Discussion
Until recently I had a fairly decent job with a decent wage packet (Mechanical Engineer).
Due to a very strong difference of opinion between myself and the boss I refused to release drawings for manufacture as in my opinion the product I had designed had not had sufficient (any) structural analysis (FEA) to be released into the public domain.
It was a new product and one that the company nor I had had any previous experience of manufacturing.
The boss (no-engineering background) considered it ok to purchase tooling and to go straight to build to save time so we could get it at a trade-show.
I was fired on the spot for gross mis-conduct (after having several hundred F's thrown at me), (I was kinda glad to be out of there).
I went to the job centre to set up a claim.
The Jobcentre investigated my circumstances and concluded I had left of my own free will, that I would not be eligible for any assistance.
I have appealed and the JC have come to the same conclusion.
I needed some income PDQ so after signing up with a load of agencies and online CV matching services and getting no response.
I found a job as a repair engineer. They wanted an immediate start, which was ideal. The pay is minimum wage, to supplement this I've got a job as a takeaway delivery driver.
I have been working 75 hours per week every week since September. In early January I had a few days off with the flu, yesterday I had an emergency dental appointment (due to an abscess), I have a follow on appointment on Friday.
I am just coming to the end of my probationary period and they have told me they do not want to continue with my employ because I'm never there!
I can't re-locate due to family commitments, my girlfriend and I share a car (which restricts where I can work).
I am a fairly clever chap, with much to offer.
Anyone have any ideas?
Due to a very strong difference of opinion between myself and the boss I refused to release drawings for manufacture as in my opinion the product I had designed had not had sufficient (any) structural analysis (FEA) to be released into the public domain.
It was a new product and one that the company nor I had had any previous experience of manufacturing.
The boss (no-engineering background) considered it ok to purchase tooling and to go straight to build to save time so we could get it at a trade-show.
I was fired on the spot for gross mis-conduct (after having several hundred F's thrown at me), (I was kinda glad to be out of there).
I went to the job centre to set up a claim.
The Jobcentre investigated my circumstances and concluded I had left of my own free will, that I would not be eligible for any assistance.
I have appealed and the JC have come to the same conclusion.
I needed some income PDQ so after signing up with a load of agencies and online CV matching services and getting no response.
I found a job as a repair engineer. They wanted an immediate start, which was ideal. The pay is minimum wage, to supplement this I've got a job as a takeaway delivery driver.
I have been working 75 hours per week every week since September. In early January I had a few days off with the flu, yesterday I had an emergency dental appointment (due to an abscess), I have a follow on appointment on Friday.
I am just coming to the end of my probationary period and they have told me they do not want to continue with my employ because I'm never there!
I can't re-locate due to family commitments, my girlfriend and I share a car (which restricts where I can work).
I am a fairly clever chap, with much to offer.
Anyone have any ideas?
Edited by HiRoller on Wednesday 30th January 11:00
It does sound rather like you talked your way out of your mechanical engineering job. It was for the boss to make business judgments, not you, and, absent any clear issue of illegality or danger, you generally have to do what you are told by your boss.
The dismissal might have been unfair, and you might even have had a whistleblowing claim, if there really was a safety issue with the product in question, but you have left it too late to make a claim to an employment tribunal (the time limit is three months from termination of employment, or three months from the employer's negative response to the alleged act of whistle blowing, which is the same thing here).
On this occasion at least, there should be no issue about your entitlement to jobseekers' allowance, or whatever it is called these days. You might have had a basis for an appeal to a tribunal against the previous decision on benefits, but there again you may be out of time by now (I cannot recall off hand the appeal time limits in benefits cases, but Google should show them fairly easily).
The civil law helps those who help themselves, I am afraid, and the time to seek advice was soon after the first dismissal, not now.
The dismissal might have been unfair, and you might even have had a whistleblowing claim, if there really was a safety issue with the product in question, but you have left it too late to make a claim to an employment tribunal (the time limit is three months from termination of employment, or three months from the employer's negative response to the alleged act of whistle blowing, which is the same thing here).
On this occasion at least, there should be no issue about your entitlement to jobseekers' allowance, or whatever it is called these days. You might have had a basis for an appeal to a tribunal against the previous decision on benefits, but there again you may be out of time by now (I cannot recall off hand the appeal time limits in benefits cases, but Google should show them fairly easily).
The civil law helps those who help themselves, I am afraid, and the time to seek advice was soon after the first dismissal, not now.
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 30th January 11:07
The company would be in the frame for product liability claims. We don't know enough about the circumstances to assess who was right or wrong about the product launch. If the OP was right, he should have appealed within the company and/or made a tribunal claim. He might, as mentioned above, have qualified for whistleblower protection.
doogz said:
Well, again, I have to disagree.
