Redundancy /trying to get rid of me/ Grievance ?? Pls help

[loobylou23]

Hi

I would be grateful for any help or advise. Apologies if it's a little long drawn out.

I have been in the job for approx 19 months and I was head hunted by the boss from my previous job of 9yrs.,

The past year has been constant harrassment & bullying in the workplace, (Boss is a bully, sexist & racist but his name is on the letterheads, his wife is HR) so I feel that I have nowhere to turn.

Basically I am currently off sick with work related stress. I turned up for work 2 weeks ago to find yet another bullying post it note stuck to my desk. (This is a regular occurrence as he only comes in to the office about 2 or 3 days per week on average, this seems to be his way of communicating.) I was also on numerous occasions being asked to carry out tasks that I believe to be illegal and I refused to do this.

 

I subsequently walked out of work and went straight to my GP who signed me off sick for 1 week but then I received 3 x separate letters the following day. 1. Risk of Redundancy letter (follow up letter that was originally sent to all staff Nov 2011) 2. Disciplinary Action for being AWOL. 3. Acknowledgment of receipt of doctors paper and notice that redundancy meeting would be postponed.

Then received another letter saying meeting would be rescheduled for last Friday.

In the meantime I also had several harrassing text messages from the boss asking if I was going to attend the meeting.

I returned to GP and had a further paper for 2 weeks and informed boss of this stating that the meeting be rescheduled and if I was well enough I would attend. I am currently feeling too vulnerable to attend any meetings with this boss as he is such a bully.

 

This morning I have had another letter giving me 4 x options. 1. Attend meeting at a local hotel.

2. Carry out telephone meeting. 3. Send someone on my behalf. 4. Give notice that I intend to take voluntary redundancy.

They have given me only 3 days to respond. I am feeling so vulnerable I don't feel as if I can make any decisions at the moment.

Also I feel that this is their way of getting rid of me as I would not comply with their requests of illegal activity and I don't wish to just accept it lying down.

Anyway, my question is :- Can they force a decision whilst I am in this agitated state of mind or would I be better taking it to an employment tribunal ?

 

Thanks in advance......

[honeybee13]

Hello and welcome to CAG. These people sound awful, what a nightmare for you.

 

I hope you're keeping everything in case you need it as evidence later?

 

I expect the guys will be around this evening with some thoughts for you. We'll look after you .

 

My best, HB

[loobylou23]

Hi HB

 

Yes, I have all letters and documents. I have also been keeping a private diary of all occurrences going back to approx June of last year.

 

Thanks

[honeybee13]

Well, you've done just what we would normally recommend. I hope the guys will be along before too long.

 

HB

[Blueboy666]

Hello Loobylou23,

Well firstly i would say that if you are off work sick, and you have notes from your gp confirming this stay well away from any meeting. It is very generous for your boss to have stated in writing that someone else could attend the meeting on your behalf, something i would more than look forward to doing for you. (Imagine the fun i would have in an enviroment with a bully with an over inflated ego) it would be like christmas all over again for me.

And to meet in a hotel, just think i may even get lunch out of him.

On a more serious not, have you ever raised a grievance with regards to the harrassment and bullying you have received, if you havent then you seriously need to address this.

And keep every bit of information you can appertaining to this case. Even every text message,

How convenient that the boss has his wife as HR, i have always said that they are in the same bed together, just proves my case.

Could you possibly shed any light as to what the illegal activity they were asking you to carry was.

Will respond along with many others to assist you in dealing with this torment of a so called manager/boss.

Kind regards Kevin x

[loobylou23]

Hi Kevin

Thanks for your response.

 

I have never raised a grievance as it was nigh on impossible to do this whilst I was working there and to be honest I thought things would get better not worse !!

 

With regards to the illegal activity I was asked to:-

Lie about the age of drivers ie say they were over 25 to get cheaper motor insurance.

Hide or dispose of invoices so that he could pocket the cash.

Witness A N Other signing off certified paperwork whist this person was not qualified to do so. ie forged signature

Compile files for a specific client with paperwork relating to other clients/locations. ie forged documents.

 

These are just a few examples.

