What should I do?

LegacyUser

I am having problems at work and I'm unsure how to handle it, I would appreciate some advice.

The details of this are edited to protect my identity but the principal is the same: there are 3 partys involved in this scenario; Steve, Bob and an engineering company, the engineering company has a contract with Bob who works for a housing development company to complete engineering work on some houses. The engineering company hires Steve to do the work for Bob, all is fine for the next 6 months and Steve is doing a good job. One day Bob shouts at Steve for not cleaning the shower in one of the houses and points to the section of the contract where its says that Steve must install showers in all the homes, saying that is says to clean the showers even though Steve can clearly see it doesn't say that. Steve puts up with it and cleans the shower, 2 weeks later Bob comes onto the site to have a chat with Steve and complains about work that the other engineers aren't doing properly and says to Steve that he is going to cancel the contract with the engineering company putting Steve under a lot of stress as it would mean the loss of a job.

Was Bob right in shouting at Steve for not cleaning the showers? And was Steve right to clean the showers?

Should Steve report what Bob said to his manager?

LegacyUser

A better analogy in my case would be that Steve is being told that he has to clean the toilets when his job is to install showers

evey3624

So is your issue cleaning the shower or Bob shouting?

If you are installing the shower would an expectation not be that it is left in a clean and useable manner?

Bandana boy

I think if you are trying to point out that the contract does not call for the shower to be clean when you have finished the job you are nit-picking , that to me seems a very reasonable request and implied in the contract to install a shower.

Bob is telling you that your standard of work is not good enough and that he will pull the contract if you do not shape up , this might be better going to your manager , but if I was you I would appreciate the opportunity to do something about it before you get replaced.

Youngblood.III

No excuse to be verbally abusive to anyone working with you...a once off can be a mistake but if it's regular that would be bullying and that is wrong.

stevenmu

So if I understand this right, Bob is the engineering company's customer, Steve works for the engineering company so Bob is Steve's customer.

In this case, Steve should definitely report any strained relations to his manager. Similarly, if Steve is unsure about any work requests Bob makes (such as cleaning the toilets when he is supposed to be fitting showers), he should also discuss this with his manager.

Steve's manager would be best placed to know the commercial agreements between the engineering company and Bob's company, and the effect any additional work requests would have. For example, if the contracts are to fit X number of showers per day, then cleaning toilets could interfere with that, and Steve's manager might tell him not to proceed. But, if the contracts are on a time and materials basis Steve's manager might be happy for him to proceed. In that last case it's up to Steve to work out with his manager if he's happy to clean toilets or not, Bob doesn't come in to it. If Bob wants the engineering company to clean toilets, that's for him and Steve's manager to work out.

As for shouting, because it's a customer/supplier relationship, bullying doesn't really come in to it. If Steve feels it's a hostile work environment, he can also discuss that with his manager. A good manager would work with Bob to resolve it, and ensure that Bob brings any complaints to him instead.