I have receptionist duties as part of my job. A lady came to see one of the managers yesterday, and when I told him he started laughing with the other manager in his office, which was right next to where she was stood in the foyer. He told the other manager she a bunny boiler and they kept giggling while he was making actions like a noose round his neck, and said to me 'Say I'm on the phone'. I mouthed 'She knows you're here now, what else can I do?' He shrugged, sighed and laughed and I took that resigned look to mean 'ok, go on'. I felt I had no choice but to invite her in anyway, as they were laughing, and he has a distinct laugh, that she would know. It was totally unprofessional, and saying he's on the phone would only make her wait.
This morning he was in a very sombre mood, and said to me 'I don't appreciate you inviting people in when I've said no'. I explained why I had let her in, and told him that it's me having to tell lies for him, when it would be obvious he was in. And if the office layout was different, it would be possible to avoid people we don't want to speak to without seeming unprofessional, but as it stands it wasn't possible, because I explained that they were laughing.
I also explained that I have been blamed before, when another manager 2 years ago told me to say he wasn't there when someone called to se to him. He then came through to speak to her as I was taking her details, having told her he wasn't in. She turned on me and said I'm a liar. He normally works at Head office, so she just made my life difficult for the few months after as she had a stall near the office, and often used to say loudly 'Here, she is, the LIAR!!'. They terminated her licence in the end, but it made me not want to put myself in difficult positions like this.
I’m paid 25% of these managers salaries, and if they are being unprofessional, it seems to come back on me. Am I being unreasonable to expect them to behave professionally, and not ask me to lie when it’s obvious?