Office Disaster - Don't know what to do

[Secretary99]

I have just come back from the dry cleaners (almost in tears) as they have lost my dry cleaning. I put a suit in for dry cleaning last week but they cannot find it.

This puts me in big trouble as I’m wearing jeans (not office clothes) and whilst my boss is not in again until Monday, I have to deal with a client at 11am to sign some accounts.


I have only been working as a temporary PA/Secretary at this firm of Accountants in West London for the past five weeks. It is a tiny office and there is just the boss and me. She and I don’t hit it off and presentation is her middle name.


I am broke until Friday, so I cannot buy more clothes and I live about one and half hours away, so I cannot go home.


What should I do???? I could do nothing and hope the client does not complain or ever mention me wearing jeans and no one is any the wiser.


But, if the client did mention it to my boss then I could be fired instantly and the employment agency would not give me any further bookings.


But, if I telephoned my boss to explain now then I still might get fired. It is so unfair. What should I do?

[vodkancoke]

He's a guy. What makes you think he'll notice what you're wearing anyway! ;)

To be serious, I wouldn't lie. If he is as picky as you say then I would let your boss know. Be honest and the dry cleaners will back you up.

[FrillyPancake]

Goodness. Get over it. Way too serious a post for something so simple to sort. The lass is in pieces, more talk of getting the sack is only going to get her more wound up.
Secreatry99 you have my humble opinion. Good luck!

[Secretary99]

Thanks everyone. I will use the coffee spilt excuse, if anyone says anything. I am temping through an agency - which means I can get instantly fired without any disciplinary process. The bad news is that the client has just called and it appears I e-mailed him the wrong draft accounts yesterday. Not my day.

[FrillyPancake]

They can't sack you for being a clutse. I am a contractor too. Just act a bit "blonde" it'll be ok!
Goodness, your really not having a good day are you?!

[Ellipsis]

Fair enough, Secretary99, do as you see fit.

If you were fired for relying on a dry cleaner, I'd say that was harsh.

If you were fired for lying, I'd say you deserved everything you got.

[China Doll]

Agree with Woof too, there's no point in lying at all. Dry cleaners cocking up is a perfectly valid reason.

Anyway, I'd stop worrying about it now, if you've already sent incorrect draft accounts then what you're currently wearing is the least of your problems.

[Secretary99]

Thanks China Doll but I don't think you have grasped the seriousness of the situation. In normal employment you cannot get sacked for wearing jeans without going through several disciplinary hearings and then you get a written warning. In my case, if my boss wants me out then all she has to do is phone the agency and I leave staightaway. To top it all, I called the Dry Cleaners to see if they would e-mail me to confirm they had caused the problem and the girl there bluntly and rudely said 'No', and I now think I have left the ticket in the shop.

[Old_Geezer]

There seems to be conflicting advice. Maybe the lesson here is that whatever you opt for do it with confidence and you'll probably pull it off. Don't panic over these minor irritations in life, and believe me, this is minor. Imagination often comes up with worries that don't come to be. And, "at the end of the day" you know the situation better than anyone here so are best placed to pick the right advice.

[mccfluff]

if its that bad why don;t you ask the agency to place you elsewhere

[jackthehat]

Look on the bright-side.....

Your boss is going to be far more cross that you e-mailed the wrong accounts to the client (were they his own, or a different client?) than the fact that you are wearing jeans.

If you don't get fired for that, I doubt whether she'll fire you over your clothing....

[woofgang]

Frilly this isn't any kind of moral judgement but a practical one. Once you have lied, for the rest of the time you are with that organisation, working with those people, you have to remember that lie. If you ever slip up then the level of the lie wont matter, you will have lied. The organisation might tell the agency that they are firing you because you lied and that is then your rep with the agency ruined as well. IMO Its just not worth it. The Op is in this position through no fault of her own and IMO her picky boss will be just as likely or unlikely to be annoyed about the situation if she said she got coffee spilled on her than if she told the truth....more so maybe because if i was heading for an important meeting with a client, i wouldn't risk getting coffee spilled on me!

It wasn't me who raised the issue of being sacked, it was the OP.

[China Doll]

I grasped your situation in my first response and advised you appropriately.

I am now advising you that wearing jeans is the least of your problems if you sent incorrect draft accounts. With respect, I think it's you that have not grasped the seriousness of the situation as jeans really are the least of your problems when compared with incorrect emailed accounts. Sorry.

[Secretary99]

Thanks Jack. They were another client's accounts and the 'other client' received the wrong accounts too. I also had to cancel another client until next week but because of the upset this morning forgot to spellcheck my e-mail to her (a copy of which went to my boss). Perhaps Jeans are the least of my worries!

[China Doll]

They certainly are secretary.

Still, at least the client is late so that's rather tardy of them too.

[mccfluff]

nice spot CD

[woofgang]

mmmm I'd probably be clearing my desk......

[woofgang]

I wonder what happened

[Secretary99]

Thanks for asking Wolfgang..

I thought I had got away with it as the client rescheduled for Friday and my boss is in the North East at a family commitment and will not be back until Monday. But no, at 4pm my boss’s teenage daughter came into the office (it transpired she is still going to college and did not go away with her mum). So within 10 minutes she had told my boss about the jeans and had checked the door alarm to see what time I arrived this morning (about 20mins late). I ended up getting a really nasty bollocking. She won’t hear my reasons for wearing jeans to work; just that I wore them because she wasn’t around. She kept on saying how much I had let her down. I expect she’s e-mailed the agency this evening. I can’t sleep and am so angry about everything. It is unlikely I will keep this job, so I might as well wear jeans again tomorrow just for my self-esteem: I am seriously considering it!

[EcclesCake]

Why did you give up your job as a legal secretary? I know you wanted career advancement but I can't see what new skills you are learning whilst temping, if anything you seem to be struggling.

I'm still not sure I understand why you don't have access to anything other than jeans, do you not live at home during the week? If you've been working as a legal secretary 'all your life' you must have an adequate working wardrobe?

[Secretary99]

Thanks EcclesCake...

I left the Law Firm in the city because I seemed to be going down the ladder instead of up it. Many secretaries were allowed to study for Legal Executive exams but they also accepted a pay-cut, which I wasn't prepared to do. Instead in the past year I went from Partner's Secretary to working for 2 assistant solicitors who were bullies and as a result I ended up on two disciplinaries for poor performance and I could see the writing on the wall and left. I thought there would be more temping jobs about bearing in mind it is the summer. But working in other sectors has given me new ideas - I am thinking now about Accountancy Technicians as a possible career path.

The 'jeans' issue is this. I wore jeans today because I was collecting dry cleaning which I would change into. The Dry Cleaners had lost it. So I wore jeans all day because (1) it was too far away to go home and change and (2) I am scint this month and did not have £50 with me to go along to M&S and buy new clothes. I have clothes here at home but I just feel like wearing jeans tomorrow because my boss was just so unfair and nasty towards me. She spoke to me as though I was still at school and what's the point in turning up for work smartly dressed if I am going to get fired anyway.