He designed it. He sketched it up. He wasn’t happy with the amount of analysis and testing that had gone on. That’s his job, and his responsibility as the equipment engineer. That’s what he was hired to do.
It may come back to the company, but it'll ultimately come back to the responsible engineer, the person that signed it off. I don't fancy going to jail because the office manager is in a bit of a hurry, which is why we have a very thorough checking and QA process in here. We don't f
k about with people's lives.
Quite, I wouldn't put my name on any design I'm not happy with for the reasons doogz has put above, thankfully my managers also have to put their names on the documents and also check and double check before it gets anywhere near production.He designed it. He sketched it up. He wasn’t happy with the amount of analysis and testing that had gone on. That’s his job, and his responsibility as the equipment engineer. That’s what he was hired to do.
It may come back to the company, but it'll ultimately come back to the responsible engineer, the person that signed it off. I don't fancy going to jail because the office manager is in a bit of a hurry, which is why we have a very thorough checking and QA process in here. We don't f
k about with people's lives.As you disagree with my post about a possible claim, do you therefore think that the OP should (as he did) take his stand, get fired, and then do nothing about it? If the engineer takes that stand, and the company ignores his advice, then he will have a defence to any HSE prosecution, quite apart from the claim that he might have against the company. I reiterate that here we do not know enough to conclude who was right on the issue.
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 30th January 11:42
My concern is that I live in a fairly rural location and Mechanical Jobs are few and far between.
I was quite glad to have left the first place as there was a fair amount of bullish behaviour, corner cutting and technical decisions (agreed by all three senior technical staff) to then be overuled and be told 'we were just a bunch of c**ts'.
My issue is getting back on career track after a very wobbly few months.
I was quite glad to have left the first place as there was a fair amount of bullish behaviour, corner cutting and technical decisions (agreed by all three senior technical staff) to then be overuled and be told 'we were just a bunch of c**ts'.
My issue is getting back on career track after a very wobbly few months.
Edited by HiRoller on Wednesday 30th January 11:45
Difficult to make a call here. The key obviously is to find a new role that plays to your strengths and builds and develops you.
Mech engineers are in demand, so I am surprised to hear you can’t find a role. However (as I often see in these kind of posts) it sounds as if you are defeating yourself with unreasonably constraints.
Can’t relocate, have to car share. fk that. I run a shed, cost me £500 to buy, has lasted two years so far and still going.
Jag/Landy, Dyson, BAE, GE and many others are still hiring. At interview all you need say is that you left the firm as you felt strongly a product required further development and testing before production. You can spin that as a positive.
Happy to review your CV and see if it can be improved (PM me), You sound like you aren’t scared of hard work, so the only thing stopping you is constraints you are putting on yourself.
Mech engineers are in demand, so I am surprised to hear you can’t find a role. However (as I often see in these kind of posts) it sounds as if you are defeating yourself with unreasonably constraints.
Can’t relocate, have to car share. f
k that. I run a shed, cost me £500 to buy, has lasted two years so far and still going. Jag/Landy, Dyson, BAE, GE and many others are still hiring. At interview all you need say is that you left the firm as you felt strongly a product required further development and testing before production. You can spin that as a positive.
Happy to review your CV and see if it can be improved (PM me), You sound like you aren’t scared of hard work, so the only thing stopping you is constraints you are putting on yourself.
At 35mile radius, LinkedIn returns 5 replies. None of which I have suitable experience in. Whether its wrong CAD package, or requiring knowledge of technologies I have little or no experince of.
I have contacted matchtech.
A couple of my mates from uni are at Tata/JLR and doing well.
I have been looking at going offshore..
I have contacted matchtech.
A couple of my mates from uni are at Tata/JLR and doing well.
I have been looking at going offshore..
doogz said:
Thanks, found a couple.I have been scouring the regular job boards/ job sites. ]
I now see my mistake
doogz said:
You can't relocate due to family commitments, but you're considering going offshore?
And if you manage to secure yourself a decent contract role, you'll be able to buy another car.
Wrong CAD package? Are you a mechanical engineer, or draughtman? Either way, new program, learn it. Most are broadly similar and easy enough to pick up.
I can work away but I need to be living here as my main address.And if you manage to secure yourself a decent contract role, you'll be able to buy another car.
Wrong CAD package? Are you a mechanical engineer, or draughtman? Either way, new program, learn it. Most are broadly similar and easy enough to pick up.
Most of the roles are software engineers and I am familiar with SolidWorks, ANSYS and MATLAB.
The flavour of the month seems to be ProE
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