employee grievance douglas gardiner

Letter of grievance Doug Gardiner

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Letter of Grievance

Doug Gardiner

Confidential To: Jean-Marc Penelon & Christophe Torres


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5 Weavern Court Frogwell

Chippenham Wiltshire

SN14 0LU Mob: +44 7973172405

[email protected] Dear Sirs.

This letter is a complaint against the conduct of

Exsto UK General Manager, Mr. J. Baxevanidis.

Introduction.

On the morning of Thursday 9th December Mr. Baxevanidis (JB) came into my office and subjected me to an unsuspected, well prepared venomous attack, for which I was totally unprepared. I was accused of lying, failing to contact senior management, not making sufficient effort to return to work as a result of the Spanish air traffic controllers’ strike, and being told I would lose 3 days pay. As a result of his behaviour I broke down and have since remained unwell. In addition since this incident I have been subjected to further unfair treatment which has shown little concern for my state of health and is causing me additional anguish and distress.

After 27 years of continuous employment I have never ever been subjected to treatment remotely like this.

Please find attached the events leading to and following this occurrence.

(Please note there are several other items which I have omitted to avoid over complication)

mailto:[email protected]


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Saturday 4th Dec 2010.

My return flight from my holiday was cancelled. I did everything possible at the time to rebook for earliest available return flight, taking into account the situation as known on Saturday. The Spanish Air Traffic Controllers had called a wild cat strike and it affected the whole of Spain. It has been reported in the Spanish press that a million passengers were stranded. Announcements at the airport indicated that delays might be up to 10 to 12 days. As far as I knew on the Saturday the strike could have gone on for days, so in the circumstances a delay from Saturday to Wednesday seemed more than reasonable.

On this day I made contact with a colleague Vincent Bezard (VB), whose number I had, to give update on the problem. VB also mentioned an important enquiry he needed a quote on Friday. As this was important, I said do what you can to help me and I would get on with my part of the job first thing on my return Thursday.

Tuesday 7th Dec 2010

JB could have called me anytime with his concerns and advice from 8:30am on Monday the 6th – he did not. I was contactable by phone all the time as is demonstrated by two calls I answered from the office on Tuesday the 7th. On answering these calls I was only aware that someone at the office was calling me.

Why did JB not call me?


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Thursday 9th Dec 2010

I returned to the office early on Thursday after my return to the UK to do what I could on the work that had been mentioned to me by colleague VB.

Later that morning I was subjected to an incident of well prepared, unprovoked, venomous and unreasonable behaviour by JB. I recall his aggressive manner, being accused of lying and unable to answer his well prepared questions. I was not expecting this personal attack of my honesty and dignity at all. This was so totally unexpected and unacceptable on any basis and it caused me to break down. I was feeling very unwell, distressed, and shocked. I informed JB “I feel sick and I’m going home” JB made no effort to stop or console me and answered very clearly and calmly “go then”

This event has also been documented by JB.

Why was I subjected to such an aggressive well prepared personal attack by JB without any warning?

I returned home very distressed by the event that had just happened. Later when I was in my bed trying to relax, I answered a call from work which turned out to be JB, far from being concerned about my state of health he was once again aggressive threatening me with HR law.

Why did JB call me, and then threaten me with HR laws whilst I am unwell?

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That evening I attempted to complete the quote work at home as I knew this was very important to the company I spent 5 hours of Thursday evening trying to produce the required work but had insufficient information to complete this task. I went to bed early.

I awoke in the very early hours of Friday morning fretting and very distressed about the incomplete work so I drove to work whilst there was nobody there and completed the work, this I would have done on Thursday under normal circumstances.


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Wednesday 15th Dec 2010

Just 3 working days after the above incident I check my bank account I find a short fall in money from my normal contracted salary.

I later find out from my payslip that there are two unexpected deductions from my salary, an incorrect addition and some extra hours. I find these alterations to my salary without any prior notice, agreement or explanation very distressing, offensive and thoughtless, these actions show very little concern for my current state of health and have caused me additional anguish and distress to date.

On what authority were these deductions made from my salary?

Why is the company sick pay for 4 days and not 3?

If I am to be paid for extra hours, as is the case on this payslip. I estimate on the basis of this addition I am owed at least 400hrs extra hours pay for the last 4 years please tell me if this is the case?

On what authority was this addition made to my salary?

Is there another motive behind this addition?

Why were these deductions made so soon after my notified absence with stress?

Why was my contracted salary adjusted at without any notice in writing?

Was my health and safety considered when these deductions were made?


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I receive a letter dated 13th Dec inviting me to a hearing about bullying.

