Career coach discusses protective steps to take when being fired

Suzanne Kleinberg, the author of the book, “Employee Rights and Employer Wrongs,” told DentistryIQ.com that employees suspecting imminent job termination often start behaving in ways that can justify a “you’re fired” result.

Kleinberg, a career coach who owns the Toronto-based Potential to Soar company, said employees who suspect they will be fired often start to “slack off” or do such things as check personal emails during business hours. In addition, employees will often be confrontational with employers.

She said, “They just think, ‘Oh well, just let them try to catch me.’ The problem is that in the United States there are not a lot of protections for employees for being fired.

She also said employees will call in sick or start using vacation days.

“That’s the worst thing you can do because now you’re allowing people to start planning behind your back,” Kleinberg said.

The key is to avoid justifying a dismissal in the employer’s mind. Kleinberg also writes about the benefits of a “job journal” during the difficult transition period. Both positive and negative experiences in the workplace are recorded in the journal.

She said, “You don’t show the journal to the boss and say, ‘Hey, I’ve been tracking you.’ You want to be able to show a pattern” to back up any claims against an employer.

A press release for "Employee Rights and Employer Wrongs" said the book covers such topics as:

• The top 10 mistakes employers make that employees are probably not aware of

• How to protect yourself if you suspect you’re being targeted for termination

• Facts about workplace bullying, harassment, abuse, and discrimination

• Sample letters for filing a sexual harassment complaint, protesting a reprimand memo, demanding unpaid wages, and other complaints

"Employee Rights and Employer Wrongs" is available in paperback via the author’s website, as well as at Amazon.com.