Colleague ignoring phone-calls and emails

[czechout]

Hello all,
Just a quick question - a colleague is currently ignoring phone-calls and emails. By way of background we are recently out of redundancies and a colleague was made redundant in a very unfair manner, I could not take on all their workload (I took on what I could) despite the organisation trying I fought back as already do well beyond contracted hours.
Boss was very unhappy with result (they have to do some of this work) and the team secretary has now clearly been asked not to cooperate with me.
I'm emailing politely, getting no response (working from home). If I call secretary they are refusing to pick up phone. Have been advised by another colleague to keep emailing so there is a record of refusal. Not sure what else to do, not sure there is any point complaining to the boss who is likely behind this.

Any ideas most welcome :)

Sounds like senior boss wants you to raise this formally so she has more oomph to boot line manager and secretary. She's acting in the interests of the organisation and you. It's heartening to see she isn't covering up. I'd send her an email saying you would like to escalate this to a formal grievance. But first do contact your union rep - their input will be invaluable.

I'd say senior boss has every intention of making sure you don't go to tribunal - she will deal effectively with this. Wish she was my manager 😊

Omg what a thread. I haven't any advice other than asking ACAS for advice.
Good luck OP. Is this a local authority you are working for?

@EverythingRuined, no it isn't. Yes have consulted ACAS, thank you for good wishes.

Do I need to send an email to senior manager to thank her for 'informal resolution' meeting? We agreed the meeting was 'without prejudice'??

I said I needed a part II meeting as so much to tell her but now I'm thinking I need to just go into writing the formal grievance? Legally though has this given my employer enough opportunity to resolve informally? Will it look like the informal meeting was meaningless for me ? I understand she wants me to bring in union but isn't timing between informal and formal important here?

Could I say that the potential gravity of the safeguarding incident has convinced me to raise this formally where I would usually wait longer after raising an issue informally?

Yes, the safeguarding issue is important. You really should consult your union rep about this - this is a complex issue. Getting advice from union doesn't mean things must escalate - you will just get clearer advice and representation if you need it.

I think you should move this thread to Employment Issues. Great advice there. But also get your union rep involved asap.

That’s a really positive update.

You need to give the senior member of staff time to deal with this. If they follow the proper disciplinary process it could take several weeks. If they were talking to HR they may still be considering suspending one or both of them. If dismissal is on the cards, then they will want to make sure they do it by the book.

At this stage you have raised an informal grievance and on the basis of the evidence relating to safeguarding they have initiated a disciplinary investigation. They may only use the safeguarding breach as that is much easier to prove. Prepare yourself that they may not tell you the outcome/deal with the bullying. If they are dismissed any ET would be against your employer. If it went to ET you might need to give evidence about the safeguarding breach.

The next step is what outcome do you want in relation to the bullying?If you just want it to stop, then give it time and see if there are further incidents, if it stops/they are dismissed then great. If the bullying persists then raise a formal grievance.

I think they can't investigate the bullying unless you have raised a formal grievance. Imagine if you were investigated for bullying although no grievance had been submitted. Procedures have to be followed as it protects both parties. Yes, I'd put in a formal grievance about every aspect of the situation.

Shielding is obviously adding to your problems here - it's easy to bully and victimise when someone can't knock on your door. Do you think they would quite like to get rid of you because of shielding? Keep accurate records of all communications. Followup any calls with emails. Inform on site doctor that they are not supporting you to do your job whilst shielding, with dated examples of everything. Inform your GP too. I'm sorry to be dramatic, but you need to be prepared for a possible tribunal. Stay polite and professional (not suggesting you wouldn't).

@Cinnamonhouse - thank you for response yes planning to update union tomorrow, my rep tends to advise I avoid any formal route if possible and see how things go but can see the points you are making.

Thank you @Margaritatime, I am waiting to see what she comes back with, she was spitting fire so can't see her willing to sweep this under the carpet but anything is possible in my workplace - it sounded like she wanted to dismiss the secretary and keep the boss, I hope she suspends both whilst she investigates but I think she would have done this on Friday if this was the direction she was taking it. Boss continues to put in obstacles to completing work, withhold important information (for me to do my job) etc so can't see this ending well. Think she will continue unless the consequences are very severe for her. Interestingly one of the team members who was bullying alongside secretary and boss (there are 3 of them) has now switched sides and senior boss told me that she had said to her last week that 'Czech has been treated unfairly'. She could potentially write a witness statement but it gets messy as I have evidence against her too. I question if she switched sides as she knew the truth was coming out or whether guilt ate her up?! Inclined to believe the former but good to remain open-minded I guess.

@Looubylou you are right, shielding severely disadvantaged me professionally and gave her impetus to act even more immorally than she would in person. Am no longer shielding but have no doubt she sees it as inconvenient and would be happy to get rid of me on that basis. For the record I very much dislike working from home and wish I didn't have to shield.

Wait for the senior manager to come back to you. If they haven’t done so by Friday then on the Monday ask for a further meeting. It can take time to suspend, and if she was so angry sensibly she may have taken time to calm down and reflect before making a decision.

At the meeting hear what she has to say but also state that you want to pursue a formal grievance against both. She what she has to say before deciding your next step.

@Margaritatime thank you, okay will give her reasonable time to respond before taking further action.