Why is new boss being such a knob?

[Buggeroffboss]

Our old boss took ill suddenly in December last year and died shortly after. They been the boss for 20+ years, so appreciate we were all very used to them.

Following their illness I became interim boss. In April I was offered the role permanently but declined as it would mean returning to full time work. I'm bitterly regretting not taking it due to new boss!

We're a remote team, have been since many years before COVID. New boss clearly hates remote working. We do have an office, but it seats 10 people and us open to the whole business (approx 300 people) not just our department (40 people). New boss wants everyone in the office 2 days a week. HR have told him to go whistle - we are all on remote contracts and live across the whole of the UK, including channel Islands and 2 in France!

New boss is now insisting we schedule any "coffee breaks" (you know, where you brew up between meetings) and that under no circumstances are we to appear on screen with tea/ coffee if it isn't adjacent to our scheduled break. In addition he's put an embargo on lunch time errands, such as laundry, popping to the post office or collecting the car from the garage. All time is to be accounted for.

As you can imagine, morale has gone down the pan. We're a high performing department, there is 0 issues with productivity. Our work is largely invisible most of the time, lots of thinking time and idea generation which makes monitoring our day to day workloads difficult, but we always exceed our targets at quarter and year ends - so people are clearly working. In the 6 weeks he's been in there's been a noticeable change in how people are working, fewer people on early or late, most just working to their hours.

AIBU to think he's being a bit of a dick and just needs to chill the fuck out?

The bit about policy I said I'd get the exact wording when I'm next in work.

Those bits of my contract are the only sections that talk about working hours. The rest is managed through policy.

I absolutely get it. You don't need set hours or to tell someone uou are on lunch. Same at our work but it does some people's heads in.

I know the company policy. You asked for the wording. I don't know it verbatim.

My new boss is keen on office attendance. Mind you we do have a policy of twice a week in the office but we never went in that much, he’s tried to get me in more, and I’ve agreed to one a week, but we’re a professional team and difficult to order around to that degree!

I definitely need more toilet breaks at that time! Great points made 👍

Where it says that core hours are 10-12.

There’s something wrong with him. Report to HR (and consider taking the job when he vacates!)

That’s extreme! I work in a call / zoom environment and whilst we have to ensure the phones are always covered, so don’t take a break when you’re the only free to answer, we have no such restrictions. We often ‘have coffee’ with our clients on video, makes it more like a face to face meeting.

each morning I make a cup of tea for immediate consumption, one in a ceramic mug for later and a litre bottle of water as I never know when I’ll be able to take my break.

play him at his own game, either your partner / spouse / housemate brought you coffee, or have a flask next to you (whether you really use it or not) and say it was one you made earlier! As for lunch, you don’t have to give any information on what you do with your break. Hang the washing out, go for a run, have a snooze, whatever keeps your life ticking over.

Hope he settles soon with a little help from HR!

Sounds like my old boss. New to organisation and role and out to make a name for himself with 'efficiencies' which decimated a stable team that always produced the goods whilst he sat around giving out diktats on online calenders, the fonts we were to use and redesigned the border measurements of stationary ( yes, really!!). People were leaving with no jobs to go to, temps were turning down permanent role offers on the team after being there for a couple of weeks. Sadly, SLT was happy to let it go on like this and protect their choice. Later found out he had been catastrophic at his three former places of employment and had form. He used to jump before he was pushed. This was in HE so very small world. So sorry you are going through this. What's the saying...if it ain't broke.....

@Buggeroffboss presumably he will be on probation? If everyone reports the same issues he won’t pass, surely.

Do you have a union? This seems like it's bordering on harassment? I know that seems extreme but I'm sure it's very similar to an example in some online etraining we did recently!

