It gets worse for Sci_Dog. Threatened by a senior manager...

[Sci_Dog]

Hello troops,

hope you are all well?

So anyone who knows what's been going on in my working life will know the position I am in at the minute. Just read my previous posts and you will see where I'm at.

Anyways an incapable, lying bullying manager, 2 conduct cases (one v petty) and a period of long term sickness later.

I had an interview with a very senior manager this morning asking when I will be returning to work. My doctor has signed me off with 'work related stress' until the 14th of Jan and I told him once the underlying issues are sorted I will come back. He basically said to me that he could and would cut my sick pay as Royal Mail don't have to pay sick pay. He also told me if I wasn't willing to come back to my own office he'll find work for me at an office 10 miles away. I told him I was willing to come back to my own office ASAP as long as the other issues were addressed. He told me they can be addressed once I'm back at work. I said I would feel a hell of a lot more comfortable if they were sorted before my return. He then kept making the point of telling me that he could stop my pay or make me work at another office if he felt I wasn't playing ball. I then said if you want to stop my pay them so be it. I will then have no other option but to file a grievance case against the local manager. He then perked up on his chair and I had his full attention. He offered a meeting tomorrow with myself, my Union Reps, the local manager and himself. He told me that a grievance procedure could be long and very complicated and I said you left me no choice though until you offered the meeting. I originally wanted to go straight for the grievance approach but my Union advised me to try and have a meeting with the managers first to try and get it sorted. However after this guys attitude today and his threats I feel I will go to this meeting tomorrow but also file a grievance against not only the local manager but the senior manager. Who is he to tell me when I'll come back to work? Who is he to undermine my doctor? Who is he to threaten me with no pay or to be moved to another delivery office? I was giving the company and the manager(s) the benefit of the doubt to try and get things sorted locally and informally before I return. I feel now that this wouldn't have the result I want and need. They seem totally uninterested. A grievance is the only way forward I think.

Oh and another thing the senior manager said to me (you will love this!) He said he was VERY disappointed I wasn't at home to sign for the letter to acknowledge the meeting with him. He said if I'm off sick I should only leave the house for a doctors or work related issue!

My Union Rep was also not at the meeting today as he thought the meeting was just a standard thing. He knows about it know though and is not impressed! He can't wait to get stuck into them tomorrow morning!

The company and the managers just keep getting worse and worse and worse. They just can not interact with another human being in a civilised manner. The company is in complete turmoil and I am seriously looking out.

Anyway gripe over. Views, comments and advice much appreciated as always troops.

Sci_Dog


PS Anyone Northern Ireland who wants to know who the ignorant senior manager was, please send me a little private message.

[La Poste]

I would have definately taken a voice recorder into a meeting like that.
Threats threats and more threats. Only way they know how to do things at RM these days.

[muckyboots]

usually before putting in a formal grievance it's good working practise to resolve it informally first http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/ ... G_10027992
i think this meeting is a chance for you to do this. however, if it doesn't work go ahead and put in the grievance. stage 1 is kept in office, but if you're still troubled take it to stage 2 and then it goes out of office.

it's difficult when you're in a stressful situation like this to be clear headed but think carefully before you do anything formally because it could easily backfire. certainly don't put in two grievances because they will think you are troublemaking ('crying wolf') and one may detract from the other.

Oh and another thing the senior manager said to me (you will love this!) He said he was VERY disappointed I wasn't at home to sign for the letter to acknowledge the meeting with him. He said if I'm off sick I should only leave the house for a doctors or work related issue!

my dom tried to catch me out a while back when I was off with a leg injury on crutches. one of my colleagues rang me the night before to warn me he might be coming round. I went out and stayed out, and when i got back there were two letters, unstamped, regarding my injury and accident. should have stayed at home on the roof with a vat of boiling oil

[norbert]

" He said he was VERY disappointed I wasn't at home to sign for the letter to acknowledge the meeting with him. He said if I'm off sick I should only leave the house for a doctors or work related issue! "

aggressive , intimidating and sour grapes - he'd have to loved to do you as a "malingerer" but even he knows it won't stick . They'd need hard " evidence " like with that Land Registry PCS rep that was filmed .

You can't live on nothing , you have to go to the shops etc . RM has taken a lot of public shaftings recently and there's bad feeling & with this site too with the press watching . Anyway he's on the internet now .

four walls is going to do a lot of good to someone with a stress complaint

Sounds like they don't want to go against the original manager they're protecting for a reason .

Keep your powder dry and use it wisely . Be very careful when you come back , they'll want rid of you as a "loose canon" and they'll stitch you up ; one way or another .

[DirtyHarry]

Small wonder the postal service is now a pale shadow of what it once was. That senior manager sounds like a right cnut.
From your post, Sci_Dog, you seem to be handling a very difficult situation very well indeed, good luck mate.

[Postie558]

Good luck Sci_Dog. Don't let the bastards grind you down.

I was on the sick with a torn ankle ligament once, which surprisingly wasn't particularly painful. But I was advised by my GP and an ATOS nurse to rest it, on the basis that walking on before it had recovered WOULD result in me going over on it again (the original cause), thus making it worse. I took their advice, and the ankle is far better than it has been for years (sprained it badly 17 years ago and had problems ever since).

Anyway, the Lino rang me one day when I happened to be driving. My wife answered the phone and asked him to wait while I found somewhere safe to stop...
When I got back to work a couple of weeks later, there were rumours going around that I had been driving, which had been started by the lino. He'd gone round telling his arse-licking mates (the come in early, rush round brigade) that I'd told him I couldn't drive because of my bad ankle, yet I was driving when he rang me.

