Disciplinary Issues/Employment Law

psyched1000

I am having some problems at work - some background info.....


I work for a large US corporate at shop floor level - non unionised needless to say. 3 years there with permanent/full time contract. The work is mundane and boring and I work 3x12hour shifts per week. The company have hourly/daily targets for product assembled - and targets for each work task. They have become insanely driven by these targets in recent times - with pressure being exerted all the way down the food chain to shop floor level.


The problem...

I am being singled out by my manager for not meeting (production) target when others are also not meeting their targets. For these meetings or 'conversations' as he calls them - I repeatedly asked for another member of staff to be present - and he refused this. Whilst it is clear that his 'conversations' do not form part of the companys formal disciplinary procedures, there is no doubt in my mind that the direction he is taking with this is of that nature ie. he will hang me if he can.

Four Quesitons arising....

1. Would it be correct to say that in a production environment, an employer would have no grounds to take disciplinary action on the basis that he/she is not reaching the companys desired level of output dispite being present for work and making every effort to do so?

2. Is he (the manager) wrong in refusing to allow me to have another person present during his 'conversations' with me?


3. I used this particular incident to raise another matter with him. My workplace is far from a natural working environment. Its a cleanroom environment and it brings its own challenges when carrying out mundane duties over a 12 hour period. Given the above, I raised the issue of him staring at his employees on an ongoing basis. I informed him that it was intimidatory and in such a working environment - detrimental to the health of his employees. He denied categorically that he stares despite me telling him that 95% of his employees could easily confirm my claim. He said "but thats part of my job".
What protection does Irish employment law offer me to counter this sort of behaviour? How can I best deal with this situation.

4. He rose the issue of going to the toilet close to my scheduled breaktime (we have three scheduled breaktimes during the 12 hour shift). He claims that I have no right to leave the room within half an hour of my last break - regardless of the reason. I have to ask to leave the room on each of these occassions - which I did at the time - and he said that was fine(at the time) but then brought the matter up when he summons me to one of his 'conversations' later. Whats the legal standpoint on this - surely, if ya gotta go, ya gotta go?

The above are real issues - and effect not just me but the other 20 odd people under his management. I would never shaft anyone with the exception of a couple of circumstances (where they make my/my co-workers working life a misery for no good reason - to the detriment of their health in some instances (mine). However, I will do all in my power now to counter this ársehole - as he really leaves me with no other option.
Any advice on how to deal with this situation would be greatly appreciated.

seamus

psyched1000 wrote:

1. Would it be correct to say that in a production environment, an employer would have no grounds to take disciplinary action on the basis that he/she is not reaching the companys desired level of output dispite being present for work and making every effort to do so?

When I first read this, I initially said no (because you could just be dossing), but if it's a cleanroom environment, pretty much constantly supervised, and you have to even ask to take a quick break, then he could only pull you up on not meeting quotas if you were quite clearly dossing the whole time.

2. Is he (the manager) wrong in refusing to allow me to have another person present during his 'conversations' with me?

If it's just a "chat", then not really. However, if it's a formal chat, or a disciplinary meeting of any kind, then company policy probably states that you may have another employee there.

3. I used this particular incident to raise another matter with him. My workplace is far from a natural working environment. Its a cleanroom environment and it brings its own challenges when carrying out mundane duties over a 12 hour period. Given the above, I raised the issue of him staring at his employees on an ongoing basis. I informed him that it was intimidatory and in such a working environment - detrimental to the health of his employees. He denied categorically that he stares despite me telling him that 95% of his employees could easily confirm my claim. He said "but thats part of my job".
What protection does Irish employment law offer me to counter this sort of behaviour? How can I best deal with this situation.

I'm not sure if Irish law can protect you in this instance. Some people just shouldn't be management, and this guy sounds like one of those people. At a stretch, you could claim harrassment or bullying, but it would be hard to prove that it's not just "his way of managing" since everyone else feels equally intimidated.

4. He rose the issue of going to the toilet close to my scheduled breaktime (we have three scheduled breaktimes during the 12 hour shift). He claims that I have no right to leave the room within half an hour of my last break - regardless of the reason. I have to ask to leave the room on each of these occassions - which I did at the time - and he said that was fine(at the time) but then brought the matter up when he summons me to one of his 'conversations' later. Whats the legal standpoint on this - surely, if ya gotta go, ya gotta go?

You have the right to certain conditions in a workplace, and health and safety are certainly high up there. There is no way an employer could insist that employee cannot take toilet breaks at certain times. What if someone was pregnant?

To be perfectly honest, I think he's setting you up for a firing, and I think you can see that. He invents all of these false/shaky problems, and then fires you for gross misconduct/failing to do your job/whatever. Then all your co-workers fall into line for him, and his bosses think he's great.

The only way to deal with someone like this is to go above his head. Go to his direct manager, or someone high-up in HR. Set up a meeting yourself, discuss the issues as you see them, and they will probably set up/recommend a futher meeting with you, your boss, the HR person, and possibly a co-worker. Even the big companies recognise that a stressed/bullied/unhappy worker is an underproductive worker. HR departments also tend to have heart attacks when you mention the words "intimidated" or "overworked".