Supervisor kicked me

spongebob89

I was on a 12 hour shift yesterday in security industry I do not get paid for my hour break so on my break I was lying down in my car which is on the site with the door open.. The supervisor came along an kicked me, not a tap, not full force but somewhere in the middle.. He asked why I was sleeping but I had told him one it was my break.. Then he just rambled on about how the site could be robbed.

Now I know Im entitled to do what I want on my time but what could I do if I want to pursue the kick he gave me? Also there was NO WITNESSES unfortunately.

Any advice appreciated

Penny Tration

Call the police?

Make a formal complaint to whoever is above him in rank?

Polo_Mint

spongebob89 wrote: »

I was on a 12 hour shift yesterday in security industry I do not get paid for my hour break so on my break I was lying down in my car which is on the site with the door open.. The supervisor came along an kicked me, not a tap, not full force but somewhere in the middle.. He asked why I was sleeping but I had told him one it was my break.. Then he just rambled on about how the site could be robbed.

Now I know Im entitled to do what I want on my time but what could I do if I want to pursue the kick he gave me?

Any advice appreciated

You could get him charged with assault.

Uncle Ben

Sue the company. After you've made a complaint to the police.

vicwatson

Em it's the Gardai.

VincePP

Uncle Ben wrote: »

Sue the company. After you've made a complaint to the police.

Where's the proof?

He said, I said, no third party.

Make a workplace complaint if the op considers this serious enough, but unfortunately complaints take time and considering the industry, could lead to bullying. So the op would need to be prepared to move to another company.

That said, if other staff have had issues, it could work in op's favour

One eyed Jack

spongebob89 wrote: »

I was on a 12 hour shift yesterday in security industry I do not get paid for my hour break so on my break I was lying down in my car which is on the site with the door open.. The supervisor came along an kicked me, not a tap, not full force but somewhere in the middle.. He asked why I was sleeping but I had told him one it was my break.. Then he just rambled on about how the site could be robbed.

Now I know Im entitled to do what I want on my time but what could I do if I want to pursue the kick he gave me?

Any advice appreciated

Kick him back?

Sounds about the right level of immaturity if you want to pursue this, unless there's something I'm missing?

What do you want to do about it?

RainyDay

What do you want to achieve? Do you plan to continue working for the company? Are you a trade union member?

Yes, it sounds like it is technically assault, but I'm not sure the Gardai will be rushing in to prosecute, depending on the severity. It's not a nice thought, but if you do go down a formal route of legal action against the guy or the company, this will almost certainly have a negative impact on your relationship with the company.

Have you spoken to the person himself about how inappropriate this is? Or is there somebody in head office that you can speak to?

Uncle Ben

VincePP wrote: »

Where's the proof?

He said, I said, no third party.

Make a workplace complaint if the op considers this serious enough, but unfortunately complaints take time and considering the industry, could lead to bullying. So the op would need to be prepared to move to another company.

That said, if other staff have had issues, it could work in op's favour

I prefer not to bury the head. Straight to the guards followed by a call to a solicitor. The company have a duty of care to their employess.

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy

One eyed Jack wrote: »

Kick him back?

Sounds about the right level of immaturity if you want to pursue this, unless there's something I'm missing?

What do you want to do about it?

I don't think it's immature to be annoyed. I'd be fuming if I was kicked awake whilst on my break. Only difference is that I would've given him a bollocking on the spot, and if he did get on his high horse about it, then I'd go over his head.

VincePP

Uncle Ben wrote: »

I prefer not to bury the head. Straight to the guards followed by a call to a solicitor. The company have a duty of care to their employess.

The Guards? A ffs, the guards will laugh you out.
First question, are there any witnesses? The gardai have more than enough on their plate without getting involved in a work dispute.

Workplace complaint is only realistic option.

spongebob89

Well he could have easily just called me instead of kicking my foot so im very annoyed and would like to take this as far as I can.. Be it with the company management or even an assault case, but that is why I am here asking for advice because I don't know if that is enough to press a charge no real proof

spongebob89

VincePP wrote: »

The Guards? A ffs, the guards will laugh you out.
First question, are there any witnesses? The gardai have more than enough on their plate without getting involved in a work dispute.

Workplace complaint is only realistic option.

I understand.. no witnesses he will most likely say he just tapped me or denie it altogether but I know it was forceful enough to nearly provoke a fight.

Thanks

Uncle Ben

VincePP wrote: »

The Guards? A ffs, the guards will laugh you out.
First question, are there any witnesses? The gardai have more than enough on their plate without getting involved in a work dispute.

Workplace complaint is only realistic option.

