Violence at work

akkers

I have a friend who worked at a retail place; he had been working there for about 4 months, part time.

Recently he was abused over the phone by his manager (swearing etc). Lately, the manager confronted him on something and slapped him. My friend took exception to this and reported it to the police. Obviously he is now too afraid to go back to work.

What legal remedies are available to him apart from the action the police may take?

Ebe_Scrooge

Well, reporting it to the police is the right thing to have done in my opinion - what have they done about it so far ? And were there any witnesses / CCTV ? If there were, I'd be very surprised if the police didn't take some form of action immediately.


Aside from that, the other thing he needs to do is report it to the HR department immediately and make a formal complaint. And also let them know that feels he cannot return to work at the moment, and seek their advice. If it's a large-ish company they will have defined grievance procedures in place, and will advise him what he needs to do next.

akkers

The police are looking into it.
Its only a small retail place, although its a franchise for a major company. He could complain to the company but the company are not directly responsible for his employment.

Ebe_Scrooge

I'm no expert on franchises, but I always thought that one of the main points was that the franchisee must abide by the owning company's rules and policies - how they present the store, how they market and sell stuff, etc. I'm sure this would also cover staff conduct. It's definitely worth contacting the "owning company" and see what they say.


As I say, I'm no expert, and I would think having reported it to the police is the most important thing, but that's what I'd do in that situation.

Rosemary7391

Is there someone at the store in question above the manager he's had issues with that he could speak to?

pmduk

The franchising company will be able to put you in contract with the franchise holder.

asajj

Wow! I'd definitely alert the owning company

akkers

He just waiting to hear from the police to see what they will do. It may well be just a slap-on-the-wrist.

But I will certainly advise him to contact the franchise company to alert them to the employment conditions at this outlet.

skintpaul

franchise owner (of the store, if not the manager), and HQ need to know. Must surely be a breach of ANY job, hitting people!

maninthestreet

Any decent employer would sack any employee if they believed they have assaulted another employee - it's gross misconduct.

Fleecedskinflint

I thought this would be a thread about jobs where you get to beat on people- police, bouncers, management, etc