Most blatant injustice you have seen/experienced in the workplace?

Wanderer2010

What is the one thing you have seen in your workplace that is definitely unfair or unequal, to the point where you actually considered complaining or making a fuss? Im not talking about someone who is a bit late now and then or someone who gets away with the odd mistake, Im talking about a practice or hiring policy etc that really gets on your nerves..

Im in an open plan office and we have to be back from lunch at 2pm sharp, because some of our clients expect reports etc at that time. No problem, but there are 3 women in particular who head down to the local cafe for lunch regularly and they swan in laughing and joking at 20 past 2 every single time they go to that cafe. We are a quiet office so the boss man usually pops out his head if there are raised voices to see whats up. When he sees the women, he just goes straight back to his work. However, if any of the lads (long term or newbies) are even 2 mins late, he will head up to him , take him aside and remind them work starts at 2pm not after and if it happens again he "will have to consider a warning".

I was caught with traffic today and arrived at 5 past 2. He walked over and said "we have to be back at 2pm" to which I said "well how come Mary, Siobhan and Edel (false names) can swan in 3 times a week at nearly half past and nothing is said to them?". I admit i was angry so i may not have been that professional about it but he just looked at me like i was crazy, like i was mad for saying such a thing, rolled his eyes and walked away. I mean, man up, surely that is nothing but a pure wimp of a man. I hasten to add none of the women are there that long or related to him, its just him being a coward :mad::mad:

ringadingding

Well that beats the children sweatshops in Asia hands down

downonthefarm

ringadingding wrote: »

Well that beats the children sweatshops in Asia hands down

I challenge you to find better stitching elsewhere

woodoo

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

What is the one thing you have seen in your workplace that is definitely unfair or unequal, to the point where you actually considered complaining or making a fuss? Im not talking about someone who is a bit late now and then or someone who gets away with the odd mistake, Im talking about a practice or hiring policy etc that really gets on your nerves..

Im in an open plan office and we have to be back from lunch at 2pm sharp, because some of our clients expect reports etc at that time. No problem, but there are 3 women in particular who head down to the local cafe for lunch regularly and they swan in laughing and joking at 20 past 2 every single time they go to that cafe. We are a quiet office so the boss man usually pops out his head if there are raised voices to see whats up. When he sees the women, he just goes straight back to his work. However, if any of the lads (long term or newbies) are even 2 mins late, he will head up to him , take him aside and remind them work starts at 2pm not after and if it happens again he "will have to consider a warning".

I was caught with traffic today and arrived at 5 past 2. He walked over and said "we have to be back at 2pm" to which I said "well how come Mary, Siobhan and Edel (false names) can swan in 3 times a week at nearly half past and nothing is said to them?". I admit i was angry so i may not have been that professional about it but he just looked at me like i was crazy, like i was mad for saying such a thing, rolled his eyes and walked away. I mean, man up, surely that is nothing but a pure wimp of a man. I hasten to add none of the women are there that long or related to him, its just him being a coward :mad::mad:

Take note of the times and dates the women come in late without getting a warning and hammer him for gender discrimination if he issues you with a warning.

Sir Osis of Liver.

Did Mary,Siobhan and Edel hear what you said about them?

oldyouth

Sir Osis of Liver. wrote: »

Did Mary,Siobhan and Edel hear what you said about them?

They were still on dessert I'm sure

newmug

Barred from joining a union, in a very, very well known multinational.

Celly Smunt

i remember being a spotty teenager working in Dunnes during college. My shift was always 4-9 with an elderly crew joining us from 6-god knows when.

To cut a long story short there were good step ladders and crap step ladders and everybody would obviously run for the good step ladders. When the elderly crew would come in they'd almost be ready to whip them straight from under your feet the minute you left it for a second and needless to say it happened everyday. And heres how us young testosterone filled boys dealt with it, we decided to get bike locks and lock the ladders to the shelving every time we left them.

I hate women in there 50's. How easy life was back then worrying about step ladders.

Celly Smunt

newmug wrote: »

Barred from joining a union, in a very, very well known multinational.

be thankful they saved you money.

