Being treated unfairly by my boss

rawn

I'm working in my job 10+ years. My boss has made it very clear to me that she doesn't like me, and has said it outright to my face. She makes my job miserable. If I want to book a day off, she'll hmm and haw about it for ages before making a final decision, which is usually that "too many other staff have requested that day off", even though I am the first one to try and book it. She piles extra work on me and allows the other workers to slack off, taking extended group smoke breaks and standing around in the kitchen gossiping while I try and look after all the work I'm left with. She's very dismissive of me, and speaks contemptuously to me in front of other staff, who also seem to have taken a dislike to me and basically ignore me.
I had a fall in work last year, I tripped over an unattended piece of equipment and badly hurt my knee. My boss was the one that picked me up off the floor, in front of several other members of staff. The accident was brought up recently at a meeting (she was trying to suggest I take too much sick time off, claiming the work I missed after the accident was "sick days"). I reminded her it was because of my knee, HR wanted to know why there was no report of my fall, my boss says she has no recollection of the incident and suddenly none of the other staff remember it either. I am being made out to be a liar.
I was sexually assaulted by a member of staff about 2 years ago. I reported it to her. Another member of staff also reported an incident involving him and herself. What did my boss do? She told me to my face she didn't believe me, sat me alone in a room with the man to "sort it out". He is now working in another department elsewhere as he was only working with us temporarily, there was no report filed or action taken.
I wrote a letter to my boss, marked "private and confidential", explaining my dissatisfaction with the way I'm being treated. She, without my permission, passed on the letter to HR. They're now all basically making out like I'm lying about everything (covering my bosses hole). I spoke to my union, they said they'd set up a meeting, which I attended and said my piece, and have not heard anything now in 3 months. I'm at the end of my tether. I can't sleep at night and I wake up with dread about my work day. I love my actual job, and I'm afraid to leave as I may not find another permanent job. What can I do?

Mrs OBumble

Are you job-hunting already? If not, why?

Did you report the sexual assault to the guards? What action did they take?

If your boss's behaviour is as you describe, then she is way out of line. Sure you can sue them etc - why why are you sticking around? Life is too short to hang out with miserable people.

Also - assume that anything you give to your boss will go to HR and your manager's manager: HR are your boss's advisors, not some impartial group.

rawn

I'm afraid to leave my job and not be able to find another one, or to leave for another job that isn't guaranteed to be permanent. There are also no similar jobs in my area, and as I don't drive, I would have to move or face a long commute. Also, I genuinely do love my job. I don't want to be too specific about what I do, but I would be upset to NOT work there. At the moment, I would rather fix the situation than abandon it. Also, my boss has been on the verge of retiring for years now. I just wish she would retire already!!!

When I reported the assault to her and she said she didn't believe me, I didn't believe anyone would and that my job would be in jeopardy for what they would perceive as "false allegations". The other girl that was assaulted didn't want to go any further with it, she has since left.

A friend of mine works in another branch. She has a similar situation regarding her boss (who was an alcoholic, she would drink in work and become obnoxious), and she brought the matter all the way to court. It stretched on for years and went nowhere, the head office covered their tracks pretty well, they made sure the boss got through unscathed, forced my friend to transfer to another branch. She had to move to the other side of the country to do it.

Even after the assault and the accident, I kept my head down, did everything I was asked with a smile, was polite to the boss and co workers, but the bullying tactics never went away. I wrote that letter to her because I felt like I had done all I could to not warrant unfair treatment.

Sigh. After writing all this and having a good vent, I feel like the only option is as you suggested, to job hunt and take the risk with a job that may not be permanent or on the same pay scale. I just can't take it anymore

Bepolite

The only thing you can do IMO is to raise a grievance. If you get no joy there take it to an experienced employment solicitor, your union would be able to make a recommendation.

I'd echo the above comments though of moving on if you can.

Re the sexual assault this should be reported to the guards.

sparkling sea

You need to diary and document everything.

and

You need to either go to your local CIC or ring NERA.

You need to know that both bullying and victimisation are against the law and these actions are specified under employment legislation.

Accidents in the workplace are covered under the Safety, Health and Welfare Acts.

I fully appreciate that what you say about your friend and that you may need to look for another job, but you can look for another job and get compensated for the illegal way you have been treated. Build your case, document your facts, date everything and keep the names of all witnesses. Best of luck

Ray13

You should document everything and raise a grievance as it sounds like bullying, unfortunately in these situations, bystanding colleagues eventually take one side or the other, anyone who takes yours runs the risk of being treated similarly. Long term stress from bullying is very unhealthy for the mind. Compare the dread of going into work every day versus the satisfaction you get from performing your job well? I'm guessing the dread probably outweighs any positive self esteem from job satisfaction.... Would working in a job with perhaps less job satisfaction but good supportive colleagues who appreciate and like you be such a bad thing? Ps if you are a good reliable and hard worker, you should excel in many different types of work, give it some thought? Also, you can take a case against this company and it sounds to me like you would have a good case, just make sure to keep a record and all documentation. If you go this route you need to have a good paper trail, and it would be wise to have an employment solicitor do this for you. I had a somewhat similar case and won hands down thanks to an excellent solicitor (PM me if you would like her contact details) best of luck and keep posting to keep us updated!

7upfree

+1 to Ray13 and sparklingsea. It is imperative that you document every incident. You should also:

1. Advise your boss that you feel you are being harassed.

2. Contact HR in writing after doing so.

I hope everything works out.