Formal grievance over bullying

wifetobe_2

Hi there, I am in the middle of a grievance process at work and would be grateful if anyone could offer any help or advice.

I have been subjected to bullying from my immediate line manager over the last 12 months or so. My manager has a bunch of 'favourites' within the team and if you are not one of them, she treats you differently. I am never given praise for business wins, I do not receive feedback from meetings (she gives feedback to the team informally in smaller groups, and I am always left out), she can barely bring herself to speak to me when I have to ask things, she spoke to every person individually within the team regarding pay reviews earlier this year but left me out (incidentally, she orchestrated a zero pay rise for me). Basically, there are a lot of instances where her behaviour towards me is different to that she offers to others.

I have witnessed her displaying this behaviour to two of my previous colleagues - one left the company to get away and the other transferred to another office.

I raised the grievance with HR and have been signed off sick by my GP. Unfortunately, other people within my department have been reluctant to speak to hr regarding the situation for fear of reprisals (as even though they are supposed to be, the Company are not renowned for their confidentiality in matters such as these).

HR have been unable to 'uphold' any of my complaints due to lack of evidence. To say I am disappointed is an understatement. She has denied everything, stating that it is her 'management style' and HR have said it is her word against mine.

I provided copy emails where I was overlooked for 'praise' when she had openly offered it to other team members for the same circumstances. I provided a copy email from a colleague stating that they agreed with my views but 'could do without being the next target', and one of my colleagues who left to get away from the treatment provided me with a powerful statement confirming what had happened to her.

It isn't her management style at all, otherwise she would treat everyone the same - that is my whole point. She blatantly lied about the pay review thing too, saying that she is adamant she spoke to me.

HR have admitted that even though they have found no evidence, they believe that there is 'something there' (suggesting that it is a personality clash) and have offered mediation, to which she has agreed to.

Firstly, I understand that where mediation is deemed appropriate, it is supposed to be undertaken by an independent person - the HR person who oversaw the grievance would be the mediator in this case. Given that I know she has lied in her interview with hr, I am reluctant to believe that she would undertake the mediation with any form of real intention to change things. I think she might just be paying lip service to hr to keep them happy.

Secondly, this person has had a previous grievance for bullying against them dating back about 3 years. I have also become aware that two other colleagues have raised grievances against her, both of which were encouraged to be rescinded on the understanding that they wouldn't have to report via her in the future.

I feel that all of us can't be wrong, and at some point the Company have to tackle the underlying issue instead of continually brushing it under the carpet and smoothing things over. I explained to hr during my meeting that by its very nature, there is rarely a file full of watertight evidence against bullies, but that I thought I had sufficient evidence (in addition to everything they already knew regarding previous greivances etc) in order to look at things further.

I have not yet received the formal outcome in writing from hr to say that none of the grievances were upheld.

Can anyone offer some advice on the situation? I am not a member of a union and I believe that even if I were to join one now, they would not take on an existing case.

ILW

Is it a relatively new thing that people feel the need to be praised all the time for just doing their job (and getting paid for it) and if they do not get their daily dose of buttering up it is considered bullying and involves going off sick?

Or am a missing something?

wifetobe_2

Thanks ILW. This is a real situation for me and has involved a great deal of effort to bring it to this stage.

I appreciate that not everybody will agree with how this kind of treatment affects people - I hope you never find yourself in a similar situation. It is attitudes like yours that prevent people feeling able to speak up in the first place.

aileth

Agree to the mediation otherwise you will look like the 'baddy' and it won't win you any Brownie points refusing.

Go along with it, see if anything happens. If things remain the same and you're still singled out by her, make sure you are noting absolutely everything, and I mean everything. They probably can't make a formal grievance ruling on a couple of emails that may be open to interpretation, and although the statement is somewhat of a backup, it's only one other person saying it.

Can you transfer offices like one of the other people with issues with her did?

McKneff

I feel the same as ILW to be honest.

I don't see how you can say your last sentence to be honest.

We all have different understandings of the word 'bullying' , that is mine, and you obviously have yours


Attitudes of other people don't affect people not being able to speak up.
Its the speakers reluctance to speak up that is the problem.
Are you looking for another job. I would if I was you if it is affecting you so badly and then on the day you leave, pin a kipper to the back of a drawer in her desk..... lol

ILW

wifetobe wrote: »

Thanks ILW. This is a real situation for me and has involved a great deal of effort to bring it to this stage.

I appreciate that not everybody will agree with how this kind of treatment affects people - I hope you never find yourself in a similar situation. It is attitudes like yours that prevent people feeling able to speak up in the first place.

I have worked in similar situations, but I went to work to get paid, and as long as the cheque was forthcoming at the end of the month I could see no problem. If you get yourself into that frame of mind there is no longer a problem whether your manager "likes" you or not.

kelpie35

Why did you not bring up the incident re pay at the time it happened. If she spoke to every other member of the team individually, why did you not ask him/her, in front of the team, when am I being spoken to?

I personally feel that if you are willing to go to HR and reel off grievances about a person you should have the guts to confront them face to face with things that are upsetting you. Maybe if you had done that you would have been treated differently. You would then have had witnesses to what was being said by you and your line manager.

wifetobe_2

Thanks kelpie35. I had raised the issues with her directly over the 12 month period. I have raised it verbally in 1-2-1 meetings, which were documented on my appraisal, and I followed this up with emails subsequently (to ensure that I had something in writing). When neither of these produced the desired outcome, I took the decision to make the matter formal with hr, which is where I'm at now.

happenstance

Unless you have clear evidence of bullying it will just be put aside.

It sucks feeling undervalued but management having favorites is nothing unusual.

If its making you unwell and you have transferable skills you maybe better to find somewhere else.

Southend1

Think carefully about accepting mediation. By taking part could it be seen that you acknowledge you are part of the problem? Do you believe the bullying behaviours would stop following mediation?

If I were you (and i have been in a similar situation at work unfortunately) I would be concentrating on the fact that the company is allowing unacceptable and bullying behaviours and this is making you ill. The company have a duty to protect you from such injury caused by the working environment. Have you explored the possibility of redeployment to another team or office? You are unlikely to defeat the bully but you may be able to remove yourself from the situation.