What to Do If You’ve Lost Your Job

With the uncertainty of the job market and mounting financial responsibilities, we often concern ourselves with the thought of what would occur if we lost our job.

We go to work every day. Work hard. Put in the time needed to ensure we have a successful future. To ensure job security.

However, there are times when hard work and dedication are not enough. When despite your best efforts, you lose your job for reasons beyond your control.

If that happens, you must ask yourself, “Were you a victim of wrongful termination?”.

Were You A Victim Of Wrongful Termination?

If you believe you were wrongfully terminated, you must consider what was going on at the time of your termination.

• Was the company going through major changes?
• Were issues outside of work affecting your performance?
• Did supervision change and the new supervisor didn’t seem to take to you?
• Was there anything said at the time that, upon reflection, may have given you a clue?

Often employees will not see things as they are occurring as having been caused by some form of discrimination.

Reasons you may have faced wrongful termination and are:

• Whistleblowing
• Unpaid Overtime and Wages
• Sexual Harassment
• Race Discrimination
• Age Discrimination
• Pregnancy Discrimination

And, although losing your job can be stressful and, at times, traumatic, it is important to understand that all is not lost.

You can still have a successful career and future.

Recovering From Wrongful Termination

There is an old saying that when life hands you lemons, you should get into the lemonade business.

While the trauma of losing your job doesn’t lend itself to pat expressions, losing a job might be a time for you to make an assessment of what career path you want to take.

Here are some practical suggestions.

Finding Success after Losing Your Job

There is an opportunity out there waiting for you. It may be difficult to spot while you’re still reeling from bad news, but it is out there.

Trust me.

It may be that you are going to find something you like better and even in a different line of work.

We’ve had many clients change careers because they felt they did not end up in the job they wanted.

They yearned for something new – something exciting.

Continuing your education to assist you in your career change may also be something to consider. Many colleges and universities offer night courses to make attaining an education more accessible.

There are programs out there to help people just like you.

The right fit is out there waiting for you.

Get Organized

One of the first things to do is to emotionally get back on your feet. It’s okay to hurt, but it’s more important to heal.

Organize the things that relate to your past employment.

• Pay stubs
• Disciplinary paperwork
• Last W2’s
• Evaluations

Put all of this information in a secure location that is readily available, as you will need to access it in the event of applying for unemployment compensation or seeking legal counsel.

Unemployment Compensation Can Help

Apply for unemployment compensation. That’s what it’s there for.

Don’t be too proud to get the process going and ask for help.

You can apply online at the FloridaJobs.org. Their website offers helpful tools to conduct job searches and obtain employment.

If you believe that your termination was due to discrimination in the workplace, be sure to have the events properly documented and seek legal counsel.

If someone ran into your car, you would talk to a lawyer in nearly all instances. If someone runs into your job, it may be time to talk to a lawyer about that as well.

Contact Wenzel Fenton Cabassa, P.A. today!

Please Note: At the time this article was written, the information contained within it was current based on the prevailing law at the time. Laws and precedents are subject to change, so this information may not be up to date. Always speak with a law firm regarding any legal situation to get the most current information available.