More Urgent help required - Sorry

[horseshoe]

So my director called me into his office where he already had my line manager sitting there. For an hour we debated and I refused to agree that what he was saying was right. At the end of the conversation he said I wasn't being disciplined but he would write the conversation up for me to sign and it will go on my file.

I asked him why and he said for formalities. I said more like if I try to sue you.

What do I do. Do I have to sign. I think he was trying to intimidate me as he did not give me the option to take someone in and didn't tell me it was a formal chat until the end.

This is wrecking my homelife and everything but I cant leave until I find a new job.

[pedilia]

You are not obliged to sign anything, why were you called in ?

[horseshoe]

We have been having an email interchange and it was getting messy and so we decided to sit down and discuss it. Basically he emailed me to day I was struggling to meet targets. NOT the companies targets but HIS. Anyway he is saying that I am not 95% utilized. Over the course of a year if I was 95% utilized I would only be allowed 2 weeks holiday.. I went mad by email saying this was ridiculous etc.....he said he didn't like my tone. I had put "if you care to look" referring to my time sheet which shows that I put in overtime. He said that in this day and age everyone was expected to put SOME overtime in and last month I only did 3 and a half hours. I said I dont see the point if the work isn't in. Now he says the conversation is going on my file and I dont understand why.

[horseshoe]

He also says Im not being discriminated against because holiday and training is not unique to me yet Im the only one being dragged in as he says Im the second lowest. I have only been back since midway May and he is saying that my July and August picked up although I had holiday in August.

[pedilia]

I am confused, do you not hve a contract stating your holiday entitlment, I don't know thta they are allowed to change your holiday at will.

Do you feel anything in the meeting was constructive?

[poppiesmum]

This sounds completely unprofessional to me on his part. For a start, if her was going to write up the conversation, then he (or someone else) should have been taking notes during the conversation with you. You then should have been offered the chance to read them at the end in order that you agree with what was written down.

I would speak to someone in HR and ask them to mediate a meeting between you and your boss where you can both get the opportunity to talk, and agree a plan going forward. This can be recorded and a letter sent as a follow up. I would then ask for a review meeting in say a month to discuss whether things have improved. That way you are taking control of the situation, rather than relying on your directors way of doing things (e-mail, which doesn't resolve anything), and you can show that you have done all you can to sort things out, should things not improve in the future.

[VeniVidiVickiQV]

Im sorry, I dont know much about the history...can you link me?

What I can say is that you are more than entitled to raise a grievance with regard to this "conversation" going on file. I would also say that you should not sign anything until the grievance has been raised and dealt with.

They CANNOT refuse you a grievance procedure, go that way and that will give you time to get some good advice.

[horseshoe]

Thank you for all of your advice,

No I do not feel anything was constructive and I am trying to see his point but I am doing all I can.Basically this originally started because my line manager called me in to say that my director had complained as people had told him I had been on the internet to agencies. I emailed him to say that I had but this was during my lunch break. Then he emailed me to say I wasn;t meeting targets and I emailed back to say I was and he said not the companies but the ones I set which is 95%. I think is ridiculous and cant possibly be met unless I dont take holiday...bank holidays...etc. He then said compared to others I was still low except July and he hasn't seen August yet. So May I returned halfway through maternity and June and July we had a new member of staff that I was training. Therefore he says I was not working on billable projects and as a result my utilization is low. I said it cant be helped and I am doing all the hours possible to bump it up. Obviously it will never be good enough. And now he wants to put all of this on record.

[Mum2FunkyDude]

Tell them you'll sign after you had time to consult someone on the issue and with their legal input. Do not be bullied!

[pedilia]

Are you in a union? Do you have an HR department?

[horseshoe]

No Union and no HR as such. Office manager but she is away and I cant trust anyone else

[horseshoe]

I think Im just going to leave.

means going back to full time hours but I just want to get out of here

[VeniVidiVickiQV]

horseshoe...please please PLEASE raise a formal grievance first.

If you are going to leave anyway, you have nothing to lose by doing this. You might even end up getting a rather satisfactory result.

[horseshoe]

How do I raise one VVV? Should I put it in wrighting?

[VeniVidiVickiQV]

They should have a grievance policy/procedure. Ask for a copy of it preferably. But, generally, it involves putting your grievance, in writing to your line manager. It is preferable to request a meeting, and as such you are entitled to bring someone along with you to that.

Once you put it in writing they then should have a time limit in which they must respond to you.

[pedilia]

I agree you should raise a grievance, just write to yyour line manager stating that you are unhappy about the meeting stating clearly why you were u not happy i.e the way it was conducted, the content etc.

They should respond in writing and arrange a hearing which should be held by a senior manager and have someone taking the minutes, you are also entitled to take a colleague or union rep if you had one.