Employer refusing to close

tooldle

OP, I am in the sector. Do you have a Covid Policy? It should be displayed somewhere easy to find (normally staff webpages). If you can find it, this is in the information you provide to callers. Repeat ad infinitum as necessary.
We've had an update from our VC this morning, saying some (but not all) teaching will move online for a short defined period of time. We do still have student accessing 'practical facilities' and research students are continuing as normal.
If you are in a union, I suggest speaking to your rep. If nothing else the rep should be able to talk you through the policy / SOP for your institution. For what its worth, I've never come across an HE institution that does not recognise Unions. The campus Unions are heavily involved right up to Council level in my institution.
Pay rise wise, a decision was made in the summer not to offer a 'cost of living increase' to staff. Increments were paid as normal although i do not know if this was also part of a national decision. I'm assuming it was as we are covered by JINCHES.
Take a breath. Separate out your issues. Read the policies and get yourself informed before taking this any further.
In my institution many of us are still working from home. Others are in work as their job necessitate them to attend. Where there are clinic vulnerabilities, these are being taken into account. However it is definitely not a case of being vulnerable = staying at home. 
You should have a 'Dignity at Work and Study Policy'. Find it and read it. Feel confident in warning callers that you will hang up if they continue to behave inappropriately. Make a record and inform your manager.

MattMattMattUK

MoonChild91 said:

Risk assessments were done by line managers, some of whom have no training in them, back in August. These haven't been updated since then and we don't have access to them. 

Someone does not need training to conduct risk assessments, but they should be updated either annually, on a shorter schedule, or when circumstances change, they should also be available to all staff. That is an area which is covered by the HSE.

MoonChild91 said:
Masks and sanitiser are available in certain locations, and we have to wear masks when walking through the building and in certain offices, but not when sat behind a screen or in individual rooms. 

That is deemed acceptable by the guidance.

MoonChild91 said:
We have a screen on the desk, but it covers 2ft of a 10ft desk and we've repeatedly raised that we don't feel it's adequate with no response. 

That would also be deemed acceptable, they are not required to seal you off from the other side, just provide a barrier directly between you and the other side.

MoonChild91 said:
I have to take my mask off constantly to answer the phone and we have not been provided with headsets so several of us share one receiver, as well as a computer and keyboard. We sanitise these as best we can. We also have students working on the desk with us. 

What kind of mask are you using, a surgical style mask should not stop you using a phone. As long as reasonable hand washing and sanitising procedures are used then sharing a keyboard and students working there would not be a breach of the guidance. 

MoonChild91 said:
Most of my job can be done from home, the rest would be possible if we were set up with work phones and the PO Box reinstated like the last lockdown.

The issue is that it would appear as far as management is concerned your job could not be done adequately from home, ultimately it is not your decision, but theirs.

MoonChild91 said:

Our library is entirely accessible online

Every book is available for physical perusal online? I am sorry but I doubt that.

MoonChild91 said:
 and several courses don't have traditional studios (just rooms with desks) which are easily something many students already have in halls/homes. 

Several of the courses do not, but from the way you have worded it some will do, which is why it is allowed. Also  many students may have that facility, but some will not, which is also another reason why it is allowed.

MoonChild91 said:
We don't teach any of the courses which are allowed to have face to face teaching but workshop instructors are still being asked to facilitate students using them, which is surely a form of teaching.

Not necessarily, it may be for insurance and safeguarding purposes that an adult employed by the institution is required to be in the room, that does not mean that they are teaching the student.

MoonChild91 said:

There might not be a requirement to have a booking system in place, but it seems sensible to start one to ensure that certain areas can maintain social distancing. At present we could have 25 students on campus, all in the same area with no one aware of this. At the moment they're just relying on students following the rules which has been proven several times to not work (students have had to be removed from campus previously for attending when they have been told to isolate and had symptoms or lied about who they lived with in order to work together).

You may feel it is sensible, it may indeed be sensible, it may also be very difficult and/or expensive to implement, not being a requirement and where other mitigations can be in place it is not something you can insist on.

MoonChild91 said:

If we have a physical and verbal abuse policy I've never seen it, and have previously been chastised by a manager for ending a call with someone who was physically threatening me and swearing down the phone. We have repeatedly asked for training to deal with abusive and emotionally distressed called over the last 10 months (after a particularly horrible incident which ending in the police being called) but have not had any replies to this. 