Heading for the golf club now but quick reply. Op gets kick and is told to ignore at worse ,or to tell someone in hq for reasons that (a) the garda dont give a fcuk to (b) he might get sacked.
what happens if he gets a kick in the jaw tthe next time hes sitting in his car on his time.
Now time to go. Fore!!

VincePP

Far easier to request that you are not on a team he supervises.
Talk off the record to management - that can have a far better long term result.

One eyed Jack

Aint Eazy Being Cheezy wrote: »

I don't think it's immature to be annoyed. I'd be fuming if I was kicked awake whilst on my break. Only difference is that I would've given him a bollocking on the spot, and if he did get on his high horse about it, then I'd go over his head.

Yeah that's what I can't figure out, like the OP isn't giving us a whole lot to go on. Is there history there or whatever. Do bosses randomly kick their employees sleeping in their cars on their lunch break? I've never heard of it being all that common. I mean, it was immature of his boss to be kicking him to wake him up, so that's why I suggested kicking him back, but the opportunity is gone now...

VincePP

Uncle Ben wrote: »

Heading for the golf club now but quick reply. Op gets kick and is told to ignore at worse ,or to tell someone in hq for reasons that (a) the garda dont give a fcuk to (b) he might get sacked.
what happens if he gets a kick in the jaw tthe next time hes sitting in his car on his time.
Now time to go. Fore!!

As said, first question of gardai is "was there a witness"
Its a workplace incident. First port of call is workplace management. Also complaints procedure will be in employment contract.

Gardai have far far far more important issues to deal with.

spongebob89

RainyDay wrote: »

What do you want to achieve? Do you plan to continue working for the company? Are you a trade union member?

Yes, it sounds like it is technically assault, but I'm not sure the Gardai will be rushing in to prosecute, depending on the severity. It's not a nice thought, but if you do go down a formal route of legal action against the guy or the company, this will almost certainly have a negative impact on your relationship with the company.

Have you spoken to the person himself about how inappropriate this is? Or is there somebody in head office that you can speak to?

I Am not a trade union member and I do not plan on continue working for the company for long for multiple reasons, this included.

I want to take this as far as possible. I could make a formal complaint to management but my company in particular are not as professional as the other companies and therefore I can see this fallen on deaf ears especially him being a supervisor for years. I have not spoken to him about it as he was finishing his shift and I have not seem him yet.

I didn't consider gardai but Id like to know if id have any court case.. I really have no experience with this sorta thing or how it world most likely play out

Gremlinertia

OP, does the company have a communication centre/manned phoneline, you probably should have called when it happened however call now if you can. Failing that, write down everything that happened, and go to HR first thing Tuesday morning plus union rep. Request a site transfer and a caution for the supervisor, that's crazy thing for anyone to do to someone else at work..

eurokev

A bit ridiculous, it was probably just a little bit of ladish banter. It was hardly assault now in fairness. He only kicked you to give you a fright Id say.

You really shouldn't be sleeping on site in a place you're working in too. I don't care if you are on your break, you still have a duty to the company, and you asleep in your car is highly unprofessional.

I'm sure if your supervisor intended any harm he could have caused it quite easily. You sound like a right plonker

king size mars bar

Eurokev are you for real?

One eyed Jack

Gremlinertia wrote: »

OP, does the company have a communication centre/manned phoneline, you probably should have called when it happened however call now if you can. Failing that, write down everything that happened, and go to HR first thing Tuesday morning plus union rep. Request a site transfer and a caution for the supervisor, that's crazy thing for anyone to do to someone else at work..

I don't think the security company the OP is employed by will have a HR dept, and to be perfectly honest, if I were employing the OP and I came to the site and found them asleep in their car on the site, I'd fire them for incompetence.

I can't believe the OP is actually serious, though it sounds like from their posts there's a history there of conflict between themselves and their boss.

Gremlinertia

OP is not paid on the hour's break in which case ideally he should leave site unless otherwise stated in contract, it does sound like there's previous friction.. Have to say kicking someone is beyond what's reasonable.. Sleeping isn't good either to be fair..

armaghlad

Lying sleep in your car on your break... model employee material. Drink a glass of concrete and harden the **** up

spongebob89

One eyed Jack wrote: »

I don't think the security company the OP is employed by will have a HR dept, and to be perfectly honest, if I were employing the OP and I came to the site and found them asleep in their car on the site, I'd fire them for incompetence.

I can't believe the OP is actually serious, though it sounds like from their posts there's a history there of conflict between themselves and their boss.

