To ask if you've ever been thrown under a bus at work to cover someone else's cock up?

[Runny]

Just that really.

This morning Ive discovered just how cuntish other people can be. I've been accused of not turning up for work, when as far as I was aware I wasn't supposed to even be there today. Apparently they phoned me on Friday to confirm it, and spoke to me. They didn't. I know they bloody well didn't, they are either a )confusing me with someone else or b) lying. I strongly suspect B.

What I think has happened is that the girl who organises all this has messed up. Forgot to contact me to confirm a shift, and is now saying she did and that I just haven't turned up to cover herself. She is exceptionally flakey and has made minor cock ups before, however I didnt actually have her down as such a devious lying cow until now. Im standing my ground for the time being, but quite honestly I really don't want to speak to her as I think I may explode and say stuff that I shouldnt,

Just wondering how I should handle this? I'm worried I will be sacked or something. Can they do that? I can prove I didn't phone them if needs be, but I'm aware it's my word against hers and as I'm right at the bottom of the food chain...

Well I've not heard back from them yet. I'm in two minds about whether to call them or not? Reading this thread maksa me think I need to let it lie and see what happens, but I've just spoke to my Dm who thinks I should go in all guns blazing and have it out with them. I can't help but think this will make things worse though.

I worked in Woolworths many years ago as a checkout girl on the Entertainment Counter (I got to pick the music, so I was, obviously, very cool... ).

Whenever anyone paid by cheque, I had to have a manager come down and check the signature on the cheque against the corresponding bank card for authenticity etc.

I came in one day and a big note had been pinned to the board in the staff room stating that 'Operator number XXXX has accepted a stolen cheque and has cost our store £XXX'.

That operator number was mine. So I went to the manager's office where I was given an absolute bollocking. I explained I remembered the couple (we didn't get a lot of cheques) and I had definitely had the cheque checked by her.

She said she had already checked the CCTV but it was too busy to see clearly what had happened and there was no point in going over it all again.

I knew from her uncomfortable, beetroot face that she was lying through her teeth. She had seen that cheque, and she had been the one to accept it. She's also watched the CCTV and knew she was at fault.

To this day, the very thought of that awful, deceitful woman will enrage me every time I think about it.

I wouldn't go.

Stay calm, you haven't done anything wrong. I would wait first what they respond and then decide what to do next.

Ok, well an update. Ive tried to get hold of her this afternoon as I also need do find out what's happening tommorrow. She was in a meeting apparently, the person I spoke to said she'd get her phone me back but I'm still waiting and I can't see it happening now as they close at 5.30.

So I'm stil in limbo and now need to wait to see what tomorow will bring.

Someone tried this with me years ago. I was at work when the big boss screamed my name and told me to 'get in her fucking office NOW'. She told me she'd found out that I'd called the server providers (this was early 90s when server hosts were a thing) and told them to roll back the month end to cover up a mistake I'd apparently made that had cost the company £££.

I had no idea what she was talking about - I didn't even know such a thing was possible. She called me a liar because 'Alison* told me she'd spoken to them and you called on X date to do it'. She sent me out with an hour to think about what I'd done and own up before she sacked me.

I was completely stunned and scared - I was only 20 at the time. Then it dawned on me I hadn't even been at work when I was supposed to have done this. I was on holiday. I got the holiday rota off the receptionist. Just as I was about to go back in her office Alison ran past me in there & shut the door.

Ten minutes later I was called back in, told 'Looks like you didn't do it'. No apology, no reprimand for Alison who WAS responsible and had blatantly lied to drop me in it, thinking I'd never be able to prove otherwise. I handed in my notice after lunch.

• • not real name

Whoops - mad bold there

Screen shot your call log from Friday, then email it to your line manager copying in the person that's lying about you, and she how they try to wriggle out of it!

The op's phone log won't help though because calls can be deleted. An absence doesn't prove anything. It is for your employers to evidence their call to you and your return call to them. I wouldn't go in all guns blazing, you know you didn't agree to work so stay calm and retain the moral high ground.

i wouldn't go in all guns blazing, you know you didn't agree to work so stay calm and retain the moral high ground.

totally agree. just keep your cool. good luck

I work in HR and I think you need to keep a cool head here.
When asked about it just keep stating that you received no call, and to settle the matter can they please check their phone records?
Also I would speak to "the girl's" manager tomorrow and ask for details of your next shifts, preferably confirmed by email to avoid future confusion.

Hope it's cleared up quickly tomorrow, OP.

When I was at uni I worked in the holidays at the supermarket in my home town. One day my Dad came to visit to tell me that the police might contact me because I had apparently knowingly sold cigarettes to a 14-year-old colleague. The bosses had contacted my parents so they could tell me because they were pretty sure I hadn't done it and wanted to make sure I didn't get a shock from the police visit.

In the end the police didn't come. The bosses managed to work out that a different colleague had bought the cigarettes from my checkout - I knew him so didn't ask for ID as I knew he was older than me - and he had then passed them on to the younger boy. The boy told his parents that he'd bought them from me and they'd gone straight to the police in rage. They weren't the least bit apologetic about the stress this had caused me, but I was so glad to know the bosses had my back. Both boys were fired.

