Disciplinary Meeting

[Boriyako]

I work as a salaried driver for a small charity organisation.

I was informed this evening by my line manager that he "needs to meet with me before work starts tomorrow".

I asked why and could we not talk now. He replied that he could not say anything else now as he needs to meet with one of the shop managers prior to our meeting.

Some background:

The organisation has 16 shops in London, each with a Manager. The 6 or 7 top performing shops have managers who I get on with well. The rest of the shops have various problems which Management are well aware of. Some of these shops have managers who object to the fact that I will for example, query why they are sending/rotating stock that is clearly not saleable, thus simply transferring a problem rather than dealing with it. Their attitude towards me is one of "who is this person, a mere driver, to query actions?" I must stress that I do this in a non-confrontational way (I hope so, as this not my intention. I query these sort of actions because they cost the organisation financially. Frustratingly, Management are aware of this behaviour but do nothing. They do not like the fact that I raise these matters. The impression I have had in the past is that they would rather just ignore these problems and are impatient with my raising them)

My question is - what rights do I have going into this meeting? It is clearly some form of disciplinary scenario and I have no idea what I can or cannot ask for in terms of defending myself in the event that I am accused of something of which I am not guilty. If I have done/said something wrong I am prepared to "take it on the chin" but I will not sit back and let them harass me.

Any advice would be gratefully appreciated

Thank you
Miles

[Peter Pedant]

Hmmm he clearly isnt home early so presumably the meeting went well
and he still has a job....

tell us what happened Miles

[Boriyako]

A BIG thank you to all of you who gave me advice, criticism and comments. I apreciate it very much.

I had a long hard think last night and, combined with your input, I came to 2 conclusions -

I realise that I do come across sometimes as aggressive rather than assertive, and I need to look hard and long at this. It will be work in progress as I am 63 and old habits etc.

Treading softly as opposed to going in with all guns blazing, can, in the longer term, achieve more.

Work in progress!

The meeting went much better than it could have due to me taking a less confrontational approach. A complaint had been made by the Manager I mentioned previously who referred to me as "the driver" She heard me cursing her (my language can be a little colourfull at times!) over something she did that increased my work load unneccesarily. Once I had explained the full background, my line manager was surprisingly understanding and took my point. Once I apologised to him for the incident, the situation was defused and all is back to "normal".

The meeting WAS intended as a disciplinary procedure but it was not necessary to start talking about "rights" etc, once we talked and the situation was defused. I don't think this would ahve happened if I had taken a more aggressive stand.

I'm not going to give up on my quest to get them to see what is wrong and where some, frankly, criminal waste is happening, and where there is a lack of respect and consideration for some employees. I'm going from conventional to guerilla warfare as cassa suggested!

Thanks again to all of you
Miles

[factor-fiction]

Thanks for the update. Good outcome. I wish you luck. I think with your approach you should have some success in time

[wolf63]

Miles

I work as a volunteer for a much bigger charity. I do accounts/admin work mainly in a charity shop.

In the time that I have been there much has improved with regards to stock movement and the problem of what to do with stock that can't be sold for whatever reason.

The problem is that things move very slowly - changes seem to be made at a painfully slow pace. Sometimes an act that seems illogical actually makes sense once you see the fuller picture.

Our shop manager is employed for 18hours per week. This leaves the volunteers in charge of the shop quite a bit. It is all big business these days in the charity sector.

I hope that you continue your work and continue to enjoy it.

[cassa333]

I am glad the meeting went better for you than you first thought it would :)

As the old saying goes ...Slowly slowly catchy monkey... Nothing changes quickly and not as fast as we would sometimes like but over time we see changes that we set in motion.

Do the managers talk to each other or meet at intervals? If you have say 6 areas that you can see would be improved by small changes then spread those ideas out between your liked managers. A great many managers like to be seen as inovators and forward thinkers so if you are able to plant the seeds they may take it up as their idea but at least it may eventually get implemented :)

[Peter Pedant]

for chrissakes makes sure you clock up 24 m before really rocking the boat.

and I am glad it went well.

[Maydup]

Proud of you Miles, not only did you defuse this situation, but you will have gained a new respect from the boss now.

Maybe he'll feel more inclined to listen to you next time you want to chat about something rather than fear a confrontation.

Cool operator!

[Boriyako]

Thanks Folks

PP, Maydup and cass.

I'm planning (already started) to plant those seeds with the more enlightened of the shop managers.

The organisation has a yearly Manager's meeting, which is happening in july this year. By then (if I last!!) I will have 25 months under my belt - nice one Cyril. Drivers attend.

I will have, hopefully, have planted a few seeds by then.

If all goes well, I will raise (in a calm and constructive way - I promise Maydup!)) my feelings and ideas about reducing costs and increasing the amount we can give. Hopefully these will then be supported by the majority.

Fingers crossed people, and thank you so much everyone. I do not believe in telling people what they should in situations like this. I believe in giving options which they can then do with as they wish. That's what I have taken from this interaction with all of you, and it's been great.

Salute Captain!