This might be long, so bear with me. I really need some advice for my lovely DH who is having a really shitty time at the moment and I'm worried...
He works in retail and is manager of his branch/concession. To cut a very long story short, he has been there for 5 years (8 months as manager). His old area manager thought he was fantastic, he has a brilliant team who all get on with and respect him and the 'big boss' who originally hired him has recently told him he's more than happy with him & the department too.
BUT a new area manager (AM) has been put into place who seems to have made it her mission to make his life and that of his team as difficult as possible. She has told him that he needs to be harder on them, and shout at them more as they are (her words) 'useless'. I personally think she wants him and his team of 9 gone.
A few months ago, he was given a letter of concern as the branch received a terrible mystery shop of 0% - however, the shopper had gone to completely the wrong part of the store (this was proved on CCTV by the floor manager who was appalled by DH's treatment) but his company took no notice of this and letter of concern was given to DH regardless.
They've since had a few OK mystery shops but the last one was less than the required 75% so DH has now been hauled in for a formal meeting. Despite the fact that they are grossly understaffed and the mystery shop was on Black Friday, none of this was taken into account. The member of staff was trying to serve 6 people at the same time (and actually had some very positive comments on the shop) but the final score just wasn't good enough. He had a hideous meeting with AM and someone from HR yesterday & has now been issued with a final written warning.
This all seems grossly unfair to me. The area manager has not taken into account any of the circumstances or the positives: DH's dept is making a profit, is up on other similar retailers, etc.
I think she's gearing up to fire him to make an example of him. She appears to have taken an instant dislike to him and his team. None of the mystery shops were for him personally BTW - but they were his members of staff. When results came in, he addressed the 'issues' and followed procedure to the letter so I'm not sure what misconduct he is supposed to have done. I guess the attitude is that the 'buck stops with him' but he's had little to no support and what he has achieved is bloody miraculous in the circumstances (below).
During the meeting, he pointed out that over the past 2 months, he has also been covering 2 other branches because they have no staff (or the manager has walked & not been replaced), has been working crazy amounts of (unpaid) overtime and hasn't had any support from above. She shrugged and didn't appear to give a shit. None of these points were addressed.
What can he do? Can he really be sacked on this basis? I've advised him to keep a record of every communication and, frankly, look for another job as life's too short.
(As an aside, this is all going on while DH is having a shit personal time too - his dad had massive stroke a month ago and is still in hospital. Not once has the AM asked him if he's ok (FIL really is not).
Any advice? What can he do? I'm particularly worried that if he is fired, will he get a reference? How does this work legally?
He's at work now, having gone straight from the hospital. It's supposed to be his day off but y'know, Christmas and they are short-staffed yet again. I would dearly love to tell him to tell AM to shove it but know he wouldn't do that to his staff. Please help...
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Worried about DH & 'Final Warning'
28 replies
theluckiest · 12/12/2017 18:47
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