Hot Shop

"OK. OK. I'll get back to my office and send an email to Chloe. We'll look into personnel management. But you'll arrange the air conditioning and uniforms?"

"Yes. I'll order the uniforms on line tonight. The air conditioning? I'll order that tomorrow morning. And thank you for listening to me."

I didn't add 'at last and too bloody late' but I was thinking it.

Mr Mohan left a few minutes later as more customers came into the shop.

Half an hour later Muriel and I closed the shop. As I locked the door Muriel surprised me with a hug and kiss.

"Thank you, Malcolm. Today you've made our lives much easier. Now go and sort out your own."

She walked off. What did she mean?

+++

Back home I had a long cool shower before getting dressed in casual clothes suitable for the heat. I put today's uniform in the washing machine and started it. I sat down with my laptop and opened the pre-written order for the new uniforms. I had to delete my own and Chloe's specification from the order I sent off. I had an instant response from the uniform retailer's website.

I sent a brief email to the company I had asked for a quotation for the air conditioning, saying I would be speaking to them tomorrow morning but we wanted the air conditioning installed as soon as possible this week.

+++

I was at Chloe's flat precisely at six o'clock. She opened the door, pulled me in, kicking the door shut and kissed me fiercely.

"What have you been up to?" She asked, mock-accusingly. "You were miserable all week until Saturday. Then you were almost as happy as you were when I was around. What changed? Have you found a new girlfriend?"

I could tell she wasn't serious.

"How do you know what I've been like?" I asked.

"Muriel rang me on Saturday evening. She was asking how I was getting on with the new job. That's when she told me what you had been doing."

I had to think hurriedly. If Muriel rang Saturday evening then she wouldn't have told Chloe about today's developments. Chloe was looking closely at me.

"Come on! Out with it. Tell me!"

"Can we go in?" I asked plaintively. "It will take some time. How has your week been?"

"My week? That will take some time too. I'll make some tea."

Chloe took my hand and pulled me into her kitchen.

"Sit there!" She ordered, pointing at a chair beside a small table.

I sat. Chloe turned the kettle on.

"You start," she said. "from Monday morning."

"Monday morning? I'll start from Sunday evening. You kissed me three times on Sunday."

"You remembered?"

"Of course I remembered, Chloe. Those kisses were the first you'd ever given me. Anyway, I got home, showered, put my uniform and your used uniform in the washing machine, and changed into comfortable clothes. I was missing you. When your uniform was dry I hung it in the kitchen. I left it hanging there until Tuesday morning. It reminded me of you, and why you had left the shop. So I had good feelings about it because you had worn it, and sad feelings because it was what had made you leave."

"I hated that uniform," Chloe emphasised.

"I know, but..."

"But?"

"That comes later in the week, much later. Monday was dreadful. I kept looking around for you and you weren't there. The Mohan brothers and the Job Centre sent me some applicants for your job. As usual the people from the Job Centre didn't want work. They had come because they had to. Except for one woman who couldn't stand the heat in the shop for five minutes the few others wanted part-time work and I needed an adult full timer."

Chloe put a cup of tea in front of me and sat opposite me. The tea was exactly as I like it. Of course it was. Chloe and I have been making tea for each other for more than two years.

"Why don't you tell me something about your week, Chloe? We have all evening and I want to hear your news as well."

"We won't have all evening for talking..."

I raised an eyebrow. Chloe giggled.

"I meant that we have a meal to eat and some of that too... We have a couple of years to catch up on."

"If you mean I have loved you for two years? Yes, Chloe, I have. As your manager I couldn't..."

Chloe came around the table, pushed it away gently without spilling the tea, and sat on my lap winding her arms around my neck before kissing me.

"Now we can, Malcolm."

She kissed me again.

"Other than that, I'll start with my new job. The travel was and is a pain. I have to change buses each way and the gap between them is unpredictable. It isn't that far but I've been spending between an hour and an hour a half each day just getting to and from the new shop. I have a weekly season ticket but that is expensive compared with walking.

The people working in the shop are grumpy. I don't know why. We had more to be grumpy about in the Mohans' shop. The shop is part of a nationwide chain. They have a shop manager who seems OK but harassed. She can't take the decisions you made daily. She has to consult a district manager who is apparently an arsehole. I haven't seen him yet but the staff hate him. I don't know why they do.

