by Joy Peters
"Come and have a seat over here, Wendy."
Wendy Jones had been sent to the office of the Personnel Manager, Chris Phillips, by her floor supervisor.
"I'm delighted to advise you that your good work over the last week has earned you the title of 'Employee of the Week'. Your photograph will be displayed in store in recognition of this and you will be paid a bonus of one hundred pounds."
"Thank you very much, Sir."
"I'm delighted for you, Wendy. I'm sure that your corporal correction - two weeks ago I think - may have contributed to this."
Wendy blushed as she recalled her last visit to Mr Phillips' office.
"Possibly, Sir. I've tried really hard since then."
"Your efforts have clearly brought their just rewards. Keep it up. You'll automatically be in the running for 'Employee of the Month' when the bonus would be worth two hundred and fifty pounds."
Wendy returned to the shop floor in high spirits.
Chris Phillips enjoyed his work. He'd had a good career in Personnel work and had worked for a number of firms over the years. Rahman Stores was a new name in retail on the High Street in the United Kingdom but had made a strong and impressive start. The Rahman family had opened their first and 'flagship' store in Dubai some five years previously. They had decided to grow the business internationally and had stepped into the UK market when a household named store had gone into liquidation. They bought three stores and re-branded them, two in Greater London and the other, where Chris worked, in Manchester.
The Rahman philosophy was simple: give the public a good shopping experience at the right price. Expansion to online sales was already in hand. Each of the three stores employed about two hundred and fifty staff. Pay was not generous but the Rahman's believed in incentives to retain an effective staff. Bonus payments were made for length of time served and for exemplary attendance. Good performance was rewarded and in-store facilities were pretty good. Poor performance, however, was not tolerated, and staff were dismissed if they didn't improve.
The Rahman's had been influenced by their Middle Eastern roots and believed in the practice of corporal punishment when this was deemed appropriate and as an incentive to good performance. Of course, this practice couldn't be transferred to modern day England... or could it?
Employees at all levels within the organisation were required to sign a contract of employment and this encapsulated terms and conditions including the application of corporal punishment 'when deemed appropriate'. The majority of employees were female - in excess of ninety per cent - but the same contract applied to male employees, although in practice extremely few were subjected to this form of punishment. It was a Rahman philosophy that women were deterred from misconduct by its application whilst men were not.
Chris Phillips was not convinced by this but nor was he a great advocate of CP. However, he enjoyed his work and was prepared to 'go along' with the Rahman philosophy and methods. He knew that if he didn't he would soon be out of a job. He was, of course, concerned about the potential for litigation and was careful to ensure that those submitting to corporal punishment did so 'voluntarily' and provided written consent for its application. Lawyers had provided advice and drafted the procedural documentation.
Chris generally worked office hours, nine to five, although he occasionally visited the store and his office at the weekend. He felt that he should show his face, and as there was a small number of staff who had weekend contracts only, it was incumbent on him to do so. Weekend contracts were usually awarded to young mums - who could arrange childcare at those times - and students.
The Rahman store in Manchester, like its sister shops in England, was a typical Department store selling a broad range of goods. The market place was quite tough with serious competition from similar outlets and of course the move towards online selling. Rahman's needed to be different and initial indications for success were promising. Their buyers sourced unusual items from around the world and managed to keep prices down. Price match was of course available in those cases where items could be bought cheaper but the main difference in shopping at Rahman's was the excellent customer relationship - a return to the days when 'the customer is always right' and nothing was too much trouble. Hassle free shopping was delivered in vibrant and pleasing surroundings. Rahman's moved away from franchising parts of the business - particularly perfumery - as they believed they could provide a better service at cheaper prices.
Chris was in his office about to make himself a cup of coffee when his phone rang.
"Mr Phillips. I have a Miss Jocelyn Smyth to see you, Sir. She has a chit."
Chris told his secretary to send her in. The door opened and a rather attractive young lady entered looking rather crestfallen.
"Can I help you, Miss Smyth?"
"I'm afraid that I've been sent to give you this." She handed over a sealed envelope.
Before opening it Chris asked whether she knew about its content.
"I was rude to a customer and was sent by my team leader."
Chris opened the envelope and read the enclosed chit that detailed the alleged misdemeanour.
"You work on the Chanel counter?"
"Yes Sir".
"Give me your version of events."
"This man - gentleman - was asking me questions about the variations in the perfume range. I tried to give him a full answer but he kept on and on. I started to lose patience with him. Jill - Jill Spence - my team leader came over and told me she would take over from me."
"Did she make a sale?"
"Yes she did."
"There's a moral in there somewhere?"
"Yes Sir."
"Mrs Spence states that you told the customer that 'you hadn't got all day' and that 'there were other customers to deal with'. Anything you want to add?"