I was so thankful that my bosses had contacted my parents. I had depression at the time so it was awful as it was, never mind if it had come as a surprise to me. The thought that I'd have had to pay a $20,000 fine (NZD) made me feel so unwell until it was all cleared up.

Screen shot and send, nothing says fuck you like the facts.

I've been shafted completely when a woman and favoured employee cocked something up that cost the company a shit load of money. Regrettably our married manager with whom she was having an affair decided I'd be the scapegoat. Having repeatedly pointed out the actual facts in various horrible meetings, I eventually had to tell our Regional Head they were having an affair. I hate them both to this day.

I'm probably going to phone them first thing tomorow morning to find out what the he'll is going on. Im also going to make sure everything is recorded in writing from now on.

Screenshots won't prove anything, you can delete things from your call log.

I once almost got sued after being blamed for a large piece of engineering being "lost"
It was blown up in the Piper Alpha disaster, and I was the YTS trainee who got the blame

Worked n a hotel many years ago. Owner was absolutely terrifying
One day his wife phoned as she had broken down and needed rescuing. Reception tried to put her through to our office ( where owner usually was) but cut her off and then swore blind she HAD put the call through so I got dragged into the owners office next day to explain why I had hung up on his wife. Owner was known to shout at people for a while before sacking them on the spot - i lived in and had nowhere else to go at that time so REALLY couldn't lose the job.
"Luckily " for me my father was a total arsehole who was prone to verbal outbursts so I wasn't phased by an arsehole screaming at me. I listened for a while and then calmly asked whether we could get the Receptionist in the room as well. He sent for her and she again said that she definitely put the wife through to me. At this point the owners wife ( who was very nice) arrived and wanted to know why The Receptionist had hung up on her!!
Receptionist was sacked on the spot and I was told to get out and get back to work - never got an apology though.
Same place - office manager tried to give me a written warning for not confirming an appointment. I had actually confirmed it but then the person hadn't turned up. Office manager had forgotten to open her post that morning and in it was a letter from the person cancelling the appointment and referring to the fact that I HAD confirmed it with them by phone.
I told her to shove her written warning as I was NOT signing anything as it was total bollocks. Evil owner came and found me next day and said it was all " bullshit" and to forget it.
It was a toxic place but there were quite a few of us younger ones living in, getting drunk for free and having a ball so I stayed longer than I should have.

Manager threw me under the bus to hide the fact that she couldn't manage the department and was in way over her head. The situation was so stressful I was signed off sick with depression. Unfortunately for her, whilst you can launch a grievance against someone whilst signed off, they can't put you through a disciplinary. Once I had the results of the grievance I resigned. In total I was signed off sick for 4 months. Kind of ironic that one of the things they accused me of was wasting company time.

Eventually, my career went in a much better direction and I also got a lot of treatment for depression, which had been there all along but undiagnosed until that particularly bad flare up. Within 12 months ex-boss had been made redundant. I hope I never, ever see her again as to be honest, I'm a little worried about what I might do to her if so.

I also learned an awful lot about watching your back, not trusting anyone, and keeping evidence trails. I agree with PP - keep your calm and gather evidence. And the onus is on them. Also, suggest constructive solutions like confirming things via email.

Do they have a mobile and landline number for you? If so asking which number they called you on so you can check the call logs for both again would be a good way to introduce doubt on their side and show that you're not messing them around but nor do you plan to be messed around.

Screenshot calls in and out from both phones as a starting point but as others say you can delete things from them. However, most phone bills will have a log of all calls made on them and you can't alter them (otherwise people would just delete their calls!). So getting a copy of them and providing with your screenshot will prove they are genuine and you didn't make the call. Might also be worth asking the phone company if they log incoming calls and if so, please could you have a copy for the days you're interested in.

Also the time of day of the call - did it co-incident with when you were doing anything else that would have meant you couldn't have answered (eg you were swimming), when others were around (meeting friends for lunch, doing school pick up) so they could verify that you didn't make a call, or somewhere there was a distinctive background noise (eg a train) so they could also be used to find out from the person that allegedly called you if there was anything and put them on the spot.

And as others have said, just ask for the phone logs showing the calls to and from you so you can compare them with your own and that unless they can provide these you will understand that the girl made a mistake and thought she had contacted you but forgot to do so, and as such please could you ensure that this matter is cleared from your record.

Sometimes people hate to make mistakes so giving them an easy out where they don't have to accept any blame for their wrongdoing is an easy way to get the result you want (them to know you are telling the truth) even if it would have been much nicer for them to believe you and the other person to put their hand up and confess!

Is there an HR department that you could talk to for advice?

I was phoned this morning by another member of staff asking me if I coukd work today. Nothing was mentioned about yesterday's fiasco.

Nightmare ex-colleague tried to prove it was me who was incompetent and doing no work, by getting me to put work on a shared drive, and then he went to our boss and complained I hadn't done any work he'd requested.

Unfortunately for him I obviously still had my own copies of the work and eventually IT managed to prove that it was him making files mysteriously disappear. It took a year but he was eventually fired.