boss

[stylinsam]

this morning my boss has given me a verbal warning for not making him acup of tea. he said he doesnt like being made a fool of in front of customers (as i said no to him in front of a customer) and if you dont like it you no what you can do.

i am being unfairly treated or his he aloud to give me a verbal warning for a stupid thing like this??

[stylinsam]

he didnt ask politley thats for sure

[ugly_bob]

Best thing to do in that situation is to make the tea, then talk to your boss afterwards. Not good to argue over something so trivial in front of customers, no matter how sound they are.

I sometimes have to make tea for my boss when he's with a customer. If your boss is with a customer, they should really be dedicating their time to the customer, not farting around making tea.

On the other hand, if your boss never offers to make tea in return, that's very poor office etiquette on his part. Give and take etc

[WoWo]

Personally I'd be happy to make my boss a cup of tea if he wants one. If he wants to pay somebody �38k to make tea for him thats fine by me.

It depends on what he has given you a warning for, I think he would be within his rights to give you a warning on grounds of inproper conduct at work.

If you have a problem making him a cup of tea then you need to talk to him privately about it. Given you have made him tea previously then he could reasonably expect you to do so on this occasion.

[maxximus]

i can't what i'm hearing, i can't believe i read all that, where's your self respect! she said she was busy, he knows that, she's quite right make his own damn tea.

[buildersmate]

This is about different perceptions of the same event.

Stylinsam: Its not in my job description and I'm being unfairly treated.

Manager: It was a reasonable request and my employee undermined me and the appearance of the company in front of a customer. Customers are very important to us.

Personnel Manager (possible view, during Grievance process): This was a silly situation that got out of hand. It would have been better that Manager had a quiet word afterwards rather than issue a verbal warning. Nevertheless the verbal warning must stand or I'd be undermining the Manager and it is only a verbal warning. I'll have a word with him/her myself afterwards and suggest an alternative approach.

[Fat Boy]

No, I don't think you're being unfairly treated. Your boss sounds a little unprofessional in his approach (hands up everyone here that has a boss like that) but as you make tea for him every single day it would be pretty easy to argue that that function has now pretty much become a part of your duties.

Even if that wasn't the case, trying to make your boss look stupid in front of a customer is even less professional. More to the point, it wasn't very bright - he is, after all, your boss, not the other way round.

What you have managed to do is give him the perfect excuse to get rid of you the minute he finds you posting questions on AB.......

[B00]

Awww bless you Sam, I used to work for a woman boss who was exactly the same!

I remember one particular morning I arrived in the office before her and started work, when she trailed in an hour later I greeted her and carried on working, after 15 minutes or so, I said "would you like a coffee?" to which she replied "oh, I wondered when you were going to ask!!!" I looked up to check if she was joking and the rudy bag wasn't!

I lasted a whole 8 weeks before I walked out, I hated being thought of as the 'coffee maker' oh and I was also expected to get the lunches and wash the cups and plates afterwards.

Time to look for another job sweetie, you're worth more than being a char lady!

[joko]

what exactly is your job? at 20 i can't think its anything senior. sounds lik it is oart of your job if you do it every other day.

did he ask you to make a coffee for the customer too?

you chose the wrong moment to 'stick up for yourself' - why did you only do it then?

incidentally i once knew a girl who every morning went to some expensive fancy coffee shop and bought a cup of coffee for her boss. my boss, who worked parallel to her boss was offended because i didn't do the same - i was on work experience!! I will happily make tea but i certainly won't pay for it, when i am not even getting paid myself!

[purplelily]

Hi honey, I'm afraid I agree that you really should just have bitten your lip and made the tea - any issues you might have with your boss should be spoken about in a private meeting with you and him. I'm sure that you're fuming right now, but just put it all down to experience. In fact, maybe you should be the bigger person, go in tomorrow and apologise to your boss. You'll probably both know that you don't mean it, but it'll show willingness to be a good team member and keep things from getting too strained in the office. Good luck!