You would fire your employee for haven their eyes closed in their car on their break, which is not paid for? You would have them work through their unpaid break yes..? Nobodies business what anyone dose on their break once their back on the duty when an hour is up an believe me this was not banter in any way

Riesen_Meal

armaghlad wrote: »

Lying sleep in your car on your break... model employee material. Drink a glass of concrete and harden the **** up

You don't go to work to get kicked by your boss, regardless of the role chosen....

mickdw

Firstly some of the suggestions here are really funny. We are not dealing with the civil service or a large multinational grade A employer.
Really the options are to let it slide, have it out with supervisor face to face or just walk away.
Sounds to me like the op just went on break at the normal time without cover being in place. Why else would superior be thick?

One eyed Jack

spongebob89 wrote: »

You would fire your employee for haven their eyes closed in their car on their break, which is not paid for?

No, I would fire an employee for incompetence. Being responsible for the security of the site, and being on site, in your car, with the seat back and your eyes closed, even on your break... I'd be wondering what the hell were you playing at.

You would have them work through their unpaid break yes..? Nobodies business what anyone dose on their break once their back on the duty when an hour is up an believe me this was not banter in any way

I'm beginning to see why your boss was pissed off. Your attitude stinks tbh. You came on here asking for advice on what legal action you could take against your employer, and to be perfectly honest, my advice would be that you change your attitude or leave. The security industry in Ireland are a fairly close knit group, and if you want to get yourself a reputation as a troublemaker, you're going the right way about it.

Princess Consuela Bananahammock

Sleeping on the job or incompetence is not the issue here, it's the way it was delt with.

Most organisations have contracts and most contracts have disciplinary procedures to deal with this kind of thing. Verbal, written, witnessed and so on.

What they don't have is getting kicked as a way of resolving a dispute and I'd argue that any "supervisor" who needs to do this at a security company of all things is doing a **** job. I mean: does he do the same thing when resolving a dispute in dealing with the public? Or at the front door of a nightclub?

Should the incident be reported? Yes. It may or may not be believed, it may or may not be escalted. But an accusation is ALWAYS noted and said supervisor will think twice before kicking anyone in future. One note on the file is nothing. Two, three or four and he'll be called in for a little chat and you better believe that that crap will stop right there.

eurokev

@King size bar. Love the name lol.

I am serious, shouldn't have called the OP a plonker though, my apologies. This situation really is making a mountain out of a molehill. Absolutely the OP should just let this slide. It's a somewhat macho industry the OP works in and with that comes that kind of 'banter'. It one million percent should not be in any way considered assault. Would the OP preferred to have got a bollocking or his p45 for acting completely inappropriately by falling asleep on-site.

All the supervisor was doing is handling the situation in a light hearted fashion, probably to avoid any awkwardness or the unsavory situation of having to repremand the OP in a more formal fashion, they are working in a lonely environment I'd imagine and it would be imperative to get along, for each other's sanity if nothing else. Not everything has to go through HR or whatnot.

It's reasons like this our compo culture is alive and well and that all our insurance premiums are climbing.
I would urge the OP to forget about this, and get on with his life. If he does decide to go ahead with any action I would hope he loses and the supervisor who like all of us is just trying to make a living is not impinged from doing so.

Seriously OP lighten up!!

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

He's asleep, on his own time, in his own car during a 12 hour shift.
How is this his fault? Wake him up and reprimand him if it's such a serious breach of company rules, but there's no excusing him being kicked awake.
He's not being paid at that moment in time to be vigilant or making sure the premises are secure

Speedwell

If the employer insists that the OP should perform work-related activities on his break, then he should be paid for that time, bottom line.

eurokev

Also you cannot do anything you want on your break.

One of the first things you are told in school is that even out of school hours when you are still in uniform, you are still representing the school.

Replace school with work in the paragraph above and this still holds.

If the OP wanted to go to sleep, I wouldn't have imagined there would have been a problem if he went somewhere where he couldn't be seen.

So so so unprofessional and inappropriate going asleep on site. Go somewhere else in future, and you will not have any hassle

Speedwell

eurokev wrote: »

Also you cannot do anything you want on your break.

One of the first things you are told in school is that even out of school hours when you are still in uniform, you are still representing the school.

Replace school with work in the paragraph above and this still holds.

If the OP wanted to go to sleep, I wouldn't have imagined there would have been a problem if he went somewhere where he couldn't be seen.

So so so unprofessional and inappropriate going asleep on site. Go somewhere else in future, and you will not have any hassle

We're grownups now, thanks.

petes

Report it. Although you've said 'I want to take it as far as you can' multiple times. Sounds like there is more of a history here than you're telling us!

One eyed Jack

Speedwell wrote: »

We're grownups now, thanks.

The OP doesn't appear to have got the memo.

