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I work for a small business owner. There are a total of about 5 employees and I work in the office directly under my boss. I've only been here a few months. I asked and was granted vacation time by my boss a few weeks ago. My vacation starts the middle of next week. However, today my boss's wife called and said he had a massive heart attack. There is a co-owner but he is not involved in the day to day activities here. There is no HR. We are waiting for him to contact us back but he is not picking up his phone.
Our company ships very expensive parts to various corporations. We have purchase orders that need to be filled. I don't make the parts, but I'm responsible to see that these parts are made, ready to be shipped, etc. I don't want to sound inconsiderate, but I purchased plane tickets for this vacation and I cannot refund them. I do plan on going on vacation. What is the best course of action for me to take? Who do I contact about this?
You do not say how long you will be gone or who is now in charge of the office. Was your boss going to be doing your job while you were away? Is there someone else that could cover for you? Are you available via phone and/or computer where you are going? I think you need to weigh your options and decide how important this job and the company is to you. If you not being there puts a burden on the company at a tough time, it may affect your future with them. Not an easy situation. Jay
Do what you think is right, but don't be surprised if this doesn't end well for you. Hell, if this is a small company and they lose these orders when you are on vacation will there even be a job to come back to?
This may be unrealistic, but maybe try to see if you can get your employer to reimburse you for the non-refundable plane tickets if you cancel your vacation. The complicated part would be, with the boss sick, who to ask. This is a difficult situation with no good solution, to be honest.
I just wrote a long post and accidentally deleted it. Anyway, I was hired on initially as an "assistant/helper" around the place. This was supposed to be a temp job until I found something more secure. I work part-time and have no benefits and am cautioned against increasing my hours (I'm guessing because then he would have to provide some sort of insurance). My job is to do the menial small tasks to take the burden off my boss. I have no superiority whatsoever. While my position is important to keep track of the shipments, I can only answer basic questions about the shipment when asked, so I think those shipments will be stalled regardless. My boss did not show me the entire process, just some of the steps that it takes to make the shipments. I was never given full authorization to make the shipments, pay process, etc. Once I get to a certain point, he takes over. Therefore I am just as lost as everyone else is. People have been asking me questions today regarding A,B, and C and I really cannot give them an answer because I simply do not know. I think eventually he was going to show me how everything works more in depth, but it's all pretty basic at the moment. I will be away for 4 business days and will be available through phone and e-mail, but like I said I don't know if I would be very much help. We are waiting on the co-owner to contact us so. Until then everything is up in the air.
Last edited by evangalg1; 04-27-2012 at 10:53 AM..
That's the problem I'm facing - who do I ask? There is no one. To make matters more complicated, I took the days off to be part of a bridal wedding party of a very close relative.
I just wrote a long post and accidentally deleted it. Anyway, I was hired on initially as an "assistant/helper" around the place. This was supposed to be a temp job until I found something more secure. I work part-time and have no benefits and am cautioned against increasing my hours (I'm guessing because then he would have to provide some sort of insurance). My job is to do the menial small tasks to take the burden off my boss. I have no superiority whatsoever. While my position is important to keep track of the shipments, I can only answer basic questions about the shipment when asked, so I think those shipments will be stalled regardless. My boss did not show me the entire process, just some of the steps that it takes to make the shipments. I was never given full authorization to make the shipments, pay process, etc. Once I get to a certain point, he takes over. Therefore I am just as lost as everyone else is. People have been asking me questions today regarding A,B, and C and I really cannot give them an answer because I simply do not know. I think eventually he was going to show me how everything works more in depth, but it's all pretty basic at the moment. I will be away for 4 business days and will be available through phone and e-mail, but like I said I don't know if I would be very much help. We are waiting on the co-owner to contact us so. Until then everything is up in the air.
Given what you just said, I would say, go on the vacation. It's not as if you are in a high level position.
Quote:
Originally Posted by evangalg1
That's the problem I'm facing - who do I ask? There is no one. To make matters more complicated, I took the days off to be part of a bridal wedding party of a very close relative.
You should not have to miss being part of the bridal party at a wedding. Honestly, your boss was a poor planner by not having anyone be in charge in his absence.
Given what you just said, I would say, go on the vacation. It's not as if you are in a high level position.
Yeah, I have no authority over anyone. My tasks are given to me by my boss (which varies day-to-day) and that information is then filtered to the rest of my co-workers.
Quote:
You should not have to miss being part of the bridal party at a wedding. Honestly, your boss was a poor planner by not having anyone be in charge in his absence.
He was on vacation last month for several weeks and in that time I was in charge of making sure parts were made weekly and ready to be sent out. He made out all the paperwork, processed all the orders, made all the payments, so all I had to do was make a few phone calls and make sure people weren't slacking off in order to meet the weekly quota.
I don't want to miss this wedding either, and since I have no authorization to make these BIG decisions on VERY expensive parts, I've decided to attend the wedding.
I think you're making the right decision to attend the wedding. Your boss has not set up a system to cover himself in an absence, and that is on him.
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