Shayne Bolsher, a 39-year-old manager at Leicestershire's Fife Fine Foods, was stunned to get his week's notice--in the form of a text message from his boss.

Bolsher says the decision to notify him via text, which arrived during a three-week holiday and came about 11months after he had started working with the store, "disgusted" him.

The message from Barry Youell, Bolsher's boss read:

Dear Shayne it is with regret that i have to give you one weeks notice due to the continueing (sic) drop in trade. i was going to phone you during work hours but got your number after 1700. i will give you a reference if you need one. regards barry

"I didn't know what to think - at first I was gutted and torn apart, but now I'm just angry," Bolsher told the Daily Mail. "I had spoken to the MD twice that day and he didn't say anything about redundancies - I think it's disgraceful." Youell couldn't be reached to comment.

Bolsher isn't the first to be sacked via SMS. A British firm not only fired sales assistant Katy Tanner via text message, but defended its decision to do so on the grounds that "sending an SMS was a part of "youth culture"."

Employers have also used Facebook to deliver employees the bad news. Chelsea Taylor discovered that she had been 'let go' via a message posted to her Facebook wall by her manager.

In your opinion, is it ever permissible to fire an employee via text message--or via email, for that matter? Or is it a conversation that should always take place face-to-face? Tell us in the comments section below.