Advice please on appraisal and possible bullying

[andyunderdog]

Hi there, this is my first post on the board, and as I am unemployed at the moment, I am trying to get some advice for a relative who is having problems at work.
She has worked for the company for about seven years, and up until last year everything was going fine.
Then the company was taken over, and the attitude of her supervisor changed towards her. She had a really bad appraisal last year, which surprised her, as she was being picked up on very minor things, which were not noticed in other staff.
This year her appraisal has been worse, so I asked her to tell me everything and I would try to give her advice. It seems that the criticism of her is very vague, and when she tries to get exact details, times, places, the supervisor simply waffles and tells her that she cannot do anything to change the appraisal.
The result of the appraisal will have a detrimental effect on her bonus and pay rise.
I should point out, that she is the oldest member in her team by twenty years, and she feels as though she is being victimised.
She is not a union member, and from what she has said, she does not think that anyone in her company belongs to a union.
Would I be right in thinking that she has to write everything down, keep a diary of hwta the supervisor says about her, and how he treats other staff in the office?
Should she go to HR or leave that for a while?
Should she look into joining a union?

Thanks,

Andy

[CleverClogs]

Re: Advice please on appraisal and possible bullying

Should she look into joining a union?

Yes.

[andyunderdog]

Re: Advice please on appraisal and possible bullying

Just to update on this one.
Following the appraisal, she wrote comments on the appraisal form, that she wasn't happy and then signed it and gave it back to the supervisor. She was then told that nothing on the appraisal could be changed.
She then informed HR, that she would like a meeting, and had a meeting with a member of HR and her supervisor.
She was basically told that as she had signed the appraisal, she could not question it and that she would have to go on a 3 month "improvement plan".
A week ago, she got in touch with a union, but they told her that if she joined, they could not get someone to represent her on an existing matter - only give advice.
She now feels that the company are trying to force her to resign, by putting immense pressure on her, bot with her workload and the additional stress of the performance plan. She has been told that she will have to "make time" to complete the performance plan - which basically means, spend every lunch hour doing it, stay later at work, or take it home.
She doesn't know what to do, and to be honest this is way out of my scope to give her advice.
Can anyone please help?

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Advice please on appraisal and possible bullying

She has worked for the company for about seven years, and up until last year everything was going fine.
Then the company was taken over, and the attitude of her supervisor changed towards her. She had a really bad appraisal last year, which surprised her, as she was being picked up on very minor things, which were not noticed in other staff.
This year her appraisal has been worse, so I asked her to tell me everything and I would try to give her advice. It seems that the criticism of her is very vague, and when she tries to get exact details, times, places, the supervisor simply waffles and tells her that she cannot do anything to change the appraisal.
The result of the appraisal will have a detrimental effect on her bonus and pay rise.

Just to update on this one.
Following the appraisal, she wrote comments on the appraisal form, that she wasn't happy and then signed it and gave it back to the supervisor. She was then told that nothing on the appraisal could be changed.
She then informed HR, that she would like a meeting, and had a meeting with a member of HR and her supervisor.
She was basically told that as she had signed the appraisal, she could not question it and that she would have to go on a 3 month "improvement plan".
A week ago, she got in touch with a union, but they told her that if she joined, they could not get someone to represent her on an existing matter - only give advice.
She now feels that the company are trying to force her to resign, by putting immense pressure on her, bot with her workload and the additional stress of the performance plan. She has been told that she will have to "make time" to complete the performance plan - which basically means, spend every lunch hour doing it, stay later at work, or take it home.
She doesn't know what to do, and to be honest this is way out of my scope to give her advice.
Can anyone please help?

I recognise the pattern above as that's exactly what happened to me over then years ago (but nothing changes). The department was outsourced and, after 6 years of fairly good appraisals, the last one was dismal for no obvious reason. I even got a letter saying that my bonus for that year would be Ł0.00! :scared: I spoke to HR and had to talk to a German girl who had only been in London for a few months and could barely speak English.

