Hello!
This happened a while ago so I apologize if my memory is spotty, am also on mobile so sorry for the formatting as well!
I work at a retail company(won't give out specifics for privacy reasons) that sometimes has managers that take themselves too seriously. It's retail, not a fancy schmancy business. A while ago, I got promoted to lead cashier, which is basically a fancy title for cashier who gets paid a dollar extra and has manager numbers. My manager at the time(who has since left), we'll call her H, was very into a “happy, family-like store” model, outlawed swearing in ANY form, had specific rules(such as lanyards are required, high heels/nice shoes are required even if you're on your feet for 7 hours, and if you did a minor fuck up, she'd act like it was cause for a verbal warning).
Anyways, when I first started, I learned that employees are given hours based on how many people they convert into members, and if they don't meet a certain quota they can get fired. As I had trouble with this, a former lead(who has also since left) gave me some advice; “just put Mary Kay for the first and last name, and give them a random birthday”. Not the most ethical way to get good numbers but when your job is on the line you'll do anything. The lead told me H had told her to do this, and it being my third day on the job, I believed her.
Well, fast forward like five-ish months and apparently you're not allowed to do that! Go figure, right? My bad, I get it, demote me, whatever, this is a retail job not my livelihood for the rest of my life. Well H was livid with me, told our district manager about it and told me I would be written up for my actions and demoted.
Here's where the tricky part comes into play.
I NEVER signed anything relating to my write-up. Which is fine if none of the other employees have to sign verbal warnings, but there's a filing cabinet in the managers office that has a section specifically for signed verbal warnings. Another old manager told me when I asked that it's an automatic thing thay just “goes into my file” but I have a hard time believing that when no one else, not even our new manager(who is amazing and doesn't give a single shit about little things like H did), mentioned it when she got to our store like three months after H left!
So that's where this whole thing wraps up, does it count as a write-up if I never signed anything, therefore there being no proof of the conversation happening or of me acknowledging that I did wrong? Does it still “count against me”? In my opinion, it's bullshit to have VERBAL WARNINGS signed but nor write-ups, which are arguably worse and more impactful??? And it's not like I can ask my cool new manager in the event that she realizes that the company fucked up and I now have to sign a write up that's going to be a year old in like June/July!
Please help I'm DONE having anxiety about this stupid issue.