Arsehole bosses

[owltrousers]

I am due to start maternity leave on Friday this week, so literally 2 whole days left at work now. 34 weeks pregnant.

I have posted about my bosses here before. I work in a small therapy clinic, 2 bosses and me - their secretary. I am their sole employee.

Today I received a long email from them (they work away on Mon & Tues) detailing how my work is 'slipping' and a list of things I have done wrong lately, including being 5 mins late for work yesterday:

"when I rang the clinic on Monday needing you to know asap I was ill and clients that day had to be cancelled, you said you hadn't answered my call until I rang again at 9:11 because you were getting my room ready. Was that right? Can you clarify. We've told you many times to have the phone with you so that all calls can be answered from 9am. This is basic."

I have been 45 mins early for work every single day for 1.5 years due to my liftshare being early and always start as soon as I get in because it makes my day run smoother. This last week I've had to catch the bus as my liftshare has gone travelling and sometimes it means I get there at 9 on the dot, which is my start time. Yesterday I was taking my coat off and opening the shutters at 9 on the dot when the phone rang, I ran to it but it went to answerphone. I then called the number back at 9.05 and it was my boss.

AIBU to be extremely pissed off. Its my last two days, would you really start airing grievances now? I feel like they're trying to push me out or like they may try and not pay me my maternity pay.

It wasn't necessary to send you that email, but I suspect your upset has more to do with what's happened before. It's not unusual for a boss to be unhappy if the office phone isn't answered during opening hours because of late arrival.

I used to work in London and had to travel to work by underground. I was never late, as I knew I would be in trouble if I was.

Thank you for the patronising and long-winded explanation, Flower. I did enjoy that.

She was working at 9am, opening the shutters. She just wasn't answering the phone.

Would you have such conniptions if she'd said she'd gone out to the loo and missed a call? If you're the sole person in the office, shit like this does happen.

I think the bosses are not happy with the OP because they're cunts. HTH.

RhiannonOHara

I think the bosses are not happy with the OP because they're cunts. HTH.

Ah, so you're operating at that gutter level of rational thought. I see. I'll know next time not to engage with you. Goodbye.

I assume you mean beauty or massage therapy rather than psychological therapy? Very odd if people working in caring professions can't understand someone was a few minutes late.

Flowerpot1234 is VERY busy and VERY important and no-one must ever run a few minutes late as she may be expecting something done at that precise minute. There is literally no other minute that she could do her very important things so the world better make sure it's revolving around her needs.

Not all companies who pay enhanced maternity have a claw back. Although most do. And some even have a clause stating minimum time you have to be back before you are legible for enhanced maternity again (you just get SMP if you get pregnant again outside of this)

OP you will be well rid. They sound awful.

@RhiannonOHara I think the bosses are not happy with the OP because they're cunts. HTH.

hahaha, spot on.

LOL @Flowerpot

I agree with everything RhiannonOHara has said so far.

I'll know next time not to engage with you.

Cheerie-bye!

No, i’m Not her mother Flower just a rational human being who can see that if a person is working from 9am opening shutters as part of her job and this caused her to miss a call it is unfortunate but hardly the end of the world.
I am an employer so understand the importance of reliability but sometimes things don’t work out as planned and a smidgeon of common sense needs to be applied.

I take it from your apparent lack of understanding that you’ve never been late for work or an appmt before as this is the only explaination for your attitude if you’re not her boss.

Therewere5inthebed
I take it from your apparent lack of understanding that you’ve never been late for work or an appmt before as this is the only explaination for your attitude if you’re not her boss.

And there we have the problem. You choose to take another's opinion that differs from your own as a "lack of understanding", you choose to make assumptions, and you choose to believe "the only explanation" which is the only explanation you have made up in your head, rather than the actual explanation I have given you.

Why did you choose to ignore all the rest of my post which clearly stated that this lateness, together with all the other reasons they have cited that the OP has done wrong, means an email is justified. Because that doesn't fit in with your highly selective editing that pushes everything into the way you elect to present things. It's so far from being a rational human being, this has really made me laugh.

What you're doing here is exactly the kind of nonsense that is being discussed elsewhere right now. Why do you people do this?

What do you mean by you people Flowerpot?

‘You people’ Flower.. What a total charmer you are..

you people. How dare you.

OP - are you the one who posted about the funeral? I can't remember how that one ended. I hope you went.

If that was you (and apologies if it wasn't), I'm so glad for you that you've only got 2 days to go. Get these bastards out of your life!!!! 2 days. Smile serenely. 2 days. Count them and keep smiling.

Good luck with your baby .

Hands up who else is on here is glad not to know flowerpot in RL? she's a bundle of fun!

