Workplace Harrassment, advice?

disgruntledgoat

Sorry to burden everyone with this, but I'm looking for some constructive help on behalf of my Girlfriend, and you lot can come out with some good advice when you put your minds to it!

She's a French teacher in a secondary school. A poor secondary school where less than 50% of the pupils get A-C at GCSE. As a result of her class's GCSE results, the head is currently putting her through capability proceedings (basically trying to sanction her as incompetent). The tone of the meeting at which this was raised was confrontational, they were blaming rather than trying to give her support and when it was pointed out that she is the only french teacher in the school and, as such, is being asked to take on work she has not been trained for, as an unpaid head of department, they started to get into wooly nad unprovalbe assertions.

The union rep was completely useless in all of this and, as such, she is now undergoing a 6 week period of QA and monitoring by the deputy head who dismissed her positive assessment and monitoring results for the last 2 years as "a fluke".

It's got to the stage where a grown woman is in tears every mornign becasue she doesn't want to go back there. Any advice is most welcome.

Harry B

If the union rep is useless ask to speak to someeone else within the union. Alternatively talk to an employment lawyer. It would probably be worth putting on record how stressed your girlfriend is about the treatment she is getting. The school has a duty of care to her and is breaching that duty is its treatment of her is affecting her health. Also tell her to go and see her GP about the stress so that there is a medical record of it a well.

Good luck

finchy

Harry B's advice is good. She can always speak to another union rep. Alternatively, try joining the other union, assuming they're present in the school.

disgruntledgoat

johnfinch wrote:

Harry B's advice is good. She can always speak to another union rep. Alternatively, try joining the other union, assuming they're present in the school.

She's already discounted teh school rep, and the guy she had last week was the regional secretary. She says he talked a good game right up to the point they went into the meeting then didn't say a word throughout. Afterwards he said it was awful how confrontational they made it and that he thought they were being really unfairl

So why not mention some of this when you had the chance? Gah.

verylonglegs

Have to agree with previous replies, change her representation asap.

Ginjafro

I too was recently subject to capability proceedings. I had to put up with dealing with some very challenging youngsters on vocational courses and was accused of failing to "engage" the little sods when they inevitably misbehaved. Strangely enough no one else was willing to carry out similar lion taming duties for the 5 years I taught them.

My heart goes out to your girlfriend, her confidence must be badly knocked. At this stage she must seek the help and support of a better union rep and seek to either get proceedings stopped or proper and supportive meaures put in place she will be happy with. Good luck.

MattC59

You mentioned that only 50% of pupils are getting A-C grades, is this across the board of subjects ? One would assume that if it is, the school would be carrying out capability tests on all of the teachers, in all the subjects. If they're not, this sounds like discrimination !!

Something to look into !

jim453

That's a very unpleasant situation Your girlfriend finds herself in.

I feel for her. Everybody's job is hard enough without the spectre of capability rearing it's very ugly head. If she's a secondary teacher in a tough school then so much the harder. Fairly unforgiving places.

She needs to think carefully about what she wants. If the senior team have their mind made up for whatever reason (justfied or not) then this is a bone that they will not let go of. Has she got the energy to stick it out? Even if she successfully challenges the decision for capability then you can bet the powers that be will never miss an opportunity to ensure she is fully 'supported'.

The last thing she wants is to go through capability and be found wanting. No where to go from there. A lot of people will resign in her position and go on supply while making decisions about their future, new school could be a whole different atmosphere.

I don't know how she has ended up in the situation she finds herself in but Headteachers are far from stupid and so she must tread very carefully. The situation you describe must be worlds more complicated than you can possibly explain in a few paragraphs so we can make no judgements on wether her treatment is justified or not.

What is clear though is that she is unhappy, and this must be addressed. No one can endure day after day of misery and nor should they.

I hope she comes to a decision that is the best for her health and wellbeing.

tebbit

The advice has been good, also see if the union has legal representation as part of its services, rather than having a union representative in there why not legal counsel instead, to ensure that due process is followed. By the confrontational methods used there could be a good initial argument that due process was not followed and that the competence test does not have adequate grounds.

Best of luck and I hope it all works out.

shouldbeinbed

Capability is the last resort not the first

Wearing a School Governor Hat & been in on a couple of capabilities - these are the questions I'd ask of her.

Have the school raised these issues with her previously and a line manager / member of SLT monitored and supported her via planning sessions, in-class assessments and open feedback informally beforehand?

