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#Post#: 11533--------------------------------------------------
Re: Fasten Your Seatbelts, It's Gonna be a Bumpy Night--Update
sort of
DIR By: Nikko-chan
Date: August 16, 2018, 5:46 pm
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Wait.... were you formerly Yarnspinner on the old Ehell boards?
#Post#: 11534--------------------------------------------------
Re: Fasten Your Seatbelts, It's Gonna be a Bumpy Night--Update
sort of
DIR By: Pattycake
Date: August 16, 2018, 6:10 pm
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--- Quote from: Nikko-chan link ---
>
> Wait.... were you formerly Yarnspinner on the old Ehell
boards?
>
--- End Quote ---
I think Yarnspinner was (is) a more senior level library person.
#Post#: 11561--------------------------------------------------
Re: Fasten Your Seatbelts, It's Gonna be a Bumpy Night--Update
sort of
DIR By: Writer of Wrongs
Date: August 17, 2018, 9:41 am
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--- Quote from: ZekailleTasker link ---
>
> ...
> I feel my job is at stake because the assistant director
hinted that I could be bumped back to entry level status as
"your staff is unhappy" or maybe fired for not directly
following thru on his orders. Again--he's the one who made this
mess. He'll complain that Eve is being insubordinate to him, I
will talk to her about chain of command, taking orders and
choosing our battles and she will call him directly and tell him
she doesn't like what he expects and HE WILL AGREE WITH HER!
Every single time. Have I tried to call him on this? Sure.
And he responds with a lot of song and dance about why it was
okay for him to let her get away with this, but not me.
>
> …
> It's like playing whack a mole. Every time you get one bad
behavior nailed down, another one pops up. I can't win.
Example: After the whole staff of the entire library was
lectured by the current director regarding professional dress,
Eve showed up in an outfit that had been put on intravenously,
had lots of torn places showing lots of skin. It looked good on
her but it wasn't right for a library (or any other place but a
dance hall) I talked to her ("That outfit is gorgeous, wish I
had the figure for it, and if you wear it again, I will write
you up." She laughed and admitted that she knew she shouldn't
wear it but she was going from work to a celebration with
friends and didn't want to waste time going home to change.
Okay, I told her, that was perfectly reasonable for one day and
I just needed to make sure she understood. In ten minutes, I
returned to my office and there was a note from the assistant
director, asking me what the hell was going on. She had called
him and the director and screamed at THEM to stay out of her
business where clothes are concerned. The drama is insane.
>
--- End Quote ---
I see you inherited both my old boss and my old employee. Pearl
would constantly complain to Joe about anything I did. Joe would
call me: "Look, I know she's just mouthing, but I wanted to
mention it to you." And I kept wondering, "Why do you not tell
her that I'm the GM and to stop calling you with nonsense?"
He never would do anything about it. I ended up leaving the job,
and my letter of resignation was epic. One of my favorite parts
was when I wrote that his refusal to back me up had "castrated
me of any ability to do my job effectively."
I do agree with PPs that you should have handled the dress code
issue differently - sending her home with a formal note in her
file, preferably - but it's too late for that now. (But if/when
it happens again, she gets no grace. She gets written up.)
Now, you need to go to your boss and get him to verbalize what
he wants from you: how he wants you to handle Eve's shenanigans,
how he will back you up, and how much leeway you have. If you
literally can't fire her, make him say it. Then, go back to your
office and send him an email (BCCing yourself) summarizing what
you discussed. Do bulletpoints: Here's what we discussed of what
you expect from me: 1, 2, 3. Here is what you expect from Eve:
1, 2, 3. Per our discussion, I have your/board backing
(permission?) to initiate these consequences: 1, 2, 3.
Next time you need to reprimand Eve, pull that email back up and
forward it to him again, with the new information: Eve has done
X. Pursuant to the meeting on X date (summarized below), here is
the action I will be taking.
Is Eve a member of a protected class? In my situation, Pearl was
in a protected class, so Joe was afraid to cross her, because
she had threatened to sue. If that could be the case with Eve,
just make sure you document everything. My predecessor hadn't
documented everything, and I quickly saw that no matter how much
I documented, Joe wasn't going to do (or let me do) anything.
And yes, your boss is the biggest problem. I'm assuming that the
library has major employee longevity, leaving little room for
advancement. It still might be good to polish up your resume.
#Post#: 11572--------------------------------------------------
Re: Fasten Your Seatbelts, It's Gonna be a Bumpy Night--Update
sort of
DIR By: ZekailleTasker
Date: August 17, 2018, 12:36 pm
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I've tried to write answers like 3 or 4 times now and they get
long and complicated and I am even more stressed. I'm going to
try and be very concise.
1) Yes, Nikko Chan, it's me. The director I used to write about
was finally fired for major incompetence, my supervisor (who is
the same sort of person) was promoted above people with actual
background and experience because he knows how to schmooze.
Politics, thy name is Peter.
2) Our jobs are city jobs and are tied to a city hierarchy that
just doesn't make sense in a library. Where Clerk I is going to
have different jobs than Clerk III at city hall, Librarians
pretty much all do the same work. A Librarian I does pretty
much everything a Librarian III does except they haven't the
authority to create policies or procedures and usually have to
get approval to bend policies in some cases. (There are some
hills we just don"t feel like dying on.)
