or the insurance would be too expensive? I’m not sure which.
Of course giving him a ride the decent thing to do, but I can’t blame someone for protecting their company. If you had an accident and this kid was injured your insurance wouldn’t pay because you were working and their insurance doesn’t cover that because you’re not supposed to do it.
Do they get to control people’s lives outside of work though, honestly? Isolating people is something abusive relationships do. I think you did a service.
Shows you that they only care about money and not the people they treat.
please name the company
They were thinking with their ‘business’ heads, not their ‘care’ heads. They are all worried about insurance, liability, and lawsuits.
Thank you for protecting the client. you should be proud that you KNEW you weren’t supposed to do it but did it because you are a good person.
Best wishes finding another job.
No good deed ever goes unpunished.
Crap deal. You sound like a great carer. You will find another job you like better.
My dad got fired from his home health job because he accepted a $3 cheeseburger a client bought for him so they could have lunch together. The next day he was so proud of himself “Yesterday I bought (my dad) a cheeseburger! Aren’t you proud of me?!” (He’s a Developmentally delayed person) he was called into the office and fired
I genuinely don’t think what you did counts as “socializing” in the first place. Like it’s bullshit either way, but I really can’t see how you violated the policy. You helped out a client in a difficult situation outside of work hours. That’s not the same thing as hanging out as friends or whatever. If the policy really means “do not have any contact with clients outside of the work environment” that’s just unreasonable.
On the other side: If you had refused the ride, and the person got sick or died, the employer would still have fired you. And would have directed any criminal charges or lawsuits your way, too.
Your former employer is an asshole and you’re well out of it. Never be ashamed of saving people’s lives!
Yeah.. submit a letter to the editor at local newspapers and call your local new tv stations. You didn’t give him a ride home because you were fraternizing with a client. You did it because you were being humane due to the heat index. You have nothing to be ashamed of!!