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Hey all. This all comes from a long, ongoing work conflict I've been dealing with. In the interest of keeping this post from taking up A LOT of space, I'm gonna try to keep the nitty-gritty details out.
This is REALLY cutting it down to bare bones, but basically, I've been at a job for several years. Things were going great, everyone/all the managers liked me, got great reviews, etc. This all changed a few months ago, when a new manager took over the dept I was working in. Essentially, I became a harassment/bullying/retaliation victim, for a reason that could fall into a grey zone/is maybe illegal on the employer's part. Already tried everything you can think of to fix it at work, but HR proved to be worthless (It's now that I learned that they're pretty much just a legal shield for companies). I would take it to EEOC/a court of law, but am not sure that written documentation of the events is really enough of a case.
Flash forward to now, I'm in a new department while aggressively seeking new work to get the hell out of where I am ASAP (AKA, the "this company sucks now, time to move on approach"). I picked up on a new red flag today. I've ALWAYS gotten excellent worker reviews, but today, they tried to hand me a new one, and it wasn't so nice. I'd go as far as calling it unfair/untrue. They're pretty much defending management and making me look like a bad guy. They made it JUST good enough so that I can still get a small raise, probably hoping I'd just not question anything and sign it. Interestingly enough, this, (and more hours) comes shortly after I qualified for partial unemployment due to "almost no work available" there recently.
The way I see it, since they failed to get me to quit, whether through harassment, or cutting hours, now they're going to try to get me to "admit" to doing things wrong, so they can build enough of a case to cover themselves legally, and find a way to fire me instead, perhaps to avoid paying UI taxes/a lawsuit. I was hoping to have found something new by now before it got to this stage, but hey, gotta love that great economy...
Pretty much, I'm royally sick of this toxic work environment, and I refuse to sign anything that tries to portray me negatively after years of praise. There is a "comments" section on the review, but at this point, I feel I'm essentially backed into a corner, and have no choice but to fight back and fight hard. I realize I might lose my job if I refuse to sign, but I'm wondering if I might be able to keep my UI benefits, due to my circumstances? My next planned move at the moment is to not sign it, but write in the comments section explaining why. Is this much different than signing it and stating you completely disagree? Is it time to call a lawyer? Advice from anyone who's been through something like this would be awesome!
You can always write in how & why you disagree with each item on their review. Be sure to include examples of how you excelled at that goal.
I'd also request to involve either the next level up the ladder, or HR to be present during the signing, or at a follow up meeting. Make sure you involve a 3rd party. And document everything....conversations, meetings....follow up with an email confirming what was discussed.
It sounds like they are trying to railroad you. Next you'll be put on a wishy washy, unmeasurable performance improvement plan based on their subjective findings....
Make sure you are ready to walk at a moment's notice...slowly take home all your personal possessions. You don't want to get stuck being escorted out the door without your box(es) of goodies. Some employers promises to mail your belongings to you, then let them sit & sit, and expect a coworker to sort through them & clean the desk too! That happened to me. When I took the boxes to the boss, she tried to argue with me why something could not be personal. Like I cared! None of my business!! (except the person who left was my friend).
Yep. Unfortunately, the list of things I disagree with is definitely gonna take up more space than the comments box! But it's as you say, and as I feel - They're most likely trying to get rid of me - and aiming to do so in a way that allows them to avoid UI tax liability.
The railroading process is definitely in full force already. When my current manager is out, the other manager who harassed/retaliated against me gets to be in charge. And with people taking time off for the holidays, I'm running out of call-in days I've been using to avoid having to lift a finger for someone I absolutely despise so much. Not to mention he will certainly continue the abuse if he has the opportunity to do so (He's largely kept his mouth shut for a while, due to not having authority over me/people being nearby who can hear what he would say).
I don't have any personal possessions around work to gather up, so yeah..I'm pretty much ready to leave the hell hole on a moment's notice already! I want out so bad, that even if they can me for disputing the review, I will still celebrate with a drink or three!
Thanks for the luck on job hunting, I'm definitely gonna need it..
Hey all. This all comes from a long, ongoing work conflict I've been dealing with. In the interest of keeping this post from taking up A LOT of space, I'm gonna try to keep the nitty-gritty details out.
This is REALLY cutting it down to bare bones, but basically, I've been at a job for several years. Things were going great, everyone/all the managers liked me, got great reviews, etc. This all changed a few months ago, when a new manager took over the dept I was working in. Essentially, I became a harassment/bullying/retaliation victim, for a reason that could fall into a grey zone/is maybe illegal on the employer's part. Already tried everything you can think of to fix it at work, but HR proved to be worthless (It's now that I learned that they're pretty much just a legal shield for companies). I would take it to EEOC/a court of law, but am not sure that written documentation of the events is really enough of a case.
