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Investigation meeting: Front End

Started by barafear, 29-07-20, 02:36PM

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penguin

#50
Your manager is simply following the process as your not wearing full uniform, a badge is part of your uniform when all said and done, you would struggle to get a grievance upheld under the circumstances.  I agree with Jaspers suggestion of wearing the badge on a lanyard, this could be something you might like to bring up at your investigation meeting, doing it then at least looks like your trying to find a way forward and can only help your case.
Do not let anyone tell you there is not a decent job and life beyond Tesco.

Welshie

If your manager was asking something unreasonable or singling you out to do something then I would understand you wanting to put a grievance in but everyone in our store has to book all there holidays not just 75% , it's really annoying but it how it is and uniform policy states you must wear a badge . I dont understand how your relationship with your manager has broken down to such a degree  over these issues .

barafear

I have noticed other staff in the store not wearing a name badge.
I have noticed staff with long hair not tieing it back as per the policy - and laughably although they are wearing a name badge, their long hair covers it up!!
I have noticed staff wearing coloured nail varnish - and not only not getting "admonished" for it but being admired for it by "management/supervisors" ("oh isn't that lovely, where did you get it done?")
Do I spend all my time raising these transgressions?
That's without even going down the line of what do managers actually do?

Laughably, we all had a special meeting because a rival was opening a new shop nearby.

As part of this one of the messages which was reinforced was : If a customer approaches you on shopfloor and asks for help finding a product, rather than just pointing or saying look down aisle 12, you were actively encouraged to take the customer to the product.

Within a couple of weeks of that meeting, I was on the till and my manager was standing at the "desk" and was approached by three customers within about 3 mins - all asking for help finding products - and all of them she just pointed away and stated an aisle number.

I feel victimised because I am being singled out - and all for a relatively petty misdemeanour - and not only that but it has already been part of an investigation - the "next steps of which" were that my manager would be looking to meet my needs for a badge without a pin - as this still has not been produced (and I agree probably never will) then how can I be still doing "wrong" when I raised my dispute in the meeting and no resolution has been made - so basically if I "just wear my badge like nothing happened" then it just makes it look like the reasons/concerns I raised in the investigation meeting were of no merit!!!!

I understand people's views on here - it does seem a minor point - I should just "wear a badge and get on with it" - but I just feel it's a point of principle now given the "history"


Welshie

So as you say , they do seem minor points SO  is there an underlying reason that it has got so bad . I get how annoying the holiday thing is , I get round that by booking mine for as late in year as possible and telling them I may need to move them for if something comes up . The badge thing I really dont get , we have all injured ourselves with the badge pins at times I'm sure . I've frequently drawn blood as the pins are rubbish but I'm not going to let that destroy my relationship with my manager to the point I'm miserable in work because of it . I suppose you need to ask yourself is it worth feeling isolated over .  Good luck if you do go to new meeting  .

NightAndDay

#54
Quote from: barafear on 02-09-20, 10:00AM
I have noticed other staff in the store not wearing a name badge.
I have noticed staff with long hair not tieing it back as per the policy - and laughably although they are wearing a name badge, their long hair covers it up!!
I have noticed staff wearing coloured nail varnish - and not only not getting "admonished" for it but being admired for it by "management/supervisors" ("oh isn't that lovely, where did you get it done?")
Do I spend all my time raising these transgressions?
That's without even going down the line of what do managers actually do?

Laughably, we all had a special meeting because a rival was opening a new shop nearby.

As part of this one of the messages which was reinforced was : If a customer approaches you on shopfloor and asks for help finding a product, rather than just pointing or saying look down aisle 12, you were actively encouraged to take the customer to the product.

Within a couple of weeks of that meeting, I was on the till and my manager was standing at the "desk" and was approached by three customers within about 3 mins - all asking for help finding products - and all of them she just pointed away and stated an aisle number.

I feel victimised because I am being singled out - and all for a relatively petty misdemeanour - and not only that but it has already been part of an investigation - the "next steps of which" were that my manager would be looking to meet my needs for a badge without a pin - as this still has not been produced (and I agree probably never will) then how can I be still doing "wrong" when I raised my dispute in the meeting and no resolution has been made - so basically if I "just wear my badge like nothing happened" then it just makes it look like the reasons/concerns I raised in the investigation meeting were of no merit!!!!