Yes that's one thing our company is strict on. You can't work at home whilst on sole care of a child under 12 (I.e. primary age or below), you have to evidence someone else is in charge of them and it would be frowned upon for them to be visible in meetings, though in internal meetings we tend to let it slide a bit if they pop to say hello. But a regular thing wouldn't be ok. If you don't have anyone to look after them/ wrap around care etc then you need to work at another time. So sometimes I go and collect them at school time and give them a drink and snack and then DH finishes work and I go back to work etc.

I really wish management would send the likes of him packing and not just allow it. So frustrating!

God, he sounds awful.

About the tea and coffee, just keep the mug off-screen, and obviously don't drink it during a meeting.

As if he can control whether and when you get up to make a drink in your own home!!! I'd be making as much tea and coffee as a I wish, per normal. Honestly, some people!

That’s what I think. HR told him to get lost re the office working, i think OP and colleagues will get a good result if they report him.

I think I'd be informally talking to hr about this and gentle questioning about "is this company policy, to have enforced breaks, for example in the office are people only allowed drinks and loo breaks at pre scheduled times? I also didnt realise we could have activities during our unpaid lunch breaks dictated to us - i didnt see any company wide info on this...." and see what they say.
Having previously worked in hr depts in many organisations, I'd be having a gentle word with the manager about what is and isn't reasonable. Some roles obviously you do need to schedule breaks (e.g. customer services where being literally present at the desk is essential) but generally it wouldn't be normal company policy for other desk based roles to be controlled so tightly, and generally speaking the hr dept will know this will impact morale, people will leave, recruitment costs money, engaged people generally produce more etc etc etc. I doubt you'll need a grievance or more than a light chat for them to have a word with him. He's clearly new, not used to remote teams perhaps and struggling to make his mark.

I'm going to ask the senior managers outright if there's an agenda - if there is I'm happy to get on board with it, I just want to know. I also want to work with my manager and not against, but he's not communicating with me (or the other heads of) about this new agenda. I have my own team I need to look out for, and get in to line if this is a new way of working. But it's not happening in other departments which makes me think it's him and not the company.

He has managed before, but this is a step up for him and he's only managed hybrid and on prem teams. He didn't realise that remote meant 100% remote!

Great idea! Or in a flask and say you brewed it earlier! Also iced tea /iced coffee which can be pre made. Power gone ro their heads amd trying to make their mark but your lives miserable.

If he’s pulling people up about hot drinks the people being picked on about this need to have made it in their tea break put it in a flask or insulated cup. If he queries it lift the flask up for him to see. So that stops that ridiculousness.

a lunch break is a break from work. It’s up to the person how they spend that break. He also cannot police that. One person might sit with the tv on, one go and sit in their garden. Or in the olden days of being in the office go and sit in your car with a book and a sandwich. He cannot dictate that. Breaks are extremely important.

My last career I was bullied by boss and I was not allowed to take my tea breaks or lunch breaks. Sadly for me I ended up needing surgery and have been disabled and not able to work FT in an office ever since. That role destroyed my life.

Yes, we have low turn over of staff, but those who leave, do so quickly because they can't cope with the autonomy and lack of structure. Or they get sacked because they can't cope with it and take the piss!

Is he out of his depth and doing what all managers out of their depth do and defaulting to the micro things they can control and understand. I've had a few of those over the years who have no ability to think strategically or willing to make decisions in important areas and stand by their decisions. They hide behind little things and process to try and look like they add some value. Scarily, a good number end up getting promoted.

Bloody hell, how much time is he wasting monitoring you all like this?!

I'd ask him what he is looking to achieve and whether this is really an efficient use of his time.

Forgive me if I have asked a question others have written, I could not see. Has he come from or had experience in his career of managing call centre departments? His behaviour and style reminds me of this. I work in a call centre going on almost 8 years, tiny team that was migrated in to the larger company sadly .

You aren’t showing that you could have picked up the call.

you are showing that you were back from break and working…tell me you don’t WFH without telling me, you can’t always answer calls from people because you could be in meetings all day

That’s exactly what it looks like to me too. It’s excessive.