To ask for the scandalous secrets of your industry?

[Iwasjustabouttosaythat]

Or just dirt?

Mine isn't very interesting, more just sad. My background is in immigration and I have never worked with so many racist (and stupid) people.

A boat of refugees when down and the guy who told us the news was laughing about it.

Endless racial stereotypes and visas refused because "as if a French person would go out with a Japanese person" etc.

Then there was the chap who said amnesty are evil because they provide money for abortions to rape victims in the Congo. He's the same guy who refuses to assess any applications from homosexuals because he thinks they should all be denied visas. He doesn't get fired for this.

There are probably more but they are the stand outs.

What's your industry gossip? I'd especially love to hear from nannies and cleaners but I'm interested in all dirt!

I'm only half way through but thank you to everyone for sharing!

Yes, mine wasn't scandalous or gossip, it's just awful and depressing. It is something I wanted people to hear about. It was a few years ago now but I'm quite sure all the same people are working there.

I actually did think about whistleblowing but as I said it was a few years back before this recent trend to do that. I didn't know who to tell or whether anyone would really be interested. It was everyone. Almost everyone! The higher ups were actually mostly ok but the people granting the visas are some of the worst people I've ever met.

I'm afraid I'm not a journalist so I won't be getting paid for this. I am a long time MNer and just wanted something interesting to read/discuss. And it is very interesting!

Here's another: I worked for a huge architectural firm in London for a while. Painfully sexist. Almost all the higher ups are men and they would often do business deals in strip clubs. If one of the (few) higher up women were coming to a meeting they would complain about having to go somewhere else and she would always be described as a "ball breaker".

I worked for a charity that won a govt trial contract. I left after being 'encouraged' aka 'told' to falsify records so that they would get continuing funding despite it being against the best interests of our clients. One year later a major news story came up about precisely the same thing but to my knowledge the charity I worked for had no repercussions.

Dicks are rampant in all areas of life. To me it seems the higher up you are the more dickish your behaviour can be without consequences.

Sure isn't the leader of the free world (apparently) someone who advocates sexual assault?

Childcare.
Good staff are not common. SOME many nurseries hire people who are not that bright, not caring, find work an inconvenience to their drinking/getting off with boys, or who just go through the motions. And many nurseries have trainees which they can pay for less than minimum wage, then let them go when they qualify as they become too expensive.

The food can be terrible. Small portions, no taste, taste disgusting, or be unhealthy.

Sometimes there's just a ridiculous lack of effort to provide a good experience for the children. I'm thinking of not having any working pencils for several months because there's no pencil sharpener. Or loose pages from broken books being kept in the book rack because random bits of paper with writing on is better than nothing.

Keeplooking, I'm glad you never came across this. He refused to work on the applications on religious grounds. They were then passed on to other people. Happily those people were not homophobic. They were still often racist.

I worked in an organisation for a bit that helped unemployed people back into work. No revelations from there. But some of my clients went into care work. Some of those got jobs in old people's homes or visiting people in their own home. There were some I would not have let look after a budgie. It scared me that these individuals were looking after vulnerable people. Thus care home scandals never surprise me.

Ex retail here.
Not up to the shocking stuff on this thread but -
I'll check in the warehouse often meant taking a 5 minute break out the back because you know the item isn't in stock, but the customer doesn't believe you.
Plenty of affairs going on, plenty of light fingered people too. Mostly writing off stock, hiding it in the recycling skip and retrieving end of shift.
Yes, certain regular customers were topics of conversation. Usually on how to avoid them. One colleague of mine actually hid under the till counter to avoid someone.
I'm family certain that a few quite dishonest things were happening further up. Going by the number of dodgy "delivery" write offs we ended up needing to do.
In the end almost all methods of stock control were removed and were head office control only. We had no idea what stock was in or not. Ideal situation for a bit of dodgy dealing!

He refused to work on the applications on religious grounds. They were then passed on to other people.