[vicalncraig]

I can't believe these answers! Have we regressed 30 years? Do not accept the verbal warning. I

[vicalncraig]

Try again!.......If your boss wants a personal servant let them employ one. Even in the armed forces a senior rank can not request a junior rank to carry out a task that directly benefits them eg make tea. Where would it stop? Go to the shop for me, polish my shoes...Apologise to your boss for refusing infront of a customer, whilst pointing out that you don't appreciate being treated as a skivvy infront of a customer. Personally I would have made the tea....in a very special way...revenge is sweet!! Don't let bosses away with these tactics......slavery was outlawed a long time ago!

[maxximus]

ditto!!

[jno]

vicalncraig's not wrong but golly gee why wait until now, in front of a customer, to make your protest? Your boss was in the wrong but now you are too, because making him look a prat in front of clientele is really bad judgment - what would happen if he lost a contract as a result and the firm found itself on the skids? Next time keep your protests private; this time better try to stay civil and not make matters worse. But by all means stand up for your right not to be a parlourmaid.

[laurence2]

Sam, you set the standard by making his tea most mornings, does someone wipe his **** also?

You can't be giving a verbal warning for something that is not in your job discription, if on the otherhand he is pulling you up on your conduct, once again he has failed as he's giving you an order, i would go into his office an ask him if its expected of you to be his tealady, and if yes would ask for a new contract of employment.

Its sounds like the complete powertrip t****r of a boss, tell him you've a friend that works in employment law, and its illegal what he has just done, then see him be all polite then, the only down side to this and your stance on not making him a cuppa, is that he may be watching you 24/7 and wait for you to make a mistake or go sick etc and use this as an excuse to get rid of you

[AreebaAreeba]

Sam, I think you need to learn from the experience here. I agree with the previous answers that it seemed to be part of your everyday duties and was the wrong time to start a dispute in front of a customer. I think you will find that you will always have someone like this where you work. They may not necessarily be your boss, but usually there is someone who is selfish within your working environment.

Personally, I am a boss, and I take my turn to make the tea like everyone else in my department. If someone doesn't make tea on their turn I pull them up on it, or just get on and make it myself. It shouldn't be a big deal and it certainly shouldn't be a power trip.

My boss, however, doesn't ever make his own tea as the people in his department are happy to do it for him. I'm sure they don't feel like skivvies or tea-ladies, if you feel like that then it highlights your own views on tealadies!

The simple fact is that most places of business don't have people to make the tea, so everyone should just chip in and make a round. You chose the wrong moment to express your feelings and you need to learn from that. As far as I'm concerned if your boss felt the situation justified a verbal warning then that must stand.

It may be that you need to work through some underlying issues with your boss.

[joko]

i once offered everyone in the room i was in a brew because i was bored and wanted a cup of tea, and few people said yes - one actress, however, said yes but would I make hers with evian water!!

I laughed at her and told her she can either make her own or have a brew like everyone else and that I am the head of the department, not a runner, and I am making tea because I want to, not because its my job. she looked suitably embarrassed.

the real rankler is that i soon realised that the nearest water source was up 2 flights of stairs and there were large bottles of mineral water under the desk specially for filling the kettle ( we were filming in a multistorey carpark and were in a portacabin)

- so she ended up getting her wish!! i made it clear i had done it because it was easier though, not for her.

[fayelc123]

I agree with most other people here, you should have chosen a better time to refuse, not in front of a customer.

But i do understand your point. It has always bugged me when people with better / higher paid jobs think that they are too important to make themselves a cup of tea!!

[WendyS]

If I had a fiver for every chore I've done in my working life that wasn't in my job description I'd be a rich lady ! (And some of them were pretty unusual too). Sometimes these tasks just have to be done with good grace. If your boss was entertaining a customer I don't think it was unreasonable of him to ask you to extend this courtesy and it was bad mannered to be rude to him in front of his client, thus embarrassing the customer, who incidentally ultimately pays your wages.

[Ricardo1808]

Hi,
Well if it were me he would be wearing the drink. Joking aside, It sounds to me if he is just pulling rank. What people fail to recognise in the workplace that we are all there for a reason and to do a job whether you are the cleaner, the clerk or the boss. You treat people the way you would want to be treated yourself.