Grievance procedure

[ImFuckingBoiling]

Name change as this is a shitty situation

One guy I manage has always been shit at the job, but hes been here forever, has a lot of health issues and consistently does the bare minimum. We all know it, previous managers let him get on with it.

When I recently became his direct manager, he seemed to think that his days of even turning in the bare minimum were over, and he started taking the piss. Royally. And he started making some very costly mistakes. I had to deal with this the right way, he had a verbal, then a written, then he went on to a PIP which he completed by doing what was asked during the PIP review period.

Once this review period was concluded, he went back to doing less than the bare minimum. With advice from HR, we then started a competency review.

Once notified we were having a competency hearing he put in a grievance against me. The grievance said that i gave him unreasonable and unachievable goals. The important part here is that during the PIP process we together set those goals and during that process he achieved them all consistently. The moment anyone stopped watching, he went back to doing absolutely nothing.

His grievance also states three incidents that happened 2 years ago, when we were peers and I was not his manager. One was a prank where I hid his coffee cup, one was a time I made him jump through a window, and one was a time where I told him he was a dickhead during a laughing joking banter conversation. At the time of each of these incidents, he did similar things to me as it was a joking banter relationship and I wasn't his manager.

He showed everyone in our office the grievance when he submitted it, while I was away on holiday. So everyone has seen his allegations and discussed it. When I came back from holiday I was told by several people and they offered their support in writing to HR of the incidents that he referenced, as they were all here and all saw that it was well received and mutual between us at the time.

This was nearly 12 weeks ago. I have had 1 meeting with HR. So has he.

I have heard nothing since, I keep chasing and asking for a decision or even a date for a decision and I get no response. HR have only said it is a paperwork issue on his side holding it up. His interview was 6 weeks ago.

Meanwhile, he refuses to follow any instructions I give and is actively badmouthing me and giving me the silent treatment around the office.

I'm kind of stuck now and don know what to do, he refuses to do anything I tell him and has been overheard telling staff that 'I can do whatever I want' and HR are giving me the silent treatment.

I'm so stressed because my whole company has seen this grievance and I'm so embarrassed that I have been labelled a bully by some and I cant say anything to anyone to defend myself.

Ive held out as long as I can but its been 11 weeks and I'm starting to think I should just resign because I'm hating each day right now.

Hi OP,
We're just bumping this one up the queue for you, hope someone sympathetic and/or knowledgeable appears soon.

or both!

Has your line manager been supporting you and have they chased up with HR?

Firstly I would be raising a grievance against this person, flagging with your manager his disrespect and be looking into whether his behaviour is a disciplinary matter

RING HR ask to meet again and say that keeping you waiting is not acceptable
HR is there to protect the company NOT employees - they do not care about individual employees and will just trick all the boxes they have to tick
Unfortunately HR is full of useless woke people who cannot do a real job
We call them the sales prevention and company destruction division

My line manager is the owner of the company and is rarely seen or heard from. So I'm on my own at the moment.

This afternoon ive asked this guy for a forecast and hes sent me back a spreadsheet with 4 boxes on it, next week the week after and the week after and a total. So while he has technically done what ive asked, hes done such a shit job that its utterly useless. This is a daily occurrence in my life right now

I'm not an HR professional or an employment lawyer but what I would offer is:
Galling as it is you have to keep following procedure to the letter, you must resist the urge to vent or bitch at work.

bin the embarrassment, its not helpful

chase HR and tell them the delay is unacceptable

put in writing to your boss that the delay is putting a significant amount of strain on you.

make sure you are taking the time to regulate yourself, rest and recharge. Build in some safety valves to your day for a walk outside, a phone call with someone trusted outside work in a confidential place where you cant be heard, a vent on here - so that you can keep yourself on an even keel.

and do whatever journalling or coaching you need to allow you to remember that this will all be behind you, you are not a bully, and you are not defined by this process.

My advice is to talk to HR about putting in a grievance about his behaviour. I'm sure your company policy doesn't allow for sharing the details of a grievance with colleagues. Then speak to the HR manager about expediting the original process. We all know that his grievance is just a delaying tactic, which shouldn't be allowed to work.

You're being bullied at work OP.

I've been there - my colleague also turned in shit, unusuable work so she could say she'd participated, bad mouthing to mutual colleagues... it's horrible, I felt like she was dragging me back to the playground while trying to relate to her like an adult.

Do you have a dignity at work policy or similar? Take a look & see where he's breaking it. Make a note of these instances and be prepared to take it to HR if it gets too much.
It's not good enough that your LM is absent while you're facing a grievance, someone needs to support you. Honestly your HR are doing a shite job of defending their company right now...

MulledJuice has given good advice above.
There is no need to be embarrassed, it sounds like your colleagues are largely supportive.

I’m really sorry to hear this is going on, OP. He sounds like a nasty one and I hope it works out for you. 💐