Boss seems to have vendetta.

LegacyUser

In a job that I love, but my boss doesn't really love me.

She's never liked me, I came in to do her old role once she got promoted to manager.
She constantly finds fault with my work (I put this down to teething problems at the start and me finding my feet). She writes nasty notes and nit picks on tiny details.

She tells other staff that my workstation is constantly dirty/messy/unorganised (they tell me this back because they don't agree with her comments).
3 times now she has trashed the place when I'm on a day off and I've only recently learnt that she has being reporting me for various things that she has done (such as trashing the place and reporting me for it). She does this in front of other staff and tells them not to clean it up and to leave it all for me.

I have qualification for my role which other staff don't and she ignores this, she does a lot of the work that I'm qualified to do (she isn't) and organises other unqualified staff to do these tasks when she is off (she has at times arranged for someone to come in for 10 mins on their day off to do so). Meanwhile I'm left with menial tasks that she will then make out I can't even do right.

I now photograph the place before I leave and have to ask other staff members to check up on my work, which is a bit humiliating tbh but it's something I feel I need to do.

Almost all of the other staff have told me that they think I'm being treated unfairly and that they would be willing to say so officially.

The problem is that I'm still on probation and can't see how we could continue to work together if I kick off about it all.

It is my dream job, one that I have wanted since I was a child, I just want to go in, do my job and be left alone. I am incredible proud of my work and know that my work is of a very high standard.

Janedoe10

This is tough anon , prob means if there is any plans of a contract/ offer of job your direct report would normally be expected to provide your appraisal and this would determine any outcome .
Either she is intimidated by u and wants to keep putting u down and is already doing it public ally .. Another thing though "saying u know your work is a high standard" suggests u may not take areas of focus/ constructive feedback too well either .
Read up on any internal HR info within your comp .

SpaceTime

If there's a HR manager, I would take it straight to them.
Situations like that are best nipped in the bud before they escalate out of hand and that sounds like it easily could.

Trashing your workspace and blaming you is just plain odd behaviour and would definitely be of concern to any decent HR manager.

Ray13

Janedoe10 wrote: »

This is tough anon , prob means if there is any plans of a contract/ offer of job your direct report would normally be expected to provide your appraisal and this would determine any outcome .
Either she is intimidated by u and wants to keep putting u down and is already doing it public ally .. Another thing though "saying u know your work is a high standard" suggests u may not take areas of focus/ constructive feedback too well either .
Read up on any internal HR info within your comp .

Hi, this is an incredibly tough situation for you. You may be examining your conscience to see if you are to blame etc, which is a normal human response. Listen to your instincts, which would now be in 'flight or fight' mode. I would advise you speak to someone over your managers head. You are going through a situation almost identical to my own recent one, where I did try to sort the situ in an informal process, however I was victimised and dismissed. Therefore I recommend going the formal grievance route, get it on paper. Well done with the photos. As far as your colleagues are concerned, they may well end up being bullied if they support you. Eventually in this type of scenario there are no innocent bystanders, all colleagues will take the side of the bully or target. Reinforce yourself mentally and emotionally. Ensure you are relaxing in the evenings and put work out of your head. Bullies only target competent people with potential. Raise a formal grievance, and start looking for your dream job in a better company. Google www.bullyonline.org. Keep positive and keep us updated.

A Primal Nut

You could try taking a photo before you leave and take another one when you come in the next morning every day - then when you get one day where your desk was messed up, bring it to HR - tell them someone is messing up your desk but you don't know for sure who it is as you weren't there, but your colleagues have told you who did it. If your colleagues are willing to say that it was the boss that did it then that should put an end to everything.

It's easier in a larger company, could be trickier in a small company if your manager and HR are closer.

LegacyUser

Janedoe10 wrote: »

This is tough anon , prob means if there is any plans of a contract/ offer of job your direct report would normally be expected to provide your appraisal and this would determine any outcome .
Either she is intimidated by u and wants to keep putting u down and is already doing it public ally .. Another thing though "saying u know your work is a high standard" suggests u may not take areas of focus/ constructive feedback too well either .
Read up on any internal HR info within your comp .

I've been very submissive to her since the beginning, tried to keep my head down and just do what I'm paid to do, so if she is intimidated/threatened by me then there's not a lot more that I can do to ease the situation.

