Treated differently ? Can DH do anything.......... sorry long

[mumto3fabkids]

Hi - I read these boards often but this is my first post.

dh's md at work seems to have it in for him, on several occassions he has been hauled in for disiplinary meetings for:
leaving work without doing overtime (he had completed his shift),
reading a text msg (although others use mobile phones regularly and get no comments.)

He appealed to board directors after 1st warning for reading txt msg as it was my 1st day back at work after 2 years mat leave, dd's 1st day at nursery and I was simply letting him know they were ok and my contact details.

His contract states disiplinary action will be taken for excessive use of mobiles and didn't feel this incident constitutes excessive. He appealed on these grounds and also as warning was written but co disp policy states written warning is used for serious offences. The appeal was unsucessful.

5 months later he was called into office and told he would be sacked if he didn't go into office following week and tell them he would start doing more overtime (he was doing an average of 10 hrs o/t per wk.) He got union involved who explained EU working time regs, O/t not contractual etc and they ended up letting this go and he kept his job.

A year down the line he had agreed to go in on O/T on a sat morning after a day off on Fri. He was out for the day on the friday, missed last train home ended up getting home at 4am and didn't make it to work, he didn't phone in either as he didn't wake up til gone lunchtime - the day out was with another temporary staff member who also didn't go into work and didn't phone in (this is the first time for both that they've not completed overtime they agreed to.) DH apologised and tried to explain to supervisor on the monday morning but was told "thats no f??$$#g good to me."

Both were invited to disiplinary mtgs dh's for this reason and they also listed on his "invitation" to mtg that they wanted to discuss him taking "excessive toilet breaks"

His colleague on the temp contract was just told they'd take further action if he didn't phone in again - dh got written warning for "unacceptable conduct" re the overtime and told no further action at the moment for toilet breaks - but they'd be monitoring and if the unacceptable behaviour in respect of this continues they may take further action.

I can understand that it was inconsiderate for him not to call in to explain he wouldn't be able to do o/t but its not contractual and don't they need to be consistent when dealing with the same offence for different people. In addition 2 other people have done this regularly in the past and had no action taken.

Also recently one staff member has been abbusive to other staff members on at least 2 occasions and threatened violence (gross misconduct) no action has been taken - this person is single therefore works loads of O/t.

We think the underlying issue is he doesn't do 25 hrs a week overtime like some people do and therefore they are trying to get him on anything. His work output and quality is great so they can't touch him on that.

After last appeal got him no where he feels that an appeal or grievance now will not acheive anything - is there anything he can do as he knows they will be timing him in the toilet from now on.

I'd be grateful for any advice

[flowerybeanbag]

mumto3 I don't have any time just now, bit of a hectic weekend, but didn't want your post to go unanswered.

I will do you a proper answer in the next couple of days, but just so you know it's been seen

Bumping if anyone is about with a bit more time as well.

[HappyNewMum2Be]

First time I have helped out with a big chunk of advice, so here goes - please correct me if I get anything wrong

Companies will always avoid officially disciplining temporary staff in the same way as they would permanent, due to the risk of being seen as their employer and therefore the temp being allowed the same rights as a permanent employee (precedent has been set on this). So it is not surprising that there will sometimes be dissimilar treatment for anything not seen as gross misconduct.

He needs to speak to his union rep NOW. Log everything down, record his own hours and breaks etc, and keep a diary of things that happen - discussions about OT, timekeeping, progress reports etc. Play them a little at their own game.

Depending on the wording of his contract (unlikeley though if unionised, but you never know) it may say that your standard hours are blah blah blah, but depending on the needs of the business you may be required/expected to work additional hours on short notice (mine does for example and I am salaried). This means the company can say to me, we have an event coming up tomorrow night, can you stay behind and work please, and are not seen as unreasonable for asking. So although it is not contractual as such, it is in there as an expectation.

In many industrial (assuming from your terminology) environments, there are health and safety issues arising from overtime depending on sectors etc, and also laws on breaks for night shift workers and various other issues.

His union should be able to advise once they have his log. It needs to read fair and impartial and also acknowledge (if there are any) issues that may come up and he could be disciplined for.

Is he paid extra for the OT or is the company benefiting from unpaid labour? If so (again unlikely, but worth bearing in mind) and he is working a lot and depending on his wage, he should check to see if the overtime is actually reducing his hourly rate to below the minimum wage. Or if not his - his colleagues!

Make sure he is fully aware of the company policies and procedures and also the guidance from ACAS on how they recommend companies SHOULD do it as not all of them follow the statutory rules properly.

Good luck - some employers dont realise that the only value their business really has is in the people. They can have fab machinery, products, services, but if they dont have the human element to make it all work, they fail.

Don't let it get you down and make sure you get the union involved, even if the company doesn't officially recognise them, they can still be the appointed person at any meetings etc. Also don't let the union rep bully into action too early. Sometimes revenge is a dish best served cold!

[mumto3fabkids]

Thanks for your replies - I thought the temp employee may not have to go through same procedures as he's not got the same contract. dh's contract says that depending on the needs of the business you may be required/expected to work additional hours - but does not mention short notice, he does get paid for the extra hours. We have 3 dc and as I also work he sometimes needs to help with collecting children etc so can't always do short notice. He does give them advance warning of this though as its usually only if I am working away or school hols.

He does accept that in this instance perhaps the warning is in line with procedure as its an unauthorised absence, although the disciplinary procedure does indicate that before any action is taken supervisors will discuss the areas of concern and suggest ways to improve. This didn't happen and its the first time ever hes had unauthorised absence and not phoned in. There are several permenant employees who have acted in the same way with no action taken even when its been more than one off. He's just fed up with being the one they make an example of when he acts no diferently to others.

He's got until Monday to appeal but thinks its pointless - should he appeal just for completeness and evidence of the fact he feels singled out?

On paper its a good job that he loves (bar the management), but they literally watch him all the time, no one else seems to have any disciplinary isues.

His union are aware of situation and have accompanied him to meetings, and I've told him to keep a diary of all activity at work

Like you say some employers don't realise how to treat people - they don't earn any respect from employees by having a military attitude and certainly don't motivate people to want to go the extra mile for them

[flowerybeanbag]

Excellent advice from HappyNewMum2Be. I would add though, regardless of whether the overtime is contractual or not, if he said he would be in work on the Saturday morning and then not only didn't turn up but didn't phone either, that's pretty bad, so I think the action they are taking for that instance is not unreasonable.

His disciplinary procedure says about discussing areas of concern first blah blah but that's not always possible or appropriate, depending on what the offence is.

I don't think he should appeal his warning for that offence automatically, only if he feels it was unfair.

It does sound like there is an issue about the way they manage their staff more generally though, and picking on tiny little things, which is very short-sighted of them as it doesn't make anyone motivated as you've said.

He should keep talking to his union and make sure he writes everything down - different action taken (or not taken) when others do the same things isn't fair particularly others on same contract, and he can complain about it, either by appealing at the point action is taken, or if there is a pattern, considering a grievance at some point with a list of things.

[mumto3fabkids]

Thanks for your advice. I think he didn't help himself in this instance as he knows they seem to pick on him. We will leave the appeal this time - but will definately make sure he writes everything down in future so we're prepared if (when) anything else comes up.

Thanks again