Manpower/reed/Hayes - my various employment woes

[ronnie6]

So RBS via Manpower employ people to work their call centers and after 4 weeks training they are fully qualified to deal with all the customer enquiries that may ensue?

 

"sweetbreads"

[Purpleflowers 2]

we all fill in our time sheets and send them to manpower, your right manpower don't care that rbs have asked us to take 30 mins lunches, is this legal under employment law?

 

and what are are rights having been employed via manpower as temp staff working for rbs

 

Batfink said:

Do you still fill in timesheets and send them to Manpower, or is this done automatically by the client? (I worked in recruitment back in the Dark Ages and have experienced both, particularly with larger clients).

 

If you are still submitting your own timesheets, just make sure they reflect the times you actually worked. That way, you're pretty much assured (SNAFUs excepted) to be paid the right amount. I'm sure Manpower don't care that you're working half an hour for lunch and finishing earlier on the Friday - all they care about is that you turn up, do what you're being paid for, and that the client pays them.

 

some people working for another agency are being paid around £450 a week after tax which works out at £15ph, but everyone else here is employed by manpower and being paid £8.20ph, so we get 1/2 the amount wage the rest of the people employed by the other get, think rbs pay manpower around £14-£15ph for each temp worker they provide and then manpower take their cut and keep at least £6 from the £14 or £15 they get from rbs and we are then paid only around £8.20ph, is this fair?

 

plus manpower say we must give 14 days if we want a holiday - like what if anyone got a job interview next week, what are we supposed to do then? - miss the interview?

[honeybee13]

we all fill in our time sheets and send them to manpower, your right manpower don't care that rbs have asked us to take 30 mins lunches, is this legal under employment law?

 

and what are are rights having been employed via manpower as temp staff working for rbs

 

Hello there.

 

Is it a problem having half hour lunches and then leaving early on a Friday? Are you working the same number of hours as when you took an hour for lunch?

 

My best, HB

[Greer8472]

some people working for another agency are being paid around £450 a week after tax which works out at £15ph, but everyone else here is employed by manpower and being paid £8.20ph, so we get 1/2 the amount wage the rest of the people employed by the other get, think rbs pay manpower around £14-£15ph for each temp worker they provide and then manpower take their cut and keep at least £6 from the £14 or £15 they get from rbs and we are then paid only around £8.20ph, is this fair?

 

plus manpower say we must give 14 days if we want a holiday - like what if anyone got a job interview next week, what are we supposed to do then? - miss the interview?

 

Check your contract with ManPower. A different agency have the same policy about 2 weeks notice needed but on their contract which I agreed to and they provided it only it reads I only have to give notice to the same length on the holiday required. So far I will give 2 weeks notice but when I need holiday sorter notice I'll be throwing their contract back in their face if they give me aggro.

[jdes26]

Agencys are rip off

We all no this

[wobbly]

Legally 30 minutes break away from your work station is all that is required after 6 hours .I would see if I could get set on by the outfit paying £15 an hour.

[Ell-enn]

layla, how many weeks have you been there ? the agency workers regulations state that after 12 weeks you should be paid the same as an equivalent grade RBS employee and also have the same benefits

 

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Nl1/Newsroom/DG_199272

[Greer8472]

Well this may not be the case. With the agency I am with now they have walked around this by stipulating that after 12 weeks from Oct 1st 2011 I am on the same terms has a full time employee where by they have to work a year on aprobationary rate and then after that I then I go on a higher one. Load of rubbish. Of course the agency is not budging. I show them thedirect.gov page, ACAS page etc etc. Still the same old. I even been employed more than a year with them but it seemed to reset once it went pass Oct 1st. I just need to find another job. Had enough. The client does not seem to want to take me on anyway where others have and I have saved the companies skin by finding other member's of staff mistakes etc. Enough off this it's going off topic lol

[Purpleflowers 2]

Can RBS give a 1st warning to manpower staff and then a 2nd warning and then fire you?

 

RBS have told us if errors are found in our work, they will support and help us and put us on a support plan which may last upto 6 weeks (which i doubt), but one of the trainers told us - that rbs will sack us as we are temp agency staff, if we can't do our a work after we finish training or if the same errors keep coming up

 

RBS can sack us since they have a backlog of other manpower staff they want to get into RBS

 

Do RBS have you give written notification if they want to take anyone of us to a meeting to give us a 1st warning or a 2nd warning?

 

Surely RBS can't just say "have you got 5 mins for a chat........" and take us to a room and give us a 1st warning or 2nd warning and fire us, can they

 

If this happens can we take them to et?

[honeybee13]

Hello there. It sounds as if things are getting worse there.

