Desperately unhappy, being bullied at work

Your boss sounds as though she has a power mentality. I do think, sometimes, female bosses can be awful to their female staff.

Am so shocked that in this day and age, this bullying/ageism is still happening. All the excellent avenues of help have already been listed here to advise you, so all I will say is make sure that you “evidence base” everything. Make notes of who was at meetings and heard any verbal bullying/pressure etc Put down dates and times, save any emails etc Am also amazed that HR or anyone Senior is also not taking this unacceptable situation seriously. How long have you been there ? How is your previous work history ? If you have a previous good record with attendance, work appraisals etc that will all give a clear indication as to who is at fault here. Good luck ....

Coconut HR takes no notice of these things because they are essentially management stooges. They were no help to me in a bullying situation.

DD tried to raise a formal grievance at work this week. Emailed HR, who didn't even send her a formal acknowledgement until she resent the email with company wide circulation and even then all they managed was an automatic reply.

That is why G0D needs to look outside her employer to her union, Acas, Citizen's Advice for help and advice.

What?? Clear case of bullying. Take to HR and mention constructive dismissal. You have done nothing wrong. Your agreement with company was open and honest. You are being bullied.

Oh your story brings back bad memories. I had worked for the same firm for 20years when a change of manager made sky high targets for us to meet and the pressure was ridiculous. I had 6 weeks off with stress and became phobic of even going into the building for return to work meetings. So at 58 I decided to quit. I was not alone as in the following three months three more over 50s also left as they couldn't cope with the stresses this woman was putting on them.
She appeared to be a nice lady and was no doubt under pressure from her bosses to get the figures up, but I often wonder what head office thought about four of their most experienced staff leaving in such a short time.

You say there is another part-time worker. Is he/she treated in the same way and have you spoken to them at all? It is good that you have started a grievance procedure.

Is there a policy over sick leave? I don’t see how you could be threatened with dismissal over sickness supported by a doctor’s note.

As Coconut has suggested, keep a diary of what happens and make it clear that you will only attend meetings outside your contracted working hours if you are compensated by time off in lieu or pro rata payment.

This person is a good example of the saying, “Give them an inch and they’ll take a mile” and you need to stand up to her. A meeting with you, her and HR should be set up and it is your right to be accompanied by a union representative if you are in a union or a colleague you can trust.

I have witnessed bullying of colleagues in the education sector and one friend was bullied so much that she suffered a stroke. Like you, she let the bullying dominate her thoughts inside and outside the workplace. It is unpleasant for you but it won’t go away so try to be strong and tackle this situation before it gets out of hand.

You are entitled to a safe psychological space in your workplace. Insist upon it.

Get all the other advice suggested here.

No one is governed in their personal time by workplace concerns unless specified in their contract or would bring their employers in to disrepute.

Plenty of no win no fee solicitors online, start the ball rolling.

Can I ask GNs, If you have changed your number of working hours don't you need a new contract of employment? If your employer has changed, again don't you need a new contract of employment with the new employer or some letter giving any changes in your employment conditions?

I did twice reduce my working hours when working for the NHS and did receive a new contract of employment but it didn't say what days I was working. This was an agreement between my fellow workers and manager and as I often use to want to change the days it worked both ways.

You have to be careful that your contract doesn't say 18.5 hours to fit in with the needs of the service when necessarty or similar words.

Does this mean you could not agree to look after a grandchild on a set day of the week? I think that would be very unreasonable.

If you doctors signs you off sick they don't even need to know the reason and doctors have ways of putting generic reasons. They also should not be questioning his judgement. I do remember my doctor asking me if I wanted to him to put stress as the reason because of future repercusions by some employers

Good Luck.

How about formally requesting a proper contract of employment as you don’t appear to have had one. If they have to put their unreasonable demands down on paper it would be so much easier to legally dispute them?
Sending you all good wishes and don’t let the bar stewards get you down!

ajanela your contract of employment should always reflect your current work conditions any change in working hours or conditions should be mutually agreed and reflected in either a new contract being issued or a letter stating the changes in contract terms and the effective date of application. The contract is very important and must always reflect what you are doing or are expected to to at the current time. Always keep it up to date, read it fully and understand it and keep it and any revision letters relating to it together and safe.

Agree with ajanela, the important thing here is your contract and you should have one. ACAS look very unfavourably on employers who don’t provide proper contracts.

When I was working it was usual to have a ‘return to work’ meeting following a lengthy period of sickness, no matter what the sickness was, and this sometimes involved Occupational Health. Do you have an Occupational Health Department? They could be helpful to you.