Ok, sorry, op I stand corrected. I thought you were saying that he just randomly 'binned' applications. I am truly surprised. I never came across racism or homophobia. Cynicism, yes, about bogus 'colleges' etc. I remember the 'Latin' motto for one of them on the fake headed paper was 'Corgito ego sum' (meant to be cogito ergo sum) which a (gay) colleague and I translated as 'I think I am a corgi'!

Some of these stories are shocking.

Really really want to hear about the LA though!

Ive worked in customer services for over 10 years. I see alot of threads on here about wanting a member of staff sacked/poor service they want to complain about. I will tell you now, NO ONE CARES! You will get a genetic response that the company will look into it. Will they buggery! Companies will side with staff. It may have been different in years gone by but there are so many chancers out there looking for compo and making up false allegations about staff that most customer complaints are swept under the carpet as the customer is no longer respected.

I worked for a veterinary group as a trainee nurse, trained on the job doing my practical work full time at the vets and studied in my own time and college.
Unless back to back operations, the vet will go off for several hours and only be on site for consultations, yes even if some pets are being kept in for monitoring or medical reasons. Unqualified and usually very young and sometimes very new trainee nurses will be the ones administering the medication, giving injections, monitoring anesthetics, assisting in the operating theatre, triaging in the waiting room as they also have to cover reception in some practices, the list goes on.... These nurses often get no lunch and work very long hours including weekends and nights, we only got 15 days holiday and they got away with that and our low pay because we were "training".
The vets also prices according to how much they could get away with, so if your pet is fully insured then you will get a very hefty bill but if you're not insured but don't kick up a fuss or mention you can't afford it they will push their luck. I've seen lots of animals x-rayed and scanned and opened up when only one was necessary because it inflated the cost of the treatment, they have lost of extras they can add when needed.
New vets will be sent to a practice where trainee nurses have to tell them what to do or they do it themselves.
I was young and wanted to learn but looking back I saw a lot of shocking things.

The LA - specifically Children's Services. Lack of funding means that's kids that should be in care are not but that's no great shock - social workers work their arses off.

But the LA you can also be a total lazy fucker and get away with not doing your hours, turning up as and when you feel like it, "working from home" without being accountable and taking two hour lunch breaks.

If you don't like your job you can go off sick for 6 months on full pay and not all managers demand sick notes. You can take a week off with no sick note.

A guy who worked with young people was accused of being inappropriate with an under 16 and being sexually inappropriate with two female colleagues and was suspended which he then managed to convert into being sick with stress (therefore accruing leave) and had 7 months off on full pay, never got as far as a hearing as he was paid off as LA so scared of litigation.

Also said colleague also bought x boxes and furniture etc for his place of work which mysteriously disappeared.

I could go on....,,

Worked in the museum industry. Was told to not employ more than one person because they didn't have the right 'face' - once an Asian guy for a role that involved working with major donors. They thought a skinny blonde woman would just 'go down better'. Another girl didn't get a job because she was overweight and my boss thought she wouldn't 'look right' at events.

I also was told to give jobs to a couple of posh kids who's parents were important in some form. It was seriously nepotistic, but I suspect everyone knows this already.

People from these countries have no qualms or morals and go for anyone, married, young, old, fat, bald, ANYONE. African and some Asian countries are not as bad.

Is it just me that found the above comment hideously racist. All Russians have no morals? Really? Doesn't it say more about the unpleasant situation a lot of these leggy teens are in if they are throwing themselves at rich sixty somethings?

wading and muggle my dad was given a higher dose of morphine in his last days at a hospice, that was seven years ago. He only had hours / days left and increasing the morphine was better than him being in horrific pain.

I have had experiences of Hospital Staff which I found less than satisfactory. I was admin staff.

