Whats wrong with my boss, is he normal?

planter

First of all I am grateful for my job and would have left by no if I didn't need it. I am in agreement with my colleagues that my boss is the most horrible I have ever worked for. He is the boss it is his company, but before I go insane I want to check whether the following is normal for a boss and I should put up with it or go about leaving.

- He doesn't read emails and I quote 'nobody has the right to have their emails read' which is a problem as he has us working from home a couple of days a week.
- He is constantly frustrated and talks in strained tones
- Belittles us constantly
- Shouts in rages in the office, sometimes in front of clients at us
- Criticizes staff to other staff behind their backs, he doesn't seem to know we all, except him, have a good working relationship and talk.
- He hires people one week, fires them the next, he doesnt train them or give them a chance, I doubt he even looks at their credentials for the role, the ones of us who stay seem to be the ones with thick skins
- Offers no training or direct criticism to help us develop to work the way he wants
- He hoards work, we complete the work up to a level we are trained, it then goes to him (the professional, lets say Lawyer) to complete and he's like a brick wall. It takes clients complaining for months and finally a refund before he finally gets on with it.
- He is never to blame, it's always an external organisation or us staff, I have been in meetings and seen hundreds of letters to clients where he's blamed a staff member when they have had nothing to do with it, and he is the one who hasn't done the work he is paid to do.
- Our roles have been reduced to glorified receptionists, as he hoards the work all we can do is say 'I will remind him'... 'i will find out for you'... and then when he ignores us and doesn't do anything we are made to face the clients like a buffer and suffer the sh*te
- he treats client funds like his personal account, most clients don't realise that the company hasn't paid this out on their behalf and on the chance they do find out it takes them months, even years of complaining and demanding action and then eventually a refund to prompt action, which usually is paying the money as originally directed and telling them other people caused the delay and we got the result. I fear the company has taken over €100k in client funds in the last few years that is hasn't paid out as instructed but nobody knows because he doesn't allow use access to the accounts or give us the ability to issue refunds. We have a long list of clients complaining for action or their money back, I know from history that they never will get it, the man is a brick wall and most give up.
- Somehow this man maintains a professional image in the community and for reasons I do not know the company pulls in a lot of cash
- Last but not least, we haven't been paid on time for years, i assume this ties in with him feeling we do not doing anything.

Aside from the criminality of the last point, I just want to know if this is normal, moral is rock bottom and we all feel like rubbish from being trodden down constantly. Or is it us? Should we appreciate him the way he is and try and bend more to his will.

Oink

planter wrote: »

- He doesn't read emails and I quote 'nobody has the right to have their emails read' which is a problem as he has us working from home a couple of days a week.

Either email is an accepted means of communication in your company, and should be used professionally. Or it's not, and should not be used.

You know what, I am not even going to comment on the rest. He clearly has monumental issues which we don't even need to start listing, and I am not even joking.

This kind of unadulterated bullying will eventually wreak havoc with your mental health.

Someone else will be able to tell you where to get help, how to take him down. But in the name of everything that's holy, TAKE HIM DOWN! He is handing you his head on a plate.

lollpop

If you decide to approach him (and i think you should) then you need to have specific examples of his behaviour. So rather than generic things you need to say (e.g.) at 2.42 on X date, Y happened and that's a problem because....

Specific examples that he needs to account for.

Rubberchikken

Apart from the fact that i think he's breaking the law with some of the things you listed, he sounds like a bully, coward, moron, idiot. Take your pick.
Or else he's mentally ill and unable to deal with running a business properly.

Tbh i'd be looking for another job

PLUG71

Ditto my boss is a nightmare too in very much the same way!

?Cee?view

planter wrote: »

it then goes to him (the professional, lets say Lawyer)

planter wrote: »

- he treats client funds like his personal account, most clients don't realise that the company hasn't paid this out on their behalf and on the chance they do find out it takes them months, even years of complaining and demanding action and then eventually a refund to prompt action, which usually is paying the money as originally directed and telling them other people caused the delay and we got the result. I fear the company has taken over €100k in client funds in the last few years that is hasn't paid out as instructed but nobody knows because he doesn't allow use access to the accounts or give us the ability to issue refunds. We have a long list of clients complaining for action or their money back, I know from history that they never will get it, the man is a brick wall and most give up.