When I was appointed the interviewer mentioned that I would be on probation for the first three months. She didn't say that while on probation I would only be paid the statutory minimum wage. Only if I pass the probation period successfully will I be paid the rate they had offered -- the same as the Mohans used to pay me. So I'm annoyed about that. I have to pay travel out of a reduced, drastically reduced, pay."

"Ouch," I said, "That's not good."

"It's not. But the worst thing is the loss of status. With you I was the only full time worker, the experienced one. Apart from you as the manager I was the next most important person. In my new job I'm the junior on probation. My experience counts for nothing. The other workers are much older than I am and have worked for the chain for years. Any promotion comes after working in several different shops and the one I'm at is the nearest. If I want a career I'm going to have to travel much further. I don't want to. You always listened to me, and to the others. You treated us as if we were intelligent and competent even if some of us weren't."

Chloe stopped talking to pour some more tea.

"Enough about me. Your turn to tell me about the rest of your week. I think you're hiding something important, Malcolm."

"I missed you. On Friday evening I was writing yet another email to the Mohans about the heat and the uniforms. I had nearly finished it when I had an email from one of my old managers in finance. He wanted to meet me on Saturday evening. That got me thinking about my own loss of status. In finance I was somebody. People listened to my ideas, perhaps argued with me about them, but treated my suggestions seriously. I replied to his email almost immediately and went back to the draft to the Mohans. I was feeling really angry so I didn't hold back. It was a stinker of an email but I felt much better when I'd sent it."

"So they fired you? They threatened that last time you complained, didn't they?"

"Wait. My old manager replied to my email. We would meet in the hotel on Saturday evening. That's why I was happier on Saturday. I was going to catch up with an old friend. I had really expressed everything in the email to the Mohans and I didn't care what they did. Working in that shop without you was miserable. The others were missing you too."

"And I've missed them. They were all friends. Even the Mohans knew all our names and used them, not calling people 'Hey you' which is what I still had from the manageress today."

"Ouch, again. That's not nice."

"No. It isn't. I had the feeling that none of us, even the long standing ones, were considered as individuals, just as interchangeable workers. How did your Saturday evening meeting go?"

"He wanted me to consider a new job."

"A new job? In finance?"

I nodded.

"But where? Berlin? New York?"

"Here."

"Here? What do you mean, here? In the City?"

"No. Here." I was teasing Chloe.

"Don't be silly. What here?"

"Working from home. No travel. Not even the two hundred yards to the shop."

"Won't that be lonely, Malcolm?"

"No."

"What do you mean 'No'? Stop being obscure."

"I'll be setting up a company office on my ground floor of my house, you know, the old shop front. I'll be based there. The whole company will be based there, all six of us."

"In finance? In this rundown area? What are they thinking?"

"The address sounds good." I objected.

"It might sound good but..."

"We'll be doing most of our business online so the actual location doesn't matter."

"And when? What's the pay?"

"When? A week tomorrow. Pay? More than I ever earned when I was in finance before."

"More? But you were earning a fantastic amount then."

"And now I'll be earning a fantastic amount plus some more. And I'll be a partner in the company so will get a share of the profits."

"A share of the profits? Don't tell me. You have a share of the risk as well, don't you?"

"Well, yes, but for me the risk isn't much. I could always go back to being a shop manager again. I'd still have my house and after less than a year on that fantastic salary I'd own my house outright."

"So you've taken the job and left the Mohans?"

"Yes. I resigned this morning. The elder Mohan arrived this afternoon to try to persuade me to change my mind. I didn't but I got him to change his. Just before I came here I ordered new cooler uniforms for everyone except you and me. You know, the ones we chose from that catalogue."

"You have? My current uniform is cooler and the new shop has some air conditioning but I was told off on day two. My uniform was creased from the bus journey. It has to be ironed daily. I don't know who designed it, if anyone actually designed it, but it makes all of us look like frumps. It's dreadful. I don't want you to see me wearing it."

"And..."

"And? There's more?"

"I will be installing air conditioning in the shop this week."

"Mr Mohan agreed?"

