Issues with my boss at work.

[Hikaru-chan]

Let me begin by saying that both me and my sister work at the same place but by no means do I stick up for her because are related, I would stick up for anyone of my collegues if I thought they were being treated unfairly.

At work we have a couple of spinning chairs that are there for customers to sit on while they are waiting for their appointment.
A lot of pearents think that they can leave they kids on said chairs while they go shopping elsewere in store, more often than not it results in them spinning really fast on them and knocking the counter were working on or tipping the chair over and hurting themselves leading to their pearents comming over to see why they are now crying and why I wasn't keeping an eye on them.
Today a little girl (about 8-9 years old) comes over to sit down while her mother is shopping elsewere, she starts spinning the chair and holding on to the side of the counter to spin herself faster. The counter I'm refering to has a cupboard attached were we keep all our towels and cotton wool.
My sister goes over to open the cupboard in question to get something out and the little girl decides at that particular moment to grab the counter and get her fingers stuck in the hinge of the door, my sister didn't even realise until the girl did a little moan of apparent pain.
The girls mom now very concerned why her delightful doughter was sobbing (no tears I watched the whole thing) came over to ask what had happened, she had a go at my sister and said to and I quote "next time you get my doughter's fingers caught in the door check if she's okay" at which she replied "your doughter shouldn't be spinning that chair and she should not have stuck her fingers in the door". The lady walks away.
My manager calls my sister over and tells her off for not saying sorry to the little girl, then rudely tells her to get back to her customer, he did this in front of both mine and his customer who both agreed the little girl should have been supervised by the pearent.
He as done this on many different occasion were he will have a go at you in front of customers for the stupidest reasons so the rest of their treatment is uncomfortable cause you're embarrased however say anything sarcastic to him and he tells you "don't speak to me like that, I'm your manager".
I knew for well as soon as I when on my lunch break and he got her on her own he would have a go at her and I was right. I when back on shop floor early to find them rowing and her upset but didn't actually know what he'd said to her. She walked off midway trough argument cause she was about to cry and because I'm getting sick of the way he sometimes treats us I had an argument with him too, I didn't speak another word to him all day neither did my sister.
He left without saying bye, not that he would have got a response and when he left my sister broke down in tears cause he'd said to her she'd done it on purpose, called her a bully and questioned why she's at that job.
I can go in on monday and have another go on him but he's "always right" so it will fall on deaf ears or I can choose to ignore it like we have done for months and put it down to his moodswings.
Thing is he does stuff like this all the time he likes to be the manager but doesn't actually act like one.
He bosses us around telling us to fill up the counter while he dissapears for a cigarette, go of shopfloor without telling you were he's gone but questions were you've been when you've popped of to the toilet, goes on his lunchbreak early and comes back late leaving is clients waiting but as the cheek to tell us of when were late, constantly reminds us we need to sell more but forgets the weeks we we've made a £1000 each, overbooks or double books the appointment book so that you run over on your next client and go home late.

Another thing that fucking gets my back up is that his regular clients get treated differently than ours, they turn up late or don't bother at all and don't get charged a fee and he books out extra time for them so he can have a nice chat with them. Now when is on holiday and I'm managing the bar I end up doing all he's regulars and they expect me to be the same, wait for them to decide when they are gonna turn up, do nail art on them even though I don't do nail art, spend extra time with them when in effect that is not effective business management and in the long run they loose us money.
However if my clients try any of the above there's a issue and please don't get me wrong it's not all of his clients a lot of them are lovely.

Honestly that's only a few thing I can think of off the top of my head but they are tons more and I would be here all week writing about them to the point you would all get bored if you're not already.

Our floor manager and other members off staff are completely unaware of how he treats us and wouldn't believe us if they were told as in front of them he's a sweet as pie so when we end up having an argument it's always the "girls fault".
I cannot speak to my area manager cause of an issue at xmas and I would feel like I'm just being spiteful as I'm pretty sure if I told her he would get a diciplinary if not the sack and I really don't wanna get him the sack as he's not alway like this, he seems to just have off days were he'll pick a fight with you.