I understand people's views on here - it does seem a minor point - I should just "wear a badge and get on with it" - but I just feel it's a point of principle now given the "history"

If you can prove that the team support or manager communicated, observed or had any interaction with someone who wasn't wearing a name badge, you can raise a grievance for being singled out, if you're being disciplined for something many others are doing, then the managers have a semi-legal responsibility to ensure that investigations and disciplinaries are applied in a fair and consistent manner.

For more info https://www.acas.org.uk/disciplinary-procedure-step-by-step/step-2-following-a-fair-procedure


Semi legal being:
"Although the Acas Code is not the law, if a disciplinary case reaches an employment tribunal, judges will take into consideration whether the employer has followed the Acas Code in a fair way"

And

"The employer must make sure they follow a full and fair procedure throughout."

And


"The Acas Code mainly applies to those with employee employment status. But to keep good working relationships, it's a good idea if employers follow the same fair procedure for all workers."

Redshoes

With nearly 30 years of wearing the badge I have never had an injury. As it would seem that you work on checkouts the likelihood of injury is much less than those working on the shop floor.
As for the holidays. The 75% before end of October applies to everyone. As a company we are moving towards work and pay. at some point we are going to move towards online holiday booking and allocation.
I'm not one who says policy is law but as we work in a big company we do have rules. If we don't like he rules we need to be constructive in trying to change things. It has worked for some things. What we can't do is have rules that we choose to ignore as we don't like them or think it's ok for others but not for me.
Thinking we can get round things and thinking we are being clever about it will at best only win you the battle, it will never win you the war. I bet you had a good laugh about wearing your badge on your shirt collar. You must have thought you had found a way round things and you had won. You are clearly doing battle over standards of dress and holidays. Having a meeting booked during annual leave will not happen and you have found a mistake made by your manager. They may have made a mistake in this but they are correct in standards of dress and holiday booking.
Do you also argue about what till you are on and when you are sent on breaks.

lucgeo

"Do you also argue about what till you are on, and when you are sent on breaks?"

NUMBER 6 !!!!
Live for today. Learn from yesterday.

lucgeo

#57
Quote from: barafear on 01-09-20, 12:20PM
I didn't think I would be updating or adding to this thread - well at least not so soon nor on a "negative" basis.

Just a little background. I wrote on here about my "clean record" up to very recently when I have been collecting "lets talks" like they're going out of fashion and then I had this investigation meeting a few weeks ago - where it was seemingly "resolved" in my favour and I hoped that would be an end to it.

One of the several "Lets Talks" concerned my "refusal" to book 75% of my holiday by 1st April 2020. To summarise - in the end I did meet my manager halfway - and ended up booking a few more days which more or less met the 75% threshold - at no stage have I been chased up or encouraged to book the remaining 25% (and outstanding BH days and Personal Day owing to me). If they were to be allocated to me then so be it - I'd deal with that when I heard - but I had heard nothing.

Whilst browsing on Ourtesco recently, I happened to be in the "sign in" bit (which I rarely am) and by chance clicked on the "Myshifts" screen - as my shifts are fairly standard week to week (I'm not flexi and sign up to very little overtime) it's not something I look at on a regular basis.

Anyway - as I checked, I noticed I was showing as being "off" on Sunday just gone (Sunday being a contracted day) - I had no record of having booked this - and as I knew I had booked the following weekend off (i.e. this Sat/Sun), I very rarely book two weekends on the trot off - preferring to spread my leave throughout the year - so I thought that this day off showing was a mistake.

Anyway - I managed to contact my team support member and she confirmed that in the "holiday book" there was a signed copy of holiday sheet showing that Sun 30 Aug had been allocated as my personal day!!! I know the shops have got Christmas stuff in early - but Aug 30th for a personal day!!!

In addition to this, my outstanding BH days had also been allocated - all of these were unbeknown to me - and not communicated to me.
I actually managed to find my version of the holiday form and none of these days were on there - so they had been added to the Tesco copy but not communicated to me or signed by me - clearly when signing forms in future, I will make sure I score out any "blank spaces".