RobbingBandit

Are these women lookers?

pappyodaniel

Years ago after I finished school I found a trade and became a first year apprentice in a very small factory, it was only the boss and 4 other guys as employees. As the new guy it's kind of a rite of passage in a trade to have pranks played on you and being very young and incredibly naive I fell for pretty much all of them. Most of them were harmless stuff, you know "the long stand" and the "bucket of sparks" type of thing.

One day I was working away on a job and out of the corner of my eye I spotted the boss coming out of his office with a sheet of paper in his hand. He got all of our attentions and said he was after getting his phone bill (which was way higher than usual) and it had some outgoing calls made to some dodgy sex-lines and he demanded to know who was responsible for making them. I, thinking this may be an elaborate prank on the new guy chuckled and said nice try lads and went back to work. The boss exploded with rage and ordered me into his office and to admit responsibility. I then realised that this was serious so I told him it wasn't me but being so young and not very confident I could barely get the words out and started to well up.

The boss kept haranguing me to admit guilt but I kept shaking my head and holding back telling him he was wrong. He said something like this was a very embarrassing thing and I had '2 choices', either (a)I admit guilt, he'd let me go but keep quiet as to why he let me go or (b)he'd let me go and tell everyone I was a little pervert. I was so freaked out I could barely breathe not mind speak but for whatever reason I glanced at the phone bill on the table. I composed myself and asked when were these phone calls made? It turned out the calls were made on a Saturday, a day I wasn't working as I had a rugby match.

Anyway the boss checked our work cards and quickly found out who was responsible and let him go on the spot right in front of everyone. A week later he noticed a sum of money went missing from his business account. He found out the same guy had taken some blank cheques from his office and cashed them, I didn't feel one bit sorry for him as I never really got a proper apology.

I left that job 2 months later.

The Backwards Man

What's with everyone writing big long posts? I''m trying to watch a football match and seal a toilet cistern here, ain't got time for all this reading.

woodoo

A youngish girl in a company i used to work in was given an acting up roll which would have involved an increase in pay. There was informal interviews for the position and she got it. However a number of witches objected and went round the office with a petition to get the younger girl removed. I wouldn't sign the petition and didn't expect it to go anywhere. But it did and the cowardly bosses withdrew the acting offer from her and they brought someone from another department to fill the roll temporarily. I thought it was scandalous.

pappyodaniel

The Backwards Man wrote: »

What's with everyone writing big long posts? I''m trying to watch a football match and seal a toilet cistern here, ain't got time for all this reading.

Any score?

The Backwards Man

pappyodaniel wrote: »

Any score?

2-0, and there's a bit of silicone stuck down the crack of me arse.

CarrickMcJoe

The Backwards Man wrote: »

What's with everyone writing big long posts? I''m trying to watch a football match and seal a toilet cistern here, ain't got time for all this reading.

TV in the toilet, nice one

mark_jmc

The Backwards Man wrote: »

2-0, and there's a bit of silicone stuck down the crack of me arse.

My name is Bond.....Polybond.........i've come to fill your crack

The Backwards Man

CarrickMcJoe wrote: »

TV in the toilet, nice one

Toilet in the TV room actually.;)

catallus

How the hell did you manage to get silicone down your arse?

Specialun

Mary is a fine worker

Roquentin

The Backwards Man wrote: »

2-0, and there's a bit of silicone stuck down the crack of me arse.

Newcastle to come back and win 3-2

The Backwards Man

catallus wrote: »

How the hell did you manage to get silicone down your arse?

I had to rest the gun over my shoulder whilst reading the OP, and some of it dribbled out.

con___manx1

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

What is the one thing you have seen in your workplace that is definitely unfair or unequal, to the point where you actually considered complaining or making a fuss? Im not talking about someone who is a bit late now and then or someone who gets away with the odd mistake, Im talking about a practice or hiring policy etc that really gets on your nerves..

Im in an open plan office and we have to be back from lunch at 2pm sharp, because some of our clients expect reports etc at that time. No problem, but there are 3 women in particular who head down to the local cafe for lunch regularly and they swan in laughing and joking at 20 past 2 every single time they go to that cafe. We are a quiet office so the boss man usually pops out his head if there are raised voices to see whats up. When he sees the women, he just goes straight back to his work. However, if any of the lads (long term or newbies) are even 2 mins late, he will head up to him , take him aside and remind them work starts at 2pm not after and if it happens again he "will have to consider a warning".