 

Are you saying you want to take RBS to an ET? And did you also say that your contract is with Manpower or did I misunderstand that?

 

My best, HB

[becky2585]

The problem is, you have to be an employee with over 12 months service to bring an unfair dismissal claim. As an agency worker, you don't have that right.

 

So unfortunately, yes, they can sack you on the spot for no reason, as long as there's no discrimination involved!

[Greer8472]

I thought now they can't sake you on the "spot" so to speak. They have to go through the agency first and then you get the sack.

[becky2585]

Nope, they can still sack you. It's one of the perils of agency work!

[gezwee]

Don't suppose you're one of the 'shredders' at Telford are you?

[stuart_coogh]

From what I have read it appears that your temp agency staff employed by manpower who have a contract with RBS to provide with with staff for handling various kinds of complaints (afterall it is one of the worse banks for complaints and customer service anyway)

 

RBS pay manpower £15 per hour for each temp agency staff they bring to RBS, so doing the math shows

 

1 manpower agency staff working at RBS.........

 

RBS pay manpower 15ph for each manpower agency staff, so if you work

 

35 hours a week, that means 35hours x £15ph (RBS pay to mapower) = £525

 

mapower take a huge cut of the £525 per employee per week and would pay you around £230 a weel, after deducting 1/2 your wages

 

manpower seems are taking 1/2 your wage which is a total con, in the past agencies took say £2-3 of agency staff wages per hours, but if manpower are taking £7 cut from the £15 RBS pay them per hour for your wage, then you are being led up the garden wall

 

can you not all get together and demand that manpower pay you say £12ph for the specialised complaints work you have been hired to do?

 

RBS i hope they treat agency staff well...........................

 

where does the OP stand in regards to being called into meetings to receive warnings from RBS team leaders for performance issues - i think RBS sack staff even on the 1st warning, but 2nd warning and you are out the door, would RBS have to provide 7 days written notice to any manpower staff if they want to give them a warning or have them sacked?

 

because the 1st or 2nd warning would be classed as a displinary and all employees have rights, RBS or any employer can't treat employees like dirt, if their training was good and they invest in staff, then RBS should not be so eager to give agency staff 1st or 2nd final warnings and have them sacked

Edited March 4, 2012 by stuart_coogh

[Purpleflowers 2]

i've been very ill since early this morning at 2am been puking up, stomach craps, high temp and bodyaches, have rang nhs direct and spoke to a nurse she has advised that i take 2 days off work as i have a very contageuos virus

 

i am have been in bed all day, not ate anything at all, plus everyone else in the house has been puking up, i thinks it a stomach virus

 

i am very concered as i have only just started at rbs through manpower and a similar thing happened to a colleagie, she rang manpower and told them she was vomiting and unable to go into work and she was given a 1st warning by the manpower manager at the branch, she then rang rbs and explained that manpower has given her a 1st warning for being off work sick, the manager said manpower should not have given a 1st warning for being off work sick.

 

what can i say to manpower when i ring them in the morning, i dont want to end up getting a 1st warning for being sick, i fear manpower will give me a warning, over the phone when i ring in the morning, do you think its a good idea to record the phone call to manpower in case they start getting funny with me and give me a 1st warning?

[Purpleflowers 2]

I have been signing on and off for 4 years, I have had several different advisors over this time , my most recent advisor who i have been with for almost 1 year is now harassing, intimidating, being unhelpful towards me and is also vindictive.

 

I put a request for change of advisor by letter 1 week before my sign on date which I handed in to the job centre. I thought I would have a new advisor for my sign on date this week, when i went to the job centre I had to wait an extra 20 mins after my sign on time and was made to go and see the advisor that is giving me all this grief.

 

As soon as I walked into the room without any "hello or how is your job search going......." he was immediateley on the telephone trying to arrange a work placement for me, i felt this was upsetting in the view that he did not ask how i was doing, or how my job search was was going or if i had any problems..........etc he seemed very unhelpful and i felt that he was trying to just get rid of me and meet work targets that he has

 

In the past he said to me that i am thick and stupid, i can't get a job, always trying to send me on a training course not relevant to my qualifications or career goals. I am not against attending training course which is relevant to my skills, experience, qualifications and career aspirations. He is trying to stop my claim, he has had a personal problem with me ever since the day he became my advisor.

