Archive for July, 2009
July 31st, 2009Getting Even With Your Boss For Not Following The Rules
This is one of my favorite, sneakiest ways to get even with a pissy boss – the company’s own employee manual. It can be used as ammunition against your boss because even the boss man — or boss bitch — must follow the rules.
Chances are better than none if you were given a company employee manual when you were hired, you stuffed it in the bottom drawer of your desk and never looked at it again. Well, it’s time to get it out. If you don’t have one, go to HR and get it. Then take it home and read it. I know. It’s boring as hell and the rules are unfair and a bit Gestapo-like. Often times employee manuals overstate what’s required by law, sort of a “we really mean it so you better not try doing any of this crap”. In being “so complete” they may be hanging themselves. Cool! Embrace it because you may be able to spin them around to work in your favor.
The key to reading and enjoying it — yes, I did say enjoying it — is to pretend your going on an Easter egg hunt. Many bosses don’t know their own company policies and procedures and you’re going to make turn that disadvantage into your advantage. If the manager fails to follow what is outlined in those company rules, it can be held against him. Hunt down as many of those violations as you can. Your goal is to turn the rules around and to one day use them against your manager to prove he’s vindictive and out to get you and violated company policy to do it.
Here’s an example: Your manager says “you have to clock in my 7:00 am or you’ll be fired, but there is no such thing listed in the employee manual. Even though company policy is not employment law, in court it will make your manager look like he’s out to get you and can show purposeful, discriminatory intent.
If the manager takes some sort of action and it violates company policy, make sure you document what happened. Keep records of his violations with the who, what, where, when, and why. Keep a diary and keep it off site and at home. Do it on your computer if you have one. Just open up a Word document and make your entry. Then print out a hard copy and stick it in a binder. Wouldn’t hurt to back it up on an SD card or USB thumb drive, too.
Back in the day when I was working, my company manual said we were all part of the same team. We were required to work together as such and to treat each other with respect. One day I was starting a new project. It was a massive software conversion from client/server applications to web based. I received an email from my boss saying to give it my best shot. He had confidence in me because I’ve done conversions twice before, but never to web based. So he said if I ever need help with some of the web stuff to go ask “Skank”. Obviously, that’s not her real name, but she was one.
So nearing the very end of the project that had gone on for about a year, in my annual evaluation my boss said that I was pawning off work on her. I was livid. I had single handedly completed that project by myself and only went to her when I was truly having problems with the web stuff, but never to do the work, only to get guidance.
I had years and years of excellent reviews with large raises and bonuses, then suddenly I got a “needs improvement”. Funny thing is, it was also after having a new director who didn’t like me. There was also a pattern of laying off the women in the company. I was being squeezed out. They were looking for a way to get rid of me. It was just one of many, many incidences.
Had I known all I know today from reading Work Laws Exposed, I would NOT have signed on the dotted line for that enhanced severance package when I got laid off. Instead, I would have gone straight to the EEOC and filed discrimination, disability harassment, and retaliation complaints. But I didn’t know. I had no idea I could get even. When I read Work Laws Exposed it was like reading my own employment history. The things my company got away with for all those years were illegal and they knew it. That’s why they made me agree not to sue them if they gave me that severance package.
Even if you have the slightest gut feeling that something’s going down at work, but you don’t know what to do about it, I urge you to get Work Laws Exposed.
Disclaimer: I am not an attorney and I am not providing legal advice. This article is being provided for information and should not be relied on.
July 28th, 2009
The time to start building a case against your boss is before trouble happens. One of the best ways to do this is with documentation. It can give you a gold mine of hard, cold, physical proof of wrong doing.
I’m sure you’ve heard it before, never say anything in an email that you wouldn’t say in public. Bosses are no exception and they get sloppy with what they put in writing. Often times your boss is pissed off and makes threats without first thinking it through. Emails can be full of knee-jerk reactions and bad blood when tempers are flaring — illegal, discriminating things. The types of things that make the company attorneys cringe.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly…
…but not necessarily in that order.
The Ugly
I say let those bosses have their rants like the sissy little girls they are, but never stoop down to their level by replying back with something you shouldn’t be saying in an email. Keep your cool because it can come back to bite you or hopefully your boss, in this case. Why? Because you’re going to save that vile email for future use as an email can show criminal intent in court. Forward the email off-site to your own private email account, not your work email.
Before hastily replying to one of these emails with a knee-jerk reaction of your own, take some time to think your response through, overnight if necessary. Play nice. Always write as if it will be publicly viewed. When you do reply, bcc your private email account so you have a record of it.
The Good
However, there is also a very important flip side to this. You must also document the good emails, the ones that praise you and pat you on the back for a job well done. You want to establish that you are a good employee. It’s also going to be critical in helping to pinpoint where the wheels fell off the cart.
The Bad
Even the bad emails need to be saved. The ones that show where your boss chastised you for screwing up. Your boss may bring it up in court in an attempt to show that you can’t do your job. Not to worry because you’re also going to document where you fixed the problem and show that it was a one-time occurrence, rather than a pattern of neglect and incompetence.
July 12th, 2009Manager Subjected Women to Hostile Work Environment, Federal Agency Charged
SAN ANTONIO — A Fredericksburg, Texas restaurant will pay $50,000 to settle a sexual harassment and retaliation lawsuit filed by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the agency announced today.
The EEOC alleged in its suit that Winslow’s Restaurant’s male general manager engaged in sexual harassment of women employees, which occurred on a regular basis. The abuse included offensive touching of women as well as crude sexual statements and requests for sexual favors, the EEOC charged. Despite efforts by two female employees to report the harassment to the owners, the owners failed to take prompt and effective corrective action and instead allowed the general manager to engage in retaliatory conduct against the two women. The reprisals included a demotion and the reduction of hours which resulted in less pay, the EEOC said. Moreover, these two affected employees felt forced to leave the job because of the intolerable working conditions arising from the sexual harassment and retaliation.
Sexual harassment and retaliation for complaining about it violate Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The EEOC filed suit after first attempting to reach a voluntary settlement.
On May 12, 2009, the consent decree settling the suit was signed by Judge Lee Yeakel of U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas, Austin Division. In addition to providing $50,000 for the victims and enjoining Winslow’s Restaurant from engaging in sexual harassment and retaliation, the consent decree mandates that the restaurant adopt and implement an effective sexual harassment policy, train its employees on the requirements of Title VII, and post a notice in the workplace of its intent to fully comply with that law.
“Employers who ignore complaints of harassment show a tremendous disregard both for the law and for the employees whom the law seeks to protect,” said Eduardo Juarez, senior trial attorney of the EEOC’s San Antonio Field Office. “When they not only fail to correct the situation but also punish the complainers, they’re only compounding their own unlawful conduct. The EEOC will continue to fight for the rights of those who suffer this kind of abuse.”
In Fiscal Year 2008, 13,867 sexual harassment charges were filed with the EEOC and state or local agencies nationwide, an increase of 11 percent from the prior year and the highest level since FY 2002.
The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination. Further information about the EEOC is available on the agency’s web site at www.eeoc.gov.