I overheard 2 Doctors discussing a patient unaware that I knew the patient being discussed.
I have heard occupational and physiotherapy therapists repeating the same speech to ensure that elderly persons go home when actually they required care.
I have seen nurses assist police to obtain fingerprints and dna samples from a semi conscious patient who had been severely beaten.
I have heard a nurse verbally abuse a young mum in a full waiting room
Having come from another professional type of office I was far too fast for the other admin staff!
I was not impressed with any of the above.
It is very worrying

Midwifery. Am always amazed by people saying their midwives pressured them to BF, because honestly none of the midwives I work with give two hoots how you choose to feed. If you want to BF, great, we'll support you with that. If you want to FF, tbh it's a bit of a relief we don't have to break our backs leaning over the bed trying to get the baby to latch.
I don't know any midwives that bitch about their patients or perve over the dads - can honestly say I barely notice the dads.
Oh, and no-one cares what you've done with your pubes

I used to work for a ftse 100 company that was a household name. They had agreed to enter into a deal that would ultimately cause the company's downfall and first had to get it past the AGM which I was present at. The majority voted against it but the people doing the count declared it passed by a majority and that was the end of the household name.

TiggyD

There are some folk doing it right, but it's almost impossible to find decent staff who haven't been trained by one of the numpty nurseries out there. Recruiting a few weeks ago and we had 3 candidates in a week with criminal records or who had been sacked for gross misconduct. No, I'm not hiring you. Beat it.

It doesn't help that folk want 3 hours childcare for £7 and you either cut every corner going to provide it for that (the ripped book brigade) or face a constant outflow of people whenever the cheap clubs have spaces. Unfortunately a hell of a lot of parents don't prioritise the quality of childcare even when they really can afford it.

The regulators don't give a rats ass what's going on even when they repeatedly have unregistered providers reported.

TiggyD

:( poor little toddlers

I worked in a pub and the manager would half fill a pint glass with overflow from the drip tray. If you were a rude twat, you could pretty much guarantee that only half your pint would be fresh.

I also worked as a cleaner in a kebab shop when I was a teenager. I have never eaten a donner kebab in my life after watching the owner licking his hands before making a vat of lamb mince into one of those huge kebab things. It was rank. The only food I would eat from there was a cheeseburger, and then only if I'd cooked it myself.

Top law firm: we used to call the trainee interviews "Project Catwalk" because of the inordinate concentration of leggy stunning young women. "Would I do any of them?" the interviewing partner used to ask his PA. In fairness, you needed more than looks to get to the top in that firm, but it was a massive help getting in the door.

Also, I worked in McDs when I was young, it's very clean!

Ex- hospitality staff here. Worked in four star hotels, any money put behind the bar for weddings a massive chunk would be taken to clear any deficit in the cellar, along with all staff on duty having drinks.
Housekeeping polishing sinks and baths with previous guests old towels

Obstetrician here. Worked in 6 different labour wards. No bitching about patients. Occasionally some disparaging remarks about partners who are mean or really unsupportive to the labouring woman.
Totally agree with the above midwife that we really don't care how you choose to feed your baby or what your pubes / vulva / vagina / breasts look like.
99% of people care deeply about the work we do. I am not the only one who has tried desperately not to cry with a patient about a poor outcome.

I worked for a recruitment firm and they used to get us to make up jobs then ring people up and mine their cvs for info - you wanted manager names ideally so you knew who to cold call to try and get your foot in the door with the firm. I hated it because some poor sod on the other end of the phone thought they were doing a preliminary interview but the job never existed.

I am an estate agent and shagging is RIFE! Not so much in my current firm (quite posh) but omg the last firm was horrendous for it. We had one manager who just ploughed through mortgage advisors, customers and anyone else she could persuade

Nan0second - that's good to know.

But from my perspective, it's not a bad thing to cry with/for the parents when they have a bad outcome. I'm sure there's a fear of being seen as unprofessional, but I'll never forget a midwife hugging me and my husband and crying with us as she brought us a baby remembrance box - it somehow legitimised the devastation we felt.

Thank you for what you do

Banking in the 90s. Branches were pushed very hard to sell PPI. Some people did need/want it, but it really was pushed too hard. I'm some cases, it was just added to loan quotations without this being made clear to the customer.

Many PPI Claims Management Companies do bugger all work for their clients and just punt in standard complaint letters then take about 30% of any refunds/reimbursement. Nobody needs to use a CMC.

Packaged bank accounts will be the new PPI.