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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

To try and get my awful colleague sacked

235 replies

WhenHarryMetSandro · 14/01/2023 08:21

Some background is that I returned from maternity leave in October and my reduced days (went to 4 days) meant that my maternity cover has remained in the business in a slightly senior role to accommodate my reduced hours and so she has retained some of the admin parts of my role. She was part of the team and was given the ML cover in what I believe was an error of judgement from management. She got it after the person given it went on long term sick leave a week after I left. She was hated at the time by the team. She now has no line management responsibilities and I think misses the control.

She is still hated by the team. She is a micromanager, rude, disrespectful and generally, a jobs worth that tells on people like the teachers pet at school. She isn’t well liked around the rest of the business and people often comment on their displeasure of interacting with her. She will do things to make things harder for my team who are all great, hard working and lovely people. I cannot understand why! They really tolerate her BS most of the time. She will get involved in things that don’t fall under her job just to be a cow and ruin something for someone else. She usually gets nothing but support but she is pushing people to the point of leaving and getting sick of it.

Two of my team left during my ML time because they couldn’t stand her as their manager.

Things she has done recently that makes me think she is an arsehole are as follows :

sent round the company policy about not using the company printers for colour when a team member (worked at the company 10 years, always lovely person) printed out 5 sheets of A4 paper in colour for a charity function as her own printer had shut down whilst printing those last 5 pages. I had given the ok to do this. She knew this and still complained about it.

tells tales to me if my team are 2 minutes late getting to work. I don’t want this level of observation. it’s weird and unneeded.

insists on working in freezing cold temperatures and often sets this to her preference despite it being uncomfortable for the rest of the team who sit in hats and gloves to accommodate

has thrown away birthday cakes brought in by the team members if they’ve haven’t accommodated for her specific tastes (not allergies, just cake preferences)

I have made some adjustments to work shifts to create better work life balance for the team which has been well received by the team and she has painstakingly reviewed our company policy and flagged why I can’t or shouldn’t have done this despite knowing the team really would benefit. it’s a grey area and at managers discretion as long as it benefits the team with no detriment to the business. which it doesn’t.

Checks up on my own work and that of others. We are all very capable, intelligent people and she takes great pleasure in pointing out of anything looks out of the ordinary which normally back fires as there is a reason for it. It’s just embarrassing that my team or I feel we then need to explain or justify to her (we don’t)

AIBU to think that getting this person out of business is the only reasonable thing to do. Any advice? I’m half joking really. I appreciate times are hard at the moment so don’t like the idea of someone losing their job but she is just awful. How do you deal with people like this? She has been at the company 5 years now and has been awful the entire time. Makes most of us dread working and each interaction leaves a sour taste for days. Always the busiest person, always the person who doesn’t need to muck in. Always a tell tale. Always got an eye over her shoulder despite us being a really nice and supportive team. I mean, aside from this post but it’s past the point of thinking she will see the light.

OP posts:
InsomniacVampire · 14/01/2023 18:53

I think people are giving the OP a really hard time by nitpicking,.The woamn sounds like an a hole moet people would not like to work with (unless they are that person in the office).
I totally would not either. Being 2 min late for work one day is not great, but we are human, unless someone comes in late every day, it's not a bloody issue is it.

Kinnorafron · 14/01/2023 19:00

WhenHarryMetSandro · 14/01/2023 08:31

Open to feedback on this, what makes me not sound great exactly? For wanting a respectful and relaxed workplace for my team?

The other persons sounds like a rotter but I struggle with the idea that your response is to try to get someone fired.

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 14/01/2023 19:01

I don't work now. Hallelujah! However, when I was working, I had a manager who was a pain in the butt in some ways, but one way she was great was not sweating the small stuff. Her view was that if the work was getting done and nobody was complaining about us, we must be getting on all right. Hence, she didn't give two hoots what time we arrived or left (not least because she wasn't in the office to check a lot of the time). She knew most of us were doing some of our work from home and had in fact approved that arrangement, so most of us had a day or half-day a week to WFH, long before the pandemic, rising to most of the time outside term. (University employer)

She was also very kind and considerate when someone had a personal crisis, giving as much compassionate leave as they needed. This was not strictly in accordance with the university's official policy but it paid dividends as she knew her staff and was confident they would all do their best to get back to speed as soon as they could, and that the rest of us would cover as required in the mean time. Staff turnover in our team was extremely low.

