Urgent advice please

[Vicky1110]

Hello, so my partner has recently moved depots and now has a new line manager and new colleagues that he's never worked with before, he is also a few months into a leadership course that his old line manager put him forward for.

So about 3 weeks ago he handed in some holiday requests (for next month) to his new line manager. And 2 weeks ago he gave some dates to his new line manager for the course he's doing (he has a day training session for it but there's a few days to pick from).

Now he's already missed one of the dates he could have done the training on because his manager hasn't replied to him and there's one next week and one the week after, so not much time - he just tells my partner he's dealing with it.

My partner has sent a few emails of the couple of weeks chasing his new line manager, but he never actually responds or deals with it. The other staff in the office won't provide my partner with a contact number for this manager who is currently working from home, they just tell him to email.

What should my partner do?

Is it reasonable to go to HR about? Or would this not class as a complaint?

(Also just a side note, one of his colleagues was watching porn on his phone, and put it my partner's desk and told him to watch it, the colleagues all shout down each others phones swearing to whoever is on the other end, and his new line manager was telling them all about a site for adult workers in the local area that he recommends. So that is the type of office it is.)

Advice please? TIA x

Sorry for the length!

I work in HR  I would advise that he contacts the manager, ccing in this other mythical person above him and say as you're struggling to get the authority for me to attend my study days I will contact HR directly to get their authorisation as I'm concerned about the implications of missing more sessions (extra emphasis if this is company funded). He might suddenly get a response but if within a day or two still tumbleweed then drop HR a message. HR are actually helpful in these situations and I'd like to think wouldn't encourage this sort of behaviour from management! He could also contact the course leader, explain his predicament and ask if they have any materials or a summary from this missed session! Hope that helps x

@strawberryjelly21 thank you for your reply!
Sorry I don't think I was very clear, when I've just put manager I mean his new line manager. When this line manager was working in the office he would just say he's dealing with it but never actually get back to my partner, and now this line manager is working from home he just doesn't reply to any emails and the other staff in the office (all the same level as my partner) won't provide my partner with the line managers number they just tell him to email him.

He has contacted the course leader and they are contacting my partner early next week to discuss the move to this new depot and how he's getting on.

We just wanted advice, as we thought HR would be the way to go but weren't sure if it was something they would deal with

Ah I'm with you now! Sorry I thought the manager was claiming someone above him needed to authorise it. In that case I'd just go to HR and explain the situation ☺️ they should be able to support with getting approval. It's very bizarre that as a manager he won't share his contact number, and the others won't either. Sounds like he is massively dodging responsibility, and it's concerning that if someone was to fall ill or need to contact him urgently they would be unable to. I would expect a condition of working from home is that he is still contactable and not just via email.

Also HR might have a record of the original training agreement (if your partners employer does these) which confirms they have approved for him to attend training 😊

@strawberryjelly21
Sorry I wasn't very clear to begin with. Thank you for the advice though, I will let him know and hopefully he can get it sorted. The training is funded for by the company, they put several people through at the same time I believe.
In all honesty it doesn't seem to be the most grown up/professional depot he's been moved to.

Should he mention the holiday request to he as well? It's at the beginning of December, but he put the request in over 3 weeks ago and that's also being ignored by his new line manager.

Thank you x

@Vicky1110 if it was organised by the company they'll definitely want to know that he isn't attending as it's preventing his development! And they should have a record of him being put forward for the training. And yes he can mention the holiday at the same time and they can review the booking process to make sure it's fit for purpose! 😊 I'm sorry he's experiencing this, it's hard to speak up in these situations but it needs improvement for sure!! X

@strawberryjelly21 thank you for the advice, you've been so helpful.

That's the thing, he's nervous about speaking to HR about it incase things in the office get worse! But the certainly aren't going to get better if he doesn't say anything x

@strawberryjelly21 I hope your see this.

I wonder if I can ask another question? (Just for your opinion really)

(In relation to the above, his new line manager want responding because they are looking to cancel his training/course and not take it any further.)

My partner's contact States he should work a 45hr week, he already does 50-60 hours a week with no breaks. His contact states that from time to time he will have to work extra hours as the business demands, up to the limits set in the working time regulation 1998. And he is now being told that soon he will be expected to start 1-3 hours earlier than he currently does and still finish late (so potentially 14 hour days). He is salaried and so does not get overtime paid. Does he just have to accept that he will have to work even longer days or can he say no? (Again I know this is just your opinion/from your experience) Thank you x

Hey!

No bother, sorry to hear the training course has been cancelled :(

The working time directive enforces that employees can't work in excess of 48 hours per week, unless they have opted out of this (your partner will have needed to sign a consent form to say he will work beyond 48 hours per week). So no, it isn't reasonable for the organisation to expect your partner to work an additional number of hours per day without considering his overall hours contribution. (There are some exceptions including if the business is open 24 hours per day).

Without seeing a contract it's difficult to say, but a few points to consider;

• is there anything in his contract about his working hours (i.e. number of hours worked per day, which days of the week, between what hours like 8-6) because if he has fixed working hours in his contract then they will need your partner to sign a contract addendum to accept these changes
• by working additional hours is he still being paid minimum wage
• is he having adequate rest between shifts (11 hours)
• are other people in the same role being requested to do the same transition

ACAS provide free impartial advice and I would definitely recommend your partner gives them a call to chat this through they should be a fantastic help!

Hope that helped :) x

@strawberryjelly21

Thank you, I feel like a pain asking you all these questions.

All his contact States is 'your contacted hours of work are 45 per week excluding lunch/rest breaks' it doesn't state what shift or days he's to work.
He has always worked mon-fri 9-7 (with no breaks), but since the depot change he is working til gone 8 most nights and a couple of hours on a Saturday. And now they're saying they will soon expect him to start earlier (potentially 6am) and still finish his normal time.

The other members of staff all work similarly long shifts, but they have always been at this depot and have always worked these hours.

Thank you, I will have a look at Acas and point him in their direction! x

Hi @Vicky1110 your partner needs to read up about rest breaks at work, and realise that his employer is being exploitative towards him and not giving him statutory rest breaks (by law). Are you in U.K.? This website is only relevant to U.K. legislation.

www.gov.uk/rest-breaks-work

In summary, there are 3 types of breaks: rest breaks while in work (eg lunch), daily breaks (in between work days/shifts) and weekly breaks (eg weekends or time off to break up the week).

He is working 10 hours a day, 5 days a week with no breaks during those 10 hour periods? He needs to get in contact with .ACAS and talk through his full situation and get their advice on how to tackle it with his employer.

The above, plus lack of responsiveness to approve leave days to which he has a statutory entitlement, plus cancellation of an approved training course makes me think he should look for new employment urgently. They sound a terrible employer

@daisychain01

Thanks for the info, I've spoken with ACAS on his behalf (he is working during their hours) and they've have said he should raise an informal grievance - with his line manager first and give him 24hrs to respond, and then to HR or how's line managers manager. So I think he's going to go straight to raising it informally with HR/manager as he's requested his like manager respond to him enough times now.

@daisychain01 also, he would love to change jobs but due to everything going on with covid and the economy it's not really the best time.