difficult child turned in her boss today...

[hearts and roses]

At SLR's suggestion, a wise one, I am editing out some details, just in case the wrong person stumbles up this thread...thanks SRL.

difficult child has been at her clerical job for some time now working at the front desk of a small company. Aside from taking calls & filing, she handles rentals, maintains records and makes calls to delinquint payers. She loves loves loves this job. The hours aren't much, but the pay is decent. Her immediate manager, J, however is a jerk.

She came to my office today crying and cursing yet again over J and his antics. The very first time he said something inappropriate, I told her to start a log and she did. It's several pages long. She's been looking for another job, but they are difficult to come by, especially when you have little experience.

She decided that she had to say something to someone, but she did not want to call and she wasn't sure who she should contact. We researched the company on line and she recognized a higher up guy named B!

Some examples of thigns she's been dealing with: Inappropriate talk and innuendo; I am often given managerial level responsibilities; He has smoked pot & drank beer on premises; He leaves early/calls out & asks me to cover for him, but then takes away another day on the calendar that I was supposed to work so that he doesn't have to explain my extra hours; J has blamed me for things that he had told me to do or say; and more.

I am proud of difficult child for speaking up for herself. The manager she spoke with, B, was very nice, apologized profusely to difficult child for these working conditions, said he wished she had called sooner and promised that some changes were going to take place, and that she would not lose her job. difficult child is still concerned she may lose her job or suffer some retaliation somehow and, frankly, so am I a little.

Anyway, I hope she can keep her job because H will flip if she loses it now - jobs are so hard to come by these days.

 

[Marguerite]

Here's hoping she's OK. The guy sounds like a nasty piece of work.

In Australia we have strict legislation about this - whistleblower legistlation - which states that to be penalised or given a hard time in any way for "whistleblowing" or dobbing in someone, is illegal in a very big way.

It doesn't stop people doing this, but it gives extra clout to those who find themselves being hassled first inappropriately, and then again, for trying to stop what shouldn't be happening.

Find out if your country has similar laws. The people to contact are the unions, as a first port of call. If she's not a member they may refuse to help, but if there is a government department, they may tell you where it is and wish you luck.

And even if she's not a member, if it's serious enough, they may take it on just to provide support to those who COULD be members.

Another mob to check out - is the business affiliated with a relevant professional association? For example here in Sydney such a business would be affiliated with licensed real estate agents; such a state body has its own code of ethics and aims to keep valuable employees content in the workplace. it doesn't look good in te industry, for staff to be constantly leaving because they're being treated badly. For an employer to knowingly allow this to continue, is for that employer to connive and condone that bad behaviour. The employer is the one ultimately responsible for keepnig employees safe. The buck has to stop somewhere; it's just a matter of keeping the buck passing along until someone picks it up and deals with it. And for every level of administration that is informed and does nothing, there is usually a very large steel-capped boot being lined up for their rear ends...

Marg

 

[witzend]

OMG - what a creep! I hope everything will turn out for her.

 

[Lothlorien]

Clearly, this guy should not be in a management position. I used to work in a storage place. The manager did all kinds of crazy stuff, too. What is it with those places? I quit after three months. I hope this guy gets fired.

 

[klmno]

Geez......I can't believe that others' are not having to put up with inappropriate things, too, from this guy. Somebody that bad usually doesn't save it all for one person- so I hope she can find some "back up" in her office. I'm glad she turned him in and hopr this all turns out well- and quickly.

 

[hearts and roses]

difficult child is the only other worker at this facility. It's just her and him. Occasionally, an upper manager shows up to audit or just go over things.

difficult child called me this afternoon. She was contacted by 3 other managers and they are temporarily placing difficult child in another location nearby for 2 weeks "while they work this out and take the necessary steps to make personnel changes, etc".

When difficult child told me this at first, I was concerned that they were placing her elsewhere in order that he would continue at the original location and make it so uncomfortable for her that she'd quit, Know what I mean??

difficult child said that the last manager she spoke with, one of the head honchos, asked difficult child if she had a record of everything that had happened and she told him she had been keeping a log since June. He asked for a copy so she sent it to him. She warned him that it was quite graphic and had many more details than what she had described in the original conversation with the manager, B. He said "that's perfect - thank you so much for coming forward with this".