I'm going absolutely insane and don't know who to turn to or what to do I don't wanna have to leave my job but can't put up with it any longer.

Sorry about the long post.

 

[gildedangel]

The best thing that I can tell you to do is document this unfair treatment. Try recording his voice yelling at someone, bring evidence, and talk to your manager's boss. If you can't talk to your manager's boss, have another employee do it and go along. The more people that you can get to testify that he is being unfair the better. If you can get 4-5 people at least to do that then his boss is going to realize that something is up. Best of luck to you, I hope that this can be resolved!

 

[Mabelle]

^ exactly. Documnt it. And if you feel like being sassy about it, do it in front of him. Let him know you're keeping tabs on all his horrible comments. When he leaves early for lunch. When he passes work off onto you. When he yells at you in front of customers. etc.
If he asks what your doing, tell him "I think i'm being treated unfairly, and i'm taking note of it."
If someone is there to witness it, write down who. I'm sure you and your sister are not the only ones that are treated like this, if a few of you start doing this it might make him realize that he's being a jerk. You may not even have to report him.

 

[crystalclear]

Documenting everything is probably a good idea, how your boss decides to run everything regarding clients may be a bit harder to deal with but when it come to dealing with the kids there a number of issues.
Unless your specific job description states that you are required to look after the kids dumped there by the parents while they shop, you have no duty to watch them only that you don't harm them (as required by the ordinary law). Your work might not be insured to have them there and if any of them get injured on the premises it could be bad financially, your boss should either tell parents that unless they are in getting one of the companies services there children should not be there and if they are left call the (if it is a shopping centre etc) security guards or whoever deals with missing kids and get them to deal with the kids and get the parents to collect them. Unless you can be sure who is who anyone can walk in and grab them and to be honest only an idiot would leave them alone with strangers. The names Madelieine McCann and James Bulger (although neither of them were left alone in public - which just goes to show how easy it is for them to be taken) should have been enough to frighten parents into looking after their kids and leaving them with a proper day care facility with staff with an enhanced CRB check. You should make clear to your boss that you do not want to( nor do you have the responsibility to ) watch children that are not there with the parents and he should back you up on that and put a notice up saying that children left there will be handed over to security, the police etc. To be honest I would have told that woman that if she'd actually been a responsible parent she wouldn't have abandoned her child there whilst she goes shopping. People like that annoy me no end they think the whole world is there to act as some sort of babysitter and must be responsible when there little darlings misbehave and get hurt because they certainly aren't taking responsibility. A tribunal would almost certainly agree there, if it got to that otherwise try to ensure that you have as many witnesses as possible when dealing with him he certainly sounds unreasonable and you shouldn't have to tolerate it . Good luck

 

[Hikaru-chan]

Quote:

Originally Posted by crystalclear Documenting everything is probably a good idea, how your boss decides to run everything regarding clients may be a bit harder to deal with but when it come to dealing with the kids there a number of issues. Unless your specific job description states that you are required to look after the kids dumped there by the parents while they shop, you have no duty to watch them only that you don't harm them (as required by the ordinary law). Your work might not be insured to have them there and if any of them get injured on the premises it could be bad financially, your boss should either tell parents that unless they are in getting one of the companies services there children should not be there and if they are left call the (if it is a shopping centre etc) security guards or whoever deals with missing kids and get them to deal with the kids and get the parents to collect them. Unless you can be sure who is who anyone can walk in and grab them and to be honest only an idiot would leave them alone with strangers. The names Madelieine McCann and James Bulger (although neither of them were left alone in public - which just goes to show how easy it is for them to be taken) should have been enough to frighten parents into looking after their kids and leaving them with a proper day care facility with staff with an enhanced CRB check. You should make clear to your boss that you do not want to( nor do you have the responsibility to ) watch children that are not there with the parents and he should back you up on that and put a notice up saying that children left there will be handed over to security, the police etc. To be honest I would have told that woman that if she'd actually been a responsible parent she wouldn't have abandoned her child there whilst she goes shopping. People like that annoy me no end they think the whole world is there to act as some sort of babysitter and must be responsible when there little darlings misbehave and get hurt because they certainly aren't taking responsibility. A tribunal would almost certainly agree there, if it got to that otherwise try to ensure that you have as many witnesses as possible when dealing with him he certainly sounds unreasonable and you shouldn't have to tolerate it . Good luck

