Bullying in the workplace?

shellylovesshopping

The story goes as follows..........

I have recently been off work as a result of a close family member suddenly dying. Was signed off for 2 weeks initially then I was involved in a car accident and then to top it all had a bad fall resulting in a nasty knee injury. Although my knee was still badly swollen and painfull I went back to work as I was threatened with a disciplinary if I didn't. In total I had 4 weeks off work. The last time I had off sick was approximately 3 years ago and that was for 4 days as I had food poisoning whilst pregnant. My sick record online shows they had classed me off work with non-work related stress.

While I was off I p****d my regional manager off - his words not mine as they were short staffed and had to pinch staff from other branches to keep open. While I was off he never asked how I was and was only interested in the date I would be back. In fact, I was told times I had to ring him and when I did he never answered his phone nor returned my calls. Company policy is that I had to ring - which I did - but when I heard nothing back I texted him and have now been told I have broken policy and therefore may result in stage 1 disciplinary. I have kept my text messages and also have a copy of my phone bill showing the calls, times etc.

When I returned back to work I found 1 member of staff had left due to way she had been treated in my absence. She was told that she or the other staff were not to contact me while I was off and therefore I did not find out that I was minus my best staff member until I returned back to work. As a result of this, the place had gone to pot basically and tasks that had to be done hadn't etc etc.

Anyway, my RM came to visit me last week and told me that he felt I was not capable of carrying out my job and I had 3 options - take a 5k paycut and go to do another role in a branch 25 miles away at my expense, go off sick again and he would sack me or go on a recovery plan that would probably lead to disciplinary meeting and then sack!

Not quite the welcome back I was expecting.

I told him at that time that I did not feel it was appropriate to be disciplined as a result of things that went wrong when I was off and was told you are the manager and its your fault! He had written a sheet of negative things against me - out of 16 branches we are performing at 4th but thats not good enough - even though the branch managers achieveing less non of them are being threatened with the above.

I need to keep this job but know that my RM has it in for me for no reason other than I was off sick and he's going to make my life hell.

What can I do?

BeenieCat

Omg he sounds like an awful manager.

If they sack you, what exactly will be their reasons? For not following policy whilst off sick? Even though you have proof of the opposite? If so, take them to the cleaners!

Sorry, i have no idea how to advise, i'm sure someone will be along soon who knows about this stuff.

jenhug

first thing I would do is join a union.

taylor21_2

Hi

What is your company policy for compassionate leave?

shellylovesshopping

taylor21 wrote: »

Hi

What is your company policy for compassionate leave?

Managers discretion apparently. Nothing set in stone.

shellylovesshopping

jenhug wrote: »

first thing I would do is join a union.

We dont have a union just a staff association. I have spoken to them and they have told me to tell him to get stuffed - that was their words - easier said than done. I would love to but he would get me out that way with gross misconduct.

taylor21_2

Ok -

The law allows employers to issue warnings and then dismiss employees who fail to meet the established standards of attendance. For example your employer may say if x amount of absenteeism will result in a verbal, then continued absence will result in a written etc
This kind of absenteeism policy will generally be upheld by the Employment Tribunal and any dismissal will be found to be fair.
to be able to get this to stand up your employer must follow certain guidelines:-
The employer should set out attendance standards in a policy made known to employees to ensure that employees know where they stand and that there is consistency between employees.
The employee should not be given warnings or be dismissed without a formal disciplinary hearing and a right to appeal.
The employer needs to check that the frequent short term absences are not all linked and are part of one underlying condition. If there is an underlying condition, then the employer must follow a different (and more complex) process prior to dismissal.
The employer must assume that all sickness absences are genuine. The allegation that a particular sickness absence is not genuine is an allegation of misconduct and is a quite separate matter.
There are certain kinds of sickness absence that need to be disregarded as part of an absenteeism policy and this includes any sickness absence relating to pregnancy as well as time off to look after dependents and for various kinds of statutory leave.

ask him to put his threats in writing.

If he is saying that you are not able to carry out your role to thr required standards, he should have the folowing to back himself up -

Performance reviews
examples of when he has spoken to you about your performance
The offer of retraining if required
etc etc

Statutory discipline and dismissal procedure
If an employee faces dismissal - or certain action short of dismissal such as loss of pay or demotion - the minimum statutory procedure will be followed. This involves:
- step one: a written note to the employee setting out the allegation and the basis for it
- step two: a meeting to consider and discuss the allegation
- step three: a right of appeal including an appeal meeting.
The employee will be reminded of their right to be accompanied.

