Lt. Manlove said:
Ok well obviously I took out JSA to help me through difficult times and i've just found a job in a small bar. Not very good really and only about 11 hours a week.
The Job Centre have paused with providing me JSA because my previous manager had contacted them with that letter saying I had given out 15+ stamps etc. The Job Centre are awaiting a reply from me and below is a letter I want to send to them.
Now at the moment, only working 11 hours a week at minimum wage I would like to try and get JSA for a little while longer while I find a second job.
If you could proof read my letter that would be great!
I don't normally point out spelling-type errors, but since you've asked, I'll do so if you wish, as there are a few in there. However, I'd be more concerned about the tone of the letter if I were you.
Lt. M, I may be reading too much into this and I don't remember (or didn't see) the previous thread, so I'm going purely by what's in this thread. The tone of that letter is entirely self-justifying and I'm not sure that's the right stance to take, whether you feel that and sincerely believe that or not. Dpn't think about how
you see the situation, but about how the recipient of the letter will see it. Take a step back, if you can, and look at it objectively. Stoofa is right in his post above to query .... did you actually have authority to give out these additional stamps, or did you just assume it? The problem, you see, is that if any employee just feels he can make discretionary "gifts", where do you draw the line?
I fully agree that if this is simply about two stamps, it is (IMHO) a gross over-reaction. If, however, there is more to it than that (such as previous incidents, prior warnings, etc) it would put a rather different context on things.
But that aside, my main concern would be that that letters says you
still think you did nothing wrong. Whether you are correct in that depends, in my view, on whether you had been given authority to dispense 'customer service sweeteners' or whether you just took it upon yourself you do so.
If staff can just decide for themselves to do this, then why just do that? Why not a cash refund? Why not free sandwiches? Why not agree contracts with suppliers? Why not decide on a company rights issue of shares? Okay, I'm going a bit far, you you see the point? What authority just an employee decide to take for himself? Where's the line? When can any employee commit the company to something, just because
he thinks it's right?
You SHOULD have been told what the limits were, either explicitly by a manager, or by a company policy booklet which you were instructed to read.
So, if I were you, I'd revise that letter somewhat. I'd explain that the situation was that you gave two free stamps (not fifteen as has been alleged) in response to a customer complaint. Previous working practice and experience at other retailers had led you to believe this was not only acceptable behaviour but standard practice for a justified customer complaint, and that it
had not been made clear to you that staff were not allowed to exercise even such minor discretion.
What I'd be trying to imply, without overtly saying, is that yes, you realise perhaps you acted beyond what the company expected and perhaps exceeded your authority, but :-
1) The manager is now lying about the extent of the action
2) The manager was remiss in his own duties for not properly traing staff
3) It's a trivial matter anyway, so wtf is all the fuss about?
As I say, you do NOT want to actually explicitly state those points. Your letter wants to be polite and professional in tone, but those points are the subtext. You want the reader to end up thinking, as I rather imagine most readers of this thread are thinking, wtf is this manager's problem?
As a business owner, MY reaction to your acts would probably be "well done, nicely handled", or at worst "please refer that to a manager or supervisor next time". I can't help but think that there is more to this than is apparent, whether it's prior history, or just that the manager has taken a personal dislike to you for some reason, or whatever, because to sack someone for what appears to be a decent action resulting in a quarter of a free sandwich is just pathetic. If that was my business, I'd be more inclined to sack any manager that acted that way, because they clearly don't have the temperament to act calmly and professionally .... if this is all that's going on.
But, back to the point, based on what you've told us, this does seem like a ludicrous over-reaction and THAT is exactly the reaction you want your letter to evoke in the Job Centre people.