So privately I have been fuming about this - I was going to take it up with my manager (the one who brought about this investigation in the first place) - but given my relationship with them is fairly non-existant and in my mind I was thinking "what will I gain?" I decided to leave it.

Fast forward to yesterday - I worked the BH - and 3 mins before end of my shift, Team support closed my till and said my manager wanted to see me in office out the back - I was actually thinking that maybe the news about the holiday non-communication had got back to them and I was about to be apologised to - silly me!!
Knocked on door, come in - here's a letter - goodbye.

Opened the letter and "you are invited to an inveestigation meeting for "failure to adhere to company uniform standards" !!!!

To say I was not best pleased would be the understatement of the century. I was "F-ing and Blinding" (in the back area of shop so not in front of customers) - my heart rate increased significantly - basically I did not handle it very well - To top it all, they handed me the letter to save on postage - but expect me to phone them to confirm my attendance!!!

To top it all, the meeting was scheduled for next saturday when I have AL booked!!

The next bit probably shouldn't have happened - and did lack professionalism on my part - but I was extremely angry/frustrated - I had to go back to tills to retrieve something personal - and my team support (who is a "friend") asked what had happened - and my anger/frustration were still very high - so in describing what had happened I was still using inappropriate language - customers unlikely to have overheard - I then proceeded to rip up the letter in front of her and chucked it in the bin!!

I then marched back out the back and knocked on manager's door and told them I would not be attending the meeting next Saturday (didn't say why - that's for them to find out!!) - when I don't turn up for work next week, they can add two and two together.

In summation, the outcome of the previous investigation seemed to be "fairly positive" for me - with my manager "promising to look into the possibility of obtaining alternative badges for me that did not contain a sharp pin" - obviously I have not been provided with any replacements of this kind (in fact, two new badges appeared for me - just the standard pin badges) - over the last six weeks or so, I have tried to "follow the rules" and wear the badge in a way in which to minimise the possibility of injury (wearing it on my collar) - on a couple of occasions I have "been reminded to wear the badge" (I have questioned whether my velcro badge had arrived yet?! ) - and I have worn the badge on being reminded - even though this whole situation had not yet been resolved (i.e. the velcro) -

So to get this letter is just a kick in the teeth - and I am strongly considering a grievance for harassment and bullying by my manager - although my lifeline experience of these things is not positive.

>:D >:D

Do you still have your copy of the original booking form, which these added days are not on it?? If so, then you can grievance that the manager has falsified a Tesco document, by adding these dates, without your knowledge, and prior agreement. The dates of your original and their copy should be the same, and the holiday booking meeting date that you had with the manager, which has your signature on, should match on both forms. If the booking meeting is the same date, then they have added after you have signed, without your knowledge, which is gross misconduct ( this is why you sign it, to show agreement ). If the holiday booking date differs, with the added dates, then you obviously haven't signed it, which would show that they have failed to notify you that they have allocated you holiday dates.

With regard your Personal Day...if you go onto the colleague website, the holiday section should cover the PD. Now it used to state that the PD could be booked anytime during December, but can be used at any time throughout the year by MUTUAL agreement with your manager.

With regard BH, I'm unsure if that can be allocated to take as holiday, as it is not technically part of your annual entitlement, as you could work a future BH, as overtime, but you can't work your annual leave entitlement. Perhaps someone on here, or your rep could advise the policy on that?

With regard this future meeting...is it to be conducted by the same manager?? If so, you can refuse to have this manager conduct it, on the grounds you feel that there is an air of conflict between you, which leaves you feeling extremely anxious and uncomfortable.
Do you still have a copy of the next steps...have any of the agreed steps taken place in the agreed timescale?? Was there a future date agreed, for a follow up meeting, which hasn't been met? Has that future date passed?
If no to any of the above, then they shouldn't be bringing you in on the same issue, which they have failed to either resolve, or follow up with. That would appear to border on harassment.

With regard to any future holiday dates to book...ask for Christmas week and Christmas Eve as your PD...they cannot say no holiday bookings in December...bank holidays or five star weekends, as there are no freeze weeks, and if your dept diary has these dates blocked out, then they are acting against policy, and therefore can't deny you booking them by saying overbooked, as they haven't let anyone book them!