Have in-school action plans with clear remits and targets been given to her that she has failed to meet? if so what support has been put in place to bring her back on track?

Please can the Deputy Head explain in writing why the assessments and monitoring have been 'a fluke' and present sufficient weight of documantary negative evidence to prove that 2 years of good reports are flukey in comparison.

Has she been assessed by School Improvement Partner or any indpependent external senior teachers / heads

Is the school receiving any help or support to improve from external agencies, does the Head have a mentor form a better placed school looking to help raise achievement and attainment levels? if so and they've not seen her in action and reported back to all concerned then its a shabby state of affairs.

Is it a specialist school, could they be trying to wind down languages to give more space to e.g. Science or Sport or whatever they've got the extra money and support for/

How has she done with Ofsted or HMI in the past? - if Ofsted have been in recently and she wasn't seen, she might like to ask all parties if School asked for her to be excluded from the inspection and if so on what grounds.

If she's new ito teaching how was her NQT and RQT mentoring handled, if she;s new to the school how was her induction and probation period etc.


Is she excluded from training or INSETS that other staff get to go to

Is she unique in being placed under the extra burden of middle management expectations?
& can she prove that she is being expected to work at a level above Class Teacher / Grade she's paid.(different grades have different expectations and responsibilities)?

Is she getting a TLR or SEN payment for anything, if so how tight and specific is that remit?

How is she comparing to other teachers in terms of GCSE and cohort results in the humanities & wider non core subjects - unfair to pit her against English & Maths, also IT & Science which are; or have recently been the headline grabbers and ones schools focus most heavily on to boost the league within a league rankings.

does she get complaints from parents, pupils, other staff memebrs? No is not always a good answer, is she too soft with the kids?

Do her class have discipline or behaviour problems that other teachers don't?

are there other staff that have been put under the microscope by this SLT, or the Head in other schools

she doesn't have to have a Union rep (though they SHOULD be the best ones to have with you) it can be a friend / you etc who may not have the inner knowledge but by the sounds of it would stand up to the bullying a bit more.

Someone sitting there writing everything down and occasionally asking for clarification of acronyms or spellings of peoples names etc can keep people on the straight and narrow.

Ask to see some procedures: They are documents that the school has to have and that she has every right to see. She should have been presented with the capability one once this got formal. I'd suggest:

Capability
Staff discipline
Grievance (for her to use on them if needs be) This generally takes precedence and puts capability on hold whilst the Grievance is heard - but if it is dismissed then it could count against her when capability restarts as a deliberate delaying /head in the sand tactic).

read them over and over again make sure that everything that is happening is being done by the book.

How is the knowledge, impartiality and balls of the Governing Body? Any grievance against the Head starts with the Chair of Govs and can escalate with appeals from there to others. Also any appeal against capability would be heard by Governors - many sadly are noddy dogs doing what they're told by HT or a cosied up CoG and in the thrall of the school.

She could get in touch with HR directly and ask for advice and support - I would think somewhere in the labyrinth of LA there would be a teacher training coordinator.

Is she one for the Forums on TES or teachernet - there will be people out there that have been in similar situations that can advise and support her where the union is failing to do so.

That said though if she is poor then she deserves to go, the kids education should always come first whether it is by removing poor teachers or by supporting the good ones and allowing them room to breathe without overbearing management.

Whichever this will be a slog for her, once in the bad books its hard to get out of them and Heads talk to one another, if this one has a good reputation locally, life could be tough whatever she does.

Feel free to PM rather than bare her soul in public if you want to reply to any of this, I'm happy to give you a Governor perspective on anything as thats where it may well end up.

disgruntledgoat

Many thanks all.

Shouldbeinbed: Lengthy PM sent!

ex-pat scot

Shouldbeinbed

+several million. Also as ex chair of governors, I would endorse your fabulous response.
I don't have anything else to add to this: he's covered all bases.

Best of luck to your GF. I hope the outcome is fair for her and the children.

simonaspinall

Can't really add much else apart from keep a diary of times/dates/attendees of meetings, what was discussed etc. so you have an itemsised list of evidence to refer to - Include witnesses and get their agreement to vouch for your interpretation and position.

They are trying to build a case against her, she needs to build a case for herself as the defence - This should be done in conjunction with the union rep and employment lawyer if necessary.

