RegGaymer

So yesterday I got fired from my job.

I had worked there just over one year, as a Customer Service Advisor for a large UK bookmaker in their call center Head Office.

The reason they let me go was because I had been late six times, and also had six single day absences (sickness) since I started. To be fair two of those absences were self inflicted from killer hangovers, and I cited food poisoning as a reason.

My argument was that they don’t even do sick pay for short term absence, so they were covered in that respect.

The real reason why I got fired was because I challenged their status quo: their policy was that you had to be ready to take a call at the beginning of your shift start time, so I had incurred some lates when I was actually there and logged into my pc before I was due to start - but because it takes 10 minutes to load up applications, I wasn’t ready to take call for a few minutes that overlapped when I had arrived just before my scheduled start time.

They used to do a back to work meeting for every one of these lates ( including the ones where I was there before I was due to get my hourly rate pay), where they’d ask the same scripted questions such as, “do you set an alarm?”, “do you understand the effect lateness has on team morale?”, and, “are you generally happy with your job?”, then make you sign the form.

Like 98% if the time I gave them those 10 minutes for free as a courtesy, and the times when I was running late due to traffic they didn’t take that into consideration.

The company was run by oppressive dinosaurs, who created these rigid draconian procedures, with a very cliquey Management culture who loved to dish out HR disciplinaries like they were candy.

I had been given a verbal warning, then a written warning, and was expecting a final written when so went in yesterday, but they didn’t even give me a final written, just terminated my contract with immediate effect and paid my one months notice in lieu.

From my experience, the bookmaking industry in this country is savagely unethical.

They prey on the most vulnerable by having high street shops in the most deprived areas in the country, and feeding the addictions of all these unemployed people by giving them £2 free play once a month to satiate their cravings and trigger them to come and spend the rest of their government benefits on their FOBT roulette / slot machines.

I hope the government reduces the maximum stake on these machines, as there has been talk of reducing it from £50 to £2 max spin on roulette or slots. If that happens then lots of high street shops will have to close (more than half of the business profits come from FOBT’s) - and the sooner these crooks go out of business the better IMO.