hi all,
i am facing a big prob here sad.gif joined a new company (a
healthcare MNC that has Singapore as its regional office) as
Marketing Executive. As I applied for the job online
www.jobstreet.com, the job agency called me and asked me go down to
let them vet first before going for the interview. Over there, they
made me signed a contract that has 1 of the clauses stated as if i
leave the job less than 2 months, i need to pay this agency 1
month's pay. I signed it cause i was really interested in the job
scope and i believe it can add upon my experience in the health
industry and expose me to better aspects. I mean, i understand from
the agency's point of view that they dun wan job hoppers and i,
myself, for 1, stayed with my previous co for 4 years, my first job
since graduation too. And who would wanna go in a co and quit less
than 2 months? Well, i signed it and off to the interview i went.
that was 2 weeks back.
2 days later, i was offered the job and i went back to sign the
employment contract which is very standard and indicated my job
scope and stuff (all marketing-planning related). though tis
company offered me $200 lesser than my ex company (i was at 2.2k),
i still take it as i am really interested in the product range i am
going to promote and i believe in it too. Most importantly, i will
also be reporting to a brand manager who is from one of the global
MNCs based in Singapore who will plan together the strategy and
it's my best chance to learn from her. These are the reasons i
joined though pay was slightly lower. my boss said that upon
probation of 3 months, he will up my pay and so i thought, why not?
i can use these months to prove to him as well thus i accepted it.
during probation period, i just need 1 day notice for termination.
He added that one lady who was doing shipping and delivery of goods
will be on maternity leave, so i just need to ensure that i chased
after the headquarters via email. All other shipping documents will
be prepared by him (boss). So i thought ok, i can do it.
Last Fri (16th), i started work and early morning, i realised that
i have no other colleagues! All the while, i thought only 1 woman
is on maternity but i din realise that there are no other ppl. i
know it sounds dumb, but when i went for the interview, the boss
room was the first one, and his window panes were frosted painted,
i can only glimpsed there was 1 large cubicle of 4 seats and the
rest are all offices (3 more in all). Naturally, i was quite
shocked but i did not enquire much.
For the whole day, i was busy with getting familiarised with
products, setting up my email acc, following up with all sorts of
things. The funny thing was when i went to look for stationary. i
cant find much (yeah, i am really in a shi*hole). i asked him
(isn't he supposed to inform me???) and he said i can go and buy
and claim back. OK, i thought, what to do??? *SKEPTICAL*
then he told me this whole week, he needs to go on a 1 week trip to
HK, China and Taiwan for business. So basically, i will be the only
person in the office. I tried to take down all the things i am
supposed to do and follow up and make sure things run smoothly. The
pissed off thing was that he is a VERY disorganised person, when he
think of something, he asks u in, write a few things, go out, go in
again when he calls. i was shocked that if he knows i am coming in
on Fri and he knows the woman will go on maternity and he knows he
is going on a bloody trip, why didn't he plan things in advance?
all in all, it was a very bad first day and for the first time in
my office life, i stayed till 8pm (knock off is 6pm). well,
overtime to me is OK if it's justified, but looking back, the
reason was because he is too slack and a total time waster. i
couldnt go back cos i need all the information for this week's
duties.
i went home and the worst thing is that i have to go back the next
day (sat, when it's a 5-day week). why? cos the regional product
manager can only teach me product info that day! and i only knew on
fri. can i say no???
i went in at 9 and we started the training. at 10, that asshole
boss came in and he just opened the meeting room door and asked me
to book hotel rooms in HK for him! what the F***! u can see this
guy really bo chap! he was so rude i told him that i will do it for
him in a moment (cos we are in the midst of 1 slide) and he says
'Now!'! if he going for a trip, isn't hotel rooms the most impt
thing together with air tix?? so i helped him! note this is not
within my scope, but i do it, else how? i cant refuse. what a nice
person i am sad.gif
and he has so much trouble to give me, cos 1 need to make
reservations for 4 persons and he has only 1 credit card number.
the online site he gave me was able to make bookings with 1 number.
so i told him and he said ok, charge that to his card and he will
claim later. after i confirmed everything via email with the site,
he suddenly come tell me that he wants the individual person to pay
for his/her own room! what the hell?? so i ended up calling the
customer service hotline listed and it was based in thailand. after
all the hassle, i told him flatly that either we have 4 credit
numbers for each room or 1 number for all bookings. it just worked
this way, dun ask me why. so he LL face and said ok, go ahead. note
he said OK second time here. i proceeded with the booking
confirmation with the operator and can u believe that this damn
site he gave me was so inefficient. i got a mail 30min later
telling me the rooms are all full. yeah yeah, then why list the
hotel as available???! i was so pissed off as i came back for
product training and the poor guy was in the room (well, his
position lower than this asshole boss) and i can see he empathized
with my situation but cannot do much la. so end up, we called the
hotel staright for bookings (yeah, costs more but what to do for
ppl who was so last min in getting rooms!) also gotten the credit
card informtion of the rest of the ppl and finally managed to get
rooms after 2-3 hours. went for lunch, came back, continued
training. product manager left at 5 for airport. i cant go home cos
the basket still have tons for me to take note, same thing! in, out
of his office at his beck n call!
i went home only at 8pm for a sat! i finally cannot tahan and asked
him got compensation for sats and weekends when we have events or
not. he gave me a neither yes or no answer and swayed the topic to
the pregnant colleague that ' u know, ___ always stayed back too
and .... blah blah ...' , ' yes, yes, i will do something!'..
