Is this bullying? Walked out of work today

[Iamneverfull]

I work in retail and a manager has made my work miserable I did something a few weeks ago. I was stacking a shelf a few weeks ago and because I was reaching up and down I suddenly felt really faint, I get this from time to time and can usually catch it before it gets bad by eating something sugary (still breastfeeding a lot, especially through the night). I went to my bag, literally shoved a twirl bite in my mouth and said morning to a colleague when the manager asked what I was doing so I told him. He gave me horrible looks and followed me all day and then kept asking my colleagues where I was and if I had gone home! It's quite a big shop floor and I was with customers at the time. Today I have gone into work and was doing some online training we are supposed to do on each shift and I was very clearly doing my training and he came to find me and started shouting at me, saying I'm never doing what I am supposed to be doing (we've not actually ever been told what we should be doing whilst the store is closed so we just tick off our list of jobs until customers come in). He said so you are doing what you were doing last time and so I explained again that I still breastfeed and occasionally feel faint but I can usually regulate it quickly but I was no longer than a minute, he was rolling his eyes and saying 'rubbish'. In the meantime there are 2 other colleagues in the same role..one strolled in an hour late and the other was sat on her phone in the cloakroom whereas I was actually doing work. I work really hard in my job, I always start early, stay late if they need me too and am really good with customers but he told me I wasn't and I'm not a good employee? This is probably what upset me the most as it's so untrue! It was really embarrassing as it was infront of other colleagues and I did cry unfortunately as much as I didn't want to! I'm so cross with myself for that. I was due to hand in my notice tomorrow but I'm not sure if I should complain? I did walk out as I can't be followed/watched and intimated all day. I'm not the first person he has done this to, he has made other colleagues cry and even customers. I could sense it brewing from before Christmas as he would dismiss me if I spoke or look me up and down but I just told myself I was being too sensitive. Sorry that was a long one!

Thank you for your honesty regarding the unfair dismissal. I am still going to make a complaint to HR.
It is so annoying that he will probably get away with it, I just feel like I will look really silly. I feel so embarrassed about how I reacted in front of 3 colleagues, I think I had a panic attack or couldn't catch my breath and the 2 late/on their phone girls looked at me like I was mad! I cried in Starbucks ordering a coffee too and the poor man looked a bit scared! I also made sure I grabbed my bloody tea mug which says 'have a mice day on it' in front of this manager 😂 I have cringed so many times today. Aah well I need to try and not mull over it too much now! I've written my essay, I will complain and that is all I can do! Thank you so much for all of the advice!

@MayThePawsBeWithYou

Resign, take the new job then sue them for constructive dismissal if you can.ACAS can help you through this. I would also go off sick with work related stress.

You need to be careful about doing all this and "sue them for constructive dismissal". Sequence is everything.

You need to go through the company's internal grievance process, see that to its conclusion, then if they don't recognise their manager has been harassing you (the legal term is harassment not bullying when tied to a protected characteristic of sex) then you'd lodge a tribunal claim for sex discrimination, but you'd need to demonstrate that you told the manager that your actions were due to you bf and feeling unwell/losing energy levels, and them not taking that on board. If it only happened the once, then that could be argued they didn't know and didn't have the opportunity to alter their approach. If they harassed you on several occasions, and you can cite those examples, it will strengthen your case.

That besides, the Tribunal will take into account the fact you've resigned to take up a new post elsewhere. Whilst you still may have a potential claim for discrimination, it could alter things that you've found yourself new work.

The important thing is to focus on what you can personally achieve from this. Yes, you can bring shame on this manager, but you can try to do that through a formal grievance, which will highlight the manager's poor behaviour to their management, without taking it to Tribunal, especially when your family life is demanding currently. Do what's right for you and your family, first and foremost.

Constructive Dismissal is technically complex - you'd have to demonstrate at ET that the reason you resigned was as a direct consequence of the manager's behaviour. The big "but" is that you've already got a new job, so it is likely to put that in doubt.

Resign asap, then before you leave, request an exit interview.
It’s not just that you have a bad manager, sounds like you have lazy colleagues too.

