Quick, Should I walk out of this contract? SORELY tempted to tell them to shove it...

[WideWebWitch]

Eeek, talked about my wanker boss here . and it hasn't got any better, except he hasn't been here much. Now I have a meeting on Tuesday with him during which I'm fairly convinced he'll piss me off even more. I'm absolutely dreading it. This week I've been deluged by sharp, rude emails, some of which are asking me to update on stuff I haven't even been asked to do! And then getting short with me for not having done it! I've been replying to say er, you didn't ask me to do this. I promise I'm not crap, honestly I'm not - he's just awful, disorganised, a control freak. My predecessor said she felt dread at the idea of work on the days he was in the office. I feel physically sick at the idea of coming to work on Tuessday and I'm not a wimp, honest. Shall I go off sick for a few days, starting now, instead of telling them to stuff it? Any advice appreciated, am really getting myself in a state. No time to preview, sorry if this is garbled.

I'm no expert, but I think eefs has made a good point about using the threat of litigation to get a good reference or reference contact. That's if you will ever need to supply a reference from this job, which I think is debatable. Do you think you will actually need to mention this job on your cv?

Yes, WWW, you could get an agreement on the terms of any future references that they will give as part of a settlement for an employment tribunal claim. Hope you are enjoying the lovely weather!

Oh, I really don't know if I can take the stress of it. I cried about this yesterday because it just seemed so bloody unfair. But hmm, I'm suppose I could send ONE letter to see if it gets me anywhere. The contract said one month notice on either side so do I really have a leg to stand on? I can't take on a big battle though, I just can't. Can anyone help with the wording? If I don't get anywhere with it at least I won't have been too stressed out by it. I do feel that the company shouldn't have put me (or anyone else) in that position really, knowing what they did about his previous conduct and the effect on former senior employees (i.e. they left).

www, did the contract state what reasons had to be given for notice by the company? At the end of the day, they aren't entitled to dismiss you with one month's notice for no reason. It's difficult to comment without seeing the exact terms of the contract.

It just makes me so incensed to think of you of all people reduced to tears by that bunch of tossers, www. Oh I am CROSS. I hope you are managing to really enjoy at least some of the half-term despite all this stress.

Oh www - don't let it get you down. He's a twat. Don't know if you'd be entitled to any further pay, but dh got 3 months redundancy out of his work when he left, because he talked about 'impossible working conditions' and 'screwing up his career' and they thought 's*it, possible litigation here' and paid up. Agree about getting a reference too. xxx

WWW, I have followed this thread and feel incensed about how you have been treated. I had a (very different) dispute with my boss last year, over the terms of my return to work part-time after maternity leave. I felt like just walking away, but I didn't, went to the union and got most of want I wanted. I am going to leave anyway, as soon as I can, but putting up a fight made me feel much less of a victim. My dh said was that it was important that I be able to look back on this experience and feel good about myself. He was right.

that's an interesting thought, batters - puttimg up a fight can make you feel more like a victim. I can see that.

www, I'm sorry

My 2ps worth, I think it's good putting up a fight but only if you feel you will win it. So get someone who's an employment law expert to look over your contract, tell you what you can do and ideally get that someone to approach your boss. Would ACAS be able to help here?

I had a little dispute with a chap at work about this time last year - basically I heard him referring to me as a large celebrity with the same christian name as me in a bid to have a laugh at my expense. To this day I still cannot believe how upset I got over it. Boss wasn't in on the day so I confronted the man about what he had said, called him a wan*er and walked out. I went home (i could barely speak I was sobbing so much)and wrote a letter to my boss basically saying I wasn't prepared to put up with his derogatory comments about me/to me. (previously has made very condescending comments about me). My boss rang me in the evening to discuss the situation, and said he couldn't believe X would say/behave like that (they were best mates from school) and if we couldn't work together one of us would have to leave!!! he obviously spoke to X in the evening on the phone and next day X apologised and said he can't help taking the mickey out of "posh" girls and he saw me as a "posh" girl. No more was said about it but I do think writing the letter was a bit of an issue for a time.

www sorry it turned out the way it did...as for fighting I think you have to decide if it will make you feel better or worse. Can you get closure (eekkk horrible expression..) now, or do you need to do something further? I'm in a horrible work situation at the moment and have decided I have to leave (just need to find another job...), my colleagues can't understand me, as they think I should be able to get past this thing, but I can't. Trying to say you need to decide whats best for you, and for all of us the answer would be different.
Good luck whatever you decide...your behaviour throughout has been an example...