Chin up - Get the law on your side, know you are in the right and it will only be a matter of time before you can turn the situation around.

disgruntledgoat

This morning has seen the head/deputy try and bounce her into agreeing to an improvement plan that was sent to her yesterday evening in a meeting they set up this morning and telling her she isn't allowed a representative in it.

tebbit

Back to the earlier comments, legal representation and make sure they follow due process, I wouldn't expect this in a small company why should harassment like this happen in a large public body?

All the best and I hope it works out.

3leggeddog

Sorry to hear this.

A meeting without representation is illegal gf should refuse to attend.

You are in west cumbria?

My experience is that union representation varies wildly, in the wild west; nasuwt and atl are very strong nut less so. unfortunately once an action has commenced, it is almost impossible to jump ship to another union.

Any action where a member's job is at risk should be representedby a regional case worker rather than the school rep.

The key action here is not to attend any meeting without representation. This representation should be from outside the school, ie case worker

HonestAl

I'm not sure if it helps at all, but I think jim453 makes a very valid point. Regardless of the rights and wrongs in the process, if the senior staff have taken a view (which they probably wouldn't make public) her proving her capability might not achieve a whole lot. About 10 years ago my wife had a change of head of department. Within a year she was also under scrutiny, despite having an excellent record for pupil achievement for many years.

I've never been in education, but assuming people in education aren't a different species than those in industry, like it or not there's a degree of "face fitting" regardless of procedural niceties.

We discussed the matter at some length, and she resigned. She didn't have another job to go to, she simply went in, told her head of department she wasn't prepared to be subjected to what she viewed as an unreasonable situation and handed in her notice. The support from the staff was suddenly astonishing, with many people "wishing they had the nerve". After a few weeks she'd found another teaching job to begin the next term. and she's been at her current school ever since, and the results of her pupils would indicate she's doing a pretty good job.

We're lucky that, although we needed her salary long term we knew we could manage for a term or so. Added to that the fact that she's an experienced maths teacher made it somewhat easier to make the decision to risk leaving without another post to go to.

Relying on a fair process to keep your girlfriend in post in an environment where it's just possible her management have decided they don't want her will put her under a lot of pressure.

Sorry if this seems a bit simplistic and defeatist. I hope it seems constructive. It's not a recommendation for your girlfriend, just another bit of history which might or might not help

Good luck to her.

Weejie54

A meeting without representation is illegal gf should refuse to attend.

Only disciplinary or grievance meetings or hearings give the employee the right to be accompanied by a colleague or union representative. If, at any time, during a meeting that does not come under those categories, there is a suggestion that disciplinary measures are being considered, the employee has a right to ask that the meeting be closed and rearranged to allow for accompaniment. Note that the right is to be accompanied, not represented. The employee should take notes and ensure that he/she isn't being harassed or cajoled into making statements.

This looks like it might be heading for a constructive dismissal claim. A decent employment lawyer is a better bet than an apathetic union rep.

blueheeler

I have been through the same thing almost identical circumstances.My best advice to your friend is to always take her own representative as a witness in with her to any meetings with the principal. Basically he is trying to bully her until the stress forces her resignation.I found out the teachers union was absolutely useless...they just want to stay neutral. Start collecting positive statements re her ability and personality from students' parents.I know its hard but you have to stand up to bullies right from the start. Also a recording device in handbag will be some extra protection.
She must practice retorts to be able to stand up to the boss. For example if he speaks to her in a rude demeaning tone she can reply" I am sure you don't mean it but that tone and manner could be misconstrued as bullying" then walk off without another word.
She needs lots of support...a good Australian website re bullying of school teachers is www.badapplebullies.com

OffTheBackAdam

Suggest she tells them to stuff the job, tell them what a bunch of tossers they are and preferably infront of the entire school!
A job's not worth that much stress and good language teachers are like gold dust, she'll be snapped up pdq.

bigmat

Sounds like its not her that is the problem but the employer. Saying that, my advice would be to get another job. Keep the attitude that she is good at her job and deserves better, and move before pushed. I'd agree with the advice to speak to an employment lawyer asap - she should be able to get an initial consultation free if she looks around.

I personally wouldn't complain about stress to a GP - unless she genuinely needs medical assistance, in my opinion it isn't a great thing to have on your records. Anything that shows a pre-disposition to stress can undermine any future personal injury claim she might want to make and also some employers want to see medical records at the recruitment stage and you can bet "stress" is one of the things they will be keen to avoid.

rick_chasey

It's all very well suggesting a new job - but has anyone looked at the job market recently?

