My house mate is facing an interesting problem. She works for a well known pub chain and has suffered bullying at work from various staff members. The straw that broke the camels back was a fellow staff member sending her a message claiming he is going to kill himself followed by a picture of him holding a knife to his wrist.
This chap had previously suggested similar and she had reported that to the management of her pub alongside other concerns about individuals who have verbally and on occasion physically abused her (excessive pushing and pulling no fighting or sexual abuse). However because of the nature of the messages she received she phoned the police as she deemed their was an imminent risk to the lad who messaged her. The police asked if she knew the lads address, she didn't but said she would phone work and get them to call the police directly with his address.
She phoned her management saying the police wanted the address of the employee and asked the management to call the police and give them the details quoting Log xyz. (she did that because she was expecting the management to say you can't have the address so it made sense) Instead the management offered to hand out the address of the staff member which we have later discovered to be a breach of their data protection policy which is on the contract signed by her. They also failed to implement their harassment/bullying policies respectively with the initial complaints.
In the aftermath of this, My house mate was invited to a grievance meeting to raise her concerns and she asked for me to go as a witness (Bear in mind I am not an employee at the pub or a union rep) They agreed to it after explaining I knew about the situation and would be better moral support than a colleague or union rep. I was also in the know of the situation from the off so it also allowed for less people to be told about what is quite a personal issue (Especially for the lad threatening to kill himself) The company agreed to me acting as a witness. I reluctantly agreed so off I went to research what a witness should and should not be doing in the meeting.
In the meeting the woman chairing (a manager from another bar in the chain, but with obvious links to the management who have ignored the situation up until now) it spent her time asking very leading questions and acting in what was quite obviously an arse covering exercise. The minutes where selectively taken ignoring key points my house mate raised. We decided not to sign the minutes as we disagreed with what had been written as it had taken much out of context. This was further added to our grievance. It appeared that the aim of that meeting was not to fact find but rather find facts that supported their "It's not the companies fault" stance.
We spoke to the HR team a step up who have been very helpful from the off, We soon got a phone call from an area manager however who pretty much screamed at my house mate and said I shouldn't have been there (My thoughts exactly especially as it was their decision) given my house mate is supposed to be raising a grievance it is hardly fair treatment. I had a great time speaking to him on the phone because he couldn't shout his point across at me he decided I couldn't attend any further meetings or speak to him.
We think the reason they initially allowed me as a witness was because I would sit and do nothing, Instead I have researched what I should and should not be doing (Their guidelines and ACAS) and followed that closely. They have realised that I will not sit and watch her get stitched up and as such are now changing their mind. We are hoping to have a union rep arranged for her next meeting which is going to be conducted by the area manager who is adamant he will act impartially despite completely dismissing my house mates claims that one of his managers was acting in a partial and leading manner.
The way it is now, My house mate is unlikely to continue working there. We know there is no case of constructive dismissal (She has been there under the required time scale) but she is being treat like a criminal. What is the ARRSE opinion? (Both funny and constructive appreciated) what options do we have bearing in mind we are cheap student bums. What would you do?
Many thanks
JC
This chap had previously suggested similar and she had reported that to the management of her pub alongside other concerns about individuals who have verbally and on occasion physically abused her (excessive pushing and pulling no fighting or sexual abuse). However because of the nature of the messages she received she phoned the police as she deemed their was an imminent risk to the lad who messaged her. The police asked if she knew the lads address, she didn't but said she would phone work and get them to call the police directly with his address.
She phoned her management saying the police wanted the address of the employee and asked the management to call the police and give them the details quoting Log xyz. (she did that because she was expecting the management to say you can't have the address so it made sense) Instead the management offered to hand out the address of the staff member which we have later discovered to be a breach of their data protection policy which is on the contract signed by her. They also failed to implement their harassment/bullying policies respectively with the initial complaints.
In the aftermath of this, My house mate was invited to a grievance meeting to raise her concerns and she asked for me to go as a witness (Bear in mind I am not an employee at the pub or a union rep) They agreed to it after explaining I knew about the situation and would be better moral support than a colleague or union rep. I was also in the know of the situation from the off so it also allowed for less people to be told about what is quite a personal issue (Especially for the lad threatening to kill himself) The company agreed to me acting as a witness. I reluctantly agreed so off I went to research what a witness should and should not be doing in the meeting.
In the meeting the woman chairing (a manager from another bar in the chain, but with obvious links to the management who have ignored the situation up until now) it spent her time asking very leading questions and acting in what was quite obviously an arse covering exercise. The minutes where selectively taken ignoring key points my house mate raised. We decided not to sign the minutes as we disagreed with what had been written as it had taken much out of context. This was further added to our grievance. It appeared that the aim of that meeting was not to fact find but rather find facts that supported their "It's not the companies fault" stance.
We spoke to the HR team a step up who have been very helpful from the off, We soon got a phone call from an area manager however who pretty much screamed at my house mate and said I shouldn't have been there (My thoughts exactly especially as it was their decision) given my house mate is supposed to be raising a grievance it is hardly fair treatment. I had a great time speaking to him on the phone because he couldn't shout his point across at me he decided I couldn't attend any further meetings or speak to him.
We think the reason they initially allowed me as a witness was because I would sit and do nothing, Instead I have researched what I should and should not be doing (Their guidelines and ACAS) and followed that closely. They have realised that I will not sit and watch her get stitched up and as such are now changing their mind. We are hoping to have a union rep arranged for her next meeting which is going to be conducted by the area manager who is adamant he will act impartially despite completely dismissing my house mates claims that one of his managers was acting in a partial and leading manner.
The way it is now, My house mate is unlikely to continue working there. We know there is no case of constructive dismissal (She has been there under the required time scale) but she is being treat like a criminal. What is the ARRSE opinion? (Both funny and constructive appreciated) what options do we have bearing in mind we are cheap student bums. What would you do?
Many thanks
JC
