Bullying at Work

I get lots of emails from council workers in South Lanarkshire these days and a number of catering staff have been in touch to say that they feel bullied and pushed around at work.

Apparently, these catering workers who don't get paid during the school holidays, by the way - are being told by Council managers that they must attend training events in their own time - outside their normal working hours.

Now I don't doubt what people tell me, but I can scarcely believe it's true - because can you imagine what kind of row there'd be if teachers were told to do their 'in-service' training days in the own time? 

I imagine there would be uproar with the teaching trade unions getting involved and a big row in the press - and the threat of a damaging public campaign if the Council didn't come to its senses.

So my advice to anyone in this situation is simple - you are not required to work or to undertake work-related training in your own time - period.

If you're told that you must attend, ask for the 'instruction' to be put in writing - because that's the way to call management's bluff if they're dumb enough to try and throw their weight around.   

And get your trade union involved - I know there's a lot of cynicism about the unions in South Lanarkshire because of their appalling behaviour over equal pay, but not every union rep is a management lackey.

So get the union to do its job - by standing up to this kind of behaviour if it raises its head in your workplace.