It's not hot...

alfablue

Leaving for a new job (if getting one is possible without a good reference) will result in OP's g/f carrying the doubt and damage to her confidence for a long time to come, as the bullies won. It also allows the bullying to continue (and reinforces their feeling that it is both right, and they can't be touched).

Tough as it is, standing one's ground is essential, eventually you can win.

My son was bullied in the catering industry (at a top 50 uk restaurant), including physical abuse and a 96 hour working week on the minimum wage. He was physically ill in a number of ways, and mentally distraught. The TGWU regional rep was useless and effectively sided with the employer in meetings! I got on to the general secretary and insisted on a better service, and they assigned a lawyer to the case.

In the end he got £7k compensation and the employer had to sign an agreement not to badmouth him. The money was paltry compensation, but the victory was essential to his self esteem - he is now a successful head chef.

Hang in there, bullies are unused to people who do it by the book and who don't quit.

As said before, it is important to get the health and stress issues they are causing documented (diary, gp and feedback to the employers themselves).

bigmat

alfablue wrote:

Leaving for a new job (if getting one is possible without a good reference) will result in OP's g/f carrying the doubt and damage to her confidence for a long time to come, as the bullies won. It also allows the bullying to continue (and reinforces their feeling that it is both right, and they can't be touched).

Tough as it is, standing one's ground is essential, eventually you can win.

My son was bullied in the catering industry (at a top 50 uk restaurant), including physical abuse and a 96 hour working week on the minimum wage. He was physically ill in a number of ways, and mentally distraught. The TGWU regional rep was useless and effectively sided with the employer in meetings! I got on to the general secretary and insisted on a better service, and they assigned a lawyer to the case.

In the end he got £7k compensation and the employer had to sign an agreement not to badmouth him. The money was paltry compensation, but the victory was essential to his self esteem - he is now a successful head chef.

Hang in there, bullies are unused to people who do it by the book and who don't quit.

As said before, it is important to get the health and stress issues they are causing documented (diary, gp and feedback to the employers themselves).

That's all well and good but is your son head chef at the same restaurant? My view is that its best to negotiate a departure on best available terms - may include getting a payoff, agreement to "not badmouth" as you put it and an agreed reference (that last bit is important!). That's where the lawyer will come in. I just don't see how you can make an employer stop treating you like dirt. They might do it a bit more slyly and "by the book", but the OP's g/f will still find the working environment unpleasant, have limited opportunities for career advancement and will be better off getting out and making a fresh start somewhere her considerable skills are more valued. I appreciate the job market isn't great, but I reckon this should definitely be "Plan A". Whether she then views this as being "beaten", or takes the view that she's better off out of it and they can stuff their job is down to her.

Re the stress issue, tread carefully (for the reasons I've already mentioned). Probably worth holding fire until she's seen a lawyer.

alfablue

I agree with you Mathammond - my son left on the best possible terms (the not "badmouthing" made the boss liable for a breech of the agreement if he made derogatory comments verbally, a written reference was also agreed) , given that he had been constructively dismissed following assault. I also agree that you can't get people to stop treating you like sh1t - but you need to hang in there in order to leave on your terms (or the best terms available). Constructive dismissal is the hardest option to prove so one needs to hang in if at all possible. Also agree that a lawyer is probably the best next step.

verylonglegs

MatHammond wrote:

I personally wouldn't complain about stress to a GP - unless she genuinely needs medical assistance, in my opinion it isn't a great thing to have on your records. Anything that shows a pre-disposition to stress can undermine any future personal injury claim she might want to make and also some employers want to see medical records at the recruitment stage and you can bet "stress" is one of the things they will be keen to avoid.

I'm curious, which jobs could possibly legally insist on seeing your private medical history?

bigmat

verylonglegs wrote:

MatHammond wrote:

I personally wouldn't complain about stress to a GP - unless she genuinely needs medical assistance, in my opinion it isn't a great thing to have on your records. Anything that shows a pre-disposition to stress can undermine any future personal injury claim she might want to make and also some employers want to see medical records at the recruitment stage and you can bet "stress" is one of the things they will be keen to avoid.

I'm curious, which jobs could possibly legally insist on seeing your private medical history?

I don't want to name named but I have definitely come across this. I imagine it wouldn't be legal to compel someone to disclose, but obviously inferences could be drawn from any refusal. Its not that off the wall really, I think its quite common for people to have to undertake medicals and its just an extension of the same thing. I've known places require drug testing as well, but that's going off on a bit of a tangent...