I think that I am in general open to critisim or feedback, if someone shows me a different/better way of doing things then I'm mad to learn it and grateful to have knowledge passed on.

LegacyUser

Ray13 wrote: »

Hi, this is an incredibly tough situation for you. You may be examining your conscience to see if you are to blame etc, which is a normal human response. Listen to your instincts, which would now be in 'flight or fight' mode. I would advise you speak to someone over your managers head. You are going through a situation almost identical to my own recent one, where I did try to sort the situ in an informal process, however I was victimised and dismissed. Therefore I recommend going the formal grievance route, get it on paper. Well done with the photos..

I don't think the future is too rosy for me, but I might be able to make things easier for whoever replaces me if I do up a report of my own (including the photos).

As far as your colleagues are concerned, they may well end up being bullied if they support you. Eventually in this type of scenario there are no innocent bystanders, all colleagues will take the side of the bully or target.

I think they would be mad to get involved and have told them so (unless they all go for it) but I wouldn't expect any of them to put a target on their own back, seen as she doesn't have a problem with any of them.

Reinforce yourself mentally and emotionally. Ensure you are relaxing in the evenings and put work out of your head. Bullies only target competent people with potential. Raise a formal grievance, and start looking for your dream job in a better company. Google www.bullyonline.org. Keep positive and keep us updated.

I can't really relax, I think of nothing else these days and have turned into a right cry baba. Days off are the worst because that's when she strikes, I sit with a knot in my stomach all day, go to sleep fantasising about standing up to her and then cry on my way to work. Had to stop the car a couple of days to be sick.

LegacyUser

A Primal Nut wrote: »

You could try taking a photo before you leave and take another one when you come in the next morning every day - then when you get one day where your desk was messed up, bring it to HR - tell them someone is messing up your desk but you don't know for sure who it is as you weren't there, but your colleagues have told you who did it. If your colleagues are willing to say that it was the boss that did it then that should put an end to everything.

It's easier in a larger company, could be trickier in a small company if your manager and HR are closer.

The closest I've gotten is a photo 2 days before an incident and the after ones are almost unbelievable. Took 3 days to return things to normal. It's more than a desk that we're talking about here, I don't really know what to call it, a section or a unit? I work in a building on the campus, separate to the main building, it has about 4-5 rooms and a storage room, usually the stuff from the storage room ends up thrown around the office, or my personal stuff is thrown in the bin, once the bin contents were emptied across the floor.
The other staff will ring me when I'm off and let me know that she's going mental and "is like the incredible hulk" over there.

Have no HR dept, and her and the boss(es) above are incredible close, have been friends for years.

SpaceTime

I would go straight to the top if it's a small company and there's no HR function.

At the end of the day, a company's only interest is to make a profit and if your boss is doing what you describe, that's undermining the ability of the company to do its day-to-day work.

I would put it in simple : "This behaviour is preventing me from doing my job" terms to someone more senior than the person who is acting out.

If they're *that* close, they may already be aware of the person's personality quirks. You might not get the frosty reception that you think you're going to get.

Ray13

SpaceTime wrote: »

I would go straight to the top if it's a small company and there's no HR function.

At the end of the day, a company's only interest is to make a profit and if your boss is doing what you describe, that's undermining the ability of the company to do its day-to-day work.

I would put it in simple : "This behaviour is preventing me from doing my job" terms to someone more senior than the person who is acting out.

If they're *that* close, they may already be aware of the person's personality quirks. You might not get the frosty reception that you think you're going to get.

Question: how do you know if it is the boss doing the sabotage? Are u 100 percent sure? It may not be?

Ray13

sad at work wrote: »

I don't think the future is too rosy for me, but I might be able to make things easier for whoever replaces me if I do up a report of my own (including the photos).

I think they would be mad to get involved and have told them so (unless they all go for it) but I wouldn't expect any of them to put a target on their own back, seen as she doesn't have a problem with any of them.

I can't really relax, I think of nothing else these days and have turned into a right cry baba. Days off are the worst because that's when she strikes, I sit with a knot in my stomach all day, go to sleep fantasising about standing up to her and then cry on my way to work. Had to stop the car a couple of days to be sick.