So, keeping my fingers crossed that it works out favorably because I think it may crush difficult child if it goes badly, Know what I mean?? I told her how proud of her I was and when I told H, he was also proud of her for coming forward and doing this, regardless of the risk involved.

Marg, yes, we have a whistleblowers law - it's federal but each state has it's own division. I saved the page should we need it. Thanks for mentioning it.

 

[donna723]

Good for her! I'm so glad she did that! I hope the schmuck gets fired too! She shouldn't have to give up her job because the boss is a horses patoot!

And with things like that going on, especially with money 'disappearing', it could have ended up creating some very serious problems for her! If it were discovered that money was missing, you can bet that the first one the boss would blame would be her! My son went through something like that when he worked at an auto parts store. Returned parts were coming up missing from the store before they could be returned to the manufacturer. And because he closed up the store at night, the manager put the blame on my son when the higher-ups investigated. It was a miserable job anyway and my son ended up leaving for a much better one, but of course the thefts continued after he left. Now you would think the higher-ups would have noticed that my son was driving a 14 year old pickup and the manager was driving a Mercedes ... the managers of small town parts stores usually can't afford a Mercedes! And a few months later my son heard that the manager had been fired when they caught him removing returned parts from the store and selling them to his friends for extra spending money! But that's exactly how those sleezy types operate!

 

[gcvmom]

Took a lot of courage for her to do that -- kudos to difficult child!!!

 

[Nancy]

You should be proud of her, she did great. I am so impressed that she had the detailed notes on everything that happened. It did take a lot of courage.

Nancy

 

[klmno]

Does she live with you or with someone else who can help keep her safe? It sounds like they are going to confront the guy with her log. While that is good and hopefully they will go through with firing him, he still might retaliate because he's going to know who initiated this. I just hope he doesn't find a way to convince them that he's not that big of a problem. I'm a little paranoid about some things though- I just want her to stay safe. It would be great if he's out of the picture and she can move up!

 

[hearts and roses]

klmno, I am concerned for the same thing. She lives with us, stays at her boyfriend's some nights during the week. We will do the best we can to keep her safe, as well as our home! And when she speaks with her bosses, she will ask about safety as well. Thanks for your concern.

 

[tiredmommy]

I'm proud difficult child! Is there any way husband or boyfriend could come with difficult child to work on Wednesday? Just in case...

 

[SRL]

Jo, I would suggest that you consider editing your listing of the manager's transgressions out of this thread. Our site gets a lot of traffic and therefore searches on google show up very high in search hits. I would hate to see things take a bad turn for your daughter because details of this private personnel matter had been posted on a public website.

She did good. Sounds like you raised her right.

 

[KTMom91]

Hope everything works out for her.

 

[susiestar]

I am glad she stood up for herself by taking notes and telling one of the upper bosses about it.

The self-storage industry is incredibly profitable. I remember doing an appraisal on one for a job long past. I was FLOORED at how much each unit can make in pure profit each year.

Because of that, J is probably being paid handsomely. difficult child can probably do all the paperwork given some training and if there is just one other person then she can get her toes wet in management. This could be a good thing in the long run.

 

[busywend]

Good for her for standing up for herself. Nobody should have to put up with what her boss was doing. And nobody has to just accept it. Huge kudos to difficult child for sticking up for her self and her rights.
Hats off to the company she works for - it sounds like they are doing all the right things. Taking action right away! Awesome!

 

[Abbey]

Very glad she took that very difficult step. In the end, no matter what the outcome, who would want to go back to that job? Trust me...I KNOW it's hard to get a new job, but being uncomfortable all the time is just not worth it.

Abbey

 

[hearts and roses]

Thanks SRL - I edited my posts. Let me know if they need more editing.

difficult child is supposed to speak with the upper manager today and figure out where she reports for work tomorrow. H, of course, wants to go kick some heiny, but he wouldn't - not his thing. I don't think they would let her go there alone right away. I have told difficult child she will need to ask if someone else will be there if she's going back to the original location.