"Yes." Chloe kissed me. "That's thanks for my friends at the shop. Cooler uniforms and air conditioning? I almost wish I hadn't left."

"Have you looked at your emails this evening?" I asked.

"Emails? No. Why?" Chloe looked at me as if I had asked something unusual.

"Go on. Look"

"What have you been up to, Malcolm?"

"Not me. Muriel. Look at your emails, Chloe."

She walked over to the work surface, opened her laptop and turned it on.

"I'll have to wait a few minutes. It's old and slow. I ought to get a newer one. On minimum pay that will have to be some time in the future. While I wait I'll start getting our meal out of the fridge. It's all cold -- salad, cold meat and cold pasta salad."

Chloe started piling bowls and dishes on the kitchen table. She produced plates and cutlery. She passed me a bottle of white wine and a corkscrew.

"Open that, please, Malcolm."

She went to her laptop and opened her browser.

"Spam, spam, advertising... An email from the Mohans."

I waited while she opened it.

"What! What is this, Malcolm? You knew it was coming."

She turned around, her face noticeably paler.

"I don't believe it. It's a joke, isn't it?"

"I don't know exactly what the email says, Chloe, only what it should say. But if it is what I think it is, it isn't a joke. It's real."

Chloe passed me the laptop.

"Does it mean what I think it means?"

I read the email carefully.

"Silly Mohan. He didn't mention the uniform or the air conditioning. He should have. But the rest is real. The brothers are offering you my job as manager starting a week from tomorrow. And they're offering you five per cent more than they paid me. Cheeky bastards!"

Chloe slumped down on a chair. She looked shocked.

"I can't," she said.

"Of course you can," I replied abruptly. "You know what I've been doing as manager. You've even helped me with the paperwork when I was busy."

"I didn't mean that. I meant leaving my new employer so soon."

"You can. They're treating you badly. Paying you minimum wage during your probation period when they didn't tell you that before you started is a breach of contract. You could sue them for that. You owe them nothing."

"That sounds like you talking as a manager, Malcolm."

"Why not? I am, at least for the next week. You are covered by insurance for employment disputes. At least you are for the next three weeks."

"I am? How?"

"I took out a group policy for myself and all the shop staff. All employees are covered while at the Mohans' shop and for thirty days after they leave."

"I didn't know that. Who paid?"

"I did. I wanted cover for myself and found it wasn't much more to add everyone. I paid the annual renewal a month ago. I had and have cover for that and much more in the finance industry as part of my professional association. I've kept that up just in case I went back, as I will next Monday."

"Monday? That's tomorrow."

I was about to say I meant the Monday afterwards but Chloe was about to say something else. I waited.

"Tomorrow I start a week long induction course at the company headquarters in London. They don't even pay my travel costs, the cheapskates. So if I resigned the shop wouldn't miss me. The induction course is run every four weeks and I'd be one of about thirty new employees. If they have twenty-nine instead of thirty that wouldn't matter. So I could resign, work in the shop for a week, or even stay at home unpaid, and my new employers wouldn't suffer."

Chloe was thinking out loud. She looked straight at me.

"I'll do it. I'll be the shop manager for the Mohans and I'll resign from my new job. I'll go to their shop tomorrow morning, give the manageress my resignation letter and hand back my ugly uniforms. I wonder what my notice period is. I'll have to look at my contract paperwork."

She left the room in a hurry leaving me sitting at the table. She was back within less than a minute carrying a fat envelope. She dropped it on the table in front of me.

"Please, Malcolm, you read it. You understand that sort of gobbledygook better than I do. What is my notice period, please? I hope it's short."

She continued to lay the table for the meal as I flipped through the paperwork. Much of it was about health and safety; pension contributions... why did that register? or uniform regulations. The covering letter of appointment didn't actually mention the probation period. That could be important if Chloe wanted to argue.

There was a booklet summarising personnel practices. Employees were expected to read and consult the staff handbook kept at every shop. From the references in the booklet it seemed that the staff handbook would be a massive tome.

Here it is. Probation period. There's no mention of reduced pay. As far as I can see there is no mention anywhere in all the mass of paper in front of me about the reduced pay during probation. It must be in the staff handbook. Again that could be useful. An employee accepting a contract offer needed to know exactly what they were accepting and a potential employee couldn't consult the staff handbook.

