It’s been an interesting couple of weeks since I left my last place of employment. Let’s start at the beginning.

I raised a grievance regarding a colleague, whose behaviour has been negatively affecting the premises, and other staff, for some months. This behaviour had been occasionally witnessed by the owners but various members of staff raising verbal concerns had fallen on deaf ears. This culminated in me having to work on a major calendar date that was my day off, (leaving my wife at home alone), because said person could not work it, due to illness. On the day, said person turned up to party the night away. Nothing was done. So, I raised a formal written complaint, because I was at the end of my tether.

Shortly afterwards, I was called into a discussion about my complaint. During this, I was told that while they agreed with some parts of the complaint and disagreed with others, they had taken my comments on board and said that they had some bad news.

They explained that due to financial constraints they could no longer afford to employ me. They said that maybe I’d find a better fit in an establishment with more rigid guidelines, due to my autism, rather than an establishment like theirs with a more relaxed vibe. (This upset me somewhat, as my autism should have nothing to do with it). They said that should business pick up and they were in a position to re-hire me, they’d be in touch. This made me feel better about the whole situation, alongside the fact that I wasn’t the only staff member to be let go at that time. So I picked myself up and got a much better job with more hours and a decent (salaried) pay increase and thought nothing more about it.

Until one of my old regular guests came in and mentioned that an old member of staff had returned full-time into my role. I thought this was nonsense, until another person told me the same. As I know the person they said was in my old job, I asked them if they had returned and was told, “Yes I have your old job haha”. While this upset me a little, as I had not been told the truth as to why I was let go, I’m in a much better place of employment now. There are lots of great staff who all pull together instead of pulling in separate directions, and it feels very professionally run. I’m given free reign in my role, and I’m told by other staff that I will be backed to the hilt by the owner if there are any issues.

I guess the moral of this story is if you are different, don’t rock the boat as you may fall out.

Stay Safe X