You should ask to see the policy and also the anti-bullying policy (again a legal requirement for educational institutions). In the interim just agree a course of action between you and your colleagues, if people are abusive and it bothers you then warn them and then if they continue hang up. If someone is abusive in person then agree that someone in a particular position (eg able to step into a side/back office) will call the police. They do not have to provide you with that kind of training and from personal experience it is largely worthless, it is almost impossible to talk an angry and irate person down in person, it is even harder over the phone, that is why adequate measure need to be in place to deal with those people at an organisational level, either involving the termination of their service, or their arrest by police if in person.

I understand that this is a difficult time for some people and that many of those people are not handling it well and are becoming emotional, but that is not the way to deal with the issue. Much of your post seems to be that you want things to happen that are not a requirement and not even particularly effective. You need to take a step back from your feelings and look at things rationally, then look to solutions. As your employer shut the facility during the last lockdown it would appear that they are not entirely unreasonable, with the fact the government has yet to publish guidance for higher education I can understand why they have not yet acted to close again, if they do so without the relevant government guidance they could be liable to be being sued by students for example. You have to accept that things will not happen instantly and you are unlikely to get your own way on everything.

MoonChild91

tooldle said:

OP, I am in the sector. Do you have a Covid Policy? It should be displayed somewhere easy to find (normally staff webpages). If you can find it, this is in the information you provide to callers. Repeat ad infinitum as necessary.
We've had an update from our VC this morning, saying some (but not all) teaching will move online for a short defined period of time. We do still have student accessing 'practical facilities' and research students are continuing as normal.
If you are in a union, I suggest speaking to your rep. If nothing else the rep should be able to talk you through the policy / SOP for your institution. For what its worth, I've never come across an HE institution that does not recognise Unions. The campus Unions are heavily involved right up to Council level in my institution.
Pay rise wise, a decision was made in the summer not to offer a 'cost of living increase' to staff. Increments were paid as normal although i do not know if this was also part of a national decision. I'm assuming it was as we are covered by JINCHES.
Take a breath. Separate out your issues. Read the policies and get yourself informed before taking this any further.
In my institution many of us are still working from home. Others are in work as their job necessitate them to attend. Where there are clinic vulnerabilities, these are being taken into account. However it is definitely not a case of being vulnerable = staying at home. 
You should have a 'Dignity at Work and Study Policy'. Find it and read it. Feel confident in warning callers that you will hang up if they continue to behave inappropriately. Make a record and inform your manager.

We do, though I've just checked and it hasn't been updated since November and is very vague. I know students were emailed just after Christmas with new guidance, but we haven't been told what this is so when people are ringing to clarify points or ask about it we simply can't help them which is adding to the frustration I think. It's now day 3 since lockdown was announced and we're still waiting for something to be issued from the VC to staff or students as we haven't had a single email from management at all. Our current response is to say that we believe the previous guidance to students (ie the one we don't know about) is still in place, but no one seems able to confirm if this is correct or not.
I am currently speaking to our union, but because this institution doesn't recognise them it's difficult to step in. We're actually part of a larger university branch as we don't have a rep etc of our own. I don't know another case like this either, but we've had recent issues with contracts being changed without consent or vulnerable staff members with non student-facing jobs pushing to be allowed to work from home and management simply will not engage with them or respond to any calls or emails. 
I'm unsure what happened with our increments either as I assumed we'd be covered too, but we just were told in October we weren't being paid it this year with no explanation. 
I've tried to look for the policy you've suggested with no luck, but have asked my line manager for guidance. They don't know and will pass the question upwards, but I'm not hopeful of a response. 

MoonChild91

MattMattMattUK said:
That would also be deemed acceptable, they are not required to seal you off from the other side, just provide a barrier directly between you and the other side.
- Correct me if I'm wrong, but they also have a duty to ensure staff feel safe at work. If 6 of us have brought up that this is an issue for us they should provide better. 

Every book is available for physical perusal online? I am sorry but I doubt that.
- Our institution's library is very small, and students have access to a number of eBook sites and academic text websites including jstor and openathens which include far more books than our physical library. A system was put in place last lockdown where the librarians were available to help any student struggling to find texts online which is still operational. If any books aren't available digitally they will be few and far between and won't include any key texts. Coming in to the library should be a last resort and certainly not encouraged. 

Not necessarily, it may be for insurance and safeguarding purposes that an adult employed by the institution is required to be in the room, that does not mean that they are teaching the student.
- I've just spoken to one of my friends and colleagues who works in one of the wood workshops, if a student comes in with a project they need help or something they don't know how to do she's still being expected to run them through it, set them up, and show them techniques. In my mind this is definitely teaching and not merely supervising. 

