My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Chat with other users about all things related to working life on our Work forum.

Work

Bullying (sort of ex-) manager, grievance procedure etc

11 replies

hellsbells76 · 30/11/2007 15:55

Will try to make this as brief as possible...

Started new job in May this year, at first all was great. Line manager started picking on me in July - constantly finding fault and criticising me for really minor errors (making a huge deal of it as well - telling me first thing in the morning she 'wanted a word', then waiting till 2pm before hauling me out into another office and shutting the door to carpet me over something so insignificant it's ridiculous), giving me all the crap jobs to do, deliberately excluding me from jobs I enjoy, being nice as pie to everyone else but blanking me, the list goes on. I got very stressed and depressed, had to see a counsellor, had trouble sleeping and was constantly on the verge of tears. Bearing in mind I've been working for 10 years and have never had an issue with a manager before...but this person is well known for bullying and at least 3 members of staff have left in the last year because of it. But because they left instead of making their grievance official, nothing was ever done (however it is well known in the office why they left).

I kept a log of all incidents and just as I was about to make an official complaint, she got moved to another team for 6 months. The timing was deeply suspicious - no secondment vacancy had been advertised, the team in question clearly had no idea what they were supposed to be doing with her, indeed for the first week she didn't even have a desk allocated! Her new role does not involve line management, which also makes me suspect that something has been going on behind the scenes (her closest friend in the office is also the IT bod who has been disciplined twice for snooping on people's emails, and I'd been discussing this situation by email with colleagues and ex-colleagues - wouldn't put it past him to have read my emails and warned her what was going on).

I was going to leave it, but in her last week in our team she became even more unpleasant to me until I'd finally had enough and asked to speak to her manager in confidence. I took my diary of incidents with me and left it with her: she promised to investigate and get back to me.

Things have improved immensely since she left - I'm enjoying my job again, my new (temporary) line manager is lovely - supportive, encouraging and everything this woman wasn't - and the atmosphere in the office has improved beyond recognition.

When I next met with her (line manager's manager), she advised me that Personnel had told her that she had to consider the complaint 'official' as it was in writing and that I would have to either take it forward now or withdraw it in writing.

Now I don't want to do either of those things: it's quite unlikely this woman will come back in spring (although obviously it's a possibility) and I don't want to drag everyone through the unpleasantness of a grievance procedure when the bullying is not currently an issue. However, I also don't want to withdraw the complaint because the matter has not been resolved and also because if she returns and if it happens again I want it on record that I'd complained about it before.

I asked if I could put the complaint 'on hold' and refer back to it if she returns and if the bullying starts again but apparently this isn't an option - I need to either put up or shut up basically.

Sorry, this wasn't at all brief in the end was it? Basically just wondered if anyone has any advice - it's an odd situation as I'm feeling a bit like I'm in limbo - if she'd left permanently it would not be so complicated but I have to factor in the possibility that she may come back. I'm worried that her manager (who is well known for burying her head in the sand) is hiding behind Personnel's advice and am sure that if she wanted to, some other route could be found to try and sort this out. Would be very grateful for any ideas/advice!

OP posts:
Report
flowerybeanbag · 30/11/2007 16:04

will have a proper read once DS in bed, will be back later

Report
Freckle · 30/11/2007 16:22

Hm, to invoke the grievance procedure you have to start with a Step One letter, which details all the issues and requests a meeting. You haven't done this so I would argue that Personnel's advice is wrong.

Ask for your diary back and state to the line manager's manager that you do not consider that you have started the grievance procedure. Tell her that, as things have improved, you do not with to take the matter further, but reserve the right to do so should the line manager return and matters deteriorate again.

Report
flowerybeanbag · 30/11/2007 19:16

hellsbells what a nightmare! Good that your work environment has improved though.

I would email the manager's manager. Just say something like

Thank you for meeting with me on x date for an informal discussion about the problems I had been having at the time. I found the meeting very useful and I appreciated your input and willingness to look into the situation on my behalf. As I am sure you are aware, things have since changed and my working environment now is much improved, therefore I have no desire to pursue the original discussion any further at this point.
Should circumstances change I will of course consider either bringing this to you again in an informal matter, or using the grievance procedure to address the situation and raise it in a more formal manner.
I should be most grateful if you could return to me the diary of incidents which I left with you.

