Sister being bullied in work ...advice?

elle

My sister is having a hard time in work.She is not in a trade union, just wondering if there is anywhere she can contact for advice... long story short her manager is making her life hell, she is a great worker and has on more than one occasion gone into work on short notice,stayed late and done many favours for the managers. She was out sick (certified) for 6 weeks with meningitus and since she returned her manager is picking on her..for example has told her she has to take her holidays before end december and can't carry them over BUT won't let her take them after next week...during the big snow called her asking cud she go in as the manager couldnt get there in the snow, and then the manager arrived in 2 hours later and toldher to go home and take it as a holiday.. she is owed a few hours at the moment as she worked extra hours unpaid last week and the manager is refusing to let her take them ... today the manager sent her a text message ( by mistake) slagging her off ...

she is considering going to the owner as this is the next step from manager but is afraid her life will be made hell if she does ... is there anywhere she can get advice, or does she have a leg to stand on here.

Appreciate the advice

tenchi-fan

elle wrote: »

for example has told her she has to take her holidays before end december and can't carry them over BUT won't let her take them after next week...

Your sister should be careful here.

First, the omissions from your post. How many days is she permitted to take off? When did she come back from sick leave? Did she consult with the manager before she returned to work with regard to annual leave arrangements? What industry is she in and is it typical to take a lot of annual leave over xmas in this industry? What was the content of the message - did it actually slag her off or just allude to her being stubborn?

She should be mature in her demands for annual leave as it's possible her manager is trying to ration annual leave over xmas between his entire team.
It seems to be a reasonable request that he asked your sister to take some of her holidays this week or next week.

Mentioning unions won't get you anywhere as increasingly they stay out of disputes. Locking horns with the manager is usually a bad idea. And attempting to go over a manager's head ALWAYS ends badly.

I think the key here is compromise. See what days the manager wants her to take off, compare them to the days she wants off, and come to some arrangement.
For example.. your sister wants 1 week off at xmas, or be allowed to carry them forward.
Her manager wants her to take 1 week off now.
They could come to an arrangement where she takes 2 days now, 2 days over xmas and carry 1 day forward.

tricky D

Make sure she saves the messages and keeps a diary of any relevant incidents. It does sound like bullying. Picking on, abusive texts and the restrictive conditions of the holiday arrangements signal this. Going to the top is fine imo.

elle

thanks for replies

I dont think my sister has been unreasonable or demanding re holidays ... the manager is playing her a bit and any time off my sis has asked for off she has refused and then when my sis goes into work she willl change her mind. So if my sis has the tuesday off, the manager will ring her late on monday and ask her to come in on the tuesday and then maybe send her home early and tell her she can take the half day as X amount of holiday hours ... she has kept a record of any hours/days she has asked for off or been sent home/given off... she cant book hols or anything because manager keeps changing her mind about what time she has or has not gone off

the message was a bitchy message naming my sister but obviously not meant for her basically saying she (my sis) was a cheeky cow asking for time off and that she (manager) had told her no

... the manager had her down for 3 late shifts this week wed, thurs fri, but their contract says they can only work 2 lates...

she said it and the manager said they werent busy so which one would she like off... sister said friday.Manager said no u can't have friday do you want thursday instead.Sister said ok she would take Thursday.Went to work today and manager said that she had changed her mind and my sis has to take Wednesday off instead... head wrecking I would think??

tenchi-fan

Sounds more like a bitchy female supervisor rather than an actual manager. If your sister is ready to burn a few bridges she should consider writing an email or letter to the supervisor.

Keep it as brief as possible outlining that she is unhappy with the constant changing of agreed holiday hours which does not allow her to plan rest, recreation or for family commitments.

Include extremely brief bullet-points of every incident annual leave was granted but subsequently cancelled at the last minute (including the date it was cancelled), or imposed on her during the day. (make sure there are at least 5 incidents)

She should state that the supervisor's actions are gross violations of the Organisation of Working Time Act 1997, and from the instances above you believe the supervisor is using annual leave as a mechanism of bullying and victimisation, as apparent from the text message your sister received (State the full content of the text message, including the time and the date.)

She should also request that any further correspondence regarding annual leave should be in writing or by email.

State that you hope the present situation can be resolved without the issue being escalated further.

Finally, she should state her commitment to the company, and her flexibility with regard to reconciling annual leave to the company's operational demand.

Then wish her a merry Xmas

Mrs OBumble

Sounds like spot on advice from techni-fan.

Though perhaps leave out the bullying big: TBH, folks here seem to cry "bullying" at the slightest bit of poor management, when I'd reserve it for far worse stuff than this.

And I would be taking the text message to the owner.

heavyballs

how big is the company?
is there a grievance policy in place?if not,why not?
once she has proof(as prev poster said take a note of everything)i'd probably go to the doctor and explain this is stressing you out big time(which i'm sure is not a lie)

contact the owner/start the grievance procedure in the correct manner and i can tell you from experience she will get a favourable result,either the bully gets a ticking off or go down the legal route

company's that don't have the correct procedures regarding bullying and harassment etc are looked on pretty dimly by the employee appeals tribunals,i know this as fact.

heavyballs

JustMary wrote: »

Sounds like spot on advice from techni-fan.

Though perhaps leave out the bullying big: TBH, folks here seem to cry "bullying" at the slightest bit of poor management, when I'd reserve it for far worse stuff than this.

And I would be taking the text message to the owner.

tbh the way that bullying is looked on from a legal point of view is this

if you feel bullied well then you are entitled for your case to be heard,some bullying is soo sly and coy that you're right it looks like the person is a softy who can't take a slagging.
there are no set parrameters with bullying because there are so many different types and levels