Would you call a grievance meeting for this?

Mrs-Robinson

There's a long backup story with this so i'll post the jist first & then quote the background story for those who wish for more detail.

JIST: I'm on a final warning so can't put another foot wrong. Years ago i was also signed off work for stress as people were making stories up about me (unfortunately you'll only ever get my version i'm aware). After i was signed off this virtually stopped.

We work weekends on a rota system. It's not set in stone, but this weekend i was down to be OFF. My supervisor was going mad at a co-worker for my mobile number as he said i should've been working.
Cue me basically crapping myself big time that i'm now going to lose my job. I call the boss direct who says i'm off work & doesn't know what i'm calling about & why i've been told this.

It's not the first time my supervisor has made things up (unfortunately i can't prove this, so waste of time there). I want to be taken seriously about this but feel without a grievance hearing it'll be brushed under the carpet. I want to know what they'll do about it & why it happened. I don't want it happening again. I'm not so much as mad at my supervisor, just confused as to why this happened.

I'm aware that just ignoring this whole thing is an option, but I don't fancy crapping myself every other week!! I know life isn't fair, but why should i go through that?

BACKGROUND STORY:

We are having our time cut due to slow business - iunderstand this. Don't like it, but understand it's either lose hours or losejob. I'll take the hours every day.

Last week 2 people were working the weekend so lost 2half days through the week. The one not working weekend only lost one.

This week the person who is set for the weekend (same asthe person who had it off last week) was only losing 1 half & the othersnot working the weekend were also set to lose 1 half. This boiled down to endof week hours being

those without weekend: approx 40

the person with weekend: mid 50s.



If it was just a few hours over us i wouldn't haveminded, but as it was a full days work - considerable time, i asked managementif they were 1) aware of this 2) agreed with this being fair. I was polite whenasking, asked if they would mind looking at it, explained that i might well bewrong but this was my take on it. I DIDN'T go ranting, i didn't shout, i didn'tswear, i didn't say "my supervisor is being unfair again, can you pleasetell him off for me".

Manners, politeness & admitted i MAY be wrong.



The weekend rota said i wasn't working & upon onediscussion with my supervisor, he thought i was working so immediately calledHR. After the phone call he said that i WAS actually working.

This (for me) put the hours cut into some sort offairness, although the others not working weekend had been hard done by &in my eyes it should've been me & the supervisor losing more time to comelevel with others.



I was summoned by management as they had investigated.



Bearing in mind they had told me in previous meetings tostop bottling things up - how can they deal with a problem if i don't tell themi have concerns over a matter? I thought fair point & that's why i toldthem.



I was surprised when the tone of the summoning was asthough i had gone on a killing spree. I was told that we're a problem, we don'tjust do our job, we !!!!! & fight & moan & are nothing but aproblem. I was wrong with my questioning.



You can minipulate numbers to suit your argument. Usuallywe get told we can't talk about previous weeks or weeks in advance as that wasthen & weeks in advance - a lot can change between now & then. Howevermanagement grouped approx 8 weeks to strengthen their argument as to why i waswrong.



BRINGING IT IN LINE WITH THE THREAD TITLE....Iexplained the rota confusion didn't help - my supervisor now told me i wasworking.

Management said they had me down as NOT working.

FFWD confusion back & forth, management called HR(the person who my supervisor called) who confirmed i was NOT working thisweekend & that they explained to my supervisor this.



I said all i wanted to do was know what i was doing bythis point - yes or no. The answer was given - NO, NOT working. Ok.



I went back out & explained to my supervisor who thencomplained about HR telling him one thing one minute & then denying it tomanagement the next.





IMO, key to me saying "stress" is that i am ona final warning.



So today i wake up & hit the gym. On my return i geta text from a co-worker who said i'm going to be in big trouble on Monday asi'm supposed to be IN work.



I then start !!!!ping myself as this would surely meani've now lost my job. Heart racing, head spinning, what have i done wrong? Howhas this happened?



I call my boss directly. Am i supposed to be in? BecauseJoe Bloggs has just sent me a text.