Now I feel that you've dug your heels in with the badge issue, as has your manager, and reached a stand off. Your manager is correct, in that wearing a badge is part of the uniform, however...it doesn't state where that badge should be worn, only that it should be visible. ;)
Live for today. Learn from yesterday.

barafear

Thanks Lucgeo.

Just a quick one on the badge issue. the uniform policy does state it should be worn on the "left hand side". Therefore, all the ideas about wearing a lanyard - whilst good - would be breaching the policy as the badge would clearly be "central" if worn on a lanyard.

Thanks for agreeing with my sentiment about the feelings of being harrassed and bullied - simply based on the fact I had an investigation about this - the next steps were "try to wear my badge, but the manager would "seek out alternatives - as in "non pin""

I've since had a letter rearranging the meeting for the following week when I am not on AL - so clearly the message has got back to them.

Yes meeting is with the same manager. As I've torn up the letter I'm not sure of the exact wording - but as my manager is conducting the investigation meeting I suspect the semantics of the wording are the same - i.e. someone other than my manager has made a complaint about me not adhering to uniform policy.


Morris999

@barafear
I’m guessing you have worked for Tesco for a long time and remember and have witnessed old school PM’s enforcing standards of dress etc in store, in regards to hair being tied up, hair colourings, face piercings, tattoos on display and numerous other so called violations of dress.
Too the point people were sent home until they rectified the issue on first occasion and disciplined on second depending on how your PM saw the issue.

Unfortunately/fortunately depending on your view of said matters the company updated its policy regarding these issues some time in the last decade.

It is now ok to have tattoos on display as long as they are not offensive
It’s ok to dye your hair any colour you want
It’s ok to have your hair as long as you want and not tied up, obviously food prep and some other areas are different.
And the same with nail coverings/colours.
Plus many others things too.

So please for your own sake and wellbeing do not bring those up in your investigation or any other conversations you might have as it will not only end up in embarrassment for you but also be seen as a unsuccessful attempt at tit for tat to deflect the name badge issue.
Which will only impact your mental well-being and make you feel even more that you are being singled out.

In regards to the name badge, have you thought about ordering a male shirt, and wearing the badge on the left side pocket, with your clocking in/food card in there behind it to act as a barrier from future pin pr**k*?
As Tesco welcomes diversity and is in the process of giving every colleague diversity training, your manager cannot say no without falling foul of diversity laws and company polices/training themselves.
It’s a potential solution to your concerns and issues regarding the name badge.

barafear

Thanks for the update - but according to the latest (Feb2020) policy on dress code and appearance the following seems to be the standard expected:

5. Does my hair have to be a specific
style/colour?

No, regardless of style or colour, your hair needs to be
clean and tidy. If it’s below your shoulder (including if it’s
in dreadlocks or braids), it should be tied back.
6. Can I wear makeup and nail varnish in
stores?

Yes, just make sure that your makeup is natural and not
excessive. Keep your nails neat and tidy with no chipped
polish.

"Natural" - not sure if this wording has changed from neutral to natural - and what the subtle difference is?

Long hair - covering a badge - what is the point of therefore wearing a badge?



And the specifics about a badge:

Badges Name badges should show your first name
Worn on the left
Can be worn in all fresh food handling depts. with the exception of scratch
bakeries and raw hot Deli Counter colleagues.
On raw counters badges should be worn under white jackets
Bake-off bakery, counters, food to go and colleague room colleagues
should wear them on apron


Ok - regardless of how "lightweight" the badges are I do find that they are "there" and affecting my movement - ok this sounds like a gross overreaction -

Some people are quite happy to shove things in their pockets - be it pens, mobile phones, clock in card, note pad etc. etc.

And clearly, someone like a nurse wears uniform and has all these things in her breast pocket - if you're used to working with all this added apendage then the addition of a lightweight badge isn't anything to worry about - but if you're used to being "bare" - then a single item like a lightweight badge just feels annoying.

I do know that this sounds ridiculous -

However, the bigger "issue" at the moment is that fact that this "minor" issue is being dealt with so heavy handedly.

Morris999

With what you’ve just posted its sounding more like a psychological issue than a physical one, that no amount of alternatives that your manager offers is going to resolve.