When I received this letter dated 13th Dec, written on the day I handed in my Doctors advise note for stress, I was again greatly distressed. Again I found this action very offensive and thoughtless showing very little concern for my current state of health.

My response to Memo from JB undated.

Again I found this letter very unprofessional, offensive and thoughtless showing very little concern for my current state of health.

JB admits he had information and explanation of problem given to him by VB whom I called on Sat 4th Dec so he could not complain that the company was not properly notified. As I am usually first in the office I have taken and passed on to JB many messages of unexpected absence due to lateness or sickness without other members of staff having to report to management, after 7 years of working for the company I never considered this an issue. Also I had no duty to call the office until 8:30am on Monday 6th but I called VB on Saturday 4th someone in our small organisation I considered responsible enough to relay on a message for me.

I refute the naive statement of JB about referral to FT, Guardian, and BBC news web site as irrelevant as they are not the airlines and also this was reporting done on the Monday after the event.

I strongly refute the allegations of aggression and that I slammed my hands on the desk, I actually dropped my coat and I did not “storm out of the company” this seems to be some sort of HR law quote, I was having a stress attack bought on by JB’s aggressive manner. This has since been verified by two Doctors who have told me to refrain from work for currently 6 weeks.


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Summary.

My health has been seriously compromised by JB’s continued unprofessional and malicious actions, currently my recovery is the most important thing to me. Also I cannot allow it to be ignored that my honesty, integrity, and conscientiousness have all been seriously questioned.

I would like an apology for the treatment of me by JB and assurances that this kind of behaviour will not be repeated.

I would like my salary of the 15th Dec 2010 returned to the correct amount.

I would like to remain on full pay until I recover or to be reviewed after 6 months if I am still unable to return to work.

As a conscientious worker I would like to return to work a soon as possible. I have worked flexible hours successfully for the company from home before so this is a preferred starting option. I would also consider short term secondments within the group. My Dr has advised that I should start light duties when I am ready but this point has not yet been reached I am still very unwell.

Yours faithfully,

Douglas I Gardiner.

Exsto UK Ltd

Department 2 - Design Engineers Payment Method - BACS Payment Period - Monthly

Basic 1.00 3090.0000 3090.00 PAYE Tax 414.40 Total Gross Pay TD 28582.71Expenses as claim 1.00 82.8300 82.83 National Insurance 235.29 Gross for Tax TD 27336.44Comp'y Sick Pay, Days 4.00 142.0700 568.28 Tax paid TD 4486.40Work Provided Fri 10th Dec 3.00 18.9400 56.82 Earnings For NI TD 27325.00

National Insurance TD 2536.49

S.S.P. 15.83================

6-8/12 Unauth'd Leave 426.219/12 5.5hrs Unauth'd Leave 104.17 Earnings for NI 2613.00

Sick Pay 15.83 Basic Pd as Co Sick Py 568.28 Gross for Tax 2616.44Total Gross Pay 3813.76Nat. Insurance No NE576144D

9 15/12/2010 2 653L 25 Mr. DI Gardiner 2049.58

67 Roundponds, Melksham, Wiltshire, SN12 8EB UK. Eml [email protected], Tel +44 (0)1225 703329, Fax +44 (0)1225 791905

Date: 13/12/10

Dear Mr. Gardiner

I acknowledge receipt of your email dated 10th December in which you informed me that you are due to visit your GP and obtain a sick note to sign you off work.

In your email you made reference to a meeting held on Thursday 9th December 2010, in which you felt bullied. As a company, we take allegations of bullying very seriously and would like to give you the opportunity to raise the matter formally via our grievance procedures. I enclose copies of the procedures for your attention.

Upon receipt of your written grievance, we will arrange a formal meeting to discuss your concerns. During the meeting I will listen carefully to what you have to say and ensure that if any further investigations seem necessary, a note is made for these to be undertaken afterwards. Mark Farrell will also be in attendance to take minutes.

In this instance, the allegation is targeted towards your immediate manager, which is also the most senior manager in the UK. I acknowledge the potential conflict and under these circumstances I would like to offer the 10th and 11th of January 2011 as potential dates for the hearing, should you decide to submit a written grievance. Mr. Jean-Marc Penelon, the Commercial Director of the group has a scheduled visit during those dates, so he could chair the meeting instead of me.

You have the right to be accompanied by a fellow employee or trade union official and if you wish to exercise this right then it is your responsibility to make the arrangements.

Please contact me if you have any queries regarding the contents of this letter.

