by Carmel Brulez

Created on: October 18, 2009   Last Updated: October 19, 2009

People get fired for all different reasons. They can be made redundant or laid off through no fault of their own. But when they are sacked it is because of something about them. No boss is going to sack someone who is honest and hardworking. He would be stupid to. The amount of time and cost involved in getting rid of an employee and then finding another and training them to take their place is enormous. If you treat your boss fairly he will want to keep you on and value you.

One of the main reasons people get sacked is because they do not stick to their contracted hours. Perhaps they agreed to work 40 hours a week yet they get in late, have long lunch hours and go home early. Or chatting to the other staff when you should be working. This shows the other staff a very bad example, giving them the idea it is acceptable for them to be just as lazy. It also means that your boss is paying you to do work that you are not doing. Maybe this will result in an order being late or not being done in time, it certainly means that the profits go down.

Another reason that people get sacked is because they are slow at their work. If the other staff get more done than you in the same amount of time it is not fair to them or the boss. Either speed up and do as much as them or admit you are in the wrong job.

Stealing at the work place is another reason to be sacked. This does not have to mean that you walk off with a bagful of money. Stealing need not be so obvious. Maybe you run up a big phone bill at work, steal envelopes or other supplies that were paid for by the firm.

A bad worker is sometimes one who is scatty. With the best will in the World a scatty employee does not get things done. If they have been asked to sort out a delivery but sort it out for the wrong time or day, or arrange for someone to collect it 3 hours late, and everything keeps going wrong because they cannot get their act together, then they are worse than useless. Someone else will have to see where they have gone wrong and try to put it right, if this is possible. Such a worker is of no use. They are not achieving anything and they are making it harder for others to get on with their work too.

Untidy and scruffy workers are not acceptable. Especially if they are working in the reception or sales where they are meeting clients and customers and must give a good initial impresson.

Usually a boss will have a word with a staff member and warn them that they must improve things. If this fails they may get another warning, depending on what they have done wrong. But if they do not do their work well they may be sacked.

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