Feel like I’ve been thrown under the bus in new job and think I will get the sack

[ninejuicebursts]

I started a new job around 6 months ago. I’m working as an administrator in the motor trade, which has car dealerships all across the country. One of my responsibilities is to arrange temporary staff whenever needed for all the dealerships. This could be for anything really. They’ve been using temporary staff for years, and I’ve never actually seen any of the contracts (those are all handled by the procurement team, who I don’t work with). We work with around 5 different agencies. We have various car brands, and until yesterday, I had no idea that one of the agencies doesn’t cover certain brands. This is because of insurance reasons (if their staff were to damage a car, the repair costs would be too high. Think McLaren, Aston Martin, Porsche, etc), so they just won’t provide cover in those dealerships when we need it.

Now, every time we’ve needed cover for those dealerships, I’ve always reached out to them (I have to check anyway just in case they have someone available), and every time they’ve said no. But it’s always been because they didn’t have staff in that area or they weren’t available on those specific dates, etc. They’ve never once said, “we won’t cover this dealership because of the car brand, please don’t ask again”. That’s why I was in the dark about it!

Anyway, we recently opened a new dealership. It’s a dual site. I won’t get too specific, but think Audi and Porsche. A few weeks ago, I asked this agency for cover, and they agreed. Then yesterday, we found out that their staff damaged a car while reversing it out of the service bay. We spoke to the agency, and they flipped out, claiming he shouldn’t have been covering there and that I misled them. Turns out, they thought he was at Audi when he was actually at Porsche. They never mentioned he could only work at Audi. The damage is almost 5K, and the agency is refusing to pay, saying I lied to them?! The procurement manager from our company (who I’ve only talked to once) sent them an email, copying me in, and basically blamed me, saying they had told me before they wouldn’t cover these dealerships. But they didn’t! All they said was “we won’t cover due to staff shortage, not on those dates, etc.”

I was so upset yesterday and feel like I’ve been completely thrown under the bus. I also found out today that this clause isn’t even in any of their contracts or terms and conditions. But I was supposed to know? I talked to the person who did this job before me (she still works with us but in a different role), and even she didn’t know. My manager hasn’t reached out to me at all since yesterday, but has set up a meeting for tomorrow morning. I feel sick and have awful anxiety. Is this my fault? Should I have known? I don’t think I’m going to pass my probationary period now.

1

You need an urgent meeting with your manager.

Write down the main facts you've put here in bullet points.

Ask to go on a training course or see a training manual so that you can make sure you are aware of anything else like this going forward.

Keep calm and factual. £5K might seem a lot but in terms of the cost and profits of cars like Porches and Aston Martins it's not a big sum to a large company.

This does not seem to be your fault and if the rest of your work is good, then hopefully your manager will have your back.

Go to the meeting prepared.
Take the copy contract to show it doesn't contain that condition.
I you have a handover/induction document, take that too.
Tell them how many times you have offered work and not got a response
Suggest that there is a central record /system to compile this information.

You haven't been negligent, and it doesn't sound like misconduct - it sounds like poor communication within your company and/or a lack of training, neither of which are your fault.

But yes, get all your ducks in a row, document everything for your meeting tomorrow, particularly as everyone else seems to be arse-covering..... hopefully your manager is going to focus on fixing the systems and putting a procedure in place so it doesn't happen again, rather than scapegoat you. You could pre-empt this by presenting a solution, outlining how this could better be managed in the future, and how communication could be improved.

If you've been doing a good job so far, and it's an isolated incident, try not to worry. As someone has said, £5k is nothing to a large company, mistakes happen.

??

I'm sorry, this sounds shit. I think you explained it beautifully in your post, so maybe context it in bullet points and take it to your meeting.

Just out of interest, are your calls recorded at all? If so, perhaps suggest that your previous calls to this agency, when you've requested cover for the 'banned' sites are listened to for evidence that you hadn't been advised of sites they wouldn't cover.