Flash forward to now, I'm in a new department while aggressively seeking new work to get the hell out of where I am ASAP (AKA, the "this company sucks now, time to move on approach"). I picked up on a new red flag today. I've ALWAYS gotten excellent worker reviews, but today, they tried to hand me a new one, and it wasn't so nice. I'd go as far as calling it unfair/untrue. They're pretty much defending management and making me look like a bad guy. They made it JUST good enough so that I can still get a small raise, probably hoping I'd just not question anything and sign it. Interestingly enough, this, (and more hours) comes shortly after I qualified for partial unemployment due to "almost no work available" there recently.
The way I see it, since they failed to get me to quit, whether through harassment, or cutting hours, now they're going to try to get me to "admit" to doing things wrong, so they can build enough of a case to cover themselves legally, and find a way to fire me instead, perhaps to avoid paying UI taxes/a lawsuit. I was hoping to have found something new by now before it got to this stage, but hey, gotta love that great economy...
Pretty much, I'm royally sick of this toxic work environment, and I refuse to sign anything that tries to portray me negatively after years of praise. There is a "comments" section on the review, but at this point, I feel I'm essentially backed into a corner, and have no choice but to fight back and fight hard. I realize I might lose my job if I refuse to sign, but I'm wondering if I might be able to keep my UI benefits, due to my circumstances? My next planned move at the moment is to not sign it, but write in the comments section explaining why. Is this much different than signing it and stating you completely disagree? Is it time to call a lawyer? Advice from anyone who's been through something like this would be awesome!
I really hate how companies behave in this toxic manner, where a new manager comes in and for whatever reason does not like you, or does not think you doing a good enough job - instead of communicating they behave in underhand ways like the above creating stress, annoyance for everyone.
I'd say listen to their comments - and show an effort to make an improvement but use it to buy time, and find another job, or let it blow over and keep your job.
Sadly most companies are behind the pleasant fascade are run like dictatorships where if you offend the wrong person your out of a job, not only that their always trying keep the upper hand with their staff with the mindset that nothing is ever good enough, constantly trying to inflict gulit, and generally indoctrinate the mindset that your lucky to have a job and can be removed from your position at the drop of a hat.
Add to that shambolic, mismanagement and toxic coworkers who would love to see you get fired.
Yep! It sucks that companies do stuff like this, but the ones that are struggling during these economic times are going to be especially cutthroat about it too. Unfortunately, the harassment situation got so bad, and bridges burned there, that it's basically a situation beyond repair (The only real solution being the offender being fired) so trying to wait it out and stay isn't really an option. I'm basically just running on borrowed time at this point while I'm looking for another job. I'm about 2 months into my search so far.
I'm amazed, and perhaps slightly regretful I've held onto this gig as long as I have. But I guess between the various disgruntled former co-workers, and even some managers I've seen come and go over the several years I've been there, I'm not really surprised I've ended up in a situation like this by staying there. I can only say that I hope my current co-workers aren't forced to endure such mistreatment after I'm out of there. And I like to look at the whole mess as an opportunity to find better things for myself.
As for a lawsuit, don't bother. You need to focus all your time on the job hunt. Are you getting interviews? Have you gotten a call back? If you aren't getting calls, you should join some FREE career skills classes. Get everything in place and add another $10k-20k.
You have a good point about UI and a paper trail. I wouldn't sign it. If they fire me, I will file for UI and appeal the claim.
You may be a little confused on the signing issue. You are signing to confirm that you've read and understood the review - not that you agree to its contents.
My advice in this situation is to write, "to follow" in the comments space. Put your disagreements in writing using extreme care to avoid emotions and stick to the plain facts (a level-headed uninvolved friend can be a great help!), and send same to HR or whoever with a note asking that it be both addressed and attached to your review.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
44,572 posts, read 81,167,557 times
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STT is right, whether you sign or not your comments will be prove that you read it and that's all the signature is for. Don't waste a lot of energy on the review, you need to look for a new job while still working there because if you do end up getting fired it will be harder to get hired elsewhere. If you explain all this in an interview people will avoid you like the plague.
You may be a little confused on the signing issue. You are signing to confirm that you've read and understood the review - not that you agree to its contents.
My advice in this situation is to write, "to follow" in the comments space. Put your disagreements in writing using extreme care to avoid emotions and stick to the plain facts (a level-headed uninvolved friend can be a great help!), and send same to HR or whoever with a note asking that it be both addressed and attached to your review.
Ditto this...I wish it were as easy to do the second part though - I would request a signature to confirm that "they have read and understood the comments." I had watched this go on at work in the past and have yet to see management acknowledge anything on the comments written even out of respect to both parties.
Frankly I'm not even convinced comments ever make it into the permanent file, either.
Ditto this...I wish it were as easy to do the second part though - I would request a signature to confirm that "they have read and understood the comments." I had watched this go on at work in the past and have yet to see management acknowledge anything on the comments written even out of respect to both parties.
Frankly I'm not even convinced comments ever make it into the permanent file, either.
I don't disagree but the reason for appending the note, "asking that it be both addressed and attached to your review" is a CYA measure in case you should ever need it. It goes without saying that of course you retain your own copies of everything for the same reason.
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