I was the supervisor at a small business and my boss had asked me to take care of the day to day operations while he was away. I hadn’t expected anything out of the ordinary, but that’s exactly what happened.
The employees came to tell me that the boss had left the company, he had taken all his belongings away
I was in the middle of dealing with a customer when I noticed some of my employees looking concerned. When I asked them what was wrong, they told me that my boss had left the company and took his belongings all away.
Not only that, but he left without paying them for the past three months of work.
At first, I thought they were joking, but they weren’t. I tried to contact my boss, but he refused to answer any of my calls or emails.
I didn’t know what to do, I knew that I would have to answer to the workers, but I was also clueless about the situation.
They were all part-time workers without contracts and they are afraid that going to the authorities to tell on him will be of no use because there was no black and white to show.
I felt helpless and frustrated. I had worked for this company for two years and I had never expected this kind of behavior from my boss.
I had no idea what to do and I did not know how to answer to the employees and could only try my best to mitigate the situation.
I spoke to the employees and explained the situation to them. I asked them to be patient and assured them that I was doing everything possible to find a solution.
I also asked them to contact the authorities if they wanted to, but they still reiterated that they are afraid that going to the authorities to tell on him will be of no use.
In the end, I was able to contact my boss and he told me that he will shut down the business and after some talking, he agreed to come up with a plan to pay the employees and myself what he owed us.
I honestly still fear that he will run away and not pay us at all because I had known him for quite a while and at times he can be quite untrustable and unreliable but we shall see.