I was caught with traffic today and arrived at 5 past 2. He walked over and said "we have to be back at 2pm" to which I said "well how come Mary, Siobhan and Edel (false names) can swan in 3 times a week at nearly half past and nothing is said to them?". I admit i was angry so i may not have been that professional about it but he just looked at me like i was crazy, like i was mad for saying such a thing, rolled his eyes and walked away. I mean, man up, surely that is nothing but a pure wimp of a man. I hasten to add none of the women are there that long or related to him, its just him being a coward :mad::mad:

I once asked a boss could I leave at 5. work is supposed t finish at 5 but the nature of the job always stay back 10 mins t lock up . I need t leave early t play football just 1 day ever reminded the boss she flipped and told me I had to stay back with everyone else. I reminded her I asked her earlier in the day that I could go at 5. I just walked out ; ) bitch had to apologise completely in the wrong.

catallus

The Backwards Man wrote: »

I had to rest the gun over my shoulder whilst reading the OP, and some of it dribbled out.

Well, that explains that! You should be more careful. How does it feel, btw?

Afroshack

I worked in a really well-known shop that every neighbourhood in Ireland has - the kind of store where you get milk, the paper, breadrolls, deli stuff and so on. I worked there for six months when I was 15, and jaysus it was bad.

• strictly only women on the deli - god forbid a man might have to make a sandwich
• I was the only person on the deli half the time (boss didn't want to pay for more staff) so whenver I was on break, I would have to come out and keep serving whenever a customer came up. (didn't get time added on either)
• was forced to clock out at 9pm every night yet keep working until 9.40 until the shop was swept and mopped
• a full-timer went on holidays, and rather than roster the adult staff who were more expensive, muggins here had to work from 3.30 until 9.40 every day and then all weekend (pretty sure that's illegal at 15)
• got screamed at by the boss for taking a 30 minute break on a 12-hour shift, as there were no 'women' to cover me (again, the boys on tills could never possibly work the deli)

tomwaterford

newmug wrote: »

Barred from joining a union, in a very, very well known multinational.

Ryanair????

Afroshack wrote: »

I worked in a really well-known shop that every neighbourhood in Ireland has - the kind of store where you get milk, the paper, breadrolls, deli stuff and so on. I worked there for six months when I was 15, and jaysus it was bad.

• strictly only women on the deli - god forbid a man might have to make a sandwich
• I was the only person on the deli half the time (boss didn't want to pay for more staff) so whenver I was on break, I would have to come out and keep serving whenever a customer came up. (didn't get time added on either)
• was forced to clock out at 9pm every night yet keep working until 9.40 until the shop was swept and mopped
• a full-timer went on holidays, and rather than roster the adult staff who were more expensive, muggins here had to work from 3.30 until 9.40 every day and then all weekend (pretty sure that's illegal at 15)
• got screamed at by the boss for taking a 30 minute break on a 12-hour shift, as there were no 'women' to cover me (again, the boys on tills could never possibly work the deli)

when was this the 1930s???
that thinking went out donkeys years ago

also would possibly tell them to f**k off...there no job pays enough to be getting screamed

scudzilla

If i could post anonymously here i'd talk, sickened by some of the crap i've seen

Irish Guitarist

Years ago I worked with a smoker who took a cigarette break every half hour or so. Anytime she wanted to she could just say "I'm taking a fag break" and arse around in the break room smoking and reading a magazine for ten minutes and no one said anything about it.

One day I said "I'm taking a break" to see what the reaction would be and the manager looked at me like I had two heads. He didn't stop me but he didn't seem happy about it so I didn't try it again.

In retrospect I should have pretended I smoked and I could have just swanned off whenever I felt like it.

SusieBlue

Nothing that unfair or interesting but I work in a club, and most of our shifts would be about 5-6 hours long so we don't get breaks. When we first opened the possibility was discussed, but no one would be allowed to take a break till we closed at 2.30am and frankly, we'd all rather race through the clean up and get home asap than take a 30min break.