What actually happened was, when I first did I told him it was painful to drive. I didn't say I couldn't drive. Do they not understand? On the sick or not, life goes on. You've still got shopping to do, kids to get to school, wife to get to work etc (she's passed her test now).

By rights I probably should have put a grievance in against him for spreading that rumour, but in all fairness, with the exception of that, I was treated well by him and the DOM and allowed to stay off delivery on light duties for a couple of weeks.

This was a couple of years back. I wonder how they'd treat me now?

[noggin1969]

You can legally record a meeting only if you tell them you are doing so

[fishtank]

"My Union Rep was also not at the meeting today as he thought the meeting was just a standard thing. He knows about it know though and is not impressed! He can't wait to get stuck into them tomorrow morning!"


Sci-Dog,Do Not under any circumstances attend another meeting on your own.

You are scaring the sh1t out of me mate.

If you can't find anybody i will jump on the feckin ferry myself.

[norbert]

You can legally record a meeting only if you tell them you are doing so , but nothing stopping you "accidently" recording one if they threaten you it may cause them to backtrack abit if you have evidence of b&H

Agree

The Gist is would have that Senior Manager made that assertion / statement more publicly ? or did he make it because he knew there was no witnesses ? - then recording becomes the lesser " crime " apparently .

The RM Director over there actually filmed a worker from Bombardier Shorts who was off after a piece of sheet metal the size of a billiard table fell on him holding his baby up outside his home from a unmarked van .

He then had the said worker in the Office with a rep and accused him of malingering . He wanted 250 or 500 redundancies by fair or foul means and ended up with 474 Tribunal Claims against him . The union couldn't cope with all that litigation and workers had to go to their MP's . He got rid of a lot of stewards .

Maybe that Senior Manager is looking for Brownie Points .

[dados]

with reference to stopping yer pay matey,they did it with me i was off 6 months with torn ligaments (still FCUK'ed) i got the letter on Saturday telling me my pay was being stopped,DOM said he'd sort it,naffed off on AL,anyways come Thursday it said on me pay slip "Unauthorised Abscence",even tho i had Dr's sicknote (which RM refused to recognise),had to get a written letter from Dr.(which hacked him right off) & got my pay back the next week.............so they can do it if they want,after all it would be an administrative error would'nt it?

keep yer chin up,& don't talk to 'em on yer own mucker,its what they want

[La Poste]

You can legally record a meeting only if you tell them you are doing so , but nothing stopping you "accidently" recording one if they threaten you it may cause them to backtrack abit if you have evidence of b&H

That`ll do for me, had some serious issues with interviewing procedures and managers inability to take accurate notes during them, if they see a recording device on the table I bet they`ll treat you a whole lot differently

I've had the same with note taking it's an absolute joke.
They may try to stop you recording if you tell them you are going to although I'm not sure, I've never heard of anyone asking to record a meeting before.
I can't see any justifiable reason why they should not allow it.

[Sci_Dog]

Hello troops,

hope you are well?

Started back to work today and had my meeting also. The DSM, the local DOM, my CWU Rep and myself were all present. It got pretty heated but I got my point across. Basically though this is the situation I'm in-

The District Sector Manager KNOWS AND ADMITS there is problems in the office with regards to how the DOM and Assistant DOM manage. However rather than address the issues concerning them he would far rather preach to me that I put my head down and stay out of trouble. I have no problems with that but if the managers are going to be heavy handed when using the conduct code, they have to use it across the whole of the office to each and every indivdual that falls foul of it. From prep rates to time keeping. They can not use one person to scare the whole office. Which they have done. The DSM knows their is local management problems but I doubt very much he will address them. Are all managers totally ignorant of the fact that the majority of problems within the company stem back to them and their attitudes and unrealistic working conditions and computer generated targets?

This senior manger has indeed confirmed and rubber stamped that the company is in total turmoil and complete meltdown. I personally think it is far too late to fix the problems now. Basically we are f**ked. The relationship between management and the workforce is beyond help. I really do hope to jump ship before it does indeed sink. Like it or not troops the ship is sinking and sinking very bloody fast. We have our managers to thank for that. Whenever a senior manager doesn't even have the sense to show a local manager what problems need addressed, what hope has the rest of the company and workforce? It is quite ironic that the majority of men and women employed by Royal Mail to make sure we the workforce do our job right are not even capable of doing their own job right. It's actually quite laughable. It really is. By the time Mr Crozier and his team admit where the problems were it'll be too late.......the company will be down and out.

Sci_Dog

[pony]

Yeah RM sure know all about stress and how to help those that suffer from it
Sure you feel even worse now after that phone call.
Complete idiots that have lost touch with reality since they came off the beat,if they were ever on it.

[k979aaa]

Royalmail is down and out and as for sinking it is beyond saving man the life boats and save yourselves and your fellow workers after all let the captains of the stricken ship stay on board and stay the course for which they have set!. STRAIGHT INTO THE ICEBERG AHEAD!.

[Sci_Dog]

Royalmail is down and out and as for sinking it is beyond saving man the life boats and save yourselves and your fellow workers after all let the captains of the stricken ship stay on board and stay the course for which they have set!. STRAIGHT INTO THE ICEBERG AHEAD!.

I really couldn't of put it any better myself.

I just pray and hope all my fellow workers and comrades are safely off the ship when it hits that iceberg! I also hope and pray all the captains are aboard when the ship hits the iceberg and that the collision can be heard from the North Pole right down to the South Pole!