NightAndDay

More that intelligence is frowned upon by management, authority vs intelligence has been at odds with each other since the dawn of man.

miriam


barafear

Well I had the second investigation meeting. I didn't have a representative with me this time. The details of the complaint this time related to an incident which happened since the previous meeting. I was wearing a name badge but I had placed a very small piece of white sticky tape on the badge covering the last two letters, basically changing the name. I only thought of this idea as I had seen a colleague called Leslie doing the same because she preferred the name Les. When I day small piece of tape I'm talking about 8mm by 8mm....literally just covering the last two letters of the name on badge. This was the entirety of the complaint. This had been picked up by a different manager at the time who questioned me at the time. I replied I didn't want customers knowing my name. The manager just said you can use tape on the badge. Within a week or so I was given two new badges with the shortened name. I didn't order them so I assumed it was a result of this incident. Anyway during today's investigation meeting I was told it was against Tesco policy because it looked unprofessional. As usual, I was sent out whilst manager deliberated. Called back in to be told that on reflection of the facts the manager was putting it forward to a disciplinary.
To say I was astonished would be an understatement. I was told I could take my break. I replied that I wasn't in a fit state to return to work today and I left for the day. I told my team support. But I have since been told I should have informed duty manager. I have since phoned the absence line and explained I wasn't in the right frame of mind to carry on working.

Suffice to say, I am still seething. Is this seriously the way the company treats us now?

lucgeo

Which policy is that then ??? That specifically covers the placing of a small piece of tape on a name badge is deemed unprofessional and against policy :D

I'm taking it the notes were thorough and included that another manager had previously questioned you, stated that the tape was ok, and arranged for new badges to be ordered, with your PREFERRED name title, which I believe IS policy.

The fact that you informed a team support, rather than duty, of your intention to leave for the day should be deemed as acceptable, given your agitated mental state, caused as a direct result from the constant harassment and victimisation levied at you by this manager!

Get a copy of all the notes, and place a grievance against this manager for constant bullying and harassment, affecting your mental wellbeing. You do not have to present it on the grievance form, you can put it in writing on a piece of paper, dated and signed. The same timescales apply and should be adhered to.
In your welcome back meeting, state your absence as severe stress, being a direct result of this managers constant harassment and bullying toward you. They have to write it down in the notes.
Refuse to have this manager conduct any more meetings with you, which should not be the case due to the fact that you have a grievance placed against them.
Live for today. Learn from yesterday.

Redshoes

It is now clearly just a battle of wills. Colleague trying to find numerous ways round policy and manager trying to find the breaches. Whole situation will just get worse as normal relationship between manager and colleague has broken down. Altering the name on the badge to change the name and then being pulled up on it is just one of the many battles. The battles can go on and on but at the end of the day the war will be won.
I just don't think that this is the right time to be spending time on things like a name badge. I am saying this from the point of view of both sides. The name badge is part of the uniform and should be worn but time spent in meetings and doing investigations is a waste too. It will end in tears, as the story goes. They are looking for that chink and as soon as they find it you will be out. This won't be fun for the the people you work with. Fellow colleague and team support are having to endure the situation whilst trying to put smiles on faces and deliver great service at the front end. It's hard working with an atmosphere and people will be working with sinking hearts when seeing yet another ploy being introduced to try and get round wearing a badge. The managers will be trying hard to resolve things but not in favour of you. This is a pointless waste of time, it's not fun, it's not clever. It's just pointless.

Welshie

I totally agree with you red shoes.  This issue could be simply resolved by either colleague or manager going to a craft shop and buying stick on velcro ., attaching it to badge and fleece and job done !

barafear

whilst I agree in part with Red Shoes, and Welshie, and indeed Lucgeo - it's not really helping me move forward much.

Yes, it's become a "battle of wills" - or it feels like a "war" with each of these "battles" taking place but ultimately most people on here know there is very likely going to be only one winner of the war.

In terms of raising a grievance - whilst in principle I agree it's the right thing to do - in reality, the manager will be able to show they are following procedure - it's just whether there's a level of pettiness being displayed by my manager - is that a genuine reason to put in a grievance.

Furthermore if I put in a grievance, who do I go to - the SM? If so, it might be the "behaviour" of my manager is being driven from the top - so there's no chance of a fair hearing if I put in a grievance.