Notice period while on probation. I looked carefully. The employer could give one week's notice or in case of serious breach of employment conditions the employee could be dismissed on the spot and, without prejudice and at the employer's discretion, receive a week's pay as compensation for lack of notice. Paragraphs about what the employer could do...

At last. An employee while on probation can resign if... A short list of reasons including, good, errors in the contract offer. That applies. Chloe's pay wasn't mentioned. And for personal reasons? After one month of probation period employee must give one week's notice; after two months must give two week's notice; after three months must give one month's notice. But what about during the first month?

Eventually I found it. During the first month of probation the contract could be terminated by either the employer or the employee with a minimum of...

"Twenty-four hours!" I shouted aloud. Chloe nearly dropped the plate she was carrying.

"Twenty-four hours, Chloe." I repeated in a normal tone. "That's your minimum notice period during your first month. You could resign tomorrow and not go to work on Tuesday. Your reason? Your contract, none of it, mentions low pay during the probation period. Technically your contract can be said to have been frustrated. That means it isn't what you accepted."

"So I could hand my notice in tomorrow morning and work for a day?"

"Or even less. They're not expecting you to be at the shop tomorrow. You'd lose a day's pay for not being on the course, but that's it."

"Good. You can help me write my letter of resignation later. I'll take it to the shop first thing on Monday."

"Perhaps you should telephone their HQ and tell them you won't be at the course?"

"I can email that -- tonight. The course leader has given us an email for queries and problems."

"OK, Chloe. Email the course, deliver your resignation and accept the Mohan's offer."

"The other way around, Malcolm. I'll accept the Mohan's offer first. The rest follows after that."

"You're right. And I'll add your uniform to the order when I'm back in my place. You'll be in an air conditioned shop in a comfortable uniform and you'll be the manager."

"Not the manageress?"

"No. You're the manager. It sounds as if your manageress can't manage anything without someone else's approval. You'll manage even if that means telling the Mohans when they're wrong."

The doorbell rang. Chloe was startled.

"Can you come with me, Malcolm? I'm not expecting anyone."

It was the older Mohan brother. He had a folder under his arm.

"Good," he said as Chloe opened the door. "Both of you. Muriel said you might be here, Malcolm. Can I come in? I won't stay long."

"Of course," Chloe replied.

We went into Chloe's sitting room and sat down waiting for what Mr Mohan had to say.

"I have to make an apology to both of you on behalf of my brother and myself."

He grinned.

"One thing you two don't know is that Muriel is the mother-in-law of one of our distant cousins. He loves her but is scared stiff when Muriel gets angry. Today we found out why. She rang us and told us off. She was in full-on mother-in-law mode. She told us to apologise to Malcolm and to Chloe and try to be better employers in future. So here I am.

Chloe? We're sorry you left because of the heat in the shop and the uniform. I'm sure Malcolm has told you we're sorting both out this week. Please? Will you seriously consider our offer of the manager's job? We need you and Muriel told us you'd be great in the post."

"Yes." Chloe said.

"Yes?" Mr Mohan queried.

"Yes, Mr Mohan. I will accept your offer and start as your manager as soon as I can. We were sorting out how soon I can leave the other shop. It seems that I could leave by the end of tomorrow."

"Then can you start work for us on Tuesday so you have a few days handover from Malcolm? You won't have to wear the uniform until the air conditioning is working and the new uniforms have arrived. None of the shop staff will. All they'll wear is their name badges."

"Name badges? That's all?" Chloe giggled. "We would be cool but won't that attract the wrong customers to see naked staff?"

Mr Mohan laughed. "I didn't mean that, you know I didn't. The staff can wear whatever they feel is comfortable AND the name badges."

He opened the folder and added a few things to the paperwork.

"Here you are, Chloe. Your new temporary contract as manager starting from Tuesday but it is considered to be continuous employment from when you first started with us."

"Temporary?" I asked.

"Yes, Malcolm. Temporary as in temporary documentation. We are taking your advice and are going to use a personnel company. They will rewrite ALL our employees' contracts to be legal and permanent. Chloe will get a permanent contract as part of that."