work problem-all advice appreciated

LegacyUser

Hi all.
I'm writing on behalf of my girlfriend. Sorry for the long winded post, but I would appreciate any information here. I'll start from the beginning.

My girlfriend applied for a job in a small family run fashion store in a city center. They were so impressed with her that they actually offered the position of store manager while the owner was away in another country for 2 months, thus giving her sole responsibility of the store. So with 1 weeks training, she took over the running of the store. At the time, it had all the signs of a poorly run store. Staff were coming into work poorly dressed and late by 10 minutes. One person in particular was leaving before her shift was over.

Within 2 weeks, all staff were coming in well dressed and 5 minutes early. There was the single exception-one woman was not having a woman 25 years younger than her giving her orders. My gf asked to talk to her in private and she started to make a scene in the store. It came to a head when the woman attempted to go home 15 min early. My gf asked her where she was going and she just walked out the door. The next day, she quit. The person in question was not a model employee and the owners partner felt it was probably better that she left anyways. The girl that replaced her was exceptional, and during the 2 months the owner was gone, everything worked like clockwork-sales were way up, the store won awards and staff were happy. Before my gf took over, the store would consistently pay the staff late, sometimes they would get pay the Wednesday of the following week!

About a month ago, the owner returned from her 2-month business trip. She was delighted at how the shop looked and everyone was taken out to dinner in recognition of the awards won.

Then, everything started to fall apart. The owner then decided that she was going to come back as a full-time employee. Pretty much straight away, things started to revert back to the messy old ways, despite my gfs best efforts. There is very little a manager can do when the owner is set in her ways.

Anyways, as the days passed, my gf noticed that she was getting alot of abuse for things completely out of her control. For example, an outside contractor were supposed to deliver a garment on a particular morning and they didn't. My gf was shouted at because of this. On 2 other occasions, the computer crashed upstairs while the owner was using it, and the owner came down stairs and blamed my gf (crazy as it seems, it happened). The owner constantly put my gf down with petty actions. For example, my gf was asked by the owner to redo the H+S statement which was inadequate. They were very happy with it. One day, my gf was in the office, and to her bemusement, she noticed the old crumpled H+S had been crudely stuck over my gfs statement.

After putting up with about a month of this, my gf decided to speak up for herself. She said the she didnt appreciate being blamed for all the things that had nothing to do with her. The owner told her that the computer was her fault and she had a problem with dealing with staff (referring to the woman who walked out). My gf asked if she believed her version of events, and the owner said she didn't know.

That was the beginning of the end. After taking enough crap one day after a particularly crude comment, my girlfriend told the owner that "you realise you cannot speak to me like that" to which the owner replied "yes, I can. I'm your boss" in a smug tone.

My gf then tried to list the different ways she was being disrespected but the owner didnt want to hear it. My gf also officially asked the owner to hear her grievances, and the owner declined.

Sick of this, my gf decided not to speak to the owner, and when the owner asked to speak with her, my gf stated that she wanted a representative to witness it and nominated the owners partner. The owner said that he had no interest in it. My gf said that unless she gets a represenattive, she doesnt want to talk and she doesnt have to take the abuse she has been getting. the owner replied that she didnt as she now has her notice.

So, no written warning, no verbal warning, my gf was fired for asking to get representation. We have asked several times for a reason why my gf was fired, and we still have not heard a reason.

2 days ago, my gf got a less than glowing written reference, and I can only imagine what type of telephone reference she will give.

The owner has shown all the signs that she is going to make it hard my my gf to get another job based on her references. Its my gf first job as a manager so that reference is vital to her career.

My gf has been shattered by all this. She is getting anxiety attacks, she is panickey and nervous about everything now, far from the girl I knew.

I am so close to bring all this to a solicitor and see what they make of it. Employment law gives her very little help as she wasnt employed for a full year. But from a bullying point of view, she may have a case.

After reading this, I'd love to know what people thing. Should we just forget about it (how???) or should we get press ahead and bring in a solicitor?

