My boss has put me in a real mood - without going into details he has asked me to do something which goes not only against my principles but against my worth ethics and accounting membership regulations. I have made it really clear to him that there is no way I am going to do this but he seems to think I am over reacting - my thought of a couple of years in jail makes me think I am not. As a result of this I phoned my OH up to ask if we can bring all our plans forward, I cannot even talk to my OH properly at the moment as there is a "bug" in the office!!! I am so annoyed - who does he think he is - I would never put his work reputation at risk so why does he think he can mine.

Sorry but need to rant - my fingers cannot type quick enough for the way I feel.

I feel for you. I have had a similar situation going on at work.

I had a hellish few months back in the spring/summer of 07 because I wouldn't go along with what my boss had wanted. I was the subject of some very discreet bullying and harassment.

I took the high moral ground and did what I thought was right. I am now in a situation where the whole thing has resulted in an external investigation and at least I know that my career is not on the line.

All I can say is keep records of conversations, correspond in writing (email) where possible and keep copies as you never know who can access your account. Also get witnesses to conversations wherever possible.

I did all of these things and whilst I started to feel paranoid at the time, I am so glad now that I did.

Good luck with whatever you do and I hope that you get to Canada fast.

having gone through similar kind of stress at work - i back up what destinationnovascotia says, keep a documented record of everything. Even if just to note down a conversation and when it happened, and try and have paper copies of all correspondence. Not nice, but essential to do.

For what it's worth, I agree - take the higher moral ground. If you ever find yourself in trouble it will always help you out of trouble.

My advice is make sure you can demonstrate that you have clearly identified to your boss that what he is asking of you would place you in this position. If it is illegal, make you you tell him so. I would get this in writing. If he continues to insist that you do something illegal, it places the blame on him and not you.

You may also want to check if you have a responsibility to report him for requesting the action.

I'm no expert, so please take the above as just some friendly advice!

You HAVE to do what you believe is right. You sell your time and effort to your employer, but you don't sell them your self-esteem.

For the rest of your life you have to provide for your family and you can't do that from a jail cell. No one you would want to work for will hire an accountant who has a charge of fraud hanging over them.

If your employer expects you to act against your conscience you can guarantee you will get no support when the sh*t hits the fan. If they cannot see your point of view you should politely tell them to shove it.

Are you a registered accountant? I believe that as an accountant you are required by law to report illegal activity or you are presumed to have an active part of such activity should authorities find out anyway.

Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Don't do it!

Do what you think is right and what is legal, don't get involved in any dodgy business, it's just not worth it.

One reason I left my job at Sears is because I could not stand by and watch fraudulant activities take place, because the guy hadn't had the correct training. I broached the subject with my boss and was just told to get on with my job. I left.

By boss, do you mean "manager", or is he the owner/MD?
If the former, dont you have a whistleblowing policy where you can report him?

Hi everyone - thanks for all your support - by saying "boss" he is the actual director of the company - owns it lock stock and barrel. I have taken everyone's advice and got copies of everything together - e-mails etc and am doing what is right and legal and yes I told him to shove it if he thinks I would do anything else. We have the auditors in in a couple of months so hopefully it will get sorted then - yes I will tell them of the conversations and requests and yes I will give them the documentary evidence - but me doing things legally and "making sure his business is not in jeapordy" does not in my eyes make him a honourable boss. I have had chance to talk to OH now and yes we can bring our plans forward but it still means in the mean time I will be working for him. I will just have to not loose my ethics/principles etc and rule the day when I hand my notice in. Once again thanks for all the support.
Lesley

If you can bring your plans forward for Canada, then keep to your principals and leave with a clear conscience.

I suffered what I classed as bullying at work on and off for a few years but I had a game plan and I was determined to see it out. I am now in Canada and the other person is still in the same old job doing the same old thing day in and day out. The type of person they are makes me think they have someone else in their sights.

Good Luck

Yep, my boss stole £300K from the company to build his house! The accountant also stole huge amounts of monies whereby all our jobs were up for redundancy someone grassed him to the Inland Revenue, they came in went through the books found the fraudulant spending/stealing.

