An Aussie woman claims she was fired on her first day at a UK salon because she wasn’t ‘passionate enough’, despite arriving on time and working with a broken leg.
Rhiannon Cunningham claimed her boss told her she should have arrived 15 minutes early to be truly prepared.
The frustrated hairdresser said her day had got off to a rocky start after her first bus was cancelled.
The second one drove past her without stopping, forcing Ms Cunningham to fork out money for an Uber so she would still make it to the salon on time.
But that didn’t seem to matter.
‘I get there on time, and then I’m working for about ten minutes, and then the boss arrives,’ Ms Cunningham said in a TikTok.
‘She pulls me outside to basically say I don’t work there anymore.
‘She said I wasn’t passionate enough and that I should be aiming to get there about 15 minutes early to ensure that I’m never late, and that I didn’t ask enough questions on my first day.’
Ms Cunningham said she was hired despite being upfront about having a broken leg, an injury sustained just a week earlier.
‘I worked as a manager of a salon before, and probably I would have been a little bit better at my job,’ she said.
‘But I have a broken leg right now so obviously I can’t be running around like a crazy person.’
Ms Cunningham said the blow came after she was made redundant from her previous marketing role in March, a job that still owes her $3,200 in unpaid wages.
She said her debt has since spiralled into credit card arrears.
‘I can’t even go get a little hospitality job or like a retail job, because I have a broken leg and I can barely walk,’ Ms Cunningham said.
Her story struck a chord online, with social media users questioning the fairness of a culture where workers are discarded so quickly and with so little compassion.
‘This sounds rough! I work in HR and would highly suggest going to the Fair Work Commission website and applying for unfair dismissal,’ one wrote.
‘Even though you were in your probation period, you still need to be notified with a meeting and have the opportunity to a support person. You can definitely claim some money back then.’
Another said she was fired from her first fashion job after finishing university.
‘They fired me within the month because the manager said I should be getting in before her and leaving after her,’ she said.
Ms Cunningham said she’s still holding on to hope.
‘I’ve been crying my eyes out all morning,’ she said.
‘I have $100 in my account, I have rent, a gym membership, mobile plan. I’m really trying to stay positive.’