Raising a formal grievance about boss... to boss

Frikkadel

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Southend1

Frikkadel wrote: »

Hi

As the title suggests, I would like to raise a formal grievance about my boss's conduct towards me, but as its a small firm with no manager/HR department, I have to lodge this with him, the company director.

Bit of background, I worked there over 5 years and recently returned from maternity leave. From the get go his attitude towards me was completely off and since then I feel like Im being relentlessly hounded and harassed by him. In three weeks Ive been called into his office 7 times for meetings about issues he has with me, my work...had 4 emails, 2 letters and a verbal warning about mistakes I made two years ago (that he knew about) given on my third day back. All the issues he has are really trivial things, which were never issues before, and he is setting targets for me which are unachievable therefore setting me up for failure.

The person who covered my role while I was on maternity, was made permanent and is now effectively doing my job. I still do part of it, but also been given other work another colleague does, to do. In my very first meeting, I was told to report to the person who took over my role, giving the impression that she is now my senior. Friday I was asked to sign a letter which summarised a meeting we had previously, but this letter was factually incorrect, and so I brought up things I disagreed with. I was told I am being argumentative, and then was told if I don't sign the letter this will just prove I am being argumentative and difficult. Of course, I didn't sign the letter. And as a result, I received another letter saying if I don't follow procedures, and keep having an attitude and being argumentative I will face disciplinary action.

I basically feel like my boss is trying to bully me out of my job. He found a replacement for me so Im surplus to requirements now. He's been trying to make life as difficult as possible for me, telling me to park 10 mins away from work on certain days because I have to share my car park space with someone else, who was told before that they weren't allowed to park there or they will get sacked! Really silly things, but enough to wind you up.

I am not the only person who has been treated badly by him, another colleague walked out a week before, and another is in a constant state of anxiety because hes made it clear shes not wanted there either.

Basically I want to raise a grievance about this, and just want to make sure I do things properly. I called ACAS, they said to lodge a grievance for possible discrimination and harassment. Ive googled lots of sites given info but just need advice about how to word my letter, I want it to sound like I mean business, because my boss never takes any of the staff seriously, no-one has ever stood up to him. So is anyone able to help me formulate this letter please

Keep a written record of each incident.

Are you a union member? Your union will be able to advise and support you if so.

Stick to the facts in your letter. Be clear about each incident and how it affected you. Be clear about what your desired outcome is. Emphasise that these incidents are hindering the proper functioning of the business and that you are committed to making the company as successful as possible

Frikkadel

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Southend1

Frikkadel wrote: »

Not a union member unfortunately, but Ive kept a record of every conversation, letters and emails.

Make sure electronic documents and emails are kept somewhere secure I.e. not on your work email or PC.

Ask a trusted friend to read your letter before sending and get them to be honest about pointing out anything that could be inflammatory or unhelpful to your case.

Frikkadel

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inapickle9

Hi op, sorry to hear the problems your currently having. Im going through a simular thing at the moment, ive just submitted a grievance about my bullying boss and will be attending a grievance meeting soon. I'd advise you to join unite union asap, thats what I did and my union rep is supporting me and attending the grievance meeting with me, I only joined a week ago, you usually have to wait 4 weeks after joining before they will attend a grievance meeting with you but hes coming with me anyway.

Coraline

I joined a union too (I think about 3 weeks ago it became official), they had the same rule about 4 weeks. The thing about the 4 weeks rule is that works like insurance, you have to be a member of the union and paying dues at least for that length of time before you become aware of a situation where they will help you in terms of legal services.

This is to avoid the situations that can occur where an employee thinks they're going to a tribunal and sign up for a union in order to take advantage of their legal services should it come to that point.

All people in these awful situations like yourselves are walking on eggshells, I know the feeling. Southend1 gave excellent advice about keeping records off your work computer, you don't want to be in a situation where god forbid they sack you and cut off your computer access at work, which is where you stored all of your evidence!

And in general, I've always found this quote to be pretty profound when it comes to dealing with really delicate situations...especially in today's day where everything ever written and sent via email can come back to haunt you:

"Never write if you can speak;
never speak if you can nod;
never nod if you can wink."
- Martin Lomasney

Dimey

The union won't take on any existing complaint.

It certainly sounds like there's a plan to make your life so uncomfortable you'll feel forced to leave. Maybe your boss has promised your job to the maternity cover person.

You might want to research "constructive dismissal" and show your knowledge of employment law to put your boss off his current path. He can't know much about the law himself otherwise he wouldn't be doing what he's doing.

I thought you had a right to return to your own job or one similar when you return from maternity leave. So research that too. Especially as the maternity cover person seems to have taken half your work. I don't think you should be at any less status than you were before.

And keep your meeting, incident notes times and dated. If the meeting doesn't go well, there's no harm letting them see you are recording everything too.

The two web links below will help you write your formal grievance letter.

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=4266
http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/work_e/work_problems_at_work_e/letter_to_raise_a_grievance_at_work.htm

I was in a similar situation a few years back and once I got my head round the unfairness of it, I stopped myself being stressed and took it as a challenge. I lasted another 3 years and only left when I was ready to go. Then I confronted my boss and told him if he wanted me to leave he only had to ask and pay me compensation. I left with an extra 3 months money at a point when I would have left anyway.

Frikkadel

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Frikkadel

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Coraline

First things first: Have you approached this bully/manager and made clear that this person's behaviour is causing you mental distress? Have you checked your workplace HR policies regarding things such as "dignity at the workplace" and harassment?

The one thing I can tell you for sure is that the very first step is to address these with the problematic person before jumping to a higher level.

The grievances you refer to but don't mention are not boring, but can be really relevant. I am in no position to give proper advice on this issue, but someone on this forum is a retired employment solicitor.

Be careful before you fire.

(ETA, in regards to mental health issues resulting from this manager's behaviour, do you have anything on the record with an actual doctor about this? You really must have your ducks in a row before you fire off something about this because if it goes to tribunal everything will get dragged up )