At the beginning of April I got a new manager at work. Since I worked at home the only communication I had with him was through instant message. We started off on the wrong foot because the first thing he said to me was that he would be coming out to my house. That creeped me out. I talked to some people at the call center that knew him and they told me that he is really cool and that I shouldn't be creeped out. It took me a little while, but I let it go.
At the end of June, I had a technical issue with my computer. Technically I am supposed to drive into the call center if my computer is down, but I asked my manager if I could just clock out and make the hours up the next day. He said yes, but you owe me lunch. I ignored the comment because I thought he was joking. He asked if that was a yes to lunch. I declined lunch (still thinking he was joking) and he said then I could forget about clocking out, that I needed to come into the call center. That good old creepy feeling came back, and I was really upset. I ended up calling an HR representative and told her about the situation in confidence. Less than an hour later she called back with the call center director on the line and he had already spoken to my manager. (They need to work on the confidentiality thing...) They basically swept the whole thing under the rug, said that it was just a misunderstanding. Since I would be getting a new manager a couple of days later, I did not press the issue. I work at home so I would never have to see the creep anyway.
If life were just that simple. I thought the situation was settled. When I first spoke with my newest manager he was pretty cool. I was relieved since my previous manager had been such a winner. Within just a few days his attitude toward me COMPLETELY changed. It was VERY apparent that he knew what had happened. The call center director actually told him (when I confronted him about that he said that he did not give him details, just told him the gist of things so he could look out for me.... WHATEVER!!)
When I was able to start working from home, I signed a contract that said that if my quality was not meeting goal that I would come back into the call center to work. So this is where they decided to go after me. Quality is supposed to be picked randomly. HA! My scores started to go down drastically although I was not doing anything differently. They gave me zero's on calls when I was having technical problems with my computer. They started monitoring less calls so that they only had to find one bad call. Every week I was getting a call that was near perfect and then one that they could find a million things wrong with. Hmmmm..... Once they got my quality low enough to force me back into the call center they had a new quality representative grade my calls and she pulled two almost perfect calls. Hmmmm........ Looking just a little suspicious are we?
So when my manager told me that I had to come into the call center or else I was terminated I wasn't quite sure what to think. I spoke with the HR representative about it and she called me the next day with the call center director and someone from the corporate office on the phone. They proceeded to tell me that they had done everything they could to make me feel better about the harassment issue (HA) and that they could not let me continue to work from home. They did not really address the issue of not being monitored fairly (guess they had no defense). I am sure they are trying to get out of paying unemployment. However I told them that I am not ok with working in a hostile working environment so they were able to force me to resign by telling me I had to work from the call center.
I have really adopted the idea that we all get to create our reality and that nothing is done "to" us. So in looking at this situation I suppose I should tell the accountable version as well. :) When I started going back to school I put it out there that I did not want to keep working at this job. I did not perform as well, I was not a star employee. Although I did not ask to be mistreated at work and to be forced to resign my position, I did ask to not have to work at that job..... And the Universe delivered.
At the end of June, I had a technical issue with my computer. Technically I am supposed to drive into the call center if my computer is down, but I asked my manager if I could just clock out and make the hours up the next day. He said yes, but you owe me lunch. I ignored the comment because I thought he was joking. He asked if that was a yes to lunch. I declined lunch (still thinking he was joking) and he said then I could forget about clocking out, that I needed to come into the call center. That good old creepy feeling came back, and I was really upset. I ended up calling an HR representative and told her about the situation in confidence. Less than an hour later she called back with the call center director on the line and he had already spoken to my manager. (They need to work on the confidentiality thing...) They basically swept the whole thing under the rug, said that it was just a misunderstanding. Since I would be getting a new manager a couple of days later, I did not press the issue. I work at home so I would never have to see the creep anyway.
If life were just that simple. I thought the situation was settled. When I first spoke with my newest manager he was pretty cool. I was relieved since my previous manager had been such a winner. Within just a few days his attitude toward me COMPLETELY changed. It was VERY apparent that he knew what had happened. The call center director actually told him (when I confronted him about that he said that he did not give him details, just told him the gist of things so he could look out for me.... WHATEVER!!)
When I was able to start working from home, I signed a contract that said that if my quality was not meeting goal that I would come back into the call center to work. So this is where they decided to go after me. Quality is supposed to be picked randomly. HA! My scores started to go down drastically although I was not doing anything differently. They gave me zero's on calls when I was having technical problems with my computer. They started monitoring less calls so that they only had to find one bad call. Every week I was getting a call that was near perfect and then one that they could find a million things wrong with. Hmmmm..... Once they got my quality low enough to force me back into the call center they had a new quality representative grade my calls and she pulled two almost perfect calls. Hmmmm........ Looking just a little suspicious are we?
So when my manager told me that I had to come into the call center or else I was terminated I wasn't quite sure what to think. I spoke with the HR representative about it and she called me the next day with the call center director and someone from the corporate office on the phone. They proceeded to tell me that they had done everything they could to make me feel better about the harassment issue (HA) and that they could not let me continue to work from home. They did not really address the issue of not being monitored fairly (guess they had no defense). I am sure they are trying to get out of paying unemployment. However I told them that I am not ok with working in a hostile working environment so they were able to force me to resign by telling me I had to work from the call center.
I have really adopted the idea that we all get to create our reality and that nothing is done "to" us. So in looking at this situation I suppose I should tell the accountable version as well. :) When I started going back to school I put it out there that I did not want to keep working at this job. I did not perform as well, I was not a star employee. Although I did not ask to be mistreated at work and to be forced to resign my position, I did ask to not have to work at that job..... And the Universe delivered.
2 people care about this post, besides me! :):
That sucks! I do have to tell you though, you can fight unemployment! Trev was forced to resign from his job almost 2 months ago. He fought it and it was just approved for him to receive it!
I am so sorry that has happened to you!
I am sorry, too! It's always easier just to slink away and let them sweep it under the rug. Stand up. Look them straight in the eye just like you are doing.
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