ya, do what??? i dunno what i am expecting! and is he telling me
that i should not be making overtime requests???! i have been so
accomodating and he is asking for more??? next comes the funniest
thing in my working life: he says that usually over the weekends,
calls gets diverted to his mobile and cos he is going overseas, it
will be diverted to mine. damn it, i was so tired physically and
mentally and i still have to be on standby mode waiting for calls!
i really feel like crying le.
i feel that alot of information are withheld from me and i cannot
do anything. i am not a jobhopper kind of person and i never regret
my choice of joining this co. but alot of things really are
withheld from me! u cannot blame me for not asking cos these are
really abnormal situations that will not occur in a comapny with
system, what's more an MNC???? isn't this just packaging? like my
title is marketing but yet i am doing weird and disorganised
things? this is not being efficient.
mon, i turned up for work, i have a whole bunch of things to take
care of! all sorts of cards and keys, collect mails etc etc. he
said he no time to collect mails! come on, the mail box is in the
carpark when he packed! and next to the damn lift. fine, i do
it!
so i go work mon and tue, opened the door, stayed in office whole
day. no lunch, well, too many things to handle and i am mentally
breaking down. cried on mon suddenly cos phone calls are coming in
and weird ppl asking for my boss and things i dunno..
end up my whole email system is not marketing-related, but more
shipment related cos the assho*e screwed up the shipping documents
and things are stalled up! there were so many emails from him
requesting this and that from the other colleague's pc. look! alot
of things are so sudden and information are not provided. 1 good
example is that, he told me he needs to dispatch a parcel of 12kg
to KL by train (KTM train station) and told me to make an invoice.
so i prepared the invoice on sat, he only talk talk and say look
for the template in my colleague's pc. i ended up preparing an
invoice by myself with the necessary info. he gave me a number and
say this co will take care of the delivery and he ALWAYS USE them!
so i called them up on mon to come collect. from the guy, i
understand that they ONLY deliver to train station and that's all,
they dunno how to prepare any consignment note (another document i
required for my side and KL)! i was so shocked. things are so
different from what was explained to me. i called up KTM and know
they can help prepare the consignment note but i need to pay for
the charges which is like $44. the delivery co picked up the parcel
yesterday morning and i gave them $50 and told them they must fax
me the consignement and receipt so that i can claim back sad.gif
end up total costs was $50 cause of $6 parking charge. the delivery
fee of $16 from my office to KTM (note, not KL!) will be charged to
my co's acc with them.
another ex was making applications with the health authority here.
as u know, when we advertise health products, we need to get permit
as health info has to be vetted first. i have more than 200
products here, and i can easily make a few applications per month
($100/app). i am supposed to do this and all the while, my ex co
has a giro acc to deduct such payments to authorities. So it means
i have to pay first! i kew this when on the first day, i was
following up on 2 applications this boss made and he told me
verbally that there are no GIRO acc, i was thinking OMG. No petty
cash either! else i wun need to pay the despatch co my own $
sad.gif
i know that i can claim back but can u all understand the dilemma
and feelings i have? everything is so disorganised and auto pilot
when this co does not even have the foundation to do so! i feel so
cheated cos i lowered my pay (yes, i did that willingly) but i was
cheated by information withheld from me! and i cannot do anything
now cos of the agency contract. it is so ironic, i can leave the co
with 1 day notice but i need to pay agency?!?!?
i feel very traumatised by this incident and today i am sick, down
with fever, doc gave me 2 days MC cos sore throat too. I called MOM
and they told me that Employment Act can only protect employees
with salary of 1.6k, basically they cant do anything. i spoke to 2
officers le. i also called my agency yesterday morning and asked
the lady to keep it between the 2 of us. these ppl heard my story
only know how to 'aiyo, why like that', 'oh no..', but they cant
help me sad.gif
i need some advice if there is anyone who has gone through things
like this before as i am getting phobic of going to work. i need to
claim back my stationary and despatch claims of about $110.. and i
will speak to my boss. i dun wanna stay there cos i feel that he
says are kinda empty promises and do not hold any weight. i dun
feel good and secured in this environment. i am ok with overtime if
required to finish up work, but i do not believe that staying for
the sake of staying back means i am more hardworking or wat. it
could be because one is not efficient enough in completing his/her
tasks on time.
for the past 2 days (mon and tue), i ate in the office cos he is
not around. i remembered buying my lunch back on fri and he said 'u
CAN eat in the office, just make sure the fragrance is not too
overwhelming'. oh my God, tell me what kind of food no fragrance? i
dun think anyone ever has this kind of prob???? nowadays, almost
everyone who work in offices are air-conditioned. so just tell me,
u either wan me to eat sandwich or I CANNOT eat in office.
i am so taken aback by all these little, unnecessary things and
with all the unexpected things to come. I really want to resign as
i cannot believe no system exists in this office (already 1 year
old in singapore, more than 75 years globally).
please, if anyone can help, i will really appreciate it.
i intend to tender either tue or end of the month depending on
situation. i mean, i tried to make things work, but i really doubt
anything can change even when he is back. the prob here is the
agency contract. i have friends who encountered probs like this
before and they advised me to heck care, but i am scared and
worried. i dun wanna pay cos these incidents are unexpected and to
be fair, the agency could be cheated by the employer (my co) as
well. i am definately a victim and i should not be getting further
unfair treatment from agency.
hope to hear from you guys.
thanks,
ernie
