Disciplinary as a result of raising an issue with manager

[serendipitouss]

Hey There

 

I work in a restaurant and have done for 11 months now, I have never had any problems nor any warnings over my conduct. I am always on time and constantly meet both my sales and customer feedback targets. Over the last few days I have had a problem with the way my manager deals with problems. Not the decisions they make but the way they discuss personal things told to them in confidence with other members of staff. The straw that broke the camels back so to speak was the fact that recently I have been suffering from a urinary tract infection, as a result I have been using the toilet more reguarly than usual. Yesterday whilst I was on the toilet my manager spoke to another member of staff and said that he thought I was "overplaying" the problem and "just being awkward". Upon my return from the toilet he then said this to me in front of another staff member. Now the problem is not whatever his judgement is (wrong though it may be), what I object to is the embarrasment him telling people about this has caused. It is not the first time he has done this and he often discusses employees personal lives without their knowledge.

 

So today I spoke to my supervisor (lower position but the only person I could speak to without going over the manager head), all I did was explain what had happened and asked whether my supervisor could help me approach my manager and explain why I felt it was a problem. Unfortunately my manager overheard this conversation and imediately pulled me to one side and told me off for speaking to my supervisor. He then imedately made me sit down and write out a written statement of what I thought the problem was.

 

He then sat down with me and told me that as a result of my "relucance to follow the same rules as everyone else" he was going to launch disciplinary action against me. He also stated that my work quality has gone down recently (absolutely not true) and that there have been problems with me for a while (this is the first I have heard of them). I feel that he is only doing this to put up a smokescreen and divert attention away from the real problem.

 

I am now stuck with what to do next. The restaurant is part of a chain with set rules and proceedings and the manager has completely ignored the disciplinary guidlelines and also staff feedback guidelines. I feel as though my only option is to begin the grievance process which I never actually wanted to do. All I ever wanted was to be able to have an informal chat about it but the whole issue has been blown way out of proportion. Any advice on the best way to navigate the next few days?

 

Sorry for the long post,

 

J

[Sidewinder]

Reluctant as you may be, I fear that you MUST lodge a grievance.

 

The fact that a sensitive medical condition has been discussed with colleagues is one aspect to concentrate on, together with the fact that the manager has ignored the company's disciplinary guidelines and spoken to you without a witness present, has only given the vaguest of reasons for doing so, and what you have been told is completely untrue.

 

Difficult as it may be, you must do this straight away and head off any further nonsense from the manager, and it must go to a more superior person. With only 11 months service this manager could dismiss you on a whim and there is nothing that you could do about it.

[serendipitouss]

Reluctant as you may be, I fear that you MUST lodge a grievance.

 

The fact that a sensitive medical condition has been discussed with colleagues is one aspect to concentrate on, together with the fact that the manager has ignored the company's disciplinary guidelines and spoken to you without a witness present, has only given the vaguest of reasons for doing so, and what you have been told is completely untrue.

 

Difficult as it may be, you must do this straight away and head off any further nonsense from the manager, and it must go to a more superior person. With only 11 months service this manager could dismiss you on a whim and there is nothing that you could do about it.

 

With regards to the 11 months service thing am I right in thinking that it is after 12 that full employment rights kick in? The company hand book states that following 3 months service an employee cannot be dismissed for anything but gross misconduct without first recieving a final written warning.

 

Also, who is it best to address a grievance too? The handbook states that they should be raised with human resources but I have no idea of who works in that department.

 

Thank you very much for the advice.

 

J

 

Edit: Another issue is the sexist hiring policy, almost all waiting staff are femal and the manager openly admits that this is deliberate. Also upon recieving a CV the first question he will always ask is "was she fit?". Would it be worth mentioning this in the grievance? I don't want to muddy the waters anymore and I understand that this would be harder to substanciate.

[dragonkeeper]

I am no expert just stick with your personal grievance.

sidewinders advice has V/good record.

If I needed help like you I would heed sidewinders advice.

 

dk

[kwaks]

Simply address the grievance to the HR manager, it will then find the relevent person.

 

Sounds like your manager likes to play games by his own rules, only way for you to get a fair result is to invoke the companies' set rules. However do remember that for most HR personel the companies interests come before that of the individual (sadly) so take advice at every step when you can.

[Sidewinder]

With regards to the 11 months service thing am I right in thinking that it is after 12 that full employment rights kick in? The company hand book states that following 3 months service an employee cannot be dismissed for anything but gross misconduct without first recieving a final written warning.

 

Employment rights exist from day one, but there are only limited circumstances in which you could take action at an Employment Tribunal before you have 12 months service.

 

Also, who is it best to address a grievance too? The handbook states that they should be raised with human resources but I have no idea of who works in that department.

 

Does the company have a websiste? If so then you could look up the address of the main offices and address the grievance to the HR Manager at the Head Office.

 

Edit: Another issue is the sexist hiring policy, almost all waiting staff are femal and the manager openly admits that this is deliberate. Also upon recieving a CV the first question he will always ask is "was she fit?". Would it be worth mentioning this in the grievance? I don't want to muddy the waters anymore and I understand that this would be harder to substanciate.

 

I don't think that need be addressed at this stage as it is irrelevant to your grievance. You will no doubt be able to express this in a more general way as supporting evidence of the manager's general attitude towards the (mainly female) staff.

 

..

[R&J]

If you are fired with 11 months service you may still be able to bring a claim in the ET.

 

The Tribunal is aware that some employers will fire people when they are just short of a year's employment, in order to avoid an unfair dismissal claim. As a result of this they can extend the provisions of unfair dismissal to cover people with just under a years service, if it is equitable to do so.

 

Even if you do not have a years service you may still have a claim for Wrongful Dismissal if you are dismissed other than in accordance with your contract.