Dealing with Boss who just doesn't care

Re: Weekly staff meetings.

Sometimes a long detailed email is not a useful way to communicate. It sounds to me that Mrs C's new boss might be suffering from work-related stress himself. He may be out of his depth in the new post and his stonewalling tactics may be simply because he doesn't know what his employment responsibilities are, and he has too much other work to do to find out.

Would Mrs C consider writing a brief letter (emails are easy to ignore or fob off with an informal reply) with the agenda for their meeting and requesting a fixed date for same? Personally, I think a proactive approach might be useful here, eg if there is a standard contract for people at her grade, she could attach it to the letter and suggest that something similar would be acceptable to her. She might end up having more influence over the contract than she otherwise would.

By the way, she can't be sacked simply because she has no contract. She still has employment rights.

Re: Weekly staff meetings.

My advice, Mrs Cushtie.

You can only do, what you can do & as my father says " a man will always work a willing horse"

- Document all actions that you have taken to resolve the matter.

- With this being a large multi-national surely they must have a HR person or department.Go this route first. If you have the offer of a review of your position after 6 months in writing also show this to the HR person or department.Give them what you think is a reasonable amount of time to resolve the matter in relation to your contract & your review. Also let them know you plan to take this further if it is not resolve speedily.
- Contact your union if you are in one.
- Check out the companies grievance procedure.
- It is the law for you to receive your terms & conditions in writing.
- If you are the PA to the main man, surely you would be the best person to know his schedule & the find the best time to schedule a discussion/meeting with him.Also document all possible opportunities for him to meet with you.Keep a print copy of his calender for each day if needs be !

- If the HR route is not for you & you have e-mailed him previously, with no response.Send the e-mail again and cc: his boss.If this does not work quick enough. Send him a registered letter, This maybe a bit drastic. But he may get the picture then. If he still ignores you. Take them to the labour court with a case for constructive dismissal.

To me he does not come across as very approachable.

Best of luck.

re:bullying

Hi IsleOfMan,

Of course I accept what you're saying completely about the issue of new boss v old boss. I wold also agree that regular meetings are very effective in bringing about changes in work practices.

In this case, however I would tend to disagree that using the term "bullying" is inopportune. Normally, this "approach" is used in place of a proper management system as these sort of people couldn't be arsed to treat their staff in a correct & proper fashion. From what I have read, I do think that there is a genuine pattern of exclusion being employed by that lady's supervisor and in addition to all the other stuff he's pulling, I would guess there has to be at least 3 to 4 infractions of all types of labour law going on - this is tantemount to bullying as I think she is being singled out for "special" treatment".

Managers don't have to like their staff and indeed vice versa - but they need to respect each other.

I have heard of cases (ok, you may say heresay, but I believe it to be true) whereby managers SCREAM at staff for something the managers themselves muck up and later they have the gall to say it's their "managerial perogative" as a defence.

Sorry, I don't think so, by the way, here's my solicitor and we'll be taking loads of money off you and/or indeed the organisation......!

By the way, I have a supervisory role myself so I'm not just banging on about workers rights etc.. I do believe that people have a right to be treated reasonably in the workplace as life is short enough as it is....

Regards,

OpusnBill

There are many jobs where the old familiar boss retires and is replaced with a new boss.

Click to expand...

In Mrs Cushties case it is not a new boss who has come in, this guy has been there from day one. Just wanted to clarify that.

Thanks for all the great advice. hae passed on all the tips about making sure she has loads of documentary backup just in case things need to be taken further.

"...she doesn't want to rock the boat as she has to work with this man everyday"

Cushtie, if she is in such a state that she comes home shattered and in tears then maybe it's time she did rock the boat. Can it be any worse than it already is? The answer is yes, it could be worse for her if she doesn't do something now before she ends up either on anti-depressants or possibly having a nervous breakdown. It seems he is already treating her like sh*t and I would imagine this is as much down to the fact that he doesn't respect her. By standing up for herself and taking whatever action is neccessary (tall chapy's advice above is worth noting, among others) he may not like her any better but he will certainly start to respect her. Also a visit to her GP if only for the sake of documentation and to have it on record as to the effect that he is having on her by his behaviour/attitude would be a weapon worth having if things went as far as a labour court.

In an ideal world

In an ideal world it would be possible to stand up for your rights and be vindicated. It does not work like that in my experience as a union rep. Is Mrs. C. the only person to be singled out for this treatment? If so then why? Mrs C. can rock the boat but if the company do not want to continue to employ her or are downsizing (sounds like they have a ban on recruitment) then maybe it is time to put up or shut up to keep the position or the alternative is to leave. Is there a union or staff association in her company who can help.

Re: In an ideal world

"In an ideal world it would be possible to stand up for your rights and be vindicated."

In an ideal world you wouldn't have to stand up for your rights.

Re: In an ideal world

"It does not work like that in my experience as a union rep."

"Is there a union or staff association in her company who can help."

Not trying to be smart here, but if that is your experience then whats the point in asking the union for help?

It's not worth it.

Curious. Why did the other girl leave the company?
Did she also dislike her boss? Is it possible that Mrs. Cushtie in trying for a good six months review was trying too hard to please her boss. Maybe Mrs. Cushtie is a very good worker and upset the applecart by working too hard, did she upset the other girl?
There is absolutely no excuse for her boss forgetting her name or calling her by another name. I absolutely agree with a previous poster to get a sick cert for "work stress". This sends a very strong message.

Re: It's not worth it.

Hi all,

Just wanted to follow up on this. Mrs Cushtie finally got the chance to sit down a couple of months ago and have a frank "clear the air" discussion with the Boss after sending him a lengthy email outlining her issues. the outcome was she got a contract, a detailed job description, and a pay review.

Many thanks to all here that posted suggestions / links etc.

Cushtie

Re: It's not worth it.

That's great to hear. Well done. Presumably the issue was dealt with openly and frankly and without any major conflict? This has proven to be a very interesting and edifying topic - for me anyway! It's a pity they don't teach the basics of negotiating, listening and communication skills in school, college or the most workplaces. I guess that they are ultimately based on common sense but as Voltaire said "common sense is not so common"!

Re: Sorted

Cushtie,

That's great news, delighted to hear that things worked out well in the end. Must have been a relief to get it sorted.

Talk Talk

Excellent result. It is all about communication and perceptions.