When I mean shopping elsewere, they are usually on another counter testing make-up or looking at hair products in the salon next to us but they are still within the same store, they just can't be bothered to actually keep an eye on their kids but when they get injurad it somehow our fault cause we should have been watching them, WTF I have a job and it's not babysitting their kids how am I supposed to see what they are doing if I'm doing someones nails.
We do sometimes tell them to get off or get the perents to get them off the chairs however it's not consistent especially with him, he only gets off the older kids who are there to make a row or shout abuse at staff, I personally think if you don't have an appointment with us you shouldn't be seated in our waiting area.
From now on regardless of how busy I am I'm gonna move on anyone who parks their butt on those chair and hasn't got an appointment, he can think and do whatever he likes.

 

[atwingirl]

The OP have offered you excellent advice. If parents allow their own children to roam a shop, a keen eye should be kept on them at all times. Not only for their own safety but for helping you maintain a professional atomospehre inside your shop. It is a place of business, not a romper room or daycare facility. I have seen too many parents bring their children to hair and nail salons and allow them to misbehave. Watching these kids puts their hands all over everything, spin in chairs(as you mentioned) and annoy other patrons is disrespectful. A woman usually choses to treat herself to a manicure/pedicure as a respute from a tough day or a weekly luxury item/escape. The salon I go to salon allows children in the waiting area but does not allow them any further. There are also signs posted, alerting parents of the salon's policy of keeping children attended to. Perhaps this is something you could mention to your manager, in a helpful non-threating manner!
As for the "manager to employee" relationship, this is often a difficult and tentative area to address. Some companies are very strict when it comes to policies of following a manager's positions on running things. Where it begins to become troublesome or dicey is when an employee begins to question his authority/policies too much. It can start to look like a vendetta. Many managers receive their orders or policies from the "powers that be" or your area manager as you mentioned. This can anger upper management and paint you in an unflattering light as a trouble maker. After all, you are ultimately questioning the very policies/rules/procedures of the person(area manager) that you want in your corner! So tread very gently here. Echoing wholeheartedly what the other posters wrote, document every instance. Any instance that you believe is unsafe, goes against company policy, late instances, unprofessionalism, etc. for a period of time. Also ask your sister and any other neutral co-worker who you can trust to keep one as well. This can benefit you in providing a clear document that establishes the patterns you have mentioned.
Be patient and try to keep your cool! Many people work for bosses that they consider to be unfair and hard to get along with. I found, with my job, that if I listened and tried to say as little as possible(sometimes people really just want to bait you and start an argument), a difficult boss ultimately respects good, hard work. Concentrate on your tasks at hand and hopefully your days will get easier. I am by no means saying you should allow him to bully you but you will need to get a strategy together first if you really want to make a positive change in your workplace. You have a strong ally in your corner, your sister! I am sure he views you two as a team, he might find that more difficult or challenging to manage so you may be feeling the burden of that as well.
I wish you great luck and much patience! Keep us posted

 

[Hikaru-chan]

Thing his he's not following company procedures, not all the time anyways and if my area manager found out she'd hit the roof.
They (my manager and area manager) don't get on and if I told her everything what happened there I'm pretty sure they would be grave consequences for him.
It's annoying cause most the time he's okay and get on fine but then if he has an "off day" we all suffer the cosequences for it.

 

[cazgh]

This is a very difficult one for sure. It is best to say something - you never know they may be waiting or someone to say something so that something can be done and if they ask all of the other people who work there they will all likely say the same thing. Trouble is most people don't act like this its just a very small percentage and he might not take it too well and end up having it in for you - or he might leave and things could get better. Either way its probably going to effect how well you sleep if your a worryer like me.

Its a nightmare to be in this situation - I really hoope it gets better for you - shame but there's always been one complete jerk in every place I;ve ever worked and more often than not for some reason, its the so called 'boss'.

Sending you hugs from me anyway!!