You may feel it is sensible, it may indeed be sensible, it may also be very difficult and/or expensive to implement, not being a requirement and where other mitigations can be in place it is not something you can insist on.
- We had a booking system in place before inbetween lockdowns and continued through November's, and use one anyway for certain rooms and activities. It would cost nothing to implement it now and would make a lot of sense, several departments have asked for this and had no response. 

They do not have to provide you with that kind of training and from personal experience it is largely worthless
-Perhaps they don't have to, but they should consider their staff's wellbeing. Would you feel equipped to deal with a mother crying down the phone at you for 15 minutes because she's convinced her child is going to kill themselves? Or being sworn at multiple times a week? Or being threatened to be stabbed? Because these are all things which we've had to handle since returning to work and none of us feel able to deal with them. My colleague cried at the desk yesterday because of one interaction, this isn't something we should just be expected to put up with. 

You seem to be suggesting that I'm simply being irrational, but the fact is that my employer has less safety measures in place now than inbetween lockdowns in many cases. The institution down the road of a similar size and nature has a booking system in place, reduced hours, reduced staff, and an entire page of very clear guidance on its website. The specifically arts-only university a friend studies at has simply closed until further guidance is released. There is no need or precedent for my employer to be keeping us in the dark like this, or allowing the campus to be open as if everything was normal.

I do not feel safe at work. Neither do my colleagues, or anyone in this building that I've spoken to. We have a right to do so. Yes we have a duty to students but management also has a duty to their staff to consider their wellbeing and inform them of what is going on. Keeping us in limbo for 3 days with literally zero information, and increasingly difficult situations with students is not fair to us or the students who study here. I can accept that some of us may need to continue to come to work (I worked during the Novmeber lockdown and over summer), but not without knowing what the plan is and how they intend to keep us and students safe. If they cannot do that they shouldn't be opening. 

MattMattMattUK

MoonChild91 said:

- Correct me if I'm wrong, but they also have a duty to ensure staff feel safe at work. If 6 of us have brought up that this is an issue for us they should provide better. 

Yes and no, they have a duty to take resonable measures to make you safer (not safer, not safe) from Covid, that is part of the Covid Secure assessments (which is designed to reduce transmission, not stop it). How you "feel" is not really relevant, especially if the measures that the employer has in place are sensible and reasonable. You can raise the issue with the HSE, if it is a genuine health and safety issue, but not if it is a feeling.

MoonChild91 said:

- Our institution's library is very small, and students have access to a number of eBook sites and academic text websites including jstor and openathens which include far more books than our physical library. A system was put in place last lockdown where the librarians were available to help any student struggling to find texts online which is still operational. If any books aren't available digitally they will be few and far between and won't include any key texts. Coming in to the library should be a last resort and certainly not encouraged. 

It may be a last resort and not encouraged, that is different to the outright ban which you seem to want. 

MoonChild91 said:

- I've just spoken to one of my friends and colleagues who works in one of the wood workshops, if a student comes in with a project they need help or something they don't know how to do she's still being expected to run them through it, set them up, and show them techniques. In my mind this is definitely teaching and not merely supervising. 

That would be regarded by most people, it will be a wait and see when the government update the guidance for higher education, the delay in that guidance is part of the issue.

MoonChild91 said:

- We had a booking system in place before inbetween lockdowns and continued through November's, and use one anyway for certain rooms and activities. It would cost nothing to implement it now and would make a lot of sense, several departments have asked for this and had no response. 

I think you might have to wait a few days for a response then, it has only been three days since the lockdown was announced, the relevant guidance still has not been published, it might also be taking a time to redeploy things.

MoonChild91 said:

-Perhaps they don't have to, but they should consider their staff's wellbeing. Would you feel equipped to deal with a mother crying down the phone at you for 15 minutes because she's convinced her child is going to kill themselves? Or being sworn at multiple times a week? Or being threatened to be stabbed? Because these are all things which we've had to handle since returning to work and none of us feel able to deal with them. My colleague cried at the desk yesterday because of one interaction, this isn't something we should just be expected to put up with. 

As to the first part, no, but I would refer the mother to the relevant safeguarding organisations and if I was in genuine concern for the person's life then I would report the incident to the police to allow them to intervene as necessary. Being sworn at does not bother me, and for a threat of physical violence such as someone threatening to stab me then I would report the person to the police. I agree that threatening people is not acceptable, I have been in a customer facing role in the past where similar incidents have happened, I have intervened in both pubs and on the Tube when staff have been threatened and indeed attacked, it is not pleasant and I understand that, the individuals conducting that behaviour need to be dealt with using the full force of the law.