[Blueboy666]

That doesnt surprise me in the slightest, i would like to say i am shocked by what you have said, but unfortunately its an all to common thing, good on you for not doing the things that being asked of you, it clearly shows which way your moral compass points.

I dont think it is an issue at this present time in question but any information you have regarding the above breaches you witnessed may come in handy, (as a nice insurance policy in the future).

It is important that you raise a grievance regarding your treatment and especially the harrassment and bullying you have received, especially as they are major contributing factors to your current health problems, do you have a grievance policy at your place of work, and if so are you familiar with it. If not i would send a letter in writing that they forward a copy of this policy to you and send the letter via recorded delivery.

That will get him thinking and its only for starters.

The most important thing in all of this is you and your health, and you will be afforded every bit of support from this forum along your journey ahead.

Another thing it would be good to know is do you have household insurance as if so you may find that you have legal cover which would be handy if you needed a solicitor, or are you a member of a trade union. Either way it isnt the end of the world, as the people on this forum will guide you and give good advice.

[loobylou23]

Hi Kevin

 

I have checked my household Insurance and I do have Family Legal Protection.

I am not familier with the grievance procedure so I will request that immediately - Shame but I would like to see him panic when he receives it !!

In the meantime do I need to respond to any of his 4 x options. ?

I did e-mail him today to say that I had received the letter (as it was dated 19th, I didn't receive it till today) and that I would respond within the time frame. (3 days)

 

Probably wasn't a good idea to do this in hindsight.

[stu007]

Hi loobylou23

 

Please please also keep all those harassing text messages you have been sent as its also evidence of this companies behaviour.

 

Also write to the company recorded delivery and request the following documents:

 

* Disciplinary & Grievance Policy/Procedure (not whats in a staff handbook as this will be a shortened version and you will need this as per Blueboy666 advice and do put a grievance in).

* Redundancy Policy/Procedure.

* Whistleblowing Policy/Procedure.

[Blueboy666]

I would advise that you send a further email informing the BIGGOT that you will not currently be in a position to attend any kind of formal/informal meeting under medical advice. And that you will contact him or his office when your health improves to arrange a suitable time in order to address the issues he has raised.

This will then give him for time to panic over what your doing next when he receives your letter requesting information about the grievance proceedure and as Stu put, the company Whistleblowing policy, if they have one.

I understand that you may at times be needing some more urgent advice perhaps after receiving another threatening phone call/emal.or text message, and unfortunately i am not always available to get onto this site, so if it would assist in putting your mind at rest i would be more than happy to forward to you my personal mb telephone number so that you may contact me earlier.

This option is open to you to decide, i am also happy to leave my personal email here for you so you may contact me there.

[honeybee13]

Blueboy, please do not give out your personal email on the site, I have removed this. If you have your settings so that you receive email notifications of answers to threads, you will know if loobylou has posted.

 

Loobylou, I'm sure Blueboy means well, but this is a public forum and you have no way of knowing who you're dealing with. Please be very careful of offers of advice given by PM [private message]. If you're at all concerned, let the site team know.

 

My best, HB

[Blueboy666]

My appologies Honeybee, didnt realise and was trying to offer some extra reassurance in what is already a very stressfull time. i will be more mindfull.

Kind regards

Kevin

[Sidewinder]

I understand that you may at times be needing some more urgent advice perhaps after receiving another threatening phone call/emal.or text message, and unfortunately i am not always available to get onto this site, so if it would assist in putting your mind at rest i would be more than happy to forward to you my personal mb telephone number so that you may contact me earlier.

This option is open to you to decide, i am also happy to leave my personal email here for you so you may contact me there.

 

Blueboy - I am sure that you have the very best intentions, but please do not encourage others to contact you off the Forum by phone or email, or even by Private Message. This is contrary to Site rules for fairly obvious reasons. Let's keep in on the boards please, and to Loobylou - please only use the Site's messaging system in the event that a particular piece of information cannot be disclosed on an open Forum, but keep the debate on site in every other respect.

 

 

EDIT - HB beat me to it. Thanks for your understanding!

[loobylou23]

Hi All

 

Thanks for all your help & to Blueboy thank you very much for going that extra mile for me it is very much appreciated.

 

I will send another letter as suggested saying that I am not fit at this time to attend a meeting.