The unions are only as good as the rep who you are dealing with. If they are not helping ask to speak to another rep.

As others have said, a call to ACAS should help you, they are really supportive and if it does come to a case of constructive dismissal, their help will be invaluable.

Good luck and stay strong.

I feel really sorry for you and your situation. My sister changed her job last year and found she was to attend work meetings even if they fell on her day off and also do a nightshift as necessary without prior warning to cover for anyone being off sick. Non of this was discussed at the interview. This made her ill and had time off sick. She had a lucky break however and managed to go back to her old company. I think you should have been given another contract to reflect your new hours and terms and conditions, as otherwise you are still under the original contract. Book an appt. with the CAB and find out were you stand legally.

Constructive dismissal, as other posters have suggested, is definitely the way to go. Your situation happened to my friend who worked as a receptionist in a doctors' surgery and she won her case plus damages. Companies do not like action being brought against them and, if nothing else, it will show them how seriously you're taking the situation and are prepared to stand up for yourself. It's a horrible thing to have to endure but at least if you have some kind of official stance rather than going it alone it may give you confidence to tackle them. Good luck

Sorry, should also have added....this sounds a bit like constructive dismissal to me. I think your boss is hoping to replace you with some else full time, as it makes life easier for them. Such a pity you are unable to do your own thing at the moment.

You mentioned the Civil Service. Gosh, what a joke. I had a brief spell with them and was astounded by their work ethic. For example, two managers had a punch up in the office and were just reprimanded, staff looked like they came to work in their gardening clothes and other incidents. Actually, I thought it was impossible to be sacked by the Civil Service so hang on in there. Their Union is meant to be spot on so put some pressure on them. You can actually take out a grievance against her, you certainly seem to have enough evidence. Many of us have experienced bullying in the work place at some level or in some form. Be brave, I know you feel intimidated and just want it all to go away, but unless you do retaliate eventually you will resign. You do not need her permission for your personal activities. Another thought, why aren't meetings being arranged when you are scheduled to be in the office, surely that can't be so difficult. Go for it, what have you got to lose.

PS Constructive dismissal is certainly an option, but more stress and strain!

I think you should take advice from ACAS. This woman is going to dismiss you.

www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1461

You can wait a little longer and then leave and immediately complain that you have been constructively dismissed or you can arm yourself with information and hope to see it through until the time you were going to leave. You do not say how much longer you wished to work.

I am suprised as there are two part timers that you are not a job share. That would solve her problem as between you you would make sure that one of you attended these things and then briefed the other and that over the agreed number of weeks you both worked half the hours.

Check with ACAS what options there are for someone in your position. Good Luck.

As your organisation is now part of the Civil Service do you have a Welfare Officer you could speak to?

This must come down to your contract; you must have negotiated one when you stopped working full-time.
Are you a part-time employee on a permanent, or a temporary, contract?
Do you have specified hours with conditions ie to be available for work/meetings etc when required?
Do you work set days, and has this been agreed?
Get this clarified, in writing, then proceed to meetings with union representation.
No employer has jurisdiction over the hours you are not employed. The manager may not have the full information about your terms of employment, but you must get them established. She may genuinely need you there because your absence may impact on others. Or she may simply be bullying you.Get the facts.
Refusing to discuss issues won't solve anything.

I recommend this forum
forums.moneysavingexpert.com/forumdisplay.php?f=141

There are some HR / Union / employer professionals who are very knowledgeable and helpful.

Good luck - it sounds like a horrendous work life

Make a note of everything and go to HR

Join your union... my daughter in a similar situation got wonderful professional help from Unite... the local rep was utterly professional... prepped my daughter and got a perfect result for her... in her case she took redundancy and the compensation was upped from £2000 to £9000 ...
Her colleagues where she worked are all union members now...

Whatever you do you must not resign first then claim constructive dismissal, that is very bad advice

If you resign you must state clearly why you are resigning, and that you are claiming constructive dismissal. It could also work against you in subsequent proceedings, or when trying to reach a settlement when you are having to explain a blank resignation letter.
It is far better to fully state why you consider you have been unfairly treated and why your employer has breached your contract. If you have lodged a grievance beforehand, the reasons why you are not happy will have been set out there, but they should still also be addressed at the point of resignation too.

In my experience even the threat of claiming constructive dismissal makes management sit up and take notice.

You mention the Civil Service, so if that is involved maybe contacting your MP could be an option.