I guess this isn't really new as I have been here before... been where? You may ask. Out of work!
That is correct I am once again without a full-time job, or any paying job. On Friday afternoon I had the shock to be told that I was no longer required to come back to work. The reason given: frustration! But whose frustration? At first I was told that the staff was frustrated with me. That did not make any sense what so ever. Each and every staff member (excluding the bosses) came to me for help to fix errors they have made, or help them with something they did not know how to do, or wanted to share something about their personal life they were going through at that point in time. OK, so not the staff, maybe frustrated was the wrong word.
Then came the next item a list of things that I had supposedly done or not done, none of which are reasons to let a person go... at least I don't think so... you be the judge:
I been told to no longer purchase paper direct but to ask for boxes from one of the other stores because they could purchase in larger quantities getting a better price. Sounds like a great idea but then we are reliant on the other store remembering to place the boxes of paper on a truck or in the car that is headed to our store. So we were low on paper, the order was placed, the crunch came, the paper did not, the other store had forgotten to load said paper onto the vehicle; needless to say we ran out of copier paper completely. I asked our front desk girl to go and buy a case while we waited for the other two to arrive, someone else told her not to buy a case. Now I was her immediate supervisor so who should she have listened too?
Next reason, an invoice had been entered twice once with the numeric 0 then with the letter O. I missed the duplication and paid the account, (about $44). The cheque was returned by the supplier but did not get to my desk but to my bosses desk. This particular invoice had not been entered by me but a new girl who had just been hired, who I did not teach. (This was actually a red flag for me as I did not have anything to do with her training, yet I was supposedly her supervisor.) She even told my boss that she had made the error. While I am being told this reason I did not tell the owner, who was laying me off, that I had found numerous errors made during invoice posting by the new girl. Invoices posted to the wrong vendors; totals incorrect due to wrong GST amounts, and various other errors.
Another item on his list: A piece of equipment had been paid for twice. Did I do that? You may ask. No I did not. I paid for the item and the vendor in question sent the same invoice to a leasing company that was used and that leasing company also paid for the same item; we in turn had to pay the leasing company. I worked with this vendor from March until October trying to get our funds returned. The individual that I phoned every month on a regular basis did not know how to correct this error, their error I might add. I resorted to emailing the girl and cc-ing to the CEO of the company, the funds were returned to us withing the week.
A third itme on the list: Copies of invoices that were not paid therefore missing from our office were not requested or not reconciled in a timely fashion. Once again not an error on my part as I regularly requested copies of missing invoices. Before they can be entered into the system and payed they have to have the purchase order (PO), receiving report and packing slip attached to prove we had ordered and received the item. There were times when I would request copy of invoices several times but once I passed them to the girl who did all the matching they never got back to my desk. I would here her say: "If I see this invoice one more time I'll..." well you can guess the rest. If she could not find PO's for the invoice or other paperwork she would toss the invoice. She would not do any kind of detective work to make sure we had dealt with the original. As I am at the end of the line for all paperwork of this nature, then it must be my fault. Is this reason to lay me off?
There you have it. Ah! now the frustration is mine, that's why they are letting me go. Way to turn things around, from staff are frustrated with me... to me being frustrated and so I was being let go.
I had worked for this company for just over a year, supposedly as the Accountant but with my hands tied behind my back (figuratively of course). I had no access to the bank account to download the statements or check on direct deposits or withdrawals. I had no access to Workers Compensation to file injury reports, actually I had no access to anything... sorry I tell a lie, I could access the owners Visa account and the companies loan account. I was the Accountant and supervisor of two, none of it was reality, just fiction I was told when I was hired, the same as the salary I was to earn. All fictitious.
No I was not happy working there, they have just done me a huge favour; but hurt pride is tough. I've worked for over 30 years and never been layed off, if anything employers have done their utmost to keep me. Right now I'm hurt, angry and very upset and having a hard time not letting depression take over.
Would I take my job back if they offered it, not without a ton of concessions, a much higher salary, and everything in writing. So if I or you learn anything from this... Get it in writing!!