In hindsight, and I did mention at the end of my investigation meeting yesterday, that this separate incident (putting tape over two letters of my name) should have been dealt with as a Lets Talk with the manager who raised it - but my manager responded stating that as it was directly related to the name badge issue (i.e. the issue of me not wearing one - due to the H&S issue) and therefore required another investigation meeting and now an upcoming disciplinary meeting.


Nomad

"This is a pointless waste of time, it's not fun, it's not clever. It's just pointless."

Agreed, it is never a surprise to me how petty MM can be.
Nomad ( Forum Admin )
It's better to be up in arms than down on your knees.

lucgeo

It's just petty...or is it ???
Who gets to decide what's petty, so therefore irrelevant ???

It's not even about the wearing of the badge now, as barafear is obviously wearing it. It's now about a little bit of tape, which is not related, as it is not a H&S issue, or even a lets talk, as a more sensible manager has addressed the issue by TALKING to barafear, assessed and acted accordingly by ordering two replacement badges with the preferred name, which I assume is now being worn? All without the need for taking time off the shopfloor for four people ( manager, note taker, colleague and barafear) to attend a meeting to discuss something which is no longer an issue  :-X

This is all about the manager saving face...but looking bloody silly in my opinion, wasting all those man hours on nonsense, just to prove a point! I doubt the SM is even aware of the conflict, as feet on floor always takes precedence, especially when they learn that it's already been sorted, within a few minutes, by another manager.
Live for today. Learn from yesterday.

NightAndDay

#71
Quote from: barafear on 13-09-20, 12:42PM
whilst I agree in part with Red Shoes, and Welshie, and indeed Lucgeo - it's not really helping me move forward much.

Yes, it's become a "battle of wills" - or it feels like a "war" with each of these "battles" taking place but ultimately most people on here know there is very likely going to be only one winner of the war.

In terms of raising a grievance - whilst in principle I agree it's the right thing to do - in reality, the manager will be able to show they are following procedure - it's just whether there's a level of pettiness being displayed by my manager - is that a genuine reason to put in a grievance.

Furthermore if I put in a grievance, who do I go to - the SM? If so, it might be the "behaviour" of my manager is being driven from the top - so there's no chance of a fair hearing if I put in a grievance.


In hindsight, and I did mention at the end of my investigation meeting yesterday, that this separate incident (putting tape over two letters of my name) should have been dealt with as a Lets Talk with the manager who raised it - but my manager responded stating that as it was directly related to the name badge issue (i.e. the issue of me not wearing one - due to the H&S issue) and therefore required another investigation meeting and now an upcoming disciplinary meeting.

If it's common knowledge that your colleague Leslie is doing the same, and you can prove the managers know about it and haven't subjected them to the same treatment, you should then contact ACAS on advise with regards to Tesco not following the minimum standards as set out by them, namely;

4. That said, whenever a disciplinary or grievance process is being followed it is important to deal with issues fairly. There are a number of elements to this:

Employers and employees should raise and deal with issues promptly and should not unreasonably delay meetings, decisions or confirmation of those decisions.

Employers and employees should act consistently.

Employers should carry out any necessary investigations, to establish the facts of the case.

Employers should inform employees of the basis of the problem and give them an opportunity to put their case in response before any decisions are made.

Employers should allow employees to be accompanied at any formal disciplinary or grievance meeting.Employers should allow an employee to appeal against any formal decision made.

(Ref https://www.acas.org.uk/acas-code-of-practice-for-disciplinary-and-grievance-procedures/html)

If they then decide to subject Leslie in light of your analysis of unfair treatment, a note taker should be present during the investigation and should highlight the fact that this has taken place only after you raising it as unfair treatment.



Welshie

I'm not a manager BUT  if you have a name on your name badge for months/years of employment and you only feel the need to change it after the manager has spoken to you about not wearing a name badge then it looks to me like youre6trying to stick 2 fingers up to that manager.
The inconsistency of the manager over badges is a different issue and yes may be unfair . I suggest if you want to put in a grievance, first do something to try to resolve issue ie; sticky back velcro , at least that way it looks like you are trying otherwise I think whoever takes the grievance meeting will simply see you as a troublemaker who doesn't want to or thinks they're above wearing the company uniform .