Surely if the employer needs someone to be on the phones from 9, and it takes ten minutes for the solo employee to open up, they ought to pay someone from ten to 9 ir before? Which I presume they don't do, therefore if OP arrived at 9 and missed the phone call it's an issue with staffing?

If the phone is a mobile, I agree OP should have it with her if possible. And I do agree that if relying on public transport you should give yourself a sensible leeway, within reason.
However even with the best planning the odd lateness can and does occur, and sending a snotty email to an employee who has been late once within a long period of early or timely starts is really unnecessary, and doesn't show great management. Plus if OP did arrive at 9 then she was on time.

And while I haven't seen OP's precious threads, it sounds like this particular management has form for being arseholes.

Tl:dr - YANBU, OP.

Surely if the employer needs someone to be on the phones from 9, and it takes ten minutes for the solo employee to open up, they ought to pay someone from ten to 9 ir before?

even with the best planning the odd lateness can and does occur, and sending a snotty email to an employee who has been late once within a long period of early or timely starts is really unnecessary, and doesn't show great management. Plus if OP did arrive at 9 then she was on time.

Excellent points.

The previous thread I saw from the OP, there were rats in the work building and the management 'got it sorted out' themselves without involving the council; I think they just put down some poison or something half-arsed. Then there was an infestation of flies.

Funnily enough, a similar type to the 'why weren't you hovering over the phone in anticipation' brigade on here were in evidence on that thread playing competitive 'I've worked in worse places than that'. I got the distinct impression some of them must have worked in the Black Hole of Calcutta.

As some of 'us people' have said flowerpot - OP was at work at 9am. Just not answering the phone - which might have been because she was dealing with a customer...? The boss didn't know what she was doing, other than not answering the phone.

Unless the phones are her sole responsibility and job, then she could have been doing anything else work-related other than answering the phone. Like opening the shutters.

This is very subjective really isn't it.

If the sole.part of the OP's job was answering the phone, and not opening up etc then technically someone paid to be there earlier should be there to open up to facilitate that. If part of her job is opening up, and she is only paid from 9, then opening up etc is a perfectly valid task to be done to the exclusion of phone answering.

I have a similar situation and also just a couple of days left before mat leave which I'm taking v early as a result of the atmosphere I'm working in.
Small company, 1 boss sits no more than 5 feet from me, I'm the size of a blimp and he hasn't acknowledged me since I told them I was pregnant. Literally pretends that I'm not in the room. Most of the time it's only the two of us there.
The other boss has tried similar tactics with finding imaginary errors in my work etc, I've decided not to argue the toss, just smile and nod along and count down my days.

Won't be going back anyway so it doesn't matter, they can't find grounds to dismiss in the few days I have left so why bother I say.

They are shits.

However I would reply to the email pointing out that you’ve regularly been 45 minutes early & worked the extra hours all this time without expecting any recompense.

Yes you are sorry that you were 5 mins late once. Sometimes you can’t control outside forces & you hope they recognise that it was not intentional & unavoidable in that instance

Also that as your work begins at 9am legally I believe that is when you need to be present from, e.g. start opening the shutters at this time, not obliged to have spent several minutes of your own unpaid time before your shift to open the premises.

Congratulations on the pregnancy & good luck

You should have told him that you couldn't answer the phone because you were having a shit, and you don't think it's hygienic to take the phone into the lav with you.

They are definitely arseholes.

OP it reads to me as if they are gearing up to fire you. It reads as if it is a list of non performance issues. You are planning on not going back, but they don't know that!

I would leave it, and see what they come back with during your maternity leave. In the meantime make a list of all the times you did your job, the exceptional performances you put in, and NJ one any issues, and how they were addressed.

@KeepServingTheDrinks Yes that was me! In the end they randomly changed their minds and let me have my annual leave for the funeral. And yes, we had rats in the building that died and stunk the whole place out... and then swarms of blue bottles.

And yes, I was there at 9am opening up which is part of my job - hence I didn't grab the phone in time. They are just ridiculous. Wish me luck grinning and bearing the next two days!

She missed answering a call at 9am. That call could have been a client. There is an issue for the reception of a business not being available to clients at 9am. The OP was not available to clients at 9am

And what would the OP have done if she had got to the phone but a client had also called at 9am, while she was speaking to her boss?

I also agree with the PP who said if you need to be open from 9am, you need to be paid from say 8.45 so you can get ready. If you are paid from 9am and arrive at 9am you are not late.

I despair of some of the responses on here too, OP.

Yes, Keepserving, I agree that Flowerpot is very hard-nosed, and I very rarely agree with her posts, but you know where you stand with her. And she's right that a phone not being answered at 9am isn't exactly professional. But there should be more than one person on hand to answer the phone, as otherwise what happens when the person managing reception needs the toilet?

But it sounds like you'll be well shot of these people when you leave, OP. They have treated you very badly in other ways.