Should I quit or potentially be sacked?

CookieMonster_

Hi all, I'm looking for some advice and opinions about what your course of action would be if you were in the same position as me.

I've been working for a High Street store since October 22nd last year, on the shop floor. Everything has been fine since then, with no complaints at all about the work done by me or anyone else who works on the shop floor. Last week I was on my week off, when I returned to work on Monday I was told that our usual manager was no longer at the store, and there was a new manager who has taken her place. Since the new manager has been at the store, (one and a half weeks), she's sacked four people. 3 of them were perfectly good employees and completed their work to the same standard as everyone else. They were given no warnings before they were sacked, no complaints about their work that they could have acted upon or anything. They were simply called into the office, told that they were no longer required, and escorted out of the building. One of the lads who was sacked asked the manager four times what the reason for his dismissal was, only to be talked over and not given any answer. One of my supervisors has said that the manager is determined to sack more people, and said 'I'm not finished yet'.

Tonight as we were all leaving, she stopped us all and lectured us about how we are working too slowly, and if any of us is falling behind, we won't be 'carried through' and will be dismissed as well. This would be fair enough but I feel as though her expectations are too high. She is expecting us to unpack one cage every half an hour. Over the past few days everyone has been working at their absolute fastest (because we're all so scared we're going to be fired ) and everyone is managing to average about one cage per hour. I don't think it would be physically possible for anyone to put one out every half an hour, and one of our other supervisors agrees that this is unrealistic.

So... my question is this. I believe that there's a real possibility of being sacked by the end of next week. She obviously isn't afraid to sack people who aren't performing up to her standards and it's not possible for me to do this (or anyone else, there'll be no staff at all by the time she leaves the store!) so I'm considering handing my notice in before she has the chance. Surely this would look better on my CV than being dismissed? Or is it worth sticking it out in the hope that I won't be fired and just take a chance? What would everyone else do in my position?

Darksun

Is the store a chain store? Could you speak to someone in HR/Head Office regarding your concerns? Is there an established grievance policy within your company to deal with issues like this?

^!£$&

Do you have copy of the company handbook
I've worked in retail for over 9 years and all companies I;ve worked for have set disciplinary procedures and have to go through meetings & written warnings before sacking anyone!
Do you belong to a Union??

I'm sure someone with legal knowledge will chip in, but those are just my thoughts from my experiences of working in retail!

littleredhen

this sounds like constructive dismissal - see explanation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructive_dismissal

i would have a word with hr /personnel

floss2

How long have the other (sacked) employees worked for the company?

robredz

You started in October 2009, so have not had a years service, and are not fully protected against arbitary dismissal, (before Anihilator posts that you are doomed) you should phone ACAS and CAB for advice, as it looks like they may be trying to shed labour by the back door so to speak. I don't think you could claim constructive dismissal ( I may be wrong) if you resign with less than 12 months service.

CookieMonster_

Thanks for everyone's replies

Yes it's a chain store. The store we work in opened a few weeks before I started there, so everyone has only been there for roughly 4 months. I thought that there had to be some sort of policy with regards to receiving official written warnings before dismissal, but as Robredz said, we haven't been there for a year yet so apparently they don't have to follow this. I've never been given a Company handbook, but I'll look over my contract when I get home and see what it says in there.

As for Citizen's Advice, one of the staff members who was sacked had a meeting with them, and they said that the company is allowed to sack someone with no notice as said above, however the way in which it was handled was wrong as he had no representative, there was no-one else present at all as a neutral party, and what was said wasn't recorded in any way.

I think we're all in a tough spot as the manager is technically not doing anything wrong, but we're all scared we're going to lose our jobs at the drop of a hat if we do anything wrong, and we'd have no legal comeback against it. Which is why I was considering handing my notice in It's caused a lot of stress and worry to everyoneand to be honest we're all wondering what the hell she's playing at.

^!£$&

If it was me and I was asked into the office I would insist on having a witness there!

Also you can tell me to mind my own beeswax but can I ask what store it is/ or what the store sells; I'd like to know so I can boycott the shop that treats their staff like this.
My thoughts were home bargains or b&m !

Anihilator

Or could it be that the stores underperforming due to poor performing staff and she has been brought into get it improved.

She doesnt need to give a reason for anyone employed less than 12 months.

Zazen999

Ok - so you have been there less than a year and you have a manager on a mission. Which means it is entirely your call as to whether you throw the towel in or wait until you are sacked.....

Has anyone thought of asking her to show you exactly how 'easy' it is to unpack these cages in half an hour?

I suspect the store is underperforming and she has been brought in specifically to get it back on track and is now using the initial sackings to scare the living daylights out of you. And it is working. In management - we have a phrase called 'ask for a horse, get a dog'; which means if you ask your team to [for example] unpack a cage in 30 minutes, and get an hour; it is still significantly better than the 2 hours that you were getting before you upped the ante.

I'd do what I could to work as fast as possible, and keep my head down - or I'd call her bluff and ask her to show us how easy it was to perform to this standard.......depending on how bolshi I felt on a day when she was getting right on my t1ts.

Worst case scenario - you lose the job but as it has been such a short period of time you can not put it on your CV and still claim benefits.

CookieMonster_

Hah, Zazen that is exactly what I thought myself, I'd like to see her do it in half an hour! It's just not physically possible. I also suspected that she's throwing her weight around and showing that she's serious by sacking people left and right to scare the rest of us into working harder. She is rigidly sticking by her half an hour per cage however, despite the fact that no-one has been able to acheive it. So far all of us have been doing as you suggest and cracking on with it, making an effort to not be seen to be chatting with any other staff members, and trying to be as efficient as possible. We're all too scared as to what will happen if we don't! If we are underacheiving as a store, and it's the shop floor staff's fault (till staff seem to be safe from all of this), I'd much rather be told by a manager who we all respect and know, who has been at the store from the start as I'd feel more willing and happy to try and put things right and be more productive with my time.

Snowbrow - I don't want to mention which store it is as you shouldn't boycott them They're actualy a good store, and I've loved working there until now! The rest of the senior management have always been really good, it's just this one person that's causing all the trouble