Oh dear, sounds too familiar, be careful of your mental health. You need to get out of there asap, money is not everything. Did u consider raising a formal grievance. Be careful to make sure u dont make a direct accusation unless u are sure. If u have no concrete evidence then say 'someone' is thrashing workspace' ?

abff

Why don't you take the before and after photos and go to your boss with them? Tell her that someone is thrashing your desk while you're out of the office it.

If it is her that's doing it, she might realise that she's been rumbled and that might cause her to stop doing it. If it's not her, she might realise that she's misjudged you and start treating you differently and she might also be able to help find out who is the culprit.

I know you're fairly certain that it is her, but this seems to be based on what other staff are telling you. Is it possible that it is another member of staff who is sabotaging you and is trying to get you into even more trouble by telling you that it's the boss that's doing it?

Until you're absolutely certain that it is your boss, you need to tread very carefully. If you accuse her in the wrong, you will be severely damaging (if not totally destroying) your prospects of being made permanent. So, when you go to her with the photos, don't rise to the bait if she asks you who you think might be doing it. Just tell her you can't be sure and you don't want to accuse anyone unfairly.

SpaceTime

Ray13 wrote: »

Question: how do you know if it is the boss doing the sabotage? Are u 100 percent sure? It may not be?

Well, you'd want to be 100% certain first.

It could be complicated.. like what if someone's got a vendetta against the boss and or the OP and is manipulating the situation by creating this conflict ?

Anything's possible.

This is why not having anyone responsible for HR in a company is always dangerous!

....

What you could do is create an absolute stink about the fact that your work-area has been trashed while you're away and bring that alone up with the entire senior management.

Make sure that you stick on the line that this is totally unacceptable and completely counterproductive and that you are fuming mad about it.

If it were me, I would raise it as a security concern or something and just create a HUGE HUGE fuss about it without blaming anyone specifically.

Let someone else draw conclusions of who to blame but, protect yourself by ensuring that you are absolutely hopping mad when it happens and do not accept any responsibility for the state of the place since you did not do it.

Ken.

http://thepeninsulairelandblog.wordpress.com/2012/06/22/landmark-cases-workplace-bullying-kelly-v-bon-secours/

Print out this page and pin it to a notice board. Highlight and bold this bit

Numerous other instances in this case identified poor treatment by the employer and the management team towards the employee and it is well worth a look in order to see a continued and persistent environment of bullying and harassment. the full text of the decision can be found here. The employee was awarded €60,000 in compensation as a result of this case, and for the “severe distress” caused.

Stone Deaf 4evr

you can get little micro cameras that are activated by sound,

like this little fella
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/Veho-VCC-003-Muvi-Micro-DV-2GB-Black-Camcorder-/171043989251?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_Video_Camcorders&hash=item27d3042703

if shes making noise trashing your desk, this will capture it in all its glory.

tatli_lokma

ken wrote: »

http://thepeninsulairelandblog.wordpress.com/2012/06/22/landmark-cases-workplace-bullying-kelly-v-bon-secours/

Print out this page and pin it to a notice board. Highlight and bold this bit

Numerous other instances in this case identified poor treatment by the employer and the management team towards the employee and it is well worth a look in order to see a continued and persistent environment of bullying and harassment. the full text of the decision can be found here. The employee was awarded €60,000 in compensation as a result of this case, and for the “severe distress” caused.

I don't think a passive-aggressive approach like this is going to get OP anywhere.

As others have said, let senior management know about the factual issues (i.e desk being trashed, etc) but don't say who you suspect to be the culprit - claim ignorance saying 'I really don't know but I want it to stop'. Let management look into the matter and draw their own conclusions.

In regards to the other harrassment issues, this needs to be addressed properly through mediation/counselling of staff. Not having a HR department makes this difficult, but not impossible. I have always found that if your work speaks for itself, people are always more likely to listen when you have a grievance. So you need to start documenting and recording all the instances of harrassment and times you felt your work had been unfairly questioned. Make sure you note what work you actually did and the result as well as the criticism of the work. Then take this to a senior manager. Appoach it with the manner that you want to resolve the issue rather than raise a 'dispute'. Make sure you always show yourself to be cooperative and open to feedback and open to improving the situation. It is quite hard to ignore a staff member who has a proven work ethic who approaches a manager in a reasonable manner with an issue.

Best of luck OP, and let us know how you get on.