Boss says no - he thought i was OFF. I said i thought sotoo, due to the meeting mentioned above. Is Joe Bloggs winding me up? No ideasays boss, does Joe Bloggs make the rota (sarcasm)!

I ask again - so you're happy me being off? Answer: yes.See you Monday then.



I get in touch properly with Joe Bloggs who tells me mysupervisor was going ballistic at him about how i was supposed to be in work& was banging on trying to get my mobile number from him. I have told JBnot to give my mobile number to ANYONE at work - so he didn't. Work have myhome phone number.





* I have NO idea why supervisor was going crazy saying iwas supposed to be in.

* I said to supervisor last night - see you Monday.



As said, i was !!!!ping myself big time thinking i hadlost my job. Problem is - this isn't the first time supervisor has madesomething up. Unfortunately i don't have proof of this, but he made somethingup only yesterday to which i hit the roof (he said the boss had accused me ofsomething i hadn't done). When we discussed it later he said the boss neversaid that. I said but you told me he did. Oh that's my fault he says, he didn'tuse those exact words.



He often puts the boss's name on jobs to get them done,only to later find out that the boss never gave those instructions. He doesthis with the boss's kids who work at our place at weekends. Tells them theirdad (the boss) says to do XYZ. When kid calls the boss to find out, kid tellsus that their dad (the boss) says they know nothing about what they're talkingof.







I was considering seeing HR on Monday. Not to so muchcomplain about my supervisor, but to ask:



* how did this happen?

* what can/will you do to make sure it doesn't happenagain? I don't want to be worried i'm going to get sacked every time someone issomehow misinformed.



But then i thought, if i do this, i'm convinced it'lleither:



* get brushed under the carpet

* i'll get told it was a mistake/supervisor was mistaken.We told you you were OFF & you didn't turn in, that's all you need to worryabout, see you later.



I want this/me to be taken seriously.



Which is why i then considered putting it in a formalgrievance - so that they'd have to listen to me & give me a response. I'mnot angry directly at my supervsisor, i'm angry at how/why this has happened& that i don't know how/why it has. I was signed off many years ago whenpeople were making stories up about me. I have no intentions of going down thatroad again & don't want this to be repeated.





Sorry for the very long winded post. Much appreciated ifyou've made it this far & all outsiders views are welcome.

dseventy

Lot to take in.

What was the advice given where you posted this before?

D70

Mrs-Robinson

dseventy wrote: »

Lot to take in.

What was the advice given where you posted this before?

D70

I didn't get any. I messed up the registration process by entering a wrong letter in my email - so the activation link went to someone elses address. As it stands, my thread isn't visible so it's only here i've asked.

I'm taking a wild guess at the response, but i think it'll be don't bother, just leave it & get on.
I can understand the logic behind that - don't put yourself on the radar, keep the head down.
But at the same time, this could've occurred for one of many reasons. The only one i can think of is that the supervisor was out to cause trouble, but there could be any legitimate reason.

If however it IS the causing trouble thing, then i'd like it addressed as why should i be panicking every time i'm off all the way up until my 12 month warning is cleared (which is the back end of this year).

Caroline_a

I think unfortunately that's far too long a post for people to want to read through. I started.... but to be honest it was far too complex a situation. Maybe look for a new job???

Funky_Bold_Ribena

OP - start again.

What seems to be the problem [in a nutshell]?

kelly_borntoshop

Sounds like your always on edge now being on the final warning, it must be stressfull.

Personally, I would be looking for another job - looks like the work is decreasing for you there anyway.

In the mean time - can you get photocopies of the rotas as they come out?

Mrs-Robinson

Caroline_a wrote: »

I think unfortunately that's far too long a post for people to want to read through. I started.... but to be honest it was far too complex a situation. Maybe look for a new job???

That's fair enough. Looking for a new job is one thing, but dealing with the here & now....

I'll try & bullet point it then for easier reading (no i'm actually not being sarcastic).

• Work said i was off this weekend
• Supervisor made a phone call around Weds/Thurs & told me i was IN & that HR told him
• Management & HR said this was incorrect & i was OFF, 100%.
• I INFORMED SUPERVISOR OF THIS who grumbled that HR told him i was in & 5 minutes later changed their tune

And then today...

