Work

[Vamp]

Edit:

So in the space of an afternoon  the following has happened:

Union sent an email.

Senior manager 1 said that she'd never seen the email before and it was incorrect.

Senior manager 2 said the email was correct and that HR had agreed it because it didn't contradict their current stance.

Union said that the senior managers had never seen the email and that HR had never agreed the email and that it completely contradicted the current stance.

Everybody else is saying "fine, but what the fuck is going on?" 

Edited July 29, 2021 by Vamp
Shit show

[Jazzy G]

My shift leader at work has failed his probation, and the position has been advertised. I'd been on the fence about it for a few days as I have been covering the job on and off for years as part of my current role whenever a shift leader has been off, but always worried that I've not been doing it very well because I've not had me to do the stuff I normally do for my shift leader for me if that makes sense? 

Anyway, Mrs Jazzy thought I'd be able to do it, my current (soon to be ex) shift leader thinks I'd be able to do it because while it'd change the dynamic of our working relationship at the moment we do seem to work well together, and today my manager ostensibly said that from what he's seen of me doing the job when I have to I could probably do it. He always picks my brain about the workings of the warehouse and business anyway, which could work in my favour.

Anyway, I've applied now. The worst thing that happens is that after a probation period I'm not right for it and go back to my current job role. I've just got to wait and see. 

[Guy Bifkin]

Right, need some advice from Citizen Houchen and the HR cunts amongst you.

Redundancies have been announced at my pay grade at work. It's no surprise, most of our contracts were cancelled during the pandemic and lots of people were on furlough. I've been at my firm 20 years, and been through this a couple of times. I feel I'm safe and reading between the lines I think they want rid of a couple of others who have been underperforming for a few years, but we are all going to have to interview to preserve a veneer of fairness. The problem is I've worked fucking hard over the last year, through some difficult personal circumstances too. The job is getting worse for variety of reasons and this is a kick in the teeth after a very difficult year, when half the other people up for interview were furloughed. 

My first question when it was announced was will we be offered voluntary redundancy - no. I might have taken it had it been on offer. We've since been sent a new job description and competencies, which if anything made the job more tailored to someone of my skillset. However, one addition under "Essential Criteria" was to have a degree with "some numeric or computing content". My degree is in politics, there was no numeric or computing content and this was definitely not an essential criteria when I joined back in 2001 - and I was honest about my qualifications on my CV etc (at the time it was any degree to 2-1 level or something). 

My riddle is this - can I use the fact that they have introduced this Essential Criteria that I cannot fulfill, as a way to extricate myself from the job or interview process and still get paid what I would be due under a normal redundancy? If I refused an interview and was dismissed, would I have any grounds for an unfair dismissal? Or should I just suck corporate cock and go through the motions of the interview, safe in the knowledge that I will most likely still have a fairly decent job at the end of it? 

[Chest Rockwell]

I think you know it's the latter, as wonderful a pipedream as your loophole sounds.

[Keith Houchen]

@Guy BifkinYou met the essential criteria when you were hired, that criteria has changed now but that always happens when you’re in a job long term. I’d switch it up at the interview and ask them at what point over the last two decades did your performance no longer meet essential criteria and what aspects of the job you do and have done for twenty years will you no longer be able to do as your degree becomes irrelevant overnight. 
 

 

[Vamp]

If I was thinking about getting a doctor to sign me off for depression is there anything I need to be aware of? Would future employers have access to that information? 

[Keith Houchen]

29 minutes ago, Vamp said:

If I was thinking about getting a doctor to sign me off for depression is there anything I need to be aware of? Would future employers have access to that information? 

No. Even the old bill have to go through the courts to get that info. Although the Tory cunts might have changed that by the time I’ve posted this 

[patiirc]

27 minutes ago, Vamp said:

If I was thinking about getting a doctor to sign me off for depression is there anything I need to be aware of? Would future employers have access to that information? 

Nope, and not unless you give permission explicitly  for them to contact your Drs for medical records.  Even then Disability Discrimination Act of 2010 has your back regards long term conditions such as depression. 

Plus the usual Privacy considerations 

Hope you are getting support you need 

[Vamp]

I feel really guilty doing it but I've started to fantasise about ending my life when dealing with work shit. 

I've applied for another job somewhere else. It's just, my manager is breathing down my neck about my staff following the guidance of the union and since I can't fix that its making my anxiety go through the roof. I can't make people do something they've been told not to do by the union. Especially when the union have also told me not to do it. 

I just want to bang my managers' heads together and say "stop assuming you're right and try and actually talk to your staff instead of assuming they owe you a favour for being employed."

I also feel dangerously close to telling my manager the truth which, given his allergy to the truth, would probably result in a discipline. 

[SuperBacon]

@Vamp you've done the right thing. Your health is the most important thing and if being away from work helps that, then so be it. I hope you get the support and assistance you need and deserve.

[Tommy!]

I'm after some tips. 

I'm good at my job and as a result I'm tolerated but not generally liked because I'm a wholly unlikeable person in & out of work. As a result I'm currently sat for 8 hours a day calls with or stuck in a room with lots of people who want me to fuck off but still need to keep me around for at least 2 more years. 

It's good money for not difficult work, because they give the hard work to people who they like and who are massive corporate dicks but ultimately normal people, but it does drain the self esteem which isn't great to start with. 

So, any good things I can do to keep myself afloat or alternatively be less of an unlikeable cunt without me quantum leaping into another dimension or selling my soul and principles? 

 

[MPDTT]

1 hour ago, Vamp said:

I feel really guilty doing it but I've started to fantasise about ending my life when dealing with work shit. 

I've applied for another job somewhere else. It's just, my manager is breathing down my neck about my staff following the guidance of the union and since I can't fix that its making my anxiety go through the roof. I can't make people do something they've been told not to do by the union. Especially when the union have also told me not to do it. 

I just want to bang my managers' heads together and say "stop assuming you're right and try and actually talk to your staff instead of assuming they owe you a favour for being employed."

I also feel dangerously close to telling my manager the truth which, given his allergy to the truth, would probably result in a discipline. 

@Vamp
As a mental health first aider, as well as an HR Director, I'm concerned by your situation and am going to DM you.

[Tommy!]

Could you not have just sent a DM without the dick waving? 

[MPDTT]

Hi @Vamp, I'm unable to DM you unfortunately, but if you would like to talk, please do message me. 

[MPDTT]

@Guy Bifkin

In terms of fairness its right that they have to pool everyone - they can't just pick on the underperformers. They are also entitled to set the selection criteria - as long as they are fair. They probably don't want to offer voluntary redundancy for fear the high performers want it and they are left with the lower rperformers, so doesn't surprise me that that isn't an option.

Regardless of the criteria, if you are selected for redundancy, you are entitled to the redundancy payments. Many companies offer enhanced redundancy beyond the statutory minimum. Have you asked in the consultation what those terms look like? 

On the unfair dismissal point, you'd have a long wait - tribunal back logs are approaching 2 years and that is a long time to go with no income. Plus, any tribunal award for unfair dismissal would be reduced if you took a new role in the meantime. My advice is to try to secure your position through the redundancy process and aim to leave for a new job when you secure one.