The Boss from Hell: How Not To Be A Manager

First of all, let me just make clear that I have not quit my fantastic advertising job, nor have I quit my also fantastic research job, nor have I quit my freelance work. Just to set the record straight, my bosses for the first two are wonderful, and my boss for the third is me. No, I quit my other job, which shall remain nameless.

So, without further ado, here is the email I sent when quitting the Job with the Terrible Boss. I've changed the company name and the title of my position to ensure the anonymity of the other people involved.

I am writing to terminate my employment with the company in the position of Department X Manager. Whilst I would prefer not to just write a list of grievances, I am concerned that if I do not make my reasons for leaving crystal clear then it will be intimated that I left due to time constraints or lack of dedication, which would be incorrect.

I have encountered a number of issues since I started working for the company. My main reasons for leaving are as follows:

1. When I first applied for the position, I made it clear that I have a number of other jobs. I stated before the interview, during the interview and after being offered the position that I would still be working at my other places of employment, but was told that this was not a problem as long as I could fit in the work required. I was told that I would need to work roughly 21 hours per week until January, then roughly 40 hours per week from January to March. I spoke with my immediate manager and described how I would fit this in; she agreed that it sounded plausible. However, once I began working for the company I was repeatedly told that “something has got to give” and asked to leave my other jobs, despite meeting deadlines and hitting work targets consistently. Although I politely requested on a number of occasions that my immediate manager did not ask me to quit my other jobs, she continued to do so.

2. A few weeks before I was due to start work, I was asked to supply a list of dates on which I would be available for training. This I did via email. A few days before I was due to begin, I had still heard nothing about training and so sent an email asking when this was to be arranged. I received no reply. A few days later, whilst at a funeral for a close friend’s father, I received a frantic message from my immediate manager who asked me why I was not at the office. I asked why I was supposed to be there, and she informed me that I was meant to start training that day at 10.00. I replied that I was at a funeral, as had been detailed in the email regarding my availability, and asked whether she had informed me that I was supposed to be at work. She replied that she had not. How, then, should I have known? She seemed stumped by this question.

3. The job description stated that I would need to work ‘some weekends and evenings’; this I agreed to readily, as I have no objection to working unsociable hours; indeed, I have done so on many occasions since the commencement of my employment at the company. However, about a week into my employment with the company I gave six months’ notice of a single weekend on which I would be unavailable to work should it be called for. Bearing in mind that my contract is a casual one and that I have no requirement to give notice of any dates on which I am not available, I felt that I was being courteous by giving notice well in advance. I explained that one of my closest friends was getting married, to which I was told that my friend would “have to move her wedding”.

4. I have been telephoned and/or texted on a number of occasions at unsociable hours of the night – once at 1.50 in the morning and once at 5.30 in the morning, to give a couple of examples. These messages were always about non-urgent subjects that could easily have been discussed the next day.

5. There has been an astonishing lack of organisation displayed by my immediate manager throughout the course of my employment. To give a couple of examples: when I first sent in my application form, she lost it three times, then told me I had to fill in a different form as she had sent me the wrong one. A few months later, I was asked to print 350 copies of a 250-page document and told that we could not use the printing unit for this purpose. I therefore worked Saturday and Sunday, as well as a 20-hour day on Tuesday and a 17-hour day on Wednesday to get it finished, only to be informed that I had been given the wrong instructions and that actually the document to be printed was a completely different one. I was then told that we could in fact use the printing unit for this purpose, and was asked why I had not done so before. This unsurprisingly caused me a great deal of stress, not least when I was told that if I gave up another of my jobs, I would have less of a problem with time management. The problem has never been time management; it has been organisation at the level above my own.

6. I have been repeatedly told that I am supposed to be at a meeting, at work, or somewhere else when I had not been previously informed. Upon asking my immediate manager whether she had requested my presence, she would admit that she had not, but would say that I was “supposed to be there anyway”.

7. I have been ridiculed and/or reprimanded on a number of occasions for refusing to engage in unprofessional conduct. My immediate manager has also made frequent demands that are professionally both unacceptable and ridiculous; for example, when I had informed her that I would be in a business meeting, she called my husband at home and asked him how to get in contact with me. He had to explain, very slowly and carefully, that I was in the meeting I had told her about and therefore not at the end of my phone. When I left the meeting I found her outside in a state of panic; she told me that in future I should have my phone in front of me and on loud whilst I am in meetings, which is frankly ludicrous.

8. This is the only job I have ever had in which I have been discriminated against on the basis of my age. I have been working full-time, “proper” jobs since I was 17, and it has always been my experience that a manager will receive a Curriculum Vitae, review the potential employee’s experience, education, abilities and qualities, and hire them on that basis. This was not the case with this company. It quickly became obvious that my immediate manager had not bothered to read the application form she asked me to fill out four times, and that I had been hired because I am relatively young. She has also shown a huge lack of respect for my other jobs. For her benefit, therefore, there follows a list of my other current positions:

- I am a manager at a leading viral marketing agency. This is not just a small, part-time position that can be thrown away, and I do not appreciate it being patronised.

- I am an academic research assistant at the University of Oxford; undoubtedly it will be agreed that this too is a position that is both prestigious and important to my future development. Whilst I do not wish to blow my own trumpet, I do aim to demonstrate that her constant demands for me to leave my other jobs were utterly uncalled for. It is true that it is very unusual for one so young to hold these positions, but this does not detract from the fact that I do.

I have found it far beyond offensive that I have been repeatedly requested to “just give up” my other jobs in order to cater to the every whim of someone who cannot even be bothered to check her email correctly.

When I applied, I was also told that I would be earning £6.57 per hour; the actual wage was £6.38; admittedly a small digression, but one that adds up. I recommend that in future you check job descriptions for accuracy before employing people.

I have not received any expenses payments since I joined the company, despite being assured that these would be made monthly. I have asked both my immediate manager and the head of the team why this has happened, and have received no response from either of them.

As the employment officer will be able to verify, my contract is held on a casual basis and I therefore have the right to refuse work at any time without notice. I will not be working for the company again. I expect to see my wages for December in my bank account at the end of January, along with the three months’ worth of expenses payments that should have been made. Unfortunately, if this does not happen, I shall have to seriously consider taking legal action.

I have been working since I was twelve years old in all sorts of positions ranging from Saturday jobs to early-morning cleaning jobs to running shops, departments and businesses, and have never encountered this level of unprofessionalism from anyone, let alone from a so-called ‘manager’. I have never had to quit a job in my life; previously, I have only left the employ of companies and individuals due to moving house, and have always been sad to go. I regret to tarnish this record by quitting now, but there is no other option.

I recommend that in the future, the position is given to a gap-year student who has no other demands on their time, and who has parents who can afford to both run them everywhere at very short notice and pay for petrol even when expenses are not reimbursed on time. Anyone who comes into this position from a background in business, and who is used to working with professionalism and integrity, will be driven mildly insane. The job description also needs to state that the job is not, in fact, ‘Manager’, but ‘Personal Assistant’. It is also a full-time position; one is expected to be on call literally 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and to be psychically aware of events about which one has not been told.

I am, in one sense, sad to be leaving; many of the people I have met through the company have been fantastic, inspirational persons to whom I wish the very best of luck for the future. It is a shame to have to leave this network of lovely people due to the actions (and often non-actions) of one person, but at the end of the day I have my sanity and sleep to consider.

So, what about you guys? Any other boss-from-hell experiences out there? I'm sure there are many!