Nishky32 · 14/01/2023 20:47

Gasp0deTheW0nderD0g · 14/01/2023 18:44

Good for you. Compulsory socialising outside working hours, especially when it involves alcohol, is recognised as a barrier to certain groups, especially women. But if you've not been affected, that must all be just hooey, mustn't it?

When did I say it was compulsory - stop making things up

whowhatwerewhy · 14/01/2023 21:14

So you need to pull her up every time "I line manage the team now , I have given permission to photo copy, yes I'm aware so and so was late . Pl

whowhatwerewhy · 14/01/2023 21:16

Oops sent too soon.
Please continue with your job and allow me to do mine . Note everything and escalate further if needed.
I would also take the cake she doesn't like in every week as a team treat .

TheHateIsNotGood · 14/01/2023 21:17

Do you work for the Civil Service?

ApiratesaysYarrr · 14/01/2023 21:25

InsomniacVampire · 14/01/2023 18:53

I think people are giving the OP a really hard time by nitpicking,.The woamn sounds like an a hole moet people would not like to work with (unless they are that person in the office).
I totally would not either. Being 2 min late for work one day is not great, but we are human, unless someone comes in late every day, it's not a bloody issue is it.

The problem is that just being an unlikeable person is not something that you can get fired for, otherwise a lot more people would be out of a job.

Xenopus · 14/01/2023 21:27

WhenHarryMetSandro · 14/01/2023 14:35

I don’t think I can sack her and that isn’t really the plan. I was being stupid adding it in there, I was more looking for advice to deal with someone who can make the energy so unsettled when it really doesn’t need to be that way. I realise it was flippant and that everyone has jumped on that part. If you’re going to comment that it’s what I WROTE and why did I WRITE IT if I didn’t mean it. Come on… I was clearly being ridiculous.

OP I’m going to call out your Prince Harry-style bollocks of ‘interpret what I said and don’t take it word for word’. No I won’t. You were explicit and meant it - so own it.

As per my previous post I’m well willing to believe you work with a horrible colleague and did indeed “want her sacked”. You then get a roasting off some posters and NINE pages in have done a 180 of ‘come on I was being ridiculous’.

You were being ridiculous in the examples you gave were clearly not ‘sackable’, even if horrible.

What sympathy I had has gone as you clearly can’t manage yourself let alone anyone else. Some people have actual life experience and genuine insights to share and you’re simple feeding off the weekly drama of it.

So when you talk to the owner, will you ‘mean it’ or will that be another ‘oh I didn’t meant it like that’ situation?

WhenHarryMetSandro · 14/01/2023 21:53

Xenopus · 14/01/2023 21:27

OP I’m going to call out your Prince Harry-style bollocks of ‘interpret what I said and don’t take it word for word’. No I won’t. You were explicit and meant it - so own it.

As per my previous post I’m well willing to believe you work with a horrible colleague and did indeed “want her sacked”. You then get a roasting off some posters and NINE pages in have done a 180 of ‘come on I was being ridiculous’.

You were being ridiculous in the examples you gave were clearly not ‘sackable’, even if horrible.

What sympathy I had has gone as you clearly can’t manage yourself let alone anyone else. Some people have actual life experience and genuine insights to share and you’re simple feeding off the weekly drama of it.

So when you talk to the owner, will you ‘mean it’ or will that be another ‘oh I didn’t meant it like that’ situation?

I quite like Prince Harry. I’m not sure what you previously posted here but you seem mad about something else…this is extreme for an anonymous online platform and I can’t imagine anything I’ve (or anyone) would post on MN would upset you so much to write a message like this. Is it to make me feel bad? I feel sorry for you. What vitriol. I’ve seen some of your other posts and can see you are in a bad place. Good luck to you in your misery

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