 

 

after a few days the job centre manager called me and tried to twist things around, she was supporting the advsior against who i had raised my complaint against, she supported the advisor (who is the only advsior that works in a room all alone - so nobody else can see his harrassment and other negative behaviour towards me..........) and she tried to say that i have a personal problem with the advsior and the advsior has done nothing wrong, she then wanted a bonding session with me and the advisor to be held to iron out problems because she is afraid this complaint may escalate further

 

she also said she would have someone else sit with the advsior when i sign on next and watch and observe how he behaves towards me, i told the manager my advsior would put on a false act and pretend to me nice towards me and this was wrong. she is not addressing the complaint and my problem - which is the advisor

 

i asked the job centre mananger why my advisor is the only advsior who sits in a room whilst other advsiors sit open area. Her reply was "there are no other spare seats in the open area of the job centre" - which is a lie as there are always 2-3 empty pc terminals

 

the advisor refuses to shake my hands, refuses to say acknowledge me, my greetings, says i am stupid and makes comments on my dress and basically does not want to speak to me in a professional manner.

 

 

am i doing wrong to ask for a change of advisor?

 

why is the job centre manager siding with the advisor and chosen to ignore my complaint?

 

why is the advsior being so horrible towards and taken a personal dislike to me?

 

why is the job centre manager refusing my request to change ofadvsior?

 

can i escalate this further?

[Jon D]

On face value, it appears that you are perceiving an issue, which they are not seeing.

 

Can I ask a question - what is your qualifications / career aspirations / training courses that you have versus what they were suggesting. That way we'll be able to comment on the perception.

 

Gut feeling about asking for a change of advisor - yes, I think it is wrong. Try an influence me otherwise....?

[meemok]

Hi Layla,

 

You might want to have a read of the Jobcentre Plus Service Standards booklet.

 

You can download it from the DWP website as a PDF -> http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dwp1018.pdf

 

It tells you how you can expect to be treated by Jobcentre staff (and reading through your post, your advisor appears to be missing the mark quite badly on most of the points!)

 

It also explains how to escalate your complaint to someone higher up outside your actual Jobcentre office if you are not satisfied with how they handled your complaint.

 

I would start with a written complaint to the manager of the Jobcentre where you sign on, and ask for their response in writing.

If you are not satisfied, or still don't think they are taking you seriously, follow the points on how to escalate your complaint.

 

A friend of mine had similar problems with her advisor once, and she requested a change of advisor and it happened, so it is possible.

 

On a side note, if you have a mobile phone, and it has a sound recorder, and you accidentally left it on while meeting with the advisor, then that would be a real kick up the you-know-what for the manager if they tried to refute your allegations again

[johnvernon74]

Formal later of complaint to Benefit Manager, followed by a SAR request (free from social security). You have the right to be treated with dignity and respect. If what you say is correct with nothing missing then I'd say let the complaint be escalated.

[flumps1976]

I am not a personal adviser but do work on the Customer Service side of the business.

As you feel that you have an issue with your adviser you have done exactly the right thing by requesting to change to a different adviser, The Adviser Manager will have discussed this with you current adviser to try to establish what the problem is, the next action is as they have discussed already with you is to have a meeting with the 3 of you present (believe me if the the Manager there is like ours then they will no immediately of the adviser is acting any different/puttingon an act), after that meeting you will have an opportunity to discuss further with the adviser manager if you still want to remain with adviser or request to an alternative adviser, the only problem that I could see is that if you have previous requested to change advisers and this was agreed then you could be refused and remain with the current adviser until you eith find work, close the claim for any other reason or move to work programme.

 

If you are still unhappy after you have been through the offical channels then you can escalate to the office manager but they will only act if the procedures have been followed and if after that you still are unhappy and nothing has changed then you can escalate to the district office manager but again they will only act if the official procedures have been followed.

[LaughingGirl]

Irrespective of who has the problem, wouldn't it be easier (for everyone) to just change the advisor?

 

It seems like an awful lot of effort when Layla could be swapped with someone else with the same sign-on time.

[antone]

Irrespective of who has the problem, wouldn't it be easier (for everyone) to just change the advisor?

 

It seems like an awful lot of effort when Layla could be swapped with someone else with the same sign-on time.

 

In this case, I agree. I think they worry, though, that if were possible to change advisers on a whim, people would start demanding changes for spurious reasons.

[Nystagmite]

I have managed to change advisers - I emailed the job centre and explained the problem I was having with him. I never saw him again after that.

[LaughingGirl]

In this case, I agree. I think they worry, though, that if were possible to change advisers on a whim, people would start demanding changes for spurious reasons.

 

I take your point. I can't see this being resolved by a 'bonding' session, though. It sounds like a clash of personalities to me - with no offence intended to you, Layla. The advisor is clearly being very rude and unhelpful and I don't see how forcing you to try to forge a relationship with him is going to help you find a job.

 

What happened with your RBS job? Did the contract end?