Suspended from work! (Production/Factory Supervisor)

Brix26

Im new here and really need some good advise. I will state most of my case for anyone who is willing to read it. Hope I get what Im looking for as Im a bit in dispair really

Right, I work in a small factory as Factory/Production Supervisor. Im in charge of say 8 workers on 4 different departments. Been ther 15 years, left for a while and my most recent stint with them is 5.5 years.

Was told on Friday I was suspended on full pay "pending investigations into allegations of unreasonable and abusive bahaviour during meetings today and the events that were subject of the meeting."

THIS IS HOW IT ALL BEGAN:

I arrived at work on Friday morning as normal. One of the two bosses arrived and asked if he could see me at 12 noon for a meeting. I said fine and thought nothing more. 12 noon arrived and we went into a private office and stated he had a real problem and wanted me to apologise to a certain members of staff for an incident that happened approx 6 weeks previous.

The incident was.........approx in June we had a new member of staff to do the ordering. He was making a constant mistake when ordering a certain item. One of the bosses informed the head of that department were the mistakes were made to copy and collate all of them as to make the new member of staff aware of where he is going wrong. The head of that department is a very strong woman who has been the 9 years and is seen as the bosses "golden girl" (I am not allowed any supervision over her at all and this exception was made clear to me from past documented issues with her). The guy doing the ordering was made aware of his mistake but still the mistake was happening although a little less often. I had watched and listened for weeks at times when the ordering guy had approched the department head and asked her to phisically show him where he was going wrong. She always refused by saying she was to busy or il show you later. So.....while she was off, he asked me the Supervisor. I showed him, he understood and thanked me for my time. During me showing him I produced(from one of the departments storage boxes) the collated copy of mistakes which he had made as an example of what he ordered and what he should have ordered. Approx 2 weeks ago I was called into the of to explain why these copies were disclosed to the ordering guy. I explained that I could see this new guy struggling with this certain issue and feel after so long I had to help. I also explained that I thought the point of collecting his mistakes was to show him them and point him in the right direction of which I thought I had done. That was it.....end of meeting.

He is insistant the I say sorry to the ordering guy and the department head. I was furious, raging infact. I know its wrong but I swore and told him I would never say sorry for something I thought was not wrong. He closed the meeting and told my the other boss will arrive soon to deal with it so I waited. He arrives, told him the same reagrding the apologising bit and he suspends me on full pay.

Its so very wrong this because I feel as though they are restricting my within my roll over many yoears. I have asked to be a normal workers as the restriction they are imposing are to great it does not allow me to carry out my roll to its full extent. I have also spoke of my concern for the woman in question as I know she take a prescribed drug which is very stronge and must affect her in some way. Also the fact that 4 male employees have left as a direct result of working under her.

Im really starting to feel victimised and now all this, I think they are pushing me out of my job.

Please help anyone

SomeBozo

If I undertstand right (and please correct me if not).

1) Someone was getting something wrong a lot ofthe time. You did not manage this person. A case and a log was being made against this person.
2) This persons manager was unwilling or unable to show the person
3) You were asked to show this person how to do it right, and you did.
4) During this help, you disclosed to this person that list of stuff he had done wrong had been recorded.
5) He gets upset about it.
6) A complaint is made and you feel unable to apologise.

I feel you fell over by showing this guy the evidence of his wrong doing. You were not asked to do this. You were simply asked to show him how to do it right.

And whats this rubbish about

I would never say sorry for something I thought was not wrong.

. Ok, heres the rub, its the apology or your job, which is it?

have also spoke of my concern for the woman in question as I know she take a prescribed drug which is very stronge and must affect her in some way. Also the fact that 4 male employees have left as a direct result of working under her.

Are you a doctor? Do you have signed statements from these ex-employees?

You don't, so don't mention it.

I think you tried to help and stepped over the line........

Bozo

SomeBozo

Incisor wrote: »

Just apologise. Tell them you are apologising because you are obeying an instruction, apologise and have your fingers visibly crossed while apologising. And if they order you to uncross your fingers, apologise again and say that your fingers are uncrossed because you are so ordered.

Oh please... this is like being back in school in front of the head teacher!

Bozo

Brix26

Thanks for your reply Somebozo, I will put it right:

1, I did not manage this person. he is office staff under the boss. The boss had instructed a factory worker(head of her department) to copy and colate all his mistakes which she did.

2, His head did explain but not show him but still the same mistake was happening.

3, I was not asked to show this person by anyone else except him.

4, Yes I disclosed to him his mistakes.

5, The boss told me he was upset about it and I must say sorry but I have since learnt that he is seeking no apology at all in his own words.

6, Very true, why should I say sorry for helping him and saving the company money.

I really feel I have done no wrong.

CFC

Well, you swore at the boss my dear. That's never a good move, and that's the real danger in your situation at the moment, I believe.

I think Incisor's analysis is not so far off the mark. If you are told that you have to apologise (for political reasons or whatever), you need to ask them if that is a reasonable request which you must obey.

Be aware that perhaps this guy is upset, and he's been told that you weren't asked to show him the mistake log; just because you hear from others or even himself that he's not upset and doesn't want an apology doesn't mean he isn't.

dmg24

Part of being in a management role, even at a junior level, is the skill of diplomacy. Sometimes you need to look at the bigger picture, and consider whether your strong principles are really worth jeopardising your job for.

On a personal note, I do feel that your reaction to the situation is not a constructive one. You swore at a colleague, there is no excuse for that and you need to apologise and give assurances that it will not happen again. Your handling of the earlier situation caused upset to your colleagues, and even if that was not intentional, an apology would be the most constructive way forward.

I have a friend who, albeit in a different working environment, takes the same attitude as you do. He has been dismissed from two jobs this year and is now unemployed in the middle of the credit crunch.

You need to work out how much your principles will pay your bills if this resulted in you losing your job.

geri1965_2

Are you in a union? If so, I think a discussion with the union rep might help. The danger here is that an apology may not be enough now and they could use it as an excuse to get rid of you.

Brix26

I wont say sorry simple as that and I will lose my job if need be as I do have another job starting mid january but they are not aware of this.

Even without the other job to fall back on I still would not say sorry.

Brix26

Im not in a union Geri, Il ride it out. Been in touch with solicitor and she said lets see how it develops and give her another call when I get a letter regarding a meeting. She thinks I could have something to go on as I have had many run ins revolving my roll and restriction placed by management upon me making it very hard to carry out my roll to it entirity.

dmg24

Brix26 wrote: »

I wont say sorry simple as that and I will lose my job if need be as I do have another job starting mid january but they are not aware of this.

Even without the other job to fall back on I still would not say sorry.

Could I ask why you have asked for help, when you have no intention of giving anything that you disagree with any consideration?

rosysparkle

Brix26 wrote: »

I wont say sorry simple as that and I will lose my job if need be as I do have another job starting mid january but they are not aware of this.

Even without the other job to fall back on I still would not say sorry.

Not a lot of point posting this thread, then!

You swore at your boss, you disclosed information about an employee's performance, which, as you are not that person's line manager, you had no right to do, and you also discussed another person's confidential medical history.

If you want to keep your job or get a decent reference, you should apologise. But since you won't......