MoonChild91 said:

You seem to be suggesting that I'm simply being irrational, but the fact is that my employer has less safety measures in place now than inbetween lockdowns in many cases. The institution down the road of a similar size and nature has a booking system in place, reduced hours, reduced staff, and an entire page of very clear guidance on its website. The specifically arts-only university a friend studies at has simply closed until further guidance is released. There is no need or precedent for my employer to be keeping us in the dark like this, or allowing the campus to be open as if everything was normal.

The "need" for them to keep you in the dark is, I strongly suspect, because the government has still failed to publish the guidance for higher education, if they act prematurely they open themselves up to being sued by students. Now if it were me I would not be acting in that way, I would at least be telling the staff that was the situation and we would update them as soon as they can, but I have seen how organisations have a form of paralysis like this, they sit in the headlights, waiting for something to either hit them or help them. I am suggesting that you using "feelings" as a reason for them to have to do things is irrational, HSE, legislation and guidance works on facts, risk assessments, anti-bullying policies, physical wellbeing policies etc. not emotion. Your talk of "fear" and feeling "scared" etc. is not relevant if you want to raise the issue formally, you need to raise it in terms of rational and quantifiable risk, breach of policies, breach of HSE legislation etc. 

MoonChild91 said:

I do not feel safe at work. Neither do my colleagues, or anyone in this building that I've spoken to. We have a right to do so. Yes we have a duty to students but management also has a duty to their staff to consider their wellbeing and inform them of what is going on. Keeping us in limbo for 3 days with literally zero information, and increasingly difficult situations with students is not fair to us or the students who study here. I can accept that some of us may need to continue to come to work (I worked during the Novmeber lockdown and over summer), but not without knowing what the plan is and how they intend to keep us and students safe. If they cannot do that they shouldn't be opening. 

You do not have a right to "feel" safe if your fear is excessive or irrational, your position has to be reasonable, most of the measures seem entirely reasonable, screens, masks, sanitiser etc. are what the vast majority if the public use and what is deemed reasonable and safe. You seem to want them to go far further than is required by the legislation, guidance or what the vast majority of people are experiencing, that is the issue. I agree that it is unreasonable that the management are not supporting of staff facing abuse from members of the public, I agree that it is unreasonable that they have failed to communicate clearly with the staff, even if that communication was to just say "we do not know yet, we are waiting for the government guidance". The issue I take with your position is it seems to be "close it all and consequences be damned", which is not a reasonable position. As late as 13:00 on Monday the government was still publishing guidance for education about how to manage their reopening and ongoing operation, a few hours later they declared a lockdown, many organisations will be scrabbling around trying to figure out what do to next. I do not think your employer is blameless, I think they are in fact far from reasonable and not meeting many of their obligations (Risk assessments, various policies etc. being just the starting point), but I do not think your position is helpful or reasonable either.

tooldle

Hi OP, can i ask how many students are enrolled at your institution? It seems very strange to me that there seems to be no clearly communicated Covid plan. In HE, institutional reputations matter an awful lot and generally we are keen to be seen as not just great places to study,  but also desirable places to work. 
Do you have an HR webpage? This is where i would expect to find a copy of the Dignity at Work and Study policy, or similar.
I am truly sorry to hear the content of the phone calls you have experienced. I have had similar experiences over the years (some internal conversations with other staff) and i understand how stressful this can be. That said, you do not have to tolerate this behaviour. Who manages your boss, and what grade/level is that person? 
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/950583/Students_returning_to_and_starting_higher_education_in_Spring_Term_2021_FINAL_v3.pdf I’m guessing you are in England and this is the most recently published guidance i can find. 

sheramber

i worked in a customer facing role and on telephones. We were advised if someone was swearing at us we told them politely that is they continue  we would hang up. If they dod then we did hang up. 
Hanging up without warning them was a no, no.
Similarly, in customer facing we told them if they continued to use that  language then we would finish the conversation.
You need to keep calm and polite but in control.
What you say to colleagues about it afterwards is another matter.

gettingtheresometime

sheramber said:

i worked in a customer facing role and on telephones. We were advised if someone was swearing at us we told them politely that is they continue  we would hang up. If they dod then we did hang up. 
Hanging up without warning them was a no, no.
Similarly, in customer facing we told them if they continued to use that  language then we would finish the conversation.
You need to keep calm and polite but in control.
What you say to colleagues about it afterwards is another matter.

 I've overheard this very conversation between a colleague and her client - she repeatedly told the client, getting more forceful with each reminder,  that if they continued to swear she would end the call. She eventually did that. The Client never swore at her again

sheramber

When someone swore , one colleague would say' sorry, I did not catch that. Could you repeat it please?'
 They never repeated the swearing when they did.