"No Sir. I realise my error and wish I'd handled it differently."
"Indeed so, Miss Smyth. Do you wish to continue your employment with Rahman's?"
"Oh yes please, Sir. I won't let anything like that happen again."
"You realise the consequences of your action?"
"I'll get a formal warning?"
"Yes and I'm afraid I'll be taking the ruler to you as well. You'll need to read and sign these forms. They detail what is going to happen to you and by agreeing and signing the form will give your full consent to this action. This will be in lieu of dismissal."
Jocelyn took several minutes to read the form before asking for a pen to give her consent.
"Right, Miss Smyth. Step up to my desk please."
Jocelyn looked in horror as a desk drawer was opened and Mr Phillips extracted an eighteen inch Perspex ruler.
"Lift your skirt up high enough to expose your knickers."
Jocelyn's skirt was quite tight and she had some difficulty in pulling the hem upwards. Her hands were clammy and she was trembling. Finally, after some effort, she succeeded in raising her skirt high enough. Mr Phillips walked behind her holding the ruler.
"Keep still and make sure your skirt doesn't drop downwards."
Jocelyn sensed movement behind her and then felt the ruler strike her with some force across the top of her legs just below her knickers. The blow and immediate pain caught her by surprise causing her to cry out. Another nine blows followed in quick succession before the assault stopped.
"You may now restore your clothing to its original position, Miss Smyth. I will now give you this letter that confirms that you have been given an official verbal warning about your misconduct. If there is any further incident of misconduct, you will feel the ruler again, but next time it will be across your bottom. Do you understand?"
"Yes sir."
"Good. Now get back to work. Learn your lesson and when a convenient opportunity arises, apologise to Miss Spence, your team leader, for your behaviour."
"Yes Sir. Thank you, Sir."
Chris could never understand why the women he had chastised always thanked him for having done so! Jocelyn made her way back to the Chanel counter after a detour to the ladies staff 'rest room'. She managed to examine the damage caused by the ruler and was shocked to see parallel crimson welts layered from above her knees to just below her panty line. She hoped the marks would soon disappear and realised that her visits to the swimming pool would be on hold until they had.
The following Monday morning brought another young lady bearing a punishment chit. Samantha Green had developed a bad habit of reporting consistently late for work. She worked full time and was rostered to work one Sunday in four. She had reported thirty minutes late for work on the previous day. Supervisors and floor managers allowed an element of flexibility and generally allowed staff who were unavoidably late for work to make up the time later on. However, Samantha was considered to be one who abused the system and had previously made a similar visit to Mr Phillips.
"I've seen you before, Miss Green, haven't I?"
"I'm afraid so, Sir."
"So what's the problem, Miss Green? It can't be so difficult to get to work on time surely."
"I know, Sir. It's just that I'm really unlucky in missing the bus. I do try and leave enough time but sometimes I don't leave enough time. I'm really sorry."
"You will be, Miss Green. Just read and sign these forms, and then I'll deal with you."
Chris Phillips extracted the Perspex ruler from his desk drawer while Samantha was signing the consent forms with trembling hands.
"Take your skirt off, Miss Green."
She did so with some reluctance and hesitation. She was a very pretty young woman, about five feet eight with long auburn hair and a very good figure.
"You're going to get the ruler across your bottom this time, Miss Green. You can pull your panties tightly up to expose your bum or you can slip them down, the choice is yours."
Samantha pulled her panties upwards so that they disappeared into the cleft between her cheeks and then, as instructed, moved towards the desk.
"Hands flat on the desk and keep still."
Chris Phillips then moved behind her and slashed the ruler with rapid fire ten times across the exposed bottom cheeks. Samantha had little time to move and the spanking was soon concluded. After the tenth stroke, Samantha was openly sobbing and her hands immediately went to her bottom where she attempted to soothe the pain by clutching both cheeks with the palms of her hands. Chris then replaced the Perspex ruler in his desk drawer and completed the paperwork, half watching as Miss Green adjusted her panties and replaced her skirt.
"This notice is a formal written warning about your behaviour. If you find yourself presenting another disciplinary chit I will cane you - ten strokes - and it will be your very last chance. So may I suggest that you learn from today's experience and make sure that you leave plenty of time to get to work on time in future? You are allowed to arrive early you know - I suggest that you do so in future or you may find yourself out of work. Do you understand?"
"Yes Sir. Thank you."
Yet again - offered thanks for what had been done to her. Chris remained unsurprised as this followed the general pattern.
About three weeks later, Chris Phillips received a telephone call from Ahmed Rahman, the elder son of the Rahman stores founder. Ahmed was directing the UK businesses on behalf of the Rahman family.
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