The unfair part is that smokers are allowed to take breaks throughout. They'll take one when we start, three during service hours (11am-2am) and then, at 2:30, they'll disappear for maybe 15 minutes for a few fags. Out of 50 staff, about 35 or so smoke so 15 people (including me) don't get a break during service and are made start the clean up while the smokers are outside having a fag. Its really annoying because the bulk of the hard, dirty work is done straight after closing so they miss having to do the gritty jobs.

Is it easy to tell that management and all the supervisors are smokers? :rolleyes:

geddylee

The worst injustices in the work place I have seen is when bullies start getting on with supervisors ,team leaders and office staff,and union reps....it's unbelievable the worst offenders for aggressive behaviour that seem to get popular with everyone else because they are afraid of them,the more intimidating you are, the more respect you get.

cabledude

I could tell ye all some hilarious stories about a former workplace, but this is one of the best.

So, one Monday morning, one of the team leaders never showed in to work. His boss tried to call his mobile but, it was switched off. He tried ringing the landline, but, it rang out. This was Monday morning now remember. Come Wednesday morning, there was still no sign of the boyo. He had vanished off the face of the planet. The boss went to the Operations Manager and they had a serious meeting about the issue of a staff member going AWOL. They decided that the guy would be facing serious disciplinary action whenever he returned to work.

Over the few days no fewer than 50 calls had been made to the landline and countless others to the mobile. Then on the following Sunday evening, the boss was talking to his OH. He told her that one of the members of staff had gone AWOL and that he was in serious difficulty whenever he returned to work. Termination of employment was on the cards.

The OH turned around and told the boss that the staff member had met them both in the pub on the previous Friday night. He had explained to the boss that a family member had died in France that same afternoon and that he would not be in next week. The boss lashed into the pints and had totally forgotten the conversation.

The staff member arrived home on the Monday morning from France and noticed 50 missed calls on the landline. He called the boss and asked WTF was going on. The sheepish boss had to explain that he had 'forgotten' about their conversation in the pub and had presumed that the staff member had booked a sun holiday.

A public apology had to be issued.

Lenn Brennan

cabledude wrote: »

I could tell ye all some hilarious stories about a former workplace, but this is one of the best.

So, one Monday morning, one of the team leaders never showed in to work. His boss tried to call his mobile but, it was switched off. He tried ringing the landline, but, it rang out. This was Monday morning now remember. Come Wednesday morning, there was still no sign of the boyo. He had vanished off the face of the planet. The boss went to the Operations Manager and they had a serious meeting about the issue of a staff member going AWOL. They decided that the guy would be facing serious disciplinary action whenever he returned to work.

Over the few days no fewer than 50 calls had been made to the landline and countless others to the mobile. Then on the following Sunday evening, the boss was talking to his OH. He told her that one of the members of staff had gone AWOL and that he was in serious difficulty whenever he returned to work. Termination of employment was on the cards.

The OH turned around and told the boss that the staff member had met them both in the pub on the previous Friday night. He had explained to the boss that a family member had died in France that same afternoon and that he would not be in next week. The boss lashed into the pints and had totally forgotten the conversation.

The staff member arrived home on the Monday morning from France and noticed 50 missed calls on the landline. He called the boss and asked WTF was going on. The sheepish boss had to explain that he had 'forgotten' about their conversation in the pub and had presumed that the staff member had booked a sun holiday.

A public apology had to be issued.

How is that an injustice then?

Pawwed Rig

Was told that a girl would not be considered for promotion as she had a baby during the year.

Forced to clock out at 9pm as a 17 year old but worked till 10.

Bullies using the HR process to make individuals lives a misery.

Bullies using health and safety rules to make individuals lives a misery.

Managers refusing to train employees and then hammering them during their appraisal.

Employee fired for failing an (extremely difficult) exam.

Little Hitler of a supermarket manager not allowing me to leave on time the week of my leaving cert. Why I didn't tell him to go f*** himself I will never know.

The One Doctor

Friend of mine was hired for a contract job but was accidentally given a permanent contract to sign (and was countersigned by manager). He pointed out that he was a permanent employee when the time came for the 'contract' to end and was told to eff off as they didn't mean to give him the permanent contract.

Fairly sure that's illegal.

the_monkey

I worked in a horrible tech support place once (PM me if you want the name of the company so you can avoid at all costs)

The manager was a complete unreasonable bully.

