Threatened and abused by colleague

static266

I received a voicemail from a colleague (well actually they are self employed but have worked in the same role for this employer for years and years) where they threatened violence against me and used abusive language to do with a work matter. I raised a grievance to my director who is good friends with the person in question. The director condemned his actions but there was no investigation and the only outcome was that they would try to keep this person working at other sites within the business. 

Now I've been told that I need to work at a different site on a couple of occasions to avoid working with this person, my contract says that I am based at the site which I manage and may occasionally have to work elsewhere "if cover is needed". 

On top of this I have been given warnings both formal and verbal on different occasions about managerial decisions that I have made regarding some of my staff without the director actually investigating or even asking my side of the story. I was also accidentally copied into an email discussing someone's suitability to replace me and talking about making me redundant. The person who threatened me also told my director when I first started that he couldn't work with me and I was moved temporarily to a different site and had no say in this. The company has no policies or procedures in place and I actually fear the day a serious incident happens in the workplace whether it involves me or not due to how badly the business is 'winging it' in operations and finances - the risk of a serious incident in this type of business is very high anyway. 

I have just been signed off due to work related stress for three weeks as I feel like I am unsafe at work and that I am being pushed out of my role. I would like to resign but roles of this nature and salary are not easy to come by in the rural area in which I live, I also have a young family and the only income. Does anyone have suggestions of how I could proceed? I think I would like to work towards taking my employer to a tribunal but I'm unsure where these incidents leave me, any advice would be great thanks. 

I work permanently full time and my role covers general management of one site plus occasional administrative duties at a few other sites. I will have been in post for two years at the end of this week. 

Grumpy_chap

The best way to proceed would be to look for an alternative employer.

Marcon

static266 said:

I received a voicemail from a colleague (well actually they are self employed but have worked in the same role for this employer for years and years) where they threatened violence against me and used abusive language to do with a work matter. I raised a grievance to my director who is good friends with the person in question. The director condemned his actions but there was no investigation and the only outcome was that they would try to keep this person working at other sites within the business. 

Now I've been told that I need to work at a different site on a couple of occasions to avoid working with this person, my contract says that I am based at the site which I manage and may occasionally have to work elsewhere "if cover is needed". 

On top of this I have been given warnings both formal and verbal on different occasions about managerial decisions that I have made regarding some of my staff without the director actually investigating or even asking my side of the story. I was also accidentally copied into an email discussing someone's suitability to replace me and talking about making me redundant. The person who threatened me also told my director when I first started that he couldn't work with me and I was moved temporarily to a different site and had no say in this. The company has no policies or procedures in place and I actually fear the day a serious incident happens in the workplace whether it involves me or not due to how badly the business is 'winging it' in operations and finances - the risk of a serious incident in this type of business is very high anyway. 

I have just been signed off due to work related stress for three weeks as I feel like I am unsafe at work and that I am being pushed out of my role. I would like to resign but roles of this nature and salary are not easy to come by in the rural area in which I live, I also have a young family and the only income. Does anyone have suggestions of how I could proceed? I think I would like to work towards taking my employer to a tribunal but I'm unsure where these incidents leave me, any advice would be great thanks. 

I work permanently full time and my role covers general management of one site plus occasional administrative duties at a few other sites. I will have been in post for two years at the end of this week. 

Working towards another job would be a better idea. There's nothing in your post which suggests this saga is going to end well for you.

You also need to be aware that, like it or not (and fair or not - often not), tribunals - when you finally get there - are public hearings and any future employer isn't going to be too keen on taking on a new hire if the local press is having a quiet week and decides to do some sensational reporting. Given the history of warnings, and a decent lawyer acting for your employer, it's going to be anything but a slam dunk win, so I think you need to start being realistic.

prettyandfluffy

Start looking for a new job as suggested above but at the same time start keeping a record of these incidents - notes, emails, saved voicemails etc with dates and times.  You may need to refer to them in the future and they will carry weight if things escalate to unfair dismissal.  I've been there, it was awful; but my records carried a lot of weight and helped me achieve a satisfactory outcome.
ADDED: Don't keep these records at work or on a work laptop etc.  Handwritten if necessary but on your own property.

Annisele

static266 said:

I would like to resign but roles of this nature and salary are not easy to come by in the rural area in which I live.

I suspect that's going to be your key difficulty. Even if you win at tribunal, the outcome wouldn't be that you got your job back. So if this sort of job is hard to get, I'd recommend putting your effort into getting a new one rather than trying to persuade a tribunal to make the old employer pay you.

However, it does sound like your relationship with the colleague has fallen well below a personality clash. Have you considered telling the police about the threatening voicemail? (I'm not necessarily recommending you do that - sometimes the police can make things worse - but I do think you should consider whether reporting the crime would be sensible/safe.)