Aggression from colleague at work -what to expect?

[WWHRD]

Hi,

Looking for advice about what I should be thinking about/expecting in a weird situation.

NHS employee, permanent post, in post for many years.

A colleague on a temporary contract came into my office a few days ago, angry and shouting. Verbally aggressive and shouting at me, quite incoherent.

I had only briefly met them once before, there had been no disagreement. For me it was completely out of the blue.

To be clear, they arrived in my room in this state, it didn't build up from any discussion or disagreement. I hadn't even spoken when it started.

I couldn't understand what was going on. Struck dumb as a result really. Once I found my voice, I asked them to leave. They continued, and I must have asked them to leave my office about 6 times with increasing insistence. I couldn't leave as they were in the doorway, so I was essentially stuck there.

Once they did leave, I sat in shock for a moment. Heart racing and couldn't think. Then went and told the admin team who got me the mobile number for a manager. I returned to my office, locked my door, called manager.

Long story short their contract has been terminated which seems appropriate.

I'm still pretty shocked that this happened, can't get it out of my head. I think it was the sudden and unexpected nature of it, rather than being something that built up from a disagreement? But what is really playing on my mind is that I ended up speaking to two managers separately in the hours after. Both acknowledged that this behaviour was known from previous temporary contracts -he'd done similar to another member of staff, "it's a pattern of behaviour", "he does this, builds something up in his mind and reacts" "has to be carefully handled" etc. I was completely taken by surprise, and they were completely not! One even said that they had spotted in an email trail that he'd been "triggered" earlier in the day -but they hadn't warned me. Looking back at the trail, I can see that it was one of those messages that could be read as passive aggressive -but I completely took it at face value and offered advice. Even since this happened it doesn't look like a particularly concerning exchange, so I guess you'd have to be in the know to read it that way...

Now one of these people is taking our statements and "investigating". I feel like maybe they aren't the most neutral person to be investigating? Surely someone investigating would be asking why he was employed given that these conduct issues were already known?

What should I be expecting to happen here? No HR involvement yet, as far as I know.

Thanks.

Buy they've been fired. There's nothing else left to do

Are you wanting the managers that dealt with it fired?

Or what is the expected outcome?

I understand that it must have been quite frightening at the time and they are investigating and there are lessons to be learnt but what further could they do?

Yes, his very short-term contract has been terminated and that seemed enough for me.

But why have an investigation?

I guess that's the part I thought -why? Why am I giving a statement, reflecting etc on a situation in which I was a victim. And are the people who actually employed him giving statements and reflecting on their roles (even though one is also the investigator?).

I

I would be informing HR, my union and Occ Health immediately to ensure due process is being followed - none of which you need to do via your manager. That must have been a traumatic experience for you - have you been offered any support or counselling?

Involve HR to ensure it was dealt with as impartially as possible, and I personally would want assurance that he won't be offered another contract.

Thanks @Mitherations and @SirChenjins

I do feel like HR should be aware.

I am surprised at how shaken I feel about the whole thing. I work in a field were you do face aggression occasionally. But the fact that it was a colleague unnerved me, and the suddenness I guess.

@SirChenjins occupational health don't need to be informed. They are there to be impartial if a manager refers someone for advice. OP only needs to be referred to occupational health if they feel their health has been affected.

@WWHRD what is the investigation about? Who is being investigated or is the incident being investigated? I would talk to your union before you talk to anyone including HR and get their advice. How are you feeling? It sounds like you were shaken up from a situation that could have been avoided, have you moved on from it or are there ongoing issues as a result?

The OP can self refer - no-one needs to wait for a management referral to Occ Health. If I were her manager (NHS manager here for 30 years) it’s one of the first sources of support I would have offered. Given that the OP doesn’t seem to have been offered that I would suggest a self referral for counselling or other mental health support (should they wish it).

If he was a registered person then an internal investigation is needed if they want to refer it to his regulatory body like the NMC. I would refer myself to occupational health, it sounds very frightening and you may want someone impartial to talk to. Presumably security and hr are also aware in case he returns.