Also in our store name badge must state full name , no shortened versions or nicknames .

penguin

Badges can use a nickname, shortened name or a totally different first name to someone's legal name, without going into to much detail as it could make those involved indefinable this was the outcome of a grievance taken out by someone a while ago who's manger demanded they have a badge with there actual name on despite being known by another first name for 20 odd years.
Do not let anyone tell you there is not a decent job and life beyond Tesco.

barafear

Once again thanks for the responses on this thread. Unfortunately (for me) things have moved on somewhat.
I'll try to answer some of the points made by people above -

When I day small piece of tape I'm talking about 8mm by 8mm....literally just covering the last two letters of the name on badge. This was the entirety of the complaint. This had been picked up by a different manager at the time who questioned me at the time. I replied I didn't want customers knowing my name. The manager just said you can use tape on the badge. Within a week or so I was given two new badges with the shortened name. I didn't order them so I assumed it was a result of this incident.

The above is  quote from my post (no 64 on this thread) - I had unwittingly made a couple of small typos - which may have led some (Lucgeo) to come to some incorrect conclusions:


First typo: When I day small piece of tape

"day" should have read "say"

Second typo:  This had been picked up by a different manager at the time who questioned me at the time. I replied I didn't want customers knowing my name. The manager just said you can use tape on the badge.

The last sentence should have read "the manager just said you can't use tape on the badge" - didn't give any reason and I didn't get a let's talk about it - it was "merely" a manager "telling me off" - to be honest, I cannot remember whether I removed the tape after this telling off or not - I probably did (i.e. having been alerted to the "wrongness" of it and because frankly it was such a minor point).


Next a quote from post 65 (Lucgeo):

The fact that you informed a team support, rather than duty, of your intention to leave for the day should be deemed as acceptable, given your agitated mental state, caused as a direct result from the constant harassment and victimisation levied at you by this manager!

Well, in all my years of working for Tesco (13+) I don't know if I've ever phoned in sick - if I have it's been a very small number of occasions. Therefore, my knowledge of the sickness policy is somewhat limited. In addition to that, despite working several shifts where I probably haven't felt anywhere close to 100% for my whole shift, I have never asked or been told to go home early from my shift. So from that point of view, I have no idea what the policy is - and I don't spend my whole life reading policies on Ourtesco (that's assuming you can find them after going through various different screens with different passwords etc.)

Anyway - as a result of the above (i.e. my very low level of absence) I decided I would work yesterday (also partly helped by the expectation that my manager would not be in - they work very few Sundays). Well, during my shift, I got called into a meeting room and was given a Let's Talk about "leaving the building without informing Duty" - to be honest, the manager was quite pleasant and amiable and accepted (in part) my ignorance of the policy (she did try to make her point of asking me "so when you phone in sick/absence line, do you speak to "Team Support"?" - obviously my answer to that was "I don't phone in sick" - anyway - overall, it wasn't the  type of Lets Talks I've been having with my manager - in my eyes, it was a Lets Talk in the manner for which they've been designed. On explaining my ignorance of the policy, the manager asked me "so is there any other policies you're unsure of that you'd like help with" - to which I answered "how about the bullying and harrassment policy?" - clearly this was difficult. I was saying it with the full knowledge in my mind that my current situation with the investigation meetings with my manager are known by all the managers/mgt team in the store - I have no faith that anything is being kept confidential - certainly not at the management level. I simply clarified who I need to approach with a possible grievance if that was against my line manager - I was trying to keep things as hypothetical as possible. Once again, I felt this manager dealt with things in a professional manner - and although I may have had some suspicions (i.e. she might see me as a "troublemaker" simply because I don't bend over backwards to go above and beyond - e.g. go and collect trolleys in the rain when they cannot cover the trolley function (despite having three trolley personnel - but two of them seem to "opt out of working Sundays/BHs" - so when the other is off for any reason, they need to cover, but very rarely provide appropriate cover) - so although I may have been slightly suspicious, I had no immediate cause for concern that this hypothetical discussion was going to cause any friction - i.e. that she might tip off my manager or the store manager that a bullying/harrassment claim might be forthcoming.

Sorry - lots more to add - but I need to get something done - will come back and add more.




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