Tails142

The problem with you asleep in your car on site is that it could bring the name of the security company into disrepute - The proprietor paying for you to protect his building doesn't know your break times, he could drive past, see you asleep and decide the security company are a load of rubbish and not worth paying for. Likewise if a member of the public is driving past, see's a sign on the wall, 'Protected by X Security' and then sees someone in a security uniform asleep in a car it's not going to look like the security company is very good is it?

The kick from your supervisor is out of order alright if it did hurt you unless the manager feels he knows you well and thought it was a bit of banter, but I can't see you getting anything out of this no matter what way you try to play it unless you complain about it, they happen to fire you on the spot and you manage to make a case for unfair dismissal, which might be tricky if you are a short term contract worker.

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

I manage a team in a different industry. Do you think it's ok for me to go around looking for them slacking on their break and kicking them until they go back to work?

Kicking another person shouldn't even be on the radar of a reasonable sound minded person. It's barbaric that people are defending a supervisor being well within his rights to actually kick someone awake.

Does he do the same passing homeless people too? Is that still just a bit of banter?

eurokev

@speedweel, I know we are all grownups, that's exactly my point. We should act like it, Thanks

armaghlad

Maybe it's just me but I would not go to sleep on my lunch hour. And if I did feel the urge to I wouldn't do it on company property. I'd be absolutely mortified if my supervisor found me and getting a wee kick would be the least of my concerns. It's pc gone mad, unless he genuinely drove the boot into you, stop gurning and get on with it.

Stealthfins

If you have a thick skin sue them,get him charged for assault.

That's the start of it if he kicked you,I'd go the whole hog with it.

intheclouds

It doesn't matter where he was asleep or indeed even if he was sleeping on the job.

You can't assault people.

It's that simple. It doesn't matter if there were witnesses or not. Go and report the assault to the Guards and let them investigate. Inform the company that you have been assaulted in the workplace and will be contacting a solicitor and informing Guards. Then go to a solicitor.

billy few mates

How does this unpaid meal break work...?

Are you allowed to walk off the site leaving it unattended to have your meal break or are you expected to remain doing your normal job while eating a sandwich but just not getting paid for that hour...?

Darkglasses

eurokev wrote: »

@speedweel, I know we are all grownups, that's exactly my point. We should act like it, Thanks

By kicking each other at work? Sounds professional.

billy few mates

If my 'supervisor' kicked me I wouldn't get up until my solicitor told me the case had been settled.
I'd be carted off in an ambulance howling with pain and off sick for the next two years for rehabilitation, physio and PTSD and whatever else I could think of...

spongebob89

One eyed Jack wrote: »

I don't think the security company the OP is employed by will have a HR dept, and to be perfectly honest, if I were employing the OP and I came to the site and found them asleep in their car on the site, I'd fire them for incompetence.

I can't believe the OP is actually serious, though it sounds like from their posts there's a history there of conflict between themselves and their boss.

You would fire your employee for haven their eyes closed in their car on their break, which is not paid for? You would have them work through their unpaid break yes..? Nobodies business what anyone dose on their break once their back on the duty when an hour is up an believe me this was not banter in any way

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

Victim blaming at its finest.

armaghlad

spongebob89 wrote: »

Nobodies business what anyone dose on their break once their back on the duty when an hour is up an believe me this was not banter in any way

That's like saying it's nobody's business what you post on Facebook, when in reality posting extreme views on social media can get you sacked. So if you've you're company uniform on and you're on site, laying asleep hanging out of your car, it could be argued that you are adversely affecting the company's image and bringing them into disrepute.

eurokev

I also see by your previous post OP that you want \ed to get involved in kick boxing. I imagine on the boring night shifts security guys have that ye would have chatted about this kinda stuff. Further backing up the theory that a little kick on the foot was a little bit of banter so as not to have to repremand you more formally making your working conditions awkward.
And can people stop calling it assault, seriously, if the supervisor wanted to assault a guy sleeping in his cars I can think of fat more imaginative ways than a tap on the foot

qo2cj1dsne8y4k

eurokev wrote: »

I also see by your previous post OP that you want \ed to get involved in kick boxing. I imagine on the boring night shifts security guys have that ye would have chatted about this kinda stuff. Further backing up the theory that a little kick on the foot was a little bit of banter so as not to have to repremand you more formally making your working conditions awkward.
And can people stop calling it assault, seriously, if the supervisor wanted to assault a guy sleeping in his cars I can think of fat more imaginative ways than a tap on the foot

Would you kick your co workers?

Dial Hard

OP, if your company is a member of the Irish Security Industry Association then you can use their complaints procedure, but they will want to see that you ar least tried bringing a complaint to your employer directly first, though.

From the little detail you've given us so far, though, I doubt they are.