Month: December 2013

This is the first time ever I was terminate without notice by employer. I had been working for 1 years 9 months and this happen when I received e-mail from my boss about 9pm Tuesday 05 Nov 2013. I tried to call my boss immediately twice but he did not pick up my calls so I left him a voice mail. The e-mail said that I do not need to report to work anymore, tomorrow need to return the pass and key to the office and he is an smaller director instructed by bigger director to received it. Actually my company is so small that right now there is only three person, one big director, one small director, one secretary, if my another colleague had left after I been sacked to form a registered company as private limited. My past company does not have an actual office, that address to my office belong to the bigger director house.

So on Wednesday morning I call up my office, so she pick up which is the secretary to call up bigger director to return my call. So the bigger director meet me up at a place. I pass him the key and pass, and he ask me what is all these key and pass about? So I told him yesterday is already my last day. He told me he had no idea did not know my last day is yesterday. I said when I will receive my last pay. He said he had no info at all let me know next week. So I left. I did not receive a call from my smaller director who he sacked me. On Thursday morning, I made a call to Ministry of Manpower, she ask me a few question and I answer her accordingly and said I must send demand of payment a letter to my company now to ask a month of salary if my job offer letter stated that after I confirmed and working almost 1 year 9 month.

So I type and print out the letter, including my leave which last time my boss send me in an excel file to update if I took any leave and send him e-mail which there is no leave form printed out and sign that kind. I also printed out the e-mail which I had a few chain of e-mail which I tell him about my work problems and he demand me to hand over my work to other colleague to serve notice as last day in 29 Nov 2013 Friday as we both agreed in 04 Nov 2013 night. So as my other colleague refuse to report to another client side at Monday 04 Nov 2013 morning and later my client and demand us an answer. So my colleague answered to him that he is staying with me at another office to learn stuff from me. So he replied please tell him if there is any changes in work schedule in advance. On Tuesday 05 Nov 2013, my colleague did not bring some system out and I need to learn from me how to deploy and left the office quite early like 3.30pm. I already having difficulty as he is really doing nothing as yesterday and today to hand over my duties before my last day. So I send e-mail to by boss which is my smaller director I having problem as he is doing nothing so some task I not able to carry out till the last day as we agreed so I propose if my colleague keep on doing nothing then I have to request my last day to me put earlier like 11 Nov 2013 Monday. So end up I was terminated without notice at night 9pm.

My colleague is my boss long time friends, so he join us at last year nov start as I manage to serve this client as ad hoc basis and they are looking someone which is better that me not only in technical but also soft skills like PR in a funds managing company which I sub con for IT services. My first day with this company is 01 March 2012 since I serving two clients include this. As they demand many urgent and lot of help, I send e-mail to my boss and my boss show this client an e-mail and they sign an agreement to provide half a day help which he charge quite a bit high to this client from Oct 2012 to end of Sep 2013. My colleague slowly step in to serve this client a bit and slowly at End Jan 2013 he is fully taken over this client.

My pay increase in Mar 2013 as another client move to a bigger office and the food there are more expensive since Mid Feb 2013 after Chinese New year. They are going ad hoc basics to one full day manpower till end of this year before they deciding to renew our contract next year. So I excepted to fully use my personal mobile phone, my personal laptop and excepted more travelling involved between both office one central which trains can reach easy and one far away in remote places to walk long and take only one bus services to go there. I have no allowances at all so they increase my pay a bit like that to cover that much.

After that I had been difficulty taking leave, end up I taking medical leave better. If I take leave, they will call my personal mobile as there is no helpdesk or office number for urgent help quite frequently even they know I on leave. I had to help them over the phone and need to remote in to their system using free resources online like teamviewer which result spend more time like at home support them compare to onsite or in their office. My boss normally do not inform many of my client quite well and I sometimes ask my colleague to help but end up sometimes he is not at my client offices when I on leave so this end up in complaints getting bigger as no one onsite. I told my boss a few times if there is no one at my client offices he need to goes there onsite and ask if there is any support needed and tell my client in charge I on leave but so far a few times he did not do it even once and I tell them off they are simply absence from work. I understand that my boss had another big client to work for 2 full days and recently a few months ago he manage to change to 4 half days so he had more free time to run more sites or project. Some of my client in charge of our project had said before Mar2013 that since the company is growing and moving to new place the contract may not last long and will not know when our contract is up for a small company of ours.

My colleague come to office always wear t shirt, jeans with slippers not even covered shoes very untidy not like me. As he move out from his house to rent a room very expensive near to city with his girlfriend from Japan since last year Dec for a year tenant contract. So he is not so good as my family to do much laundry, to iron wear long pants with polo shirt and a covered shoes at least. He took a lot of MC and spending long time seeing waiting in clinic to see doctor from morning almost noon then tell us he is out of clinic. So my boss sometimes tell him to afternoon go and work and many times he said is very sick can support remote and phone. So end up the same issue half a day no one onsite like my client here. He left office quite early about 4pm or 4.30pm to do laundry at home and even let his client knows about it. Sometimes I know if I not wrong he cannot stay a bit late at before 5pm he rush for lessons to learn japan language in evening every Thursday and some other weekdays from Great World City to Orchard just a 10 minutes or less of taking a bus to arrived. He at rented room do not do much cooking like me almost every morning my mum made a 3 slices of bread put butter and kaya and I drink coffee my parents boiled every morning without fail a single day early morning. He is eating too much outside food like many hawker centre tasty food not healthy not much exercise physically like me and also learn music so taking many mc. My mum cook often at night and I come home eat dinner healthy foods half bowl rice or a bit, big bowl of soup, meat, fish, vegetables.

So end up my colleague at start sep 2013 loss the contract of his client taken over by another company to provide them IT support. At start Oct my boss want to speak to me on phone as he did not want to meet me in office in weekday. So I end up my night class in part time degree, drive my family car home as my elder sister gone for US holiday for two weeks to left behind the car. I speak to my boss for 40 minutes till quite late at home. At morning, I need to talk to him about my plan so meet him next week to send him e-mail. He wants me to find some business like ad hoc, half or one man power if not next year we will down size. He replied my e-mail said these few weeks he is busy with his clients not able to advise another day and time to meet and talk for a time being. So I replied that let talk about my last day in next month or Dec or latest next year Jan. So he wrote let make last day in 31 Dec as expected to count my bonus.

In the end, I received my last pay, in Nov 2013 pay roll, with 3 days work, 15 days annual leave and 1 month pay. So end up if this year a few hundreds dollars of OT, I am getting near 2 months and bank in already well. I looking for job, went for two companies interview, one job agent interview since last week and now. Next week Monday to Thursday each day got one interview for four companies. I working in 2012 and 2013 per year I earning gross income of 29K not near 30K if this month my job not started. But I have many credit cards and credit lines and spend a lot also. But I have no worries as I working close to 6 years in IT support as system infrastructure plus this cert just received as last my previous post so can ask a bit higher. In the letter my company ask me to sign if my last pay is correct, and wrote I was terminated due to non performance, not on time in attendance in my work, not provide work, not proper work attitudes to his clients some more. So I scan all these letters, including his e-mail from my boss, annual leave in excel file to worker union with pay slip and wrote that if they want to pursue this company after this it will be the worker union own concession as it had nothing to do with me once the last pay I able to received in my bank account.