Possible Bullying

antodeco

Hi All,
The OH is having issues in work at the moment. A senior manager (over her line manager, and is only in the position as an interim measure) is giving her a lot of grief about doing work that is firstly not in her remit, but also something that she is unable do. She is being shouted at constantly by this manager. Her own subordiantes are being asked to do work that is not in their remit also, despite my OH telling the other manager that they cant do it (They are down a massive number of staff due to the Christmas holidays and if they were to do this other work, it would have a detremental effect on her side of the business.) She has also been told to stop doing her normal work (which is needed for the CEO) to do other work. However, her own line manager has told her and his manager that they cannot do this other work.
My OH was in tears today wanting to walk out because she cannot work there with the other senior manager. I advised her that she needs to talk to her own manager (which she has) but to tell him she feels she is being bullied into doing other work. I have also advised her to try and get in contact with HR (they seem impossible to get in touch with).
Can anyone shed any advice?

Thanks

Wanderer2010

Sounds like a company trying to get more for less and its causing staff problems as a result. The first thing I would advise is for your OH to check to see is there a written grievance procedure in place for the company? Often the first step is to informally mention the issue to her manager; you say she has done this to no avail. She should now start doing two things in tandem here- firstly, keep a diary of dates and events whenever she is being undermined or shouted at, including any witnesses, so she has a diary of proof should she take it further (doesnt need to be very long, for example Monday 4pm- John shouted at me twice when I tried to explain how work couldnt be delegated as he wanted).

Secondly, she should contact her union rep if she has one and explain that she is trying her best but the shouting, undermining etc is making her feel bullied. The rep should then advise to take a formal case, and armed with your diary and the rep by your side in meetings, you have a strong case. If there is no union, you will need to invoke the grievance procedure and state your case calmy and professionally. Nobody deserves what she is putting up with. Best of luck.

amen

If she is doing work for the CEO then she should consider emailing her boss and the senior manager cc the CEO and asking her boss/sentio manager which work is to take precedence?

antodeco

amen wrote: »

If she is doing work for the CEO then she should consider emailing her boss and the senior manager cc the CEO and asking her boss/sentio manager which work is to take precedence?

Her in lies the issue. Its a non-email role that she is in. She doesnt have direct contact with the CEO, her manager does. My OH has told the senior manager that she (Senior Manager) needs to talk to the CEO if she wants my OH to do the work. The Senior Manager has told her no, and that she just has to do it.

Procrastastudy

Step one is pull the manager aside and say something along the lines of 'Look I've tried to be reasonable about this - last chance - speak to me like that again and I'll be dealing with it formally.'

That usually results in a 'are you threatening me' pissing incident. So I would make it very clear that you're trying - for the sake of peace and harmony to let them know they've taken it too far and that you're trying to deal with it informally. I find the 'That wasn't my intention - lets both go to HR now to avoid any more misunderstandings' approach works well.

If all that fails approach HR about there procedures in place to deal with work place stress - that normally causes enough work to spur them into action is telling line managers to cop on to themselves.

EDIT: nothing worse than new managers esp when they are angling for a promotion into the role they're filling-in for. That said the threat of a good employee breaking down in tears in the HR office normally cops them on - unless the entire company are donkey-bonnets.

OP could you clarify - does your OH work on a remote site? Seems odd she cnat just walk in on the various people she needs to.