No Reimbursement for You

Celia Johnson, my boss's sister-in-law, joined the company as the finance director and announced that all reimbursements must strictly follow the standards.

I spent an entire week running around for the company and finally closed a five-hundred-thousand-dollar deal. Because the client had used two extra packs of paper towels, the per-person amount for their meal ended up eight dollars over the limit.

Celia folded her arms, glanced at the reimbursement form on my desk, and sneered. "Five hundred and eight dollars?"

"Yes. Last night at The Peak Restaurant, where we closed Richard's deal. Zack was there too," I explained patiently.

"Eight dollars over the per-person limit. Not reimbursable," Celia said coldly.

I tried to reason with her. "This was a special case. The client is high-level, and the deal amount is large, and Zack personally said it would be fully reimbursed last night."

She returned the reimbursement form to me. "I don't care who said that. Don't think closing a five-hundred-thousand-dollar contract lets you ignore company rules. Reimbursements must all follow policies. Everyone will follow them to the letter."

I took a deep breath. I knew arguing with her head-on would get me nowhere, so I called Zack directly.

Zack said, "I did say it would be reimbursed, but I never said company rules could be ignored. It's just five hundred. And you still get commission from closing the deal. You young people need to have perspective."

I stopped arguing.

I turned around and refused the delivery containing the hard copy of the five-hundred-thousand-dollar cooperation contract, smiling as I explained, "Company rules say all cash on delivery packages must be refused.

"Also, today is my last day here. Starting tomorrow, I work for Richard's company. As the client, I will be setting the rules this time."

I listened to Zack Smith preach and replied on the phone, "Alright, Zack. I'm the one who misunderstood the rules and lacked perspective. I'm sorry for causing this problem. Rest assured that from now on, I will follow company policy exactly."

Director Celia Johnson from Finance gave me a scornful laugh. "You really think you're that important? If you genuinely can't stand losing that 500 dollars and you insist on reimbursement, I can deduct it directly from your sales bonus this quarter. That bonus comes from the company, anyway. Everyone wins. Isn't that perfect?"

I had fronted money for the company, but now, they wanted to offset it with my bonus. I ground my teeth furiously. "Then we'll handle it according to company policy!"

Celia was Zack's sister-in-law. She had always believed reimbursements meant taking advantage of the company. I was the top performer, so my reimbursements were frequent and could get quite large, so she especially resented me.

I took the reimbursement form back to my desk. Alicia Brown, who usually got along with me back in my department, stared at my expression and asked in disbelief. "What happened, Lisa? Didn't Zack say it was fully reimbursable last night? I can't believe Celia is still doing this."

I tried to force the anger in my chest down. "That didn't do anything. Zack said we had to follow company policy."

Alicia froze. "Policy? What kind of damn policy can block a reimbursement for the person who brought in a project worth five hundred thousand dollars?"

I tried to force a smile. "The per-person amount went over the limit by eight dollars. Zack told me to have perspective."

Alicia's voice cracked. "Because it went over eight dollars per person? They're refusing to reimburse the five hundred dollars for that?! And that's Zack's attitude?"

Her face hardened with anger on my behalf. "They used you to bring in five hundred thousand dollars, and now they toss you aside for just five hundred dollars and lecture you about perspective?! This company is heartless!"

The door to the Finance department swung open as Celia walked out with a cup in hand, shooting us a sharp, hostile look.

Just as I opened my inbox and started working, a message hit the company group chat.

Zack wrote: [No individual, no matter how outstanding their performance, can stand above company policy.]

[Certain high-performing colleagues have recently shown concerning signs. They take credit arrogantly and treat company policies as shackles. They claim the company has mistreated them and even spread negativity in the office, affecting team morale.]

[I hope everyone puts their energy into the positives and stops nitpicking personal gains and losses. Most importantly, don't encourage bad habits!]