Boss pushing me to break lockdown rules

[VapeVamp12]

I’m in a sales role and prior to lockdown a lot of this would have been on the road visiting customers etc.

Since March I’ve been mainly doing phone calls and also video meetings with customers and my sales have stayed quite steady, hitting my target 9 times in 10 months.

Today I customer called my office (we are all working from home and the phone is on divert to the boss).

A customer I have been trying to get hold of since about September complained they had not seen me in months. (I would usually pop in once a month prior to Covid). I record all my call attempts and have tried calling this customer 9 times in the last 8 weeks.

My boss called me very angry and said to get down there today. It’s 55 miles from where I live. I told him we shouldn’t be leaving our local areas etc. He sort of scoffed and laughed like I was being a wimp or something.

I phoned the customer and someone else answered and once I said who I was they said “oh yeah, john (customer, not his real name) is pretty pissed off with you - we haven’t seen you for months. I was quite taken aback and had to stop my self saying “do you not watch the news?”

I didn’t go today because I’m just not taking the risk but my boss and the customer have made me feel like I’m just being stupid. I’m not sure what to do because I think my boss will ask me again on Monday.

AIBU to really put my foot down and say I’m 100% not going any time soon.

To be clear what I sell are definitely not essential items! Also I feel like I’ve actually lost a lot of respect for my boss and the customer but I need my job

@DrWankincense

I think the whole situation sounds weird. Your boss should have you, his employee, as a priority and support you regardless of his personal opinion of the current situation. Just because you can travel for work doesn't mean you should if it isn't necessary. The customer 'doesn't do computers'. Tough shit, that's his lookout in this day and age. He presumably can use a telephone. Just seems like a weird powerplay? Unless there is a specific business reason for you to meet with him, I would refuse.

This! It doesn’t sound like your boss supported you when you said you’d contacted the customer. Driving 55 miles to sell a not-essential product isn’t something I’d want to do and I’m pretty casual about going to work, shops, etc

If you want to keep your job I would do as your boss suggests. Then look for another role in the background.

You work in sales so surely the importance of keeping the customer happy applies? Many workers have to go out every day so just use PPE, keep your distance.

Arguably its safer to visit this customer than it is to go to a supermarket to only pick up a few items.

Let us know how the visit went, OP. I'm wondering if the client will be respectful about soc-distancing etc.

Thanks for all the responses. I know this is against the general theme of responses but I’m going to email my boss today and tell him I won’t be travelling until the stay at home rules have been lifted.

To be honest I was quite surprised by the replies. I actually expected a lot of people to say not to go!

peak2021 - work from home if you can isn’t insist on working from home even though your client can’t access you.

Tbh as a sales role OP should have contacted that client much much more, trying to touch base once a week isn’t good enough and U.K. not surprised her boss was pissed off. I’d bet if the role was commission based OP would have been there by now and has many conversations with this person over the phone.

It is commission based! This guy is worth probably £100 a year to me.

@VapeVamp12

Thanks for all the responses. I know this is against the general theme of responses but I’m going to email my boss today and tell him I won’t be travelling until the stay at home rules have been lifted.

To be honest I was quite surprised by the replies. I actually expected a lot of people to say not to go!

OP your in sales. A very precarious situation right now. Refuse to do what the job entails but be aware you’ll probably be one of the first out when redundancies come round.

Thanks for all the responses. I know this is against the general theme of responses but I’m going to email my boss today and tell him I won’t be travelling until the stay at home rules have been lifted.

Just so long as you are aware your boss might put you on a formal warning, or fire you. He is asking you to perform the role that he pays you to do, in a perfectly legal manner. By refusing you are in breech of your employment contract.

Does your company's risk assessment processes require checking what precautions the customer has in place before visits take place, and what should happen on arrival if things aren't as expected

@VapeVamp12

It is commission based! This guy is worth probably £100 a year to me.

My ex dh own a commission based business. If you had this attitude towards his business and clients you’d be gone. If your at the point your happy to turn your nose up at clients you’d be best leaving. Sales isn’t the job for you.

To me this is the same sort of moral grey area of what’s classed as shopping for essentials as infrequently as possible. If you nip out for a small handful of things and you have plenty of food in the house that you could eat but want something else or just a loaf of bread as essential, then this is no different.

I think you are going to seriously hurt your career if you stay at this company.

Not sure where you stand on refusing when your not breaking any rules and can put cover measures in place.

I can't believe how many people are telling you just to go. You can only go to work if you can't work from home. You can only travel for essential purposes. You are not telling me that between e-mails and phone calls or zoom calls this could not be sorted without face to face interaction. This is the attitude that spreads the virus. YADNBU Op.

I agree with you op - it is not worth putting yourself and others at risk for something non-essential.

In reality, especially if you have worked for the employer for over 2 years, you do have rights and it would be tricky for the employer to fire you on the spot over this. In reality, it is pretty rare for employers to just fire people on the spot.

If your boss continues to insist, I would ask to see a risk assessment for the trip first.

Well done for taking a stand.

I totally understand this and yea I’m a bit worried about how my boss will react. But of all my customers, approx 50, this is the only one who is asking me to physically visit. All other customers have been more than happy to deal with me on the phone. Some just email me orders, etc. This particular customer has always been hard work for very small reward.

@VapeVamp12

It is commission based! This guy is worth probably £100 a year to me.

But what’s that worth to the company? They probably can’t afford to loose any customers.

I think I would be batting back to my boss with evidence you have tried to contact the client, to no avail, and outlining the reasons why you don't feel its appropriate to travel to see a client when you have tried to make contact so many times.

I'd be pissed at the client trying to make out I hadn't made any effort, and also at my boss trying to force me to do something I'm not comfortable with particularly at a time like this. I certainly wouldn't treat any of my direct reports like this. If someone was to complain, my first reaction would be to speak to direct report and ask them what had been going on to get a full picture, then work with them to figure out a solution we are both supportive of.

I just went on to my work email and second in command has emailed me saying I am not to travel to any clients premises at this time and he will be contacting the customer on Monday to explain. He must have spoken to my boss last night boss must have told him what happened yesterday.

There’s always one awkward client and while I understand your boss wanting to keep their business, I do think he’s being unreasonable. What will you actually do at the clients place? Do you need to do something physical that obviously can’t be done over the phone?

OP I know I am in the minority but I agree with your decision.

Second in command lost his parents in quick succession to the virus back in October / November.

Glad you aren't going. If you applied for a job with me I'd hire you on the on the spot because you showed gumption, voiced your concern and went with the guidelines
Your boss is weak and your client wants to think they are the big guns

My ex dh own a commission based business. If you had this attitude towards his business and clients you’d be gone.

Assuming OP has more than two years service at the company, she does have employment rights. Asking her to travel a long distance for a face to face meeting during a pandemic for something non-essential puts her and others at risk. Firing her over this could open the company up to legal liability, and you'd hope any business owner with sense would be aware of this and want to avoid it.

Result!

OP, I'm really glad that the second in command at the company has got some sense!