Leaving the Civil Service

To be fair to your bosses or as you refer to them as "the fat cats" they definitely have their finger on the pulse.

A few posts from you on this thread had shown that.

I make no apologies for being blunt here but I don't think you are in the right mindframe for work of any kind judging by your posts.

Have you thought about going out on sick leave for a while to sort a few things out with yourself and your living situation etc. and then maybe go back to work when you are in a better frame of mind?

fwiw I’m not a civil servant. It’s weird you assume everyone trying to give you advise you won’t take is

I would like to apologise to the public here that I did not go into the details of my bullying publicly here on this public forum. Lets talk about me and my experience here openly then. Lets cross examine me. Ask me what you want. What I was wearing. How I behaved.

Facts are I was yelled appalling abuse in front of colleagues. All my work equipment was stollen from me so I couldn’t work. I was slapped on the back of my head, throw out of my office and told he never wanted to see again when a deadline was approaching so Id miss the deadline. Threw papers and books at me as I was leaving. Consistently saying I was useless. Saying people below my grade could do my work. For months prior to that he had been gaslighting me and removing me from projects. Taking my work and giving it to my Same grade equivalent so it looked like he did it. Leaving me out of team meetings so I looked completely stupid. I asked for his help he wouldn’t give it. After, he would cc’ everyone on the email that he refused to clear and say publicly i made s mistake. If I brainstormed during meetings and offer innovative suggestions he would laugh and cut me off. When I finally qualified as an accountant he snapped. I got better results than him. I dunno. But I am thankful that for that day he threw me out violently as it woke me up. He now has his managerial mates constantly monitoring me if i make the slightest error I get pulled. U go up against one of these guys u go up against them all. He took a dislike to me. I dunno why. Everyday I ask myself why. He made me feel completely worthless with the words he said. Even publicly in front of colleagues. How he would never help, took my computer screen even so I couldn’t work. Constantly saying im useless. When prior to that I have written proof I was excelling. Your man was new he didn’t know the system and can’t handle pressure. Pity its my career that got in his way. All the badmouthing about me. At least thankfully the pmds isn’t just between managers anymore. Someone told me before it used to stay between managers and they could say anything they wanted without proof.

opening a bullying case, people said to me that no one will win out of it. I now see thats true. I relive absolutely every minute detail publicly and I have to go into it again in much more details showing emails and all to HR. My advice if you’re being bullied don’t speak out.

Clearly spoofing.

FFS a wind up

How long has this been going on ?

You should start by recording everything . Write everything down . You have to prove that what is going on is persistent. Only when you have a record indicating inappropriate behaviour against you over a prolonged period of time should you consider a solicitor. Get a solicitor that is not connected in any way to your employment .

Most colleagues won’t support you when it comes down to it as most employees want a quiet life .Most are up to their tits in debt and won’t put their future prospects in jeopardy . Most will support the aggressor . Seen it happen repeatedly .

If you have access to one , become a member of a trade union . Become an active member and let it be known that you are involved.

Go to the media as a last resort . Aside from it probably being against your terms of employment , there are only a few people who you could rely on to give your opinion a fair reporting. Perhaps only one or two in the entire industry.

Best of luck

Thanks caviardreams. That article illustrates my point exactly:

“It found that 7.9 per cent of workers had been bullied. The figure for public sector workers was higher, 10.5 per cent of these workers reported being bullied, compared to 6.9 per cent of private sector workers.”

This study also showed that only 20 per cent of those affected by bullying used a grievance procedure at their place of work, said Ms Connolly.

The sad fact is that most people I know in here who had to deal with bullying and bad management simply left on career break, as was suggested by a previous poster. This would mean that figures are probably way higher than that.

Furthermore, it is hard to make a workplace grievance when management tend to stick together against staff.

If you were assaulted it is a criminal matter. Straight to the Garda and get a good solicitor . From your posts, it seems clear cut as you explain it. Solicitor will probably work pro bono on the basis of payout if you take a civil case.

Slapping some one is not bullying, it’s assault.

if it was me and someone slapped me on the back on the head….I would be ensuring the full extent of the criminal and civil law played out.

Seriously, how are things supposed to improve if only 1 in 5 people can be bothered to engage in the grievance procedure?

If you are being bullied, report it. How else will it get fixed?

@Avenger2020

I've been reading this thread for a while now and I honestly don't know what to say.

Assuming that what you are saying is true, I have a lot of sympathy for you to find yourself in this situation. Does bullying go in the Civil Service? Of course it does (as it does in the private sector). But having worked in the Civil Service for the past 20 years (and the private sector before that) I think the protocols to deal with such matters are far more robust in the Civil Service.

The fact that you are unwilling to raise the issue with your HR or go to your union makes me less sympathetic (especially when making threats to go to the press).

My advice to you is to raise a case with HR (and forget what your colleagues are saying). Your situation is not going to change otherwise. If you tell HR about your situation you will have a good chance of being moved to a different section.

And I know this may seem harsh, but from some of your posts above you are coming across as your own worst enemy.

I genuinely hope things improve for you. But please raise a case with your HR.

The reason for the low uptake of the procedure may be those implementing it . Bullying is endemic in some parts of the PS and CS and it takes many forms , some of which you won’t ever encounter in the private sector . e.g. politicians with batshit crazy proposals that have to be entertained .

. Those tasked with sorting out some of these issues will side with the aggressor .

I agree with some of your take BattleCorp - in some cases (not this thread) employees can report a colleague for bullying just because they don't get their way on a few business decisions or on a policy decision, and claim things like "I suggested X and it got turned down, I'm being bullied". These complaints still need to be investigated and the procedures need to be robust to counter situations where the finger is pointed without there being any bullying. You have to think of cases where an innocent person may be reported wrongfully too because a colleague is jealous or insecure.

It's the flipside of the examples cited in this thread but still happens.