Bullying and Harassment

[akame]

Hi

I worked at a company from April 2015 until the end of January 2016. The first 3 months were as a temp so do not count towards service. I really enjoyed it until a change of director in September. This Director is in a relationship with the Director/owner of the parent company.

In January 2016 this Director turned. This coincided with another employee returning after being diagnosed with a progressive condition. He proceeded to take me task on every little thing, from not answering the phones the way he wanted to creating purchase orders for products that I was asked to by Managers. Every day was a battle. He even moved me to an office on my own (textbook bullying tactic in my opinion). I didn't resign as I wanted time to look for something else. It culminated in my dismissal of not putting the correct info on an invoice and apparently not being about to count stock. The other employee is now doing my old job but he is not an administrator with the experience I have.

I believe this Director wanted me to hand in my notice and when I didn't he dismissed me. He also kept trying to put his arm around me and called me Darling which in my opinion is really not professional. However, I realise that it is his word against mine.

I have rung ACAS but apparently it is not illegal to bully and harass, and can only be added to constructive or unfair dismissal after 2 years service.

After 30 years of working with absolutely no problems I am finding this difficult to cope with. I feel let down and although I have a reference from one of the other Directors who was horrified at what happened, I have no idea what to say when asked Why did you leave .....?

Does anyone have any thoughts on how I can move on? I am shocked, bewildered and getting depressed as the job market seems quiet. It wouldn't have been so bad if I hated the job, but I loved it.

I realise there here are bad employers as well as employees, but any help would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[mariefab]

Re: Bullying and Harassment

The only way to move on is to accept that you can't change what happened and that the responsibility for the disgusting behaviour lies solely with the Director concerned.
Easier said than done, but permitting his behaviour to poison your outlook going forward would hurt only you. Leave it to karma to get his ass.

The underlying reason for your dismissal appears to be that you were surplus to requirements when the employee on sickness absence returned.
Perhaps you could ask the Director who gave you a reference if you could give his details to potential employers and whether he would agree to state the underlying cause as the reason that your employment ended.