-----

That way you get your stuff back, you get it on record that you considered it an informal discussion, and that you are aware of the grievance procedure and reserve the right to use that or another informal discussion should the situation change.

Report
hellsbells76 · 30/11/2007 19:29

Thanks very much both of your for your advice (and for reading my essay to the end!), it's really helped clear things up in my mind and of course you're right - I haven't invoked any grievance procedure so am under no obligation to continue or withdraw anything. My diary was in writing (obviously, how else would I have remembered it all??) and there was a covering note summing up what i felt the problems were, but surely that in itself isn't enough to make it official or to force me down any particular route. Thanks again!

OP posts:
Report
LOVEMYMUM · 30/11/2007 21:19

Sounds a bit like an experience i had in an old job: 2 secretaries picking on me (which was noticed by my boss who warned them off), one of whose boss wanted to fire her but had no grounds to.

Am glad it ended up happily - i ended up having to leave my job cos the bosses of the other two women wouldn't do anything about it. (only 10 employees in office, so no HR dept).

Report
WideWebWitch · 30/11/2007 21:26

Don't withdraw it. The woman created a problem and the only reason you didn't pursue it immediately is because she moved and it was no longer an issue. That doesn't mean it didn't happen or that you should withdraw it - it DID happen.

I think you should state, very firmly and IN WRITING that you don't want the matter pursued because it is no longer an issue for you but that you will not withdraw the complaint because it did happen. If the horrible woman's manager wants to pursue it or has been told to then she should do, it's nothing to do with you really - she should have been managed appropriately so that she COULDN'T do this to her staff.

I think you're right about head in the sand. People often do ignore this type of thing in the hope that it'll go away but it rarely does until the person either leaves or changes their behaviour.

Don't be pushed into this, you have every right to say that you don't want to pursue it but neither will you withdraw it. If I was this woman's manager I'd tackle it anyway, the fact that you've made a complaint would be enough to get it in front of me as an issue that needed tackling imo.

Btw, am dealing with a similar situation atm, woman who works for me has been bully for years. I've come in and decided to tackle it. She is not pleased (of course, she's been getting away with it for ever) but I won't let it lie - it's not fair to the staff who report to her.

Report
pipsqueak · 30/11/2007 23:26

i think it probably is a grievance as there is no requirement that you state that it is a formal grievance for it to ber treated as such. if it is in writing and contains issues that you are concerned about then employer should treat it as a grievance - but i guess if you say you dont want to pursue it at this stage they should not force you to do so.

Report
LOVEMYMUM · 01/12/2007 18:36

Well done wicked (you're not wicked at all ).

If my boss had tackled the woman in my office, i wouldn't have left.

I'm glad you're not letting it lie. You're doing the right thing by your staff and also by yourself, cos by not doing anything, you are leaving yourself open to staff involving unions etc, if matters are not addressed.

Report
hellsbells76 · 03/12/2007 10:46

Thanks again - and wickedwaterwitch, wish you were my boss!! Am actually quite cross the more I think about it as I initially approached her in confidence and asked her to keep it between ourselves until I'd figured out what I wanted to do - as she's taken it to Personnel she's taken that decision out of my hands and is also using their advice to avoid addressing the issue herself. And she kept saying she wished I'd come to her earlier and that the others who had left had done the same...is it really surprising that they didn't if this is how it gets handled?!
grrr....

OP posts:
Report
hellsbells76 · 07/12/2007 12:45

quick update - I've now been told I can 'withdraw' the official complaint but everything will stay on record and if I need to make a complaint in the future it can include the issues I've raised now. So about the best result I could have had under the circumstances (short of the vile woman leaving the country or something). thanks again for all the advice, much appreciated!

OP posts:
Report
RuthT · 13/12/2007 20:49

I have to say from a totally different angle it really is a shame that you did not feel able to take this through as a grievance at this stage.

Your line manager was taking your complaint seriously and if s/he was aware others had an issue then was probably pleased someone was courageous enough to share the detail.

I understand that for you it is resolved because she has moved on but so often in these cases the company has its hands tied because people want to make the point but do not want it to be handled.

Having said that i really do understand why you have left it given that she is not in a position where she is leading other people and therefore creating the situation with others.

Good luck and I hope she does not end up managing others again!

Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.