Harassment at work during pregnancy?

Pecarlo1

Hi all, id like to find out our options here. Basically my girlfriend is 27 weeks pregnant and she works at <employer name snipped>. So today i come back after work to see her ballin her eyes out that she was verbally harasset at work by another employee... The problem is that she has very little english and sometimes she is unable to defend herself in some situations. Supervisor there does absolutely nutin about it, as its not a first time that it happen... i cant take it any longer to see my pregnant girlfriend with my child going through this hell of a workplace each day. Im thiking that she should file a formal complaint about what is happening. At the moment she does not look like she is fit to work as she is streesed out. Any tips? Or options that you could help me with? To be honest, i could easly harm the fecker, but i m not looking for a cell when ive a child coming. Thanks lads.

Xterminator

Hi OP

Harassment at work - pregnant or not, is not allowed.

But what has your girlfriend done about it? Of course she should make a complaint in writing each time, and keep record of anything that happens. If this happened on front of the supervisor she should note that too.

It sounds like your girlfriend may need to be a bit more assertive.

have a look here
https://employmentrightsireland.com/tag/harassment-at-work/

Tokyo

Mod:

Pecarlo1 - please don't post the employer's details in-thread again.

Permabear

This post has been deleted.

Dial Hard

Tell her to go straight to HR in head office. I saw the name of the company in question before it was snipped and they will deal with this immediately.

Pecarlo1

Dial Hard wrote: »

Tell her to go straight to HR in head office. I saw the name of the company in question before it was snipped and they will deal with this immediately.

But m i able to talk on behalf of her as she has very little English ?

that's why i thought the company bit was important before it got snipped out...

thanks

Pecarlo1

Permabear wrote: »

This post had been deleted.

I was more expressing how i feel about this, than my intentions to do anyharm... every man would understand.

Usually going to a person above them, means that she would probably get harassed by her supervisor at some stage for doing so. The manager has never been seen or heard of all we have is an email address...

I still dont know how this company operates to daily basis, im sure this is happening across the board.

Like me misus is afraid to call in sick as that results in supervisor calling her up saying she has to come to work, because she has no one to cover. I mean if she is genuinely sick she should not have to be afraid to call in sick EVER, even if its 2 hours before her shift.

All she does is 2 hours each day, but the atmosphere in that place is sickenin to say the least.

Pecarlo1

Xterminator wrote: »

Hi OP

Harassment at work - pregnant or not, is not allowed.

But what has your girlfriend done about it? Of course she should make a complaint in writing each time, and keep record of anything that happens. If this happened on front of the supervisor she should note that too.

It sounds like your girlfriend may need to be a bit more assertive.

have a look here

Good point there, she should have and i have been telling her that from day one, but she always depends on her supervisor to fix these issues for her. She a woman and with very little English shes unable to deal with certain situations for example when a male colleague yells at her for no reason... That's why i don't want to sit bye and watch nothing happening yet again.

So we are writing out a formal complaint against her colleague for verbally harassing her at work.
See where we'll go from there, thanks for the info.

woodchuck

Pecarlo1 wrote: »

But m i able to talk on behalf of her as she has very little English ?

that's why i thought the company bit was important before it got snipped out...

thanks

I don't know what company you're talking about, but I think it's important that she stands on her own two feet and deals with the situation herself. You could do a little role playing with her beforehand so that she is able to effectively communicate what has happened to date (although be careful about not putting words in her mouth).

If it was me, I'd make an appointment with HR to discuss the situation in the first instance. It's possible that the situation can defused without the need for a formal complaint. I think anyone deserves the opportunity to explain themselves and try to make amends before having their record tarnished with a formal complaint. For all you know it could be a complete misunderstanding (which is quite possible if her English is as poor as you say).

Ursus Horribilis

As an aside, why hasn't your girlfriend bothered to learn English?

njs030

Pecarlo1 wrote: »

But m i able to talk on behalf of her as she has very little English ?

that's why i thought the company bit was important before it got snipped out...

thanks

Generally companies don't allow outsiders to be part of their disciplinary procedure unless they are trade unions, your girlfriend needs to learn how to deal with problems herself.

As other people have said how do you know it's as bad as she says if her English is so poor? She could be misinterpreting it completely.
If the problem is with her supervisor then she needs to deal with the person above them or hr but she needs to deal with it herself.

Learning to speak English may help her in the future and will be a benefit with dealing with teachers, doctors etc in your child's future.

Pecarlo1

Ursus Horribilis wrote: »

As an aside, why hasn't your girlfriend bothered to learn English?

Bothered ? Think its easy when you're new in the country ?

At least she knows her own language...

Pecarlo1

notjustsweet wrote: »

Generally companies don't allow outsiders to be part of their disciplinary procedure unless they are trade unions, your girlfriend needs to learn how to deal with problems herself.

As other people have said how do you know it's as bad as she says if her English is so poor? She could be misinterpreting it completely.
If the problem is with her supervisor then she needs to deal with the person above them or hr but she needs to deal with it herself.

Learning to speak English may help her in the future and will be a benefit with dealing with teachers, doctors etc in your child's future.

fair point, nothing says she not learning... which everyone was quick to point out that she should learn it on day one entering the country.

but as far as harassment at work goes, there were only a few to point me to a right direction. Which is the main point of this topic.

Pecarlo1

Thanks to those that took the time to respond with actual options, greatly appreciated.

njs030

Pecarlo1 wrote: »

fair point, nothing says she not learning... which everyone was quick to point out that she should learn it on day one entering the country.

but as far as harassment at work goes, there were only a few to point me to a right direction. Which is the main point of this topic.

Literally not one person said she should learn it on day one entering the country.
You're the only person saying that.

What we are saying is perhaps she is misinterpreting things if she doesn't understand English, you're saying she's being harassed but she also doesn't speak English very well so what form is the alleged harassment taking? That will need to be explained to HR as a harassment claim is very serious and needs to be proven.


Anyway, I gave you a solution and explained why you can't be involved.
Hope that helps.

Meauldsegosha

Pecarlo1 wrote: »

All she does is 2 hours each day, but the atmosphere in that place is sickenin to say the least.

If your partner is only working 2 hours a day and being harassed while there, would she consider giving up the job. She needs to consider if the stess of continuing there is worth it.

She should still write a letter of complaint to HR regarding the harassment.

homerjay2005

what type of harassment is happening? can we get some examples, as this could clear alot of things up?

FizzleSticks

This post has been deleted.

Mr. Incognito

Go to the Free Legal Advice Centres run by Citizens Advice.

A Solicitor there will be able to assist you