If he is a lawyer and he is meddling with client funds as described, you need to leave. You cannot be a party to this. If he is a solicitor, he will be caught eventually.

emeldc

If he shouts at, belittles and criticizes his staff, how come someone hasn't decked him yet?

InReality

No its not normal. I thought I had a few bad bosses , but none were anything like that. Can you report him on the client funds thing ?

Pat Mustard

?Cee?view wrote: »

If he is a lawyer and he is meddling with client funds as described, you need to leave. You cannot be a party to this. If he is a solicitor, he will be caught eventually.

Absolutely.

This guy is toast.

Get out, while the getting is good.

Larbre34

Just a suggestion.

I agree with the above - get out before he is on the front page of the local newspaper.

He will bring all of you down with him.

Mrs OBumble

?Cee?view wrote: »

If he is a lawyer and he is meddling with client funds as described, you need to leave. You cannot be a party to this. If he is a solicitor, he will be caught eventually.

From the OP, I'm guessing he is not a lawyer, but is some kind of registered professional (accountant, valuer, etc).

I agree with the other posts.

But I am wondering - if the OP has evidence that client funds are being misappropriated, does s/he have any legal or professional obligation to report this to either the regulatory body, or to civil authorities? My instinct says "yes", though I don't have any links to back it up.


Also - the only vaguely normal thing in the post is the point about email. I had a boss like that once: every so often, if the box got too full he would just delete everything, and take the view that if it was important, they'd be in touch again. Very poor attitude, but you just have to never use email to communicate with him.

gugleguy

Am I right in thinking your boss OP was born before 1970 because he sounds like he was the way he deals with email.It seems he only wants to know what he needs to know about IT in general. He is projecting his deficiency in computer literacy out on the rest of you. Think of number one her OP yourself.

InReality

Apparently the only people charlie haughey used to respect were people that shouted back at him or were aggressive back to him in some way.

So if you had a new job sorted , and didn't care what happened you could try that as a social experiment ..

planter

Thanks for the replies, yes hes pre- 1970 although he loves technology and implementing the latest changes, but then can't work them and so they're faulty (not him). He is not a lawyer, but in that sort of professional category. I am not sure of my legal obligation to blow the whistle. I don't have proof in the sense that the company accounts and bank accounts are off limits, the reason we know is because the 'companies' we are supposed to be paying funds too on the clients behalf are sending reminders (to put it mildly) to the clients who are then complaining to us. I keep a log of all complaints and know clients have paid us roughly €100k which 3rd parties haven't seen a cent of, and these are just the ones who I know of. Other than the log, I am not sure I have 'proof', of course a Revenue audit would put an end to that.

I have confronted him on many occasions, the more you push him to do the right thing, the more he passively aggressively undermines me in the office, like I mentioned I was initially a junior professional now pretty much a receptionist.

Anyway, thanks again, I know for certain I need to look for a new job and then I will go about getting some justice for his clients. Unfortunately, such men always seem to get away with it, hide behind a limited company and start again somewhere.

planter

emeldc wrote: »

If he shouts at, belittles and criticizes his staff, how come someone hasn't decked him yet?

because he exclusively hires middle aged woman, seems to be his target demographic

emeldc

planter wrote: »

because he exclusively hires middle aged woman, seems to be his target demographic

Right, thought as much. Daily laxatives in his tea maybe? :rolleyes:




Mod-note: I know your're being funny, but am pretty sure there are laws about this sort of thing - please don't suggest it. boards.ie doesn't need the legal bills.

planter

excellent choice

Picasso711

He sounds like an A1 Gob****e.....

Icepick

You may be accessory to fraud if you don't report him.

Running Balance

Icepick wrote: »

You may be accessory to fraud if you don't report him.

yeah ditto on this. You may need to raise any potential money laundering issues with person assigned this role.

BeerSteakBirds

OP ,


If your boss is committing a serious crime or any crime at all then consider his prior history of blaming staff for everything. He might be smarter than he looks or be sufficiently cute enough to drag your name through the mud for years in a long drawn out court case with no clear result at the end of it. Since he is old already he might enjoy spending the money now and figure he will get sympathy from a judge when he is in his 80s. He might have the paperwork sorted out to make it look like you did it or to cause enough suspicions about it. Get out of there asap and make your concerns known to somebody.

maybe theres a case for constructive dismissal or some form of compensation also in how he treats staff ? you should make a tape of him someday and play it back for your own sanity to a neutral impartial outsider so u can verify to yourself that its not all in your head.