Brit teenager gets fired via Facebook!

MELBOURNE - A teenage schoolgirl has become the first in Britain to get fired from her job through social networking site Facebook.

Chelsea Taylor, 16, who worked part-time at the Lancashire Tea Room, in Leigh, Greater Manchester, was left stunned when she logged on to the site and found a letter of dismissal waiting for her.

In the dismissal letter, manageress Elaine Sutton informed the youngster she was being sacked for losing a 10-pound note during an errand to get some cookies for her colleagues.

But the note, littered with spelling mistakes and signed off with two kisses, left Taylor heartbroken and her family furious.

The letter read: “hiya Chelsea it’s Elaine from work. Sorry to send u a message like this but bin tryin to ring u but gettin no joy.

“I had to tell the owner bout u losin that tenner coz obviously the till was down at the end of day. she wasn’t very pleased at all and despite me trying to persuade her otherwise she said I have to let u go. I’m really sorry.

“If u call in in the week with your uniform I’ll sort your wages out. Once again I’m really sorry but it’s out of my hands. Elaine xx.”

It is believed Taylor now has the unwanted title of becoming the first worker to be axed in Britain via a social networking site.

“I’m absolutely fuming, it’s disgusting. To sack a young worker via Facebook is appalling and heartless - and the way it was written was dreadful,” the Daily Telegraph quoted her mother Nicola, 37, as saying.

“I just can’t believe they didn’t even have the decency to tell her over the phone, let alone in person.

“And to have the message all misspelled with capital letters and apostrophes missing is simply disrespectful and sets no example to other employees.

“What sort of message does firing someone over Facebook send out to young people who are hoping to find work? It’s hard enough for adults to get jobs at the moment.

“My daughter has always worked well in her Saturday job. She worked at the last cafe for eight months and proved herself to be a good worker.

“She was mortified when she realised she had lost the money, but accidents happen. She was so upset when she phoned me to say she had lost the money, she was devastated.

“I told her to be honest and just explain to the manager what had happened. I offered to replace the money but the manager reassured us that it was all fine.

“But then she got this Facebook message later that day telling her not to come back to work and that they had to let her go.

“It seems like the owner doesn’t believe in giving teenagers a second chance. They said that accidents like that shouldn’t happen,” she added.

Kate Southam, the editor of CareerOne and news.com.au’s Cube Farm blogger said, firing an employee over a social networking site would be legally and ethically problematic in Australia.

“Employers in Australia should not get any ideas about taking the easy way out and using Facebook or other social networking tools to terminate staff,” she said.

“It’s a pretty sure bet that any employer dismissing permanent staff via Facebook would be falling foul of the Fair Work Act but terminating casual staff that way is also wrong.

“Just look at the way this cafi is making headlines world wide for its appalling treatment of this young woman.

“We have already had a cafi in Melbourne hit the headlines for bullying resulting in a young woman’s suicide.

“Australia is heading towards another skills shortage so every selfish, greedy employer that mistreats a staff member is making it that much harder for responsible small business operators everywhere to make a living,” she added. (ANI)