An Australian worker’s TikToks went viral with a series of videos about how she was fired for complaining that her position was falsely advertised.
TikToker Nat (@trial_and_error) posted the series, describing how she lost her job when she chose to stand up for herself. The videos have garnered over 65,000 views as of Monday.
@trial_and_error This is all alleged of course 🥰🥰🥰 just a funny little story #capitalismsuckssouls #cortisollevels #nothowitshouldgo #sickof9to5 ♬ original sound – nat
Nat’s issues with her job begins shortly after she took the position and realized it was allegedly falsely advertised, she says. According to the videos, her team was hired for an account management role, but their real duties consisted of calling pre-designated numbers for up to eight hours a day.
“We had applied to the job under the title Accounts Manager and were essentially telemarketers. We were told that there was an element of promotion that was part of the role but not a main part,” Nat explains.
Nat continues, “This isn’t the job that was advertised. This was a very tedious task we are doing every day. We were just calling people every day and half of them were answering machines.”
Frustrated with her duties and lack of communication from the higher-ups, Nat says she decided to request a meeting with the manager above her team leader.
@trial_and_error after this conversation, a week passed and the next conversation i was in was when they fired me #unfairdismissal #exploitationawareness#costoflivingcrisisaustralia #authorityfiguresissues ♬ Girls Like Me Don’t Cry (Remix) – thuy
“I confronted my manager about it, and she said, ‘Don’t care’,” Nat shares. “So I went to the manager above her. After trying multiple times trying to give feedback about how the team was going.”
The team reportedly had no control over how they operated. Their phones were allegedly hooked up to an automatic dialer, and their data was out of date.
Hopeful, Nat says she went into her meeting with the two managers armed with suggestions for improvements like more autonomy and access to the data sheets. But her meeting did not go as planned.
“I went in for a meeting with her and her boss and I got torn to f*cking shreds. I literally got told I was wasting their time,” she recalls.
Two weeks later, Nat says her direct manager assembled their team to ask if they have any questions regarding their duties and roles.
Nat asked multiple questions that she alleges revealed how unprepared her manager was. “The questions I was asking her was exposing the fact that she hasn’t been doing her job for 3 weeks,” Nat claims.
The following week, Nats says she questioned her manager for a second time, while they were in front of multiple employees.
“I confronted her in front of the team. Not saying anything I shouldn’t have said but being quite direct like, ‘answer our questions cause you’re bullsh*tting.’ She was very embarrassed,” Nat shares.
Nat says she was fired two days later and sent packing with her items stuffed into a plastic coffee shop bag.
@trial_and_error This convo is why i suspect i tipped them over the edge to (illegally, imo) terminating my employment #unfairdismissal #a#psychosocialsafety #safeworkplaces #employeesarepeopletoo #minimumwagejob #cozylives #costoflivingcrisis #costoflivingcrisisaustralia #housingcrisisaustralia #involuntarilyunemployed ♬ original sound – nat
Users who saw the videos were very sympathetic to Nat’s plight.
“They know you want to be heard but if they hear you then they have to do something about it,” a user said.
“Thank god you got out of that place. If they don’t care how their workers are doing then it is not worth it,” a second user replied.
Many suggested she report them for violating the Fair Work Act of 2009. This act enshrines a series of workplace rights and protections in Australia to ensure an equitable working environment.
“Technically they’re not supposed to call you for a “meeting” like that without offering you a witness or representative,” a user said.
“Hey that’s still illegal. That’s general protections issue—you can check out @Young Workers VIC if you’re in Victoria,” a second added.
“Same thing happened to me, I worked in advocacy and my literal job was to teach people their rights. fair work took on my case and I ‘won’,” a third user shared.
Some wanted her to name the company.
“Spill the tea – company,” a user asked.
“Don’t want to get sued, but am reporting them to worksafe,” Nat replied.
“Fair play to speaking up about your issues. It does not account like an account manager role at all. Good luck with Fair Work,” another user said.