3) Our job descriptions have clauses like "takes on more
responsibilities" (for upper levels) or "additional duties as
assigned." (so that lower levels can get away with doing
something outside their description.) When I worked with Peter,
I did all the things HIS job description read because it was
"assigned." Also, the pay in the city is ridiculously good and
the benefits sinful. As a I, I made twice the salary as the
director in another town. If you stay long enough, you take
your insurance bennies with you when you retire. If you have a
family, a mortgage or high bills, are you going to accept the
"prestige" of having all the problems of a director for a
quarter of the pay you are making at what is termed an entry
level position? My colleagues and I have all turned down offers
in the past because we needed the money.
4) Writer of Wrongs hit it on the head. Eve is a protected
class. We have a lot of them and they come in all shades of the
rainbow. It took four years to get rid of Jeff who would just
take it into his head to leave, call in a month later to say he
had been in Barbados with his ailing auntie and that he wasn't
sure when he was coming back. Six months later he would
reappear and just walk in to the job like nothing happened, The
only reason he finally got fired was that he was caught in a
heinous crime and the then director reluctantly let him go.
Jessica worked on the Mayor's campaign and library jobs are
considered Plum Jobs to give to your supporters. She quit
because she was bored. If not, she would still be here, doing
nothing. Mark periodically tries to proselytize patrons for his
religion. When he isn't doing that, he's hiding in the back and
flat out refuses to do any work he doesn't like. He's been here
twenty years.
5) Actually, while Eve was in the wrong with the work clothes, I
was correct in my handling of that situation: verbal warnings
first. I have started writing her up and Peter has ignored the
memos.
6) with luck, I can retire in 2 years, sooner if I can unload my
house and get my credit bills paid off.
I think that covers everything for now. I may come back to
rewrite this
#Post#: 11577--------------------------------------------------
Re: Fasten Your Seatbelts, It's Gonna be a Bumpy Night--Update
sort of
DIR By: wonderfullyanonymous
Date: August 17, 2018, 1:41 pm
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We are not union, which I thank every day for, simply because of
those reasons.
We had an employee who was in the protected status. Management
was afraid of her, because if she got in trouble at all, she
used the race card. This worked until the company brought in a
manager that was not in an area of those in the protected
status, so he was not afraid to have her written up. She did
quit, because she didn't like not being able to use her race
card any more, to not do work.
#Post#: 11578--------------------------------------------------
Re: Fasten Your Seatbelts, It's Gonna be a Bumpy Night--Update
sort of
DIR By: JeanFromBNA
Date: August 17, 2018, 1:46 pm
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--- Quote from: LifeOnPluto link ---
>
>
> If it's true that your workplace's culture is such that poor
performers never get fired, could it be that your supervisor's
threats to demote/fire you is just bluster?
>
>
--- End Quote ---
Name the last five people that were fired and the reasons for
their termination. Go ahead. I'll wait.
#Post#: 11583--------------------------------------------------
Re: Fasten Your Seatbelts, It's Gonna be a Bumpy Night--Update
sort of
DIR By: Lula
Date: August 17, 2018, 1:56 pm
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--- Quote from: JeanFromBNA link ---
>
> [quote author=LifeOnPluto link=topic=595.msg11502#msg11502
date=1534420509]
>
> If it's true that your workplace's culture is such that poor
performers never get fired, could it be that your supervisor's
threats to demote/fire you is just bluster?
>
>
--- End Quote ---
Name the last five people that were fired and the reasons for
their termination. Go ahead. I'll wait.
[/quote]
?
#Post#: 11585--------------------------------------------------
Re: Fasten Your Seatbelts, It's Gonna be a Bumpy Night--Update
sort of
DIR By: Jem
Date: August 17, 2018, 2:06 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: wonderfullyanonymous link ---
>
> We are not union, which I thank every day for, simply because
of those reasons.
>
> We had an employee who was in the protected status. Management
was afraid of her, because if she got in trouble at all, she
used the race card. This worked until the company brought in a
manager that was not in an area of those in the protected
status, so he was not afraid to have her written up. She did
quit, because she didn't like not being able to use her race
card any more, to not do work.
>
--- End Quote ---
What does the green mean? The characteristics that have
protection are not defined in the sense of "black people," "old
people," "women," "Muslims," "gay," etc. It is that a person
cannot be treated differently because of their race, age,
gender, religion, etc. So a straight white Christian man could
be have a discrimination claim if he could show he was treated
differently BECAUSE of his sexual orientation, race, religion,
or gender.
Arguably it would be easier for a minority of whatever
characteristic to show disparate treatment, but it is not that
certain ethnicities enjoy protection while others don't, for
example.
#Post#: 11588--------------------------------------------------
Re: Fasten Your Seatbelts, It's Gonna be a Bumpy Night--Update
sort of
DIR By: Lula
Date: August 17, 2018, 2:21 pm
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I'm guessing Wonderfullyanonymous meant to say the new manager
was of the same race as the problem employee? That would make
tons more sense.
#Post#: 11591--------------------------------------------------
Re: Fasten Your Seatbelts, It's Gonna be a Bumpy Night--Update
sort of
DIR By: wolfie
Date: August 17, 2018, 2:42 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
--- Quote from: JeanFromBNA link ---
>
> [quote author=LifeOnPluto link=topic=595.msg11502#msg11502
date=1534420509]
>
> If it's true that your workplace's culture is such that poor
performers never get fired, could it be that your supervisor's
threats to demote/fire you is just bluster?
>
>
--- End Quote ---
Name the last five people that were fired and the reasons for
their termination. Go ahead. I'll wait.
[/quote]
that's not really a fair question. An employee should never know
someone was fired and why. that is private info
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