Yours sincerely

John Baxevanidis

General Manager


67 Roundponds, Melksham, Wiltshire, SN12 8EB UK. Eml [email protected], Tel +44 (0)1225 703329, Fax +44 (0)1225 791905

Dear Doug,

Bellow you will see a summary of the reasons for the loss of appropriate pay and the salary addition

Background

On Thursday the 9th of December I came to see you in your office to discuss the reasons for your absence. You stated that at the airport in Spain on Saturday morning (4th of December, the second day of the air traffic controller strikes) they said to you that all flights for the next 12 days were fully booked, but they could get you on a flight on Wednesday the 8th of December, so you booked that. Upon booking (the same day) you called your friend and colleague Vincent Bezard to explain to him the situation, which then Vincent relayed to us on Monday

When Vincent spoke to me, using my common sense and judgement as a seasoned traveller, I thought your statements merited an investigation. I found out that the airports in Spain were working at almost full capacity from Sunday (5th of December) with 4,200 flights departing (Information I collected and corroborated by 3 different sources. The FT, the Guardian and the BBC News website) Furthermore, I went online and saw that I could reserve flights for Monday evening and Tuesday. In fact I went along and almost booked a flight for Tuesday afternoon, just to make sure that the seat was available.

Main reasonsLoss of appropriate pay for 6-8th of December: Unauthorised absence and failure to notify management

Upon asking you why you didn’t contact me. You answered that you didn’t have anybody’s number. In fact you made the same statement to Vincent. My thought process was that over the last 7 years we have exchanged text messages and mobile calls several times, but even if somehow you did not have my number, you could have asked Vincent to give it to you. As a minimum if you did not think of any of the above, you could have called the company main number on Monday and spoken to me.

When I asked you how come you didn’t think about calling the company number, you shrugged your shoulders and said “yes I guess I could have done that”

When I asked you if you thought about contacting easyjet to rebook your flight, or if you generally made any attempts at finding alternative travelling arrangements you said in the same manner “No I didn’t do that, I guess I could have done that”

Following our very brief discussion, in addition to the above, you made no attempt to explain the reasons for failing to notify and update your manager in a proper and respectful manner.

As anybody will testify in the company I am very generous and always give something when it is asked of me. I am sure you can recollect numerous times when I have gone out of my way to help you personally. However, as a manager of the company I cannot allow such a precedent of failing to address the issue of an employee being absent from work for 3 days without properly notifying the company, having any evidence of having made attempts to find alternative travelling arrangements and finally attend a meeting to defend why you felt this was reasonable.


Loss of appropriate pay for 9th of December: Unauthorised absence 5.5 hours

As soon as I finished explaining the reasons to you and said to you that the company will not be paying you for the 3 days of unauthorised absence, (within a split second of me finishing my sentence) you slammed your hands on your desk, stood up in an aggressive manner, grabbed your coat, said “well, if that is the case, I am ill, I am going home, ok” and stormed out of the company.

I waited for a couple of hours and decided to give you a call to try and reason with you, thinking that you were angry and upset but maybe you would have calmed down and you could come in and we could talk. You answered the phone and you started shouting at me at such a high level that to be honest I do not even remember the 60 second conversation we had just before you put the phone down on me. Regardless, I felt that as I thought I knew you for so long perhaps if I left a voicemail and invite you to come in to talk, maybe after you had calmed down you would be more willing to do so. So I did, explaining to you that if we could talk, we could resolve this easily, but if you act in such a manner, (aggressively, storming out, etc) then I had no choice than to formalise everything according to the appropriate HR laws. This is the point we are now, communicating like this.

As a manager of the company again I cannot allow a precedent of someone storming out of the company (and not returning), in the way that you did, to go unaddressed. Hence it is treated as unauthorised absence for the rest of the day. The company is paying you for the time you were in the office, based on an hourly rate which is derived from your annual salary by the company accountant

Addition to Salary for 10th of December

On Friday I was informed that Vincent Bezard found some drawings on his desk, which presumably you had prepared either the night before, or early in the morning of that day. Later on I found an email from you, sent at 6:41 from your work email address, so I presumed that you came in that morning and performed some work. John Lewis came in the office that morning at 8:00am and said that nobody was in. As I did not have a way of making contact with you, I had to make a guess. I decided that it was fair to pay you for 3 hours. This did not form part of a standard contractual obligation that the company has with you. Simply, the company has always appreciated any additional work performed by employees outside of their normal 8:30 – 5:00 duties. In the past the company has issued additional days off in lieu of work performed on a weekend for example. In this instance, I felt that giving you time in lieu would not be effective as it is the end of the holiday year in 2 weeks and you are signed off for that period anyway, so holiday would potentially go to waste.

Apologise for the long letter. I hope that the above answers your questions

If you need anything else, please don’t hesitate to contact me

Yours Sincerely

John Baxevanidis

General Manager

employee grievance douglas gardiner

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