He would accuse people of faking doctors notes - but then laugh it off as he was just joking - but of course the intimidation is done allready.

Once I was out sick for a day, next day with the note he said "You've been sick a lot lately ...." I told him I didn't think so, I contacted HR to see when my last sick day was - it was more then 7 months previously :O

I forwarded him their response in a friendly FYI email.

He used to not let people take time off to take their kids to the doctors - totally illegal.

We would have 50/60 issues EACH and he would be on our backs for any late actions on the issues, when trying to explain that it was WAYYY to much work (these issues were complex issues - not casual user issues, we had contracts with other companies and the product we supported was quite complex )

He would argue we just needed to manage our time better, so it be like giving 5 mins a day to each issue - ridiculous .

Out of 30 engineers he fired roughly 10 in the first year.

I was eventually too - biggest relief ever, they gave us nice payoffs, as the reasons were complete horse****e, one guy was French and the reason they gave us was " We have too many french speakers" :S :S :S


Disgusting company to work for ...

Mr. CooL ICE

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Was told that a girl would not be considered for promotion as she had a baby during the year.

Forced to clock out at 9pm as a 17 year old but worked till 10.

Bullies using the HR process to make individuals lives a misery.

Bullies using health and safety rules to make individuals lives a misery.

Managers refusing to train employees and then hammering them during their appraisal.

Employee fired for failing an (extremely difficult) exam.

Little Hitler of a supermarket manager not allowing me to leave on time the week of my leaving cert. Why I didn't tell him to go f*** himself I will never know.

Dunnes?

Pawwed Rig

No not Dunnes. I won't name the store but they were recently taken over by Super Valu and Feargal Quinn used to come in at Christmas for a chinwag with the great unwashed.

Boombastic

they asked me to work an extra 3 hours a year, the cheek

Lou.m

Wanderer2010 wrote: »

What is the one thing you have seen in your workplace that is definitely unfair or unequal, to the point where you actually considered complaining or making a fuss? Im not talking about someone who is a bit late now and then or someone who gets away with the odd mistake, Im talking about a practice or hiring policy etc that really gets on your nerves..

Im in an open plan office and we have to be back from lunch at 2pm sharp, because some of our clients expect reports etc at that time. No problem, but there are 3 women in particular who head down to the local cafe for lunch regularly and they swan in laughing and joking at 20 past 2 every single time they go to that cafe. We are a quiet office so the boss man usually pops out his head if there are raised voices to see whats up. When he sees the women, he just goes straight back to his work. However, if any of the lads (long term or newbies) are even 2 mins late, he will head up to him , take him aside and remind them work starts at 2pm not after and if it happens again he "will have to consider a warning".

I was caught with traffic today and arrived at 5 past 2. He walked over and said "we have to be back at 2pm" to which I said "well how come Mary, Siobhan and Edel (false names) can swan in 3 times a week at nearly half past and nothing is said to them?". I admit i was angry so i may not have been that professional about it but he just looked at me like i was crazy, like i was mad for saying such a thing, rolled his eyes and walked away. I mean, man up, surely that is nothing but a pure wimp of a man. I hasten to add none of the women are there that long or related to him, its just him being a coward :mad::mad:

Not being paid for ten weeks straight.

the_monkey

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Was told that a girl would not be considered for promotion as she had a baby during the year.

Forced to clock out at 9pm as a 17 year old but worked till 10.

Bullies using the HR process to make individuals lives a misery.

Bullies using health and safety rules to make individuals lives a misery.

Managers refusing to train employees and then hammering them during their appraisal.

Employee fired for failing an (extremely difficult) exam.

Little Hitler of a supermarket manager not allowing me to leave on time the week of my leaving cert. Why I didn't tell him to go f*** himself I will never know.

I think a special type of cúnt is reserved for those jobs

Pawwed Rig

the_monkey wrote: »

I think a special type of cúnt is reserved for those jobs

There was one little botox who I will never forget. He took exception to the fact that I had long hair and tried to make my life a misery because of it. Brave man bullying a 17 year old.:mad: Getting angry now just thinking of the little prick. Ultimate small man syndrome. Have seen it alot over the years.

