Problems with other employees at work

Barny1979

casual or unconstrained conversation or reports about other people, typically involving details that are not confirmed as being true.

pat1976

I would definitely raise it with your manager, play them the recording so they are aware of what is going on. I wouldn't expect them to do anything formal over it because it's unsubstantiated but it should be enough for them to ' have a word' or put out a blanket message saying they are aware this is going on and that it will not be tolerated. And then if this behaviour continues they can not claim to have been unaware. 

I'm so sorry you are in this position, there's not much you can do about character clashes but you should not be bullied or belittled, even if it's not to your face.

Do raise issues where you have evidence of people behaving badly towards you in the work environment, such as those not helping you if they are supposed to. If it remains frosty but everyone is behaving in a civil manner and fulfilling their roles there not much you can do other than hope it blows over or go elsewhere. 

pat1976

Also  a thought re the more serious character assassination of being a paedophile. This happened to a colleague of mine, just some younger people falling out with him and then telling everyone he was a !!!!!!. He went straight to the police and it was dealt with immediately. Its the sort of 'joke' that can get out of hand very quickly.

Undervalued

Hiberth said:

Barny1979 said:

Out of interest, how old are these people and are they not very smart? As it seems like something you'd hear in a playground. Raise this with management.

What can management do?  Can they take the recording into consideration because it was obviously done without the consent of the people who's conversation it was recording?

Yes they can. However that doesn't mean they necessarily will. To take action against an employee for misconduct an employer only needs a "reasonable belief" that the misconduct took place. It is not like the criminal standard of proof (beyond a reasonable doubt).

It is not illegal to secretly record a conversation you are party to (or at least obviously present). It can however be an offence to "bug" a conversation when you are not there. Assuming whoever made this recording was present then he has committed no crime. However the employer might regard his behaviour as misconduct too. By publishing it (i.e giving you a copy) he may have left himself open to civil action by the people he recorded although that is frankly unlikely and there are a number of defences he could use.

Hiberth

pat1976 said:

I would definitely raise it with your manager, play them the recording so they are aware of what is going on. I wouldn't expect them to do anything formal over it because it's unsubstantiated but it should be enough for them to ' have a word' or put out a blanket message saying they are aware this is going on and that it will not be tolerated. And then if this behaviour continues they can not claim to have been unaware. 

I'm so sorry you are in this position, there's not much you can do about character clashes but you should not be bullied or belittled, even if it's not to your face.

Do raise issues where you have evidence of people behaving badly towards you in the work environment, such as those not helping you if they are supposed to. If it remains frosty but everyone is behaving in a civil manner and fulfilling their roles there not much you can do other than hope it blows over or go elsewhere. 

Thanks for that message.  I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'unsubstantiated'?  There's a recording of their conversation which is about 7 minutes long.

Barny1979

Undervalued said:

Hiberth said:

Barny1979 said:

Out of interest, how old are these people and are they not very smart? As it seems like something you'd hear in a playground. Raise this with management.

What can management do?  Can they take the recording into consideration because it was obviously done without the consent of the people who's conversation it was recording?

Yes they can. However that doesn't mean they necessarily will. To take action against an employee for misconduct an employer only needs a "reasonable belief" that the misconduct took place. It is not like the criminal standard of proof (beyond a reasonable doubt).

It is not illegal to secretly record a conversation you are party to (or at least obviously present). It can however be an offence to "bug" a conversation when you are not there. Assuming whoever made this recording was present then he has committed no crime. However the employer might regard his behaviour as misconduct too. By publishing it (i.e giving you a copy) he may have left himself open to civil action by the people he recorded although that is frankly unlikely and there are a number of defences he could use.

The OP hasn't stated the gender of the person who sent the email I don''t think.

pat1976

Hiberth said:

pat1976 said:

I would definitely raise it with your manager, play them the recording so they are aware of what is going on. I wouldn't expect them to do anything formal over it because it's unsubstantiated but it should be enough for them to ' have a word' or put out a blanket message saying they are aware this is going on and that it will not be tolerated. And then if this behaviour continues they can not claim to have been unaware. 

I'm so sorry you are in this position, there's not much you can do about character clashes but you should not be bullied or belittled, even if it's not to your face.

Do raise issues where you have evidence of people behaving badly towards you in the work environment, such as those not helping you if they are supposed to. If it remains frosty but everyone is behaving in a civil manner and fulfilling their roles there not much you can do other than hope it blows over or go elsewhere. 

Thanks for that message.  I'm not quite sure what you mean by 'unsubstantiated'?  There's a recording of their conversation which is about 7 minutes long.

I just meant that unless it's a video you can't say for certain who's speaking, and was it recorded in work (and therefore could be subject to a disciplinary) or outside in which case it has very little to do with your manager.

It really depends on what type of company you work for and how they will react. Mine would take it so seriously they'd have everyone in bullying and harrasment training next week, but wouldn't do anything to the perpetrators because of the lack of legal proof. 

Hiberth

It was in work.

Undervalued

Barny1979 said:

Undervalued said:

Hiberth said:

Barny1979 said:

Out of interest, how old are these people and are they not very smart? As it seems like something you'd hear in a playground. Raise this with management.

What can management do?  Can they take the recording into consideration because it was obviously done without the consent of the people who's conversation it was recording?

Yes they can. However that doesn't mean they necessarily will. To take action against an employee for misconduct an employer only needs a "reasonable belief" that the misconduct took place. It is not like the criminal standard of proof (beyond a reasonable doubt).

It is not illegal to secretly record a conversation you are party to (or at least obviously present). It can however be an offence to "bug" a conversation when you are not there. Assuming whoever made this recording was present then he has committed no crime. However the employer might regard his behaviour as misconduct too. By publishing it (i.e giving you a copy) he may have left himself open to civil action by the people he recorded although that is frankly unlikely and there are a number of defences he could use.

The OP hasn't stated the gender of the person who sent the email I don''t think.

Indeed.

However writing s/he every time gets a bit laboured and even then it is always possible that the person may choose to style themselves in a gender neutral way. 

Otherwise it doesn't change the advice at all.

AskAsk

always horrible when this happens.  i am the sort of person that finds it difficult to get on with other people so i often fall out with my colleagues.  i often find the hardest bit about work is having to fight with other people all the time.

as others have said, raise the issue with management as it looks to be getting a bit serious.