almost quit after 1 day....

Motorvating

It is illegal to shout at somebody within the workforce, and would be construed as Bullying and Harassment, and should not be tolerated by anybody. Victims of Bullying and Harassment are victims until they manage the situation.

You left the premises without telling anybody during work time which is a discipline offence.

As the company does not supply a uniform, and failed to provide reasonable time to get the clothes to meet the dress code, they should have given you reasonable notice to get black shoes on the Saturday. People have already stated that you could have gone to Asda to get your shoes on Saturday night. Maybe you could, maybe you couldn't, maybe you do not live near a 24hr supermarket.

People have knocked you for walking away after being shouted at. Yes you should have stayed in the workforce, but it is very difficult to do so when young and experienced whilst being bullied. You will come across many bullies in British management usually due to lack of support and training from the company they are working for. Next time be firm but polite and inform the bully you will not be treated in such a manner, and unless it stops immediately, you will take it further. As you go forward in your career, and no doubt into management, remember this episode and how you felt, and ensure you treat your reports with the dignity they deserve.

smartpicture

Motorvating wrote: »

It is illegal to shout at somebody within the workforce, and would be construed as Bullying and Harassment, and should not be tolerated by anybody. Victims of Bullying and Harassment are victims until they manage the situation.

I note that you have registered in order to make your first post on this thread - a post full of misinformation and exageration, and one that will do the OP no favours at all if she believes any of this nonsense.

Firstly, it is NOT illegal to shout at somebody (although of course it is not good management style), and this episode certainly does NOT constitute bullying and harassment by any definition of those terms. Bullying and harassment do indeed exist in the workplace, and are a serious problem that needs to be dealt with, and you are trivialising these issues by putting this single minor incident on the same par as that.

You are also encouraging the OP in her rose-tinted view that she should be treated as an equal by management before she has earned a single ounce of respect by her own actions.

2234

Motorvating wrote: »

People have knocked you for walking away after being shouted at. Yes you should have stayed in the workforce, but it is very difficult to do so when young and experienced whilst being bullied.

This doesn't constitude bullying, it constitutes rudeness. The supervisor was rude, but to be fair, not particularly nasty. And age has nothing to do with it, to me, it just sounds like an excuse for someone acting quite immature.

MrC_Beds

smartpicture wrote: »

I note that you have registered in order to make your first post on this thread - a post full of misinformation and exageration, and one that will do the OP no favours at all if she believes any of this nonsense.

Firstly, it is NOT illegal to shout at somebody (although of course it is not good management style), and this episode certainly does NOT constitute bullying and harassment by any definition of those terms. Bullying and harassment do indeed exist in the workplace, and are a serious problem that needs to be dealt with, and you are trivialising these issues by putting this single minor incident on the same par as that.

You are also encouraging the OP in her rose-tinted view that she should be treated as an equal by management before she has earned a single ounce of respect by her own actions.

Why shouldn't Motorvating register to comment on this thread?!

Regardless of the legalities or otherwise, I was quite impressed with the objectivity of the post, which didn't seek to belittle the OP.

I don't think the OP wanted to be treated as an equal by management (although they are hardly the "chosen ones" that everyone clamours to follow) s/he just didnt want to be shouted at.

Motorvating

smartpicture wrote: »

I note that you have registered in order to make your first post on this thread - a post full of misinformation and exageration, and one that will do the OP no favours at all if she believes any of this nonsense.

Firstly, it is NOT illegal to shout at somebody (although of course it is not good management style), and this episode certainly does NOT constitute bullying and harassment by any definition of those terms. Bullying and harassment do indeed exist in the workplace, and are a serious problem that needs to be dealt with, and you are trivialising these issues by putting this single minor incident on the same par as that.

You are also encouraging the OP in her rose-tinted view that she should be treated as an equal by management before she has earned a single ounce of respect by her own actions.

Not wanting to sound rude, but you are incorrect. Shouting at people in the workplace in the manner as stated is bullying and Harasment if she feels it is, and she obviousley did.

Under the law employers must ensure
their workers health, safety and
welfare at work by taking appropriate
steps to prevent employees being
exposed to harm. There are specific
laws and standards which apply or
have been used to deal with bullying,
harassment.

She raised it with the supervisors manager who poo pooed it, so failling their duty of care, anther legal failure.

Motorvating

2234 wrote: »

This doesn't constitude bullying, it constitutes rudeness. The supervisor was rude, but to be fair, not particularly nasty. And age has nothing to do with it, to me, it just sounds like an excuse for someone acting quite immature.

Look at DirectGov for employment law and in particular Bullying and Harassment and you will see this behaviouse would be construed as such.

smartpicture

OP, I know you've taken some flak on this thread, but in amongst that is some really serious and useful advice if you are only willing to listen with an open mind. I hope you can show your maturity by sifting through the good and bad and accepting some of the advice given to you.

I have two student daughters, and run my own business. Neither of my daughters needs to work from a financial point of view, however I certainly believe they need to work for other reasons. I would be doing them a dis-service if I allowed them to pick & choose when, where & if they want to work based on my income & efforts, not their own. They have had jobs from paper girls, care home support, working at Asda and at Subway. None of these jobs are directly relevant to their hoped-for careers of being a lawyer & a pharmacist, but every single one of these jobs has taught them about getting on with people, what are reasonable expectation from the world of work, seeing something through even when you're not enjoying it, how to deal with difficult colleagues or difficult situations, and how to stand up for themselves without antagonising the people who are responsible for their appraisals, promotions, time off & pay rises. Without in any way wanting to be horrible, all of these sound like valuable lessons that you could benefit from. And one day of work gives you no power to judge whether this was a good place for you to learn those lessons or not, it simply shows that you give up at the first hurdle.

And speaking as an employer, a degree alone holds little value unless it is also accompanied by part-time work experience that illustrates the other essential qualitiies needed in an employee - like having realistic expectations of the world of work, being able to work with people at all levels whether you like their approach or not, and being willing to accept your role at the bottom of the heap until you gain more experience - not thinking you can ask to see the manager on your second day and tell him that he & his staff are not running the business properly with only a few hours evidence to back that up. That's just going to put someone's back up, and shows the same lack of people skills that your supervisor showed.

Please learn something from this experience so it's not an entirely wasted episode - the lessons are there if you're willing to see them.

poet123

Sorry to disagree but a key point in the definition of bullying, whether it be in a workplace or a school, is that it occurs more than once. An isolated incident of being spoken to in a harsh manner does not constitute bullying.

http://www.bullyonline.org/workbully/defns.htm

Also, with respect, as a young person, the OP's perception of the incident may be more serious than someone with a little more life/work experience. That is not meant to be patronising or belittling, it is just a fact.

I work with lots of teenagers and they do have a tendency to over react, and blow trivial issues up into something much more than they were, or exaggerate what was said, or the tone used, it comes with the territory. You would be amazed at the discrepancies I have heard first hand when listening to a tale of woe being recounted. It is not that they are lying, just that sometimes things get built up out of proportion. That may not be the case here, but it is a possibility.

2234

I think for it to be considered unlawful it would have to have happened more than once.

Motorvating

The young lady said she shouted at her three times, she made no mention of being spoken to harshley, only shouted at. This disturbed her so much she felt she could not stay in the premises.

Another supervisor mentions a bullying episode she had at the company.

The manager she reported it to has a legal duty of care to look into the incident and make sure this kind of behaviour does not take place. He failed to do so and told her she would probably apologise later. This is a clear failure of the companies duty of care.

The three incidents point to a working inviroment where bullying is allowed to go unchecked.