As it turns out, the bad appraisal just paved the ground for a behind the scenes investigation followed by dismissal for alleged gross misconduct. :eek2: :mad2:

I would say she should watch out for things that could be used against her, not necessarily those mentioned on the appraisal. As she's been there 7 years, it won't be that easy to get rid of her just by arguing 'poor performance', :nono: however, there are things that can be used to argue gross misconduct, and they are not necessarily what you would expect. :ohwell:

Not knowing what type of work she does or in what sector it's hard to give examples. In my case, while I was thinking about the negative points highlighted on the appraisal and how ridiculous some of them were - there was one where they said I walked in every morning and started working without 'socialising' or 'waving at the front desk' :scared: - they were investigating me in the background by reading my emails :spy: and looking at my personal drive! There was nothing of significance but they found I'd been posting examples of my design work online and emailing a friend at another bank amongst other things. In the financial sector, that was enough to build a case. :mmph:

In conclusion, once they've made a decision to dispose of someone, it's a matter of "seek and ye shall find".

[andyunderdog]

Re: Advice please on appraisal and possible bullying

Thanks for replying FP, what really seems to be similar in both your case and this lady's, is the ramping up of pressure and allegations (though none of them thus far in this case have alleged misconduct).
I totally agree with your last point, and I fear that minds have been made up at management level. I hate to say it, but in this case I think it is the "age thing", and they simply want everyone in the department to be similar.
I am still trying to emphasise to her the importance of writing everything down, and keeping all Emails.

Andy

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Advice please on appraisal and possible bullying

Thanks for replying FP, what really seems to be similar in both your case and this lady's, is the ramping up of pressure and allegations (though none of them thus far in this case have alleged misconduct).

The word "misconduct" was never mentioned until the disciplinary had been scheduled, I'd been suspended and escorted out of the 'back door'.

The allegations against her are of 'poor performance', which has nothing to do with misconduct, however, they may well be looking for arguments in that direction, they certainly were in my case, obviously without letting me know.

I totally agree with your last point, and I fear that minds have been made up at management level. I hate to say it, but in this case I think it is the "age thing", and they simply want everyone in the department to be similar.

There can be a number of reasons for wanting to get rid of people. At the time of my dismissal in 2003, age discrimination was still legal in the workplace, so this issue never came up. :ohwell:

I am still trying to emphasise to her the importance of writing everything down, and keeping all Emails.

And, I may add, being EXTREMELY CAREFUL with her emails. In this day and age, there's just no reason to use the company email since you can access your personal emails anywhere on phones, tablets, etc. Things were different at the turn of the millennium when webmail was in its infancy and mobiles were just phones. That's why I used the company email system, and it was those emails that were used to find out that I had a website showcasing my designs, amongst other things.

I alerted a friend of mine who was working at another bank and he deleted all his emails (at least the ones to/from me), but they were restored by IT, just one thing to be aware of.

There's also a growing trend for people to get disciplined and sacked as a result of their posts on Facebook, one more thing to keep an eye on.

[andyunderdog]

Re: Advice please on appraisal and possible bullying

Hi FP,
No problem with Facebook and private emails, I understand that she doesn't do those.
I mean't work emails which may be relevant to her cause.

[FlamingParrot]

Re: Advice please on appraisal and possible bullying

Hi FP,
No problem with Facebook and private emails, I understand that she doesn't do those.
I mean't work emails which may be relevant to her cause.

Of course, I just couldn't resist posting a warning, as I was probably one of the first people to get the sack over internet-related 'offences' all those years ago. It's becoming more and more common.

When I was suspended, I sent a SAR and got a whole box full of paper, I mean the equivalent of several reams! However, hardly any of it was of any relevance. I couldn't believe that, after 6 years of employment (and probably 600 arguments :lol, there wasn't a SINGLE email where they had discussed me or said anything negative about me. It was all sanitised.

[andyunderdog]

Re: Advice please on appraisal and possible bullying

Sorry to hear that FP - I just love that last image with the broom, it reminds me of spy/espionage films, where they bump someone off, and then talk about "getting the cleaners in" to mop up the evidence.
It is a little more difficult now, because hard disks can be scanned for erased data, but the best thing is to keep copies on a daily basis, just in case.
On the matter of emails, it does seem as though her supervisor is doing a lot of things verbally, so I have advised her to ask the supervisor to confirm everything with an email.