*acas

Horace

Also if you are being bullied by your boss then I would take out a formal grievance and I would do this with HR and Head Office.

shellylovesshopping

My RM took over area end of last year. Had revew then that was ok and another in April again fine. Nothing since. Should have weekly, monthly reviews but none have taken place. Never had written confirmation of any of the reviews so infact he would have nothing to prove they even took place - but nor do I.

I have not been informed/addressed with any performance issues prior to being off sick for 4 weeks.

Our sickness policy quotes 10 continuous days or 3 seperate incidents in a 12 month period and then a review meeting should take place and if appropriate a recovery plan/stage 1. However, also states that circumstances should be taken into account before deciding whether a meeting is appropriate. I would say that having to deal with your nan being killed; being involved in a car crash and having a bad fall injurying your knee badly in a matter of 3 weeks is not the normal run of the mill sickness. If I could have avoided all three I certainly would have! I have had no absence - the last recorded was my maternity leave in 2006. I am still waiting for my "meeting date" - been back to work since 5th July but only became a problem 2 weeks ago.

He is pushing the demotion, wage cuts etc based on my capability of doing my role. I have been with my employer (a well known bank) for 7 years and never had any sickness or performance issues. I had 3 weeks off back in 2005 following an operation, 6 months off on maternity leave and that has been it!

I know he is pushing me out. He even ran off verbally a list of the people who would apply for my job if I fail my recovery plan.

I am worried sick about things and am scared he's going to push me over the edge and I end up going off with stress as he's already said if I go off sick he'll get rid of me.

I need this job and the salary that goes with it. I have a large mortgage, am a single mum with a pre-school child and have no additional financial support. Without my current salary I would not be in a position to maintain my home and he knows that. I have been looking for other jobs but would mean taking at least a £10k pay cut which is totally out of the question. Other Banks are not recruiting due to current recession and if I was pushed out doubt i'd be succesful of getting similar role. Even with the help of child tax credit, I would still be £400 short a month to cover my outgoings.

viktory

shellylovesshopping wrote: »

We dont have a union just a staff association. I have spoken to them and they have told me to tell him to get stuffed - that was their words - easier said than done. I would love to but he would get me out that way with gross misconduct.

You don't need to 'have' a union. You can join one regardless. Mind you, it is too late for you as the unions won't help with a pre-existing problem that is present when you join.

taylor21_2

Hi

I know for certain that in the past usdaw and the TUC have allowed people to join once they have a problem. (I would explain and see if they are wiling to accept you)

You have lots of choices -

1.email your line manager asking him to explain/confirm the conversations he has had with you, list exactly what he said. Ensure that you confirm that your previous reviews(include dates if possible) have highlighted no performance issues. Reiterate why you were away from work and how good your previous attendance has been. Ask him to explain how his actions conform to to the company policies etc etc Make it professional and factual. Use dates, and times and direct quotes where possible.Explain how his actions have made you feel. If needed at a later date this can be classed as a grievance.

2. contact HR and raise an informal grievance, if you do not feel that this will work, then raise a formal grievance. Again it helps to have dates and times and a record of what has been said where possible and done.

3.ignore it and keep you head down but if he is gunning for you then you leave yourself vulnerable.

As I have said on here before. I can't stress enough how important it is to keep a diary, to ask for reviews in writing, to follow up conversations with emails confirming things where possible. Keep copies of emails where you are praised too. Even when things are going well,always try to keep records of times you have been praised,you have performed well, been complimented by customers etc .It is also important to keep records of times you have been pulled on poor performance or an error, detail the steps you took to ensure that it didn't happen again. Worst case scenario - if things turn ugly you have everything you need to prove that you are being treated unfairly - best case scenario - you have everything you need to put a portfolio of your excellent work together - for a promotion or new job application.

I know this might sound like a lot of work but the majority of us communicate via email now anyway so its just a simple case of printing a copy from your sent/received box, confirming telephone or face to face contact via email can be very beneficial as it might be all it takes for something you misunderstood to be clarified, it stops things being misconstrued.(if you need advice on what this emails might look like, I will try and help)

I would like to say that incidents like this are rare but I see more and more people going through a similar experience. Its such a shame as I have seen first hand how this effects your health, performance and general wellbeing. Its down to poor management. There are lots of professional ways for employers to deal with people, ways that will either get the best from people or allow you to manage poor performers out of the business after giving them every chance to improve. It really does infuriate me (rant over)