I have tried to be as fair as I can regarding the description of events, but I'm full of rage about how my girl was treated. Inside, I'd love to use every legal way to take that woman down a peg or two.

doolox

Has she witnesses of the events described? Supporting documentation?
With them she has a very strong case for unfair dismissal. Without them she has nothing and the owner will always win in that case.
In her next job she should always make sure she has documented everything she does and get it signed off and witnessed as she goes along.
Also she should work for a company big enough to have some reasonable person in power who can act as an ally in situations like this.
Small firms are notoriuosly variable in their treatment of staff and of the quality of staff training development. You have a better chance of redress of grieviances and disputes in a bigger company in my opinion.
It may be the case that she tried to do too much improvement at once, got up everybodies noses and made enemies in wrong places. All too often older people will use contacts and people they know to combat change and keep to well worn practices even if they are bad for a company.Your gf needs to learn to read a situation and find out where the real power lies in any organisation she is proposing to change.
If the staff behaviour was as bad as she says it was it is very likely that this will be taken into account by other stores in the area. They may conclude that any reference or opinion expressed by the owner is coloured by insecurity and jealousy and may actually hire her in spite of a bad ref.
It all depends on who she meets and how she presents her experience, minimising emotion and bitterness but emphasising her ability to change and improve things for the better.

gerrycollins

it complicated because she was there less than a year. my best advice chat to an employment solicitor it wont cost anything for an informal first chat.

as she was there less that a year the employer is not obliged to give reason for her dismissal.

as for bullying, that where the solicitor comes in.

Darragh29

A lot of what you posted there OP is resonating with me. I had a very very similar situation a few years ago, where I ended up working in a company with an absolutely hopeless manager who was more intent on causing problems on an hourly basis than anything else.

Unfortunately when you get involved in family businesses, this can often happen. My best advice to you is to draw a line under the whole experience and with the capabilities she has demonstrated to herself, leaving aside the idiots she has been working for, she will easily get a job, even if the reference she gets is poor.

I can tell you that HONEST decent hard working staff are EXTREMELY hard to come by, especially where cash is involved. These situations tend to happen for a reason, in this case, your girlfriend has proven without a shadow of a doubt to herself, that her own abilities are sound and marketable.

If I was hiring for a job and your girlfriend came in and said that she not just operated a store for months while the owner was away but also converted it from a negative workplace into a positive one, she would be hired immediately. If I asked why she left the last job and she said she couldn't successfully continue to fulfill her role because the owner didn't tolerate progress or appreciate staff, I'd be inclined to accept that.

wmpdd3

I agree, I often have to ring for references and many owner / managers family run completely hang them selves getting personal and giving way too much info, sometimes with no back up!
I always ring at least 3 referees and if that's not possible I'll get them to work in the job for 2 hours, this usually proves how good somebody is.

AARRRGH

This first thing I will say is your girlfriend has a good future in front of her. She sounds like a competent, smart employee and things are going to work out very well for her. So she needs to start looking to her bright future instead of her unpleasant recent past!

The owner sounds like a psycho. I'm assuming your girlfriend was still on probation so she doesn't have much comeback I'm afraid. As you may know, Irish employment law only protects people who have been working for the same employer for more than 12 months. I reckon the best thing to do is to forget about it and move on.

If I were your girlfriend I'd make a short presentation about thing she implemented to get the shop working well. For example, how she tackled sloppy dress, time keeping, etc. and use that in her next interview to show how she is a good manager. I would also perhaps claim to still work for the old employer, so they won't get used as a reference...

InReality

Have a chat with a solicitor, you can get clear advice from them.
Your gf did nothing wrong and everything right.
The "I'm your boss" attitude described is sadly more possible in small companies where they don't think HR law doesn't apply to them.
I think its also often the case that owners can't "let go" of a business and end up micormanaging staff and in the worst cases doing what happened in your case.
Might be worth reading about just so your gf can see that none of what happened was her fault.

Best of luck in the future.