Cantona's Collars

Used to contract to a certain company who were named in the Satellite forums,a shower of cnuts from the bottom to the top.Nepotism,one-upmanship bullying, you name it.
They hired in foreign workers & found a way to pay them foreign rates.We educated some of the lads on the basics of employment law.They were told that if they left for another job that €3k would be taken from them as a levy for finding them employment & accomodation in Ireland.Eventually one guy went to SIPTU's head office.The rest of the lads downed tools.That bit got sorted but the other sh1te continued.Thankfully quite a few found employment elsewhere.

The worst I saw was the GAMA workers from Turkey,they were being paid an average of €2.50 an hour after 'deductions'.The ordinary workers were treated like second class citizens.

the_monkey

zerks wrote: »

Used to contract to a certain company who were named in the Satellite forums,a shower of cnuts from the bottom to the top.Nepotism,one-upmanship bullying, you name it.
They hired in foreign workers & found a way to pay them foreign rates.We educated some of the lads on the basics of employment law.They were told that if they left for another job that €3k would be taken from them as a levy for finding them employment & accomodation in Ireland.Eventually one guy went to SIPTU's head office.The rest of the lads downed tools.That bit got sorted but the other sh1te continued.Thankfully quite a few found employment elsewhere.

The worst I saw was the GAMA workers from Turkey,they were being paid an average of €2.50 an hour after 'deductions'.The ordinary workers were treated like second class citizens.

Disgusting all right, that it can still go on in 2014 ...

I once worked in a well-known Irish supermarket when I was fresh out of college. It was one of the worst job experiences of my life so far.

- the managers did not respect staff at all. We'd get insulted on a regular basis.
- When I was doing a stint in the Home Delivery section, the person in charge of the deliveries themselves had an awful temper. Once or twice he would kick empty trolleys at me.

From that point on I have had nothing but sympathy for people that were employed in that company and other supermarkets. I know exactly how badly they can be treated.

MyPeopleDrankTheSoup

the_monkey wrote: »

He used to not let people take time off to take their kids to the doctors - totally illegal.

definitely shitty behaviour, but is it actually illegal?

Davarus Walrus

The floor management in Dunnes Stores and Tesco always come across as being right asshats to other workers. It's very off-putting to be perusing the shelves deciding on what to buy, only to have some little shortarse in a cheap suit hectoring and berating an employee for doing something wrong. Often a little gimp in his late 20's giving out to a middle-aged woman. Supermarket management appears to attract a certain type of person.

Gomer Pyle

zerks wrote: »

The worst I saw was the GAMA workers from Turkey,they were being paid an average of €2.50 an hour after 'deductions'.The ordinary workers were treated like second class citizens.

Iirc they were somehow exempt from employers PRSI also.

Pinch Flat

Worked in a government agency and one of the CEO's buddies was to be promoted, but lacked the qualifications for the job. No problem - job spec rewritten and job re-advertised. The qualifications necessary for the position bore no resemblance to the job as originally advertised. Colleague who was vastly more qualified had to re-interview for this, then saw the crony promoted above him.

cabledude

Lenn Brennan wrote: »

How is that an injustice then?

Because the boss couldn't hold his urine. He told a few of the motor mouths in the place what was going on.

And, only gor the bosses OH was present when he was told by the staff member that he needed to go to the funeral in France, this guy would have lost his job.

How would you feel if you came home from funeral to see 50+ missed calls on your landline all because your boss had gone on the lash after you telling him that you would not be in work next week. He then forgot and you came close to loosing your job?

Ah yea, no injustice there.

geddylee

geddylee wrote: »

The worst injustices in the work place I have seen is when bullies start getting on with supervisors ,team leaders and office staff,and union reps....it's unbelievable the worst offenders for aggressive behaviour that seem to get popular with everyone else because they are afraid of them,the more intimidating you are, the more respect you get.

Hard to know. Like the saying goes the Squeaky wheels get the grease but sometimes the wheel gets replaced altogether.

Kimbot

Ive regurally seen people taking 1hr + breaks and even going on a second break so they can go for a walk down the road with their mates.

People abusing the clock in system such as arriving at about 8a.m clocking in then heading off and coming back in at 10a.m.

People arriving to work, clocking in and then going for a long shower before heading to do some work.