does this count as bullying?

LegacyUser

I am a manager and I feel I am being bullied by my assistant manager. I know this is an unsual situation so i hope I can get help here.

I have lodged countless complaints about this staff memeber before with our head office (i am limited to what disipliary action can be taken by them). These include him continuously ignoring store and company proceedure and excess amounts of sick days taken with failure to produce doctors notes. Action has been taken on these to an extent but not to a point where he has stopped doing them. I have spoken to him myself countless times but each time I get a shug and a weak excuse.

He once called head office to complain about me using claims which were proved to be completely false. When I approached him about this he said head office misunderstood him and he wasn't really complaining. Odviously this shook my confidence in him a lot but I made very sure not to let it effect my work with him.

Now I have found that he was been complaining about me to customers and other staff using again, false accusations. I feel this is making it very very hard for me to do my job and I am getting very upset in the working enviroment. I lodged this complaint with Head Office and am waiting on a reply.

Just wondering if anyone can tell me my rights? Is it bullying if i'm the one at the higher rank? I really hate work at the moment and am considering handing in my notice.

gandalf

Can I ask why you cannot tell your HR Department that you expect them to issue a written warning to this employee regarding the taking of sick days and not producing sick certs on a regular basis. I would ensure you have all these documented fully as well. To be honest I would be asking head office to relocate him if there are other branches around or to remove him. To do that you will have to issue him with warnings first.

Union Advisor

Bullying is hard to define, however i assume your organisation has a dignity at work policy which should assist you.I suspect your company has procedures for discipline and grievance issues which may provide you with information to resolve your issues with your colleague. If you are amember of a Trade Union they can also provide independent assistance for resolving work place disputes. You can find details at NERA or ICTU.

Denimgirl

I'm sorry your going through this I know from experience how miserable it is to be bullied in the work place, he's jealous of your position and handing in your notice is just what he wants you to do coz then he's can take your job.please be strong if you are his manager you call the shots with him, don't be rude to him be polite and formal with him at all times.keep a diary of his days off and anything else he does against the handbook rules.and as the previous poster says you should go through the procedures of warnings with him through HR you are his manager don;t let him walk over you!

InReality

Bullying can go "upwards" although it is not common.

You should have quite a lot of scope to pull yer man into line - talk to your HR Dept at length to see what your next steps can be.

I'm surprised your HR dept is not acting about his sick days etc. already.