I don't know if I'm strong enough to go down the grievance route, but I will ask for procedures anyway and hopefully with all your help I can gain some strength.

In the meantime I am job hunting too so it may even come to a positive conclusion sooner rather than later.

 

If anyhting happens I will re-post for your help straight away.

 

Thanks again ..

[honeybee13]

Hello again.

 

Take your time once you've asked for the disc procedures, etc. I for one will understand if you feel a grievance isn't for you, but you don't need to decide that yet. Let us know when you would like more input from us.

 

HB x

Edited January 24, 2012 by honeybee13
clarity.

[Blueboy666]

Hello again Lou, please just be mindfull that should you ever wish to take this thug on all the way to an employment tribunal you will have had to have exhausted the grievance proceedure first to give your case foundation.

I know that this isnt at the forefront of your thoughts at present, but who knows what lays ahead.

[loobylou23]

I agree Blueboy, but I'm feeling so vulnerable at the moment, this guy has knocked my confidence like you wouldn't believe. Hopefully with your help I can get stronger and take it all the way.

I can't believe how, without knowing this guy you summed him up perfectly !!

 

I'll keep you posted..

[Blueboy666]

Your welcome Lou, and rest assured that myself and others will guide and advise you through the whole process bringing you strength to deal with this thug. He is nothing more than a bully, and one thing i have learned about these creatures is that the thing they hate more than anything is those who stand up to them, its leaves them unable to control and bully and usually they move on to another target.

I will advise you through step by step with everything as and when it happens, and you will be amazed at how much you soon draw strentgh from this case, and along that journey it will bring amazing satisfaction to you also when watching him squirm.

I am sure Papasmurf will also be along to add his much valued experience as i have found his advice to be second to none. So you will be more than well looked after.

Advise further when you receive information from the freak.

 

Kind regards x

[loobylou23]

Well, well, well.

Surprise, Surprise. They only paid me SSP.

I'm not happy about this one bit. As I said in my original post I was head hunted by this guy. In my previous job I was paid full pay for 3 months if on the sick, so I know for a fact and so does this bully that I never would have accepted anything less.

It never came to light before as I have never taken time off and like I said in my original post my contract mysteriously disappeared.

Any ideas guys how I now approach this ?

I don't want to go in like a bull at a gate !!

[Blueboy666]

Hello once again Lou, Firstly dont be surprised by this latest attempt of his at getting to you. I would keep calm as this will almost certainly have him thinkong as to why are you being the way you are, Stay polite, and well mannered at all times, it will certainly throw him. And ask either by phone, or email or again via letter that he furnishes you with a copy of your contract of employment, dont let on the reason for you wanting it, and dont mention the issue of sick pay at this stage.

Once you have your contract you can then establish if he is in breach of that with regards to the sick pay, if as expected there is no contract because as you stated it has disappeared, then it may well be argued that as you were head hunted by him, you joined the company on similar grounds to what you were originally employed in. I will have to check the legal position on this for you, or perhaps papasmurf will be along and advise accordingly, but dont show any signs of anger or bitterness and never disclose your reason for requesting information from him.

 

Will try and get the answer for you asap.

[loobylou23]

Thanks Blueboy.

The problem is, that I know he will change the contract to suit himself, as he has requested me to do this in the past with others. He will then try to claim that it was worded that way all along.

[honeybee13]

Nasty man, loobylou. He's continuing true to form though, isn't he?

 

As blueboy says, I hope you can continue gathering evidence. If it does get as far as an ET, not having a contract should go in your favour.

 

HB

[loobylou23]

Oh he certainly is HB.

I knew he would, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised as I've witnessed this first hand in the time that I have been there.

One day he even called someone in to the office who was on annual leave with his family.

He then proceeded to give this guy a warning for poor performance without following any procedures whatsoever.

Everyone is afraid when they return from annual leave if they still have a job because you are always the target when you are not there to defend yourself.

 

My ears have been burning this week I can tell you.

[loobylou23]

Morning All.

I've had a letter from work this morning asking for consent to see my medical records.

Not sure how to deal with this.

Any help would be appreciated..

[honeybee13]

Hello again.

 

How have they phrased this please, and who would the information go to?

 

My best, HB