My boss put the company into adminstration and opened up again under a different name, getting rid of the accountant (yes he knew all along about his stealing) Only a handfull of people moved to the new company including me! I cannot wait to leave just a few more months and I am off!!!!!!

I cannot understand how they get away with it!

Hi.

Totally back up what people are saying reference "keep everything". Use a journal to keep track of conversations too, the way you are being treated and any stress that you are under.

You may well find that your treatment gets worse as he has not got what he wanted - and therefore MAY start to treat you badly. I had the same experience and although the directors were removed and some taken to court (scary stuff!), it got worse a year later when a colleague Manager was made director of the region (bent!) the region was under my Audit radar - he offered me a whack of a payrise to go work for him and be on my doorstep - stupidly I took it - thinking back he thought I was better under his radar than him under mine!

As it turns out he lied about the job and the support in place - I did it for a year and documented everything (because I didn't trust him) and luckily when he came to give me an appalling appraisal (i'd always had good ones) I smelt a rat and wrote a letter to everyone detailing what was promised, what didn't happen, what happened since and all my notes/emails and stress.

You can almost map the way in which it will go - go with your instincts if you think that this guy will now try and get rid of you - start documenting the lot - conversations, how he speaks to you, what he says, threats, promises not kept - everything.

This ISN'T right and therefore if he makes the wrong move it could cost him a very large sum of money - cover your back every corner and you'll be ok. Who knows he may well slip up, be a muppet and try and fire you and you could get a helping hand payment to get you to Canada for his troubles! (Not that i'd recommend it this way - but you get my drift! Im no compo basher! haha)

Its not a nice time and I feel for you - it took me a while to get over the way I was treated - look after number 1! He can do his dirty work himself! Your integrity and honesty will be in tact and no-one will blame you for doing what was right - the auditors will find everything and you'll be ready and waiting!

Good luck!

Nats

They get away with it because there aren't enough honest and principled people in the world with the backbone to stand up for what is right.

This could be a good place to start. Your accounting body should have someone you can talk to for informal advice.

Sorry to hear what has happened / is happening to you, Lesley.

My experience in Calgary tells me that whistle blowers generally do not fare very well here.

In my opinion, you have to be working on your exit plan at all times. You have to keep up a low level networking campaign all the time, even when you're in a job. Make a point of going out to lunch or coffee with a different person in your field fairly regularly. These lunches don't have to be formal or expensive. You can even invite the person at the next desk to join you for a sandwich in the park.

If you work for a big company, be friendly with people in other departments. You never know when you'll find yourself working under an awful boss and wanting a transfer to another department.

If you work for a small company, you may be forced to jump ship altogether. Don't wait till things have reached an unbearable level. Be proactive and start job hunting when it has become clear that things are moving in a negative direction. It's easier to find a job while you still have a job.

It's a good idea to attend the functions that are put on by a professional organization that is relevant to your line of work. This is a good way of meeting people in your field.

From what I've seen, management tends to close ranks around a manager who has been accused of something or other by an employee.

If you keep written notes, have witnesses, etc., etc., you may win from a technical point of view. That is, if the issue was reported to a regulatory body or went to court or something like that, the employee might win.

However, even if the employee won, he/she would be unemployable. The matter would come up during future reference checks, and the person in question would acquire a reputation as a trouble maker.

We have / had two accountant friends in Calgary who lost their jobs, one way or another, when they refused to fiddle the books.

One was a South African. He got fired, and ultimately moved on to New Zealand.

One was a native of Alberta who had a large, long standing, well established network. He resigned, and found another good job. But he didn't bad mouth his previous employer in public. He told only a few friends the reason for his resignation. He told us the real reason only years later.

I must emphasize that I'm talking about the private sector and I'm talking about Calgary. I am not familiar with the culture in other Canadian cities, and I also am not familiar with the public sector in Calgary.

The one area in which Calgary employers have learned a lot in the last few decades is the issue of sexual abuse. I have seen Calgary employers responding very proactively to reports of sexual abuse.