Trouble at work... what should i do?

Question

I've had some trouble at work these past few days. Most of the things I do are always accidents and mistakes; i would never disobey the orders and i know i need to be more careful, etc. (its a daycare type facility) the legal age to work there and take care of the kids is 18, however im not 18 yet and i told them i would be able to work at the office/front desk. i did that for a couple weeks or so (i started the beginning of July so this is my fourth week). My boss knows im better out there w/ the kids (bc sometimes i help them but most of the times im supposed to stay in the office). Last night I made a mistake on the card swiping machine etc and accidentally charged a customer the wrong amount. My boss saw that and freaked out and told me "OK no more office for you" i know she wasnt being sarcastic and i tihnk she was rather serious. and then she added "from now on i want you to stay w the kids... IF you work here that is" i dont want to get fired and i know they know the rules that

(CONT. FROM ABOVE) I am supposed to be 18 to legally work w/ the kids. I have a feeling that she'll fire me (I kind of already am "half-fired"... think about it... no receptionist - which was my original position that i screwed up w/ and im not yet 18 to babysit the children and i know she doesnt want to break the state rules) but i obviously dont want her to (id rather quit bc it looks better on my part). i only applied to be an office worker so i can get hired, not bc i really wanted to work there. in fact i know i suck at answering calls and working on the computer and then i realized she didnt really need me anymore and sent me to work w/ the children, which is totally ok w me (id rather play w the kids than sit at the office). IF she does fire me soon, should i tell her schools about to start (end of Aug) and i can only work til then so she may not need me anymore and understands that? (if she's about to fire me anyways i dont really see the difference)

Answer 1

It seems the writing is on the wall there.
On one hand, they would be fined if they were audited and you were still underage for the teak assigned. On the other hand, you really need the office experience.
If you overcharged the customer, it is likely that the customer would have noticed. If you undercharged, then only someone in accounting would have noticed.
I think your idea to give notice and be out of there when school starts is an excellent idea. In the meantime, do your very best work. In the week before you leave, ask for a nice letter of reference. I have a collection of such reference letters from various jobs. Having such reference letters backs up your claim having worked at a given position no matter where the senior staff have gone over the years. This is particularly important in an environment where the staff is likely to have a high turnover rate and files tend to get lost/stored quickly. It will help you obtain future employment.
When you write your resume, put the best face on the whole experience. Detail the equipment and the various job duties, and the fact that you are versatile.

Answer 2

Hmmm, sounds like there may be more mistakes than you're letting on in your answer; after all, I work with a card machine and it's pretty easy to void out an incorrect transaction and record the correct one for the customer. I've had a few problems like this before, and they were never any problem. Everyone is going to make a few mistakes! Either the person you are working for is a perfectionist and is going to nit-pick every little mistake, or else there's more to your job performance than meets the eye in this question.

If you know you've been performing to the best of your abilities, and since you don't have much longer to be able to work anyway, I would sit down and talk with your boss and let her know how much you've appreciated her giving you the work experience and how much of a pleasure it has been to work with her. Then you can let her know when you'll be returning to school, and tell her you'd appreciate it if she had work for you until then (maybe you could help clean up, not the best job in the world, but at least something that could be of assistance). Or else you could tell her that you had some plans you'd like to do this summer before you return to school, and if it wouldn't be too much trouble, you'd like to leave on "X" date. Those are ways that you can provide a gentle notice of your plans to leave the job, and so she'll probably not fire you when she sees that you don't have very long left that you'd be able to work.

Answer 3

Yes, you should be more careful. But, you made an honest mistake. I would look for another job.