Sorry I mis-stated the last sentence. Getting a new job wouldn't be tied to the manager's behaviour, but it would be taken into account when considering loss of income as it seems like you are very 'employable'.

Thank you for your reply. Now I have calmed down I would probably just want to make a complaint to HR but my manager has told me the Store Manager is HR so write to him? Which is absolutely not true this is a huge company and they definitely have an HR!

Not much you can do now you've resigned (by walking off the job your employer is entitled to deem you to have resigned). I'd sort any benefits you may be entitled to and seek to negotiate a reference

In an old job I used to work as PA to the Chairman of a large public sector organisation. He used to bully me and would come out of his office and announce to the whole office that "here is an initiative test for x." He was truly awful to work for. One day I walked into the room and he made a comment to which he and the Chief Exec laughed at. I said that I was sorry I didn't find that funny and it was insulting. I ended up going to see HR and was brushed off because he was the Chairman of the organisation. When I left, I wrote pages and pages with times and dates of everything that had happen. All I got back as a response was that they had investigated and could find no evidence of bullying. I lost a lot of self-confidence working for that man.

In your case, as the Store Manager I am sure you will be fobbed off, but I would take it as high as you can because his behaviour and attiude is wholly unacceptable and unprofessional.

You'd be surprised what constitutes bullying, i think this definitely is.

I thought I would ask again for a bit of help as I'm not sure what to do! I have tried to contact HR and various other contacts within this (very large) company and they keep sending me back to my store manager as he is the only one it seems I can complain to? He wants me to call him but I know for certain everything will be twisted and played down. I think it has to at least be email so that I can have it in writing?
I ended up getting signed off for the rest of my notice as the original manager who bullied me was given extra days in the store meaning I would have to work with him but I couldn't as I am genuinely really frightened of him. I only got paid about 1/8 of what I usually gey paid and have had to use money from my savings to get me by this month. I asked to transfer to a nearby store, it was denied and I asked for garden leave in my resignation and it was ignored. Part of me just wants to leave it but I don't want him to get away with it and I also think I should have been paid. Should I just go straight to ACAS?

Structurally is the store manager more senior that's the manager you have has issues with?

A
So are you currently signed off but on SSP?

Awful raise a grievance

Unfortunately I agree with @daisychain01 and her advice from a couple of months ago, she’s hit the nail on the head.

Contrary to popular belief, you can’t just resign because you don’t like something about your job and then bring a constructive dismissal claim. To succeed, you have to legally demonstrate that a) your employer committed a fundamental breach of contract, b) you resigned in direct response to that beach and c) that you did so without delay.

You have problems on all three points here. Regarding a) the actions of one person don’t necessarily amount to a fundamental breach of your employment contract. You’d have to raise a grievance and go through the correct formal channels (because arguably, how could your employer ever address a situation they were unaware of? What if they’d decided to sack the perpetrator as a result of a grievance process?). On b) you haven’t resigned in response to any alleged breach. You resigned because you had another job. And on c) the delay point isn’t relevant if b isn’t proved, but if it was, you didn’t resign without delay. Usually you would resign without notice - not continue to work for a few months afterwards, because it completely erodes any argument you would have had that their conduct was so serious that you had to leave their employment. By carrying on without raising a grievance, you’ve given them the argument that you’ve accepted and waived their behaviour.

My suggestion would be to raise a grievance and highlight his behaviour (ask for their grievance procedure, they are legally required to have one). At least then he will hopefully have to face some consequences. But I’d consider carefully whether it’s worth bringing a claim. Most of your compensation would be based on loss of earnings and if you have another job to go to then it wipes out that compensation element completely.

If you could link his comments directly to breastfeeding (which on the face of it, aren’t directly related) then you could potentially claim for that, however you also have to bear in mind that there is a 3 month limitation period so unless you acted quickly, or could demonstrate an ongoing course of harassment related to sex, then you’ll be time barred from bringing that claim.

I appreciate that this post seems negative but it’s also realistic - CD claims are very difficult to prove because the burden of proof is on you in the first instance. I’d only embark on one if the facts and timeline fully supported all of the three points I mentioned above.