A toxic workplace

Reflections.

‘The silver lining is you no longer work there, at least you were only there for 3 months (Union rep).

A blessing in disguise.

When I first got fired after a long couple of weeks with an employer I would rather erase from my memory I was fuming that they had the guts to treat me in such a despicable manner. However, my union rep is absolutely right the best thing that happened is they let me go so I could exhale, I could be free, and be my happy sweet-natured, courageous positive self fully again.

To be honest the saddest thing is they let go of me. I should have fired them by quitting. Sometimes we get so caught up in routine and the financial perks we forget there are many other jobs where you don’t have to sacrifice your dignity, self-respect, and most of all your voice. No one should be able to disrespect anyone in a bad manner. The shock to me is at a certain age and even more disgracefully women are bullying women.

I had 3 main female boss culprits and the Hr director is just dire.

I got sent a teams message in a chat with a male Co-worker accusing me of being so distracted I couldn’t work because she had been watching me for half an hour or more ( in the words of Jesus, take the pluck out your own eye is necessary here) and I had been watching him the whole time. This is the manager who can take 3 days to respond to an urgent email but if its whose watching who, and she’s sitting 2 seats away and she cannot be bothered to speak before she watches for 30 minutes or more, then it’s all good. That’s just one example. Things other people would get away with her and her deputy, the other big sister ‘ always watching’ specifically me would send cryptic emails which were quite frankly petty and ridiculous.

 Then there was the business manager who was disappointed in me because she couldn’t type out the correct email address, and she had already cc’d me into an email so I shouldn’t have cc’d her when I hadn’t done the email because I was covering the account which I told deputy watcher to help me with. Yet surprise surprise she couldn’t properly help with that, but if it was watching me she’s on the case. The Hr director was also another interesting one with her fake suspensions, asking for ‘proof of my union membership’ to apparently help me and telling me its unacceptable to ask clients for feedback. Not to mention she would shout out name pronunciations when she felt I wasn’t pronouncing them right. 

Then she had the nerve to say, clients, suppliers, Co-workers, and business managers thought I had an inappropriate tone and a bad attitude, you cannot make it up. Look at the pots calling the kettle black. I suppose since the Hr director Parades her 15 years of Hr experience as if it’s an achievement comparable to Einstein, Martin Luther King, Alan Turing ( Father of modern computing) and Julius Ceaser and deputy, ops manager ( I saw you looking at a boy) and business manager think them being managers is an achievement comparable to being a Noble prize winner and Boudicca ( the Celtic queen who fought against the Roman empire) so they have the power to do as I say not as I do. The Hr director would cite her 15 years of experience like her crown has been on her head longer than Queen Elizabeth the second. 

Humility is a wonderful thing. For a profitable company with clients in sectors that definitely would not appreciate what goes on in their offices and still growing, I expected better, but sometimes boy glass door can lie. That 4 + rating must be a joke if you count the turnover, the overworked staff, and the firings based on ‘ bad fits’ who don’t get along with managers like those above even if their performance is on fire and they build strong relationships with clients and suppliers, just because some managers think they are goddesses and their word is the law they have to get rid of any challenge to their bad behaviour. 

Even when I was referred by 111 to my Gp for the morning, and after Hr’s so-called suspension she said during suspension I could come in at any time for meetings plus, damn right I said I was coming in the next day when they blocked me off all systems for my pay, but as the day went on as someone who suffers with anxiety my anxiety got worse and the medical professionals said I needed to be referred to my doctor. So I don’t know whether the Hr lady thinks she’s Hera, wife of Zeus, to make the comment’ you said you will be coming in’,  The  ‘goddess of knowledge’  failed to realise the afternoon is also part of work hours and I could certainly be rescheduled. However in the end I stood up and managed to get my appointment while still doing my grievance and probation meeting. I was accused of being a danger to the company but get this she was too busy telling me about how since I haven’t worked for two years Acas and my union will even tell me I have no right to unfair dismissal and that’s that to ask for the company, laptop, keys, badges, etc after she told me to leave. 

That’s why my union rep said in the long term would you want to work for such an employer? A girl should have quit! 

Anyway, as I went through that. My co-workers kept mute. Now some of them don’t bother responding to me or sending me professional cut-off answers. That’s another lesson I learned no one at work, no matter how cool you are, will stand up for you, even when wrong is being done. That’s why I’m part of a union. I told the rail strikers when I went to support them. I wouldn’t care what anyone says about me in the media that’s negative if you lose your job, they won’t feed you. If you don’t get paid they won’t feed you. To be honest, your union is the only one defending right now. I’m so glad Acas and my union stood by me. 

I’m so lucky otherwise I would have been standing alone against these corrupt people without them. It’s good to have lovely friends around you. They’ve picked me up and carried me. Lucky for me I had people who had my back. I would suggest everyone join a union. I picked one known to be quite active, which believes in strike action when necessary. There are so many picks for the right one for you. I would go with quite a vocal one cause you want an organisation bold to stand behind you. Acas is also amazing and so is the information commissioner if the company doesn’t want to deal with your information properly.

A huge weight has been off my shoulders since I left. I didn’t realise how stressed and overworked I was. I dealt with so many emergencies over the 3 months with one of my clients and the sad part is I built great relationships with some of them and suppliers and I didn’t get to say goodbye, I wonder what’s happening to the ones bonded with. One of my coworkers was one of my trainers cause you to know miss boss and deputy had their own thing going on. He was always willing to help, unfortunately, he was on holiday when the whole thing happened and I couldn’t say goodbye. Another co-worker who really helped me when I was stuck was the one I couldn’t work with when talking to him because ‘he’s lovely to look at’ according to one manager. Some of the others helped me from time to time but at the end of the day somewhere too busy with their own stuff which to be honest, they did have a lot on their plate. However, if some people want to foster a rubbish environment for people to work in and don’t want to listen to feedback people will continue to quit and they will continue to fire so-called ‘bad fits’ aka people they don’t like. 

I’m proud to be a bad fit for this organisation because I’m the opposite of those calling me a bad fit. Then I’m one heck of a person!! I never internalized it as me. PS I had a great time at the work party. Thanks to one of my Co workers for the lift. I’m a grateful soul and being. I am shocked at what happened because I expect better from people but hey that’s life. 

Onwards and upwards,  I am going to be getting some therapy. I wrote this to put heal. Thank you, reader.