• I get a text from a co-worker saying i'm in big trouble on Monday as i should be in
• I called the boss-boss who said he's no idea where this came from & i should be off.

I then got an update from said co-worker...

• Supervisor was going mad at him for my mobile number as he said i should be IN work.
• I've no idea why supervisor said this/thought this
• I'm on a final warning so was panicking big time that i was going to lose my job
• I don't want to experience this every time i'm off work
• I'd like to know 1) why this happened today 2) what they're going to do about it so that it doesn't happen in future

& finally...

• I understand the logic of leave it & get on, but at the same time why should i be p00ping myself every time something like this happens? Why should i have to experience this?

That's the top & bottom of it.

Any easier? Again - no sarcasm. Just trying to help so that you guys can help me.

Mrs-Robinson

Funky_Bold_Ribena wrote: »

OP - start again.

What seems to be the problem [in a nutshell]?

Just tried it there in bullet point. Hopefully this summarises a bit better? Sorry for the initial long winded post

kelly_borntoshop wrote: »

Sounds like your always on edge now being on the final warning, it must be stressfull.

You're not kidding. Yes it's my own fault i'm on the warning, but i've received my punishment.

Every single day, before i speak, before i do or don't do i have to ask myself - can i get into trouble for this. I can't take ANY chances. It's no exaggeration - every minute is walking on eggshells. I can't afford to take any chances as one slip up lands me without a job.

Personally, I would be looking for another job - looks like the work is
decreasing for you there anyway.

It happens all the time in winter. In a few weeks or a month or so we expect it to pick up & then in summer it goes crazy.

In the mean time - can you get photocopies of the rotas as they come out?

The rota has now been scrapped. The accusation was that our department can't work together, so we will get told last minute on a Friday as to what we're doing at the weekend. Our contract says we're expected to work Monday-Saturday, between xx:xx & xx:xx, so basically we're to be available throughout.
This week was the final week with a rota.

Funky_Bold_Ribena

When you say 'work said that I was off this weekend' - who in work said this?

I'd stop listening to co-worker - it all stems from him by the looks of it. Get your schedule, take a photo if possible, from the person who is your line manager - and work to that.

Mrs-Robinson

Funky_Bold_Ribena wrote: »

When you say 'work said that I was off this weekend' - who in work said this?

I'd stop listening to co-worker - it all stems from him by the looks of it. Get your schedule, take a photo if possible, from the person who is your line manager - and work to that.

Who in work said this? The boss & HR (who draw up the rota (or rather, did)).

Regards co-worker - without going too into detail, i can trust this co-workers word 100%.You'll just have to believe me on that i'm afraid. If this co-worker said the supervisor kicked off, then the supervisor kicked off. This co-worker wouldn't lie to me (i understand you'll say that they could, but you'll just have to trust/believe me).

Supervisor had told me the rota HAD changed to me working. 5 minutes later, the boss & HR told me to my face that this wasn't the case.

5 minutes after this i tell the supervisor who grumbles that HR 'lied' to him then but at that point seemed to accept i was off.

Funky_Bold_Ribena

Mrs-Robinson wrote: »

Who in work said this? The boss & HR (who draw up the rota (or rather, did)).

Regards co-worker - without going too into detail, i can trust this co-workers word 100%.You'll just have to believe me on that i'm afraid. If this co-worker said the supervisor kicked off, then the supervisor kicked off. This co-worker wouldn't lie to me (i understand you'll say that they could, but you'll just have to trust/believe me).

Supervisor had told me the rota HAD changed to me working. 5 minutes later, the boss & HR told me to my face that this wasn't the case.

5 minutes after this i tell the supervisor who grumbles that HR 'lied' to him then but at that point seemed to accept i was off.

It doesn't matter who the co-worker is. What matters is that the supervisor didn't kick off to you as you weren't there. The co-worker has no reason to contact you are you aren't in work. The co-worker needs to stop contacting you as they are just playing into the supervisor's hands.

Is the supervisor your actual manager?