Supervisor publicly naming and shaming you

Popadopalous · 02/08/14 - 23:15

So I went in to work today after a few days off and I looked on the notice board in the staff room. There was a large notice written by the supervisor with a bold headline saying 'Naming and Shaming'.

The notice says a few other bits but the main point is that she wrote 'I'm publicly naming and shaming Popadopalous for the following error he made'.. then it explains what I did wrong.

I only made a small mistake but I'm furious at the fact that she has gone out of her way to write this notice and pin it to the board for all to see. Surely it would have been more professional to discuss the issue with me privately.

Anyhow, I want to know if this would violate any employment laws? I'm not really clued up on that sort of stuff so I hope someone here may know. I'm going to be speaking to her next time I see her to tell her how out of order it was to try and shame me in front of my colleagues.

Thanks!

Mustabuster · 02/08/14 - 23:23

I'm not a lawyer but iIf part of a wider problem, it may used as evidence for constructive dismissal if you feel you're put in this position. Possible harassment at work as well.

gomezz · 02/08/14 - 23:35

Your sort of lose credibility by coming on here with this publicly rather than discussing it with her in private.

Apple22over7 · 02/08/14 - 23:41

The one-off event I don't think would violate any law that I can think of, however if it's part of a larger pattern you may have a case to raise a grievance for bullying in the workplace.

zz9 · 03/08/14 - 00:18

Mustabuster wrote: »

I'm not a lawyer but iIf part of a wider problem, it may used as evidence for constructive dismissal if you feel you're put in this position. Possible harassment at work as well.

The important thing if you even suspect there might be a possibility of this happening is to document everything. Take a picture of the notice and the noticeboard, keep copies of any memos, emails, letters (smartphones with cameras are great for this) so that if you ever do need to make a claim at a tribunal for unfair dismissal, constructive dismissal, harassment etc you will have evidence to back it up.

lozenger · 03/08/14 - 00:40

I think this is pretty shocking actually, I would be furious too - is there a HR Manager you can approach? I don't know about breaking any laws but I am pretty sure this isnt in the 'How to treat employees professionally' guide.

scottie2121 · 03/08/14 - 00:46

IMO it's unacceptable. You can start by asking to have a word in private to tell her what you think of this and ask why she feels it's ok to act in such an unprofessional way. If you're not happy with the response then raise a formal grievance.

[Deleted User] · 03/08/14 - 02:23

I've had something similar to this occur in my old job, albeit with the manager.

Document the notices and speak to your supervisor. If that fails then escalate it.

It would have absolutely been more professional to discuss this issue with you privately.

ste likes boobs · 03/08/14 - 02:34

You go by the name popadopalus in work too?

Reserved · 03/08/14 - 06:59

You should name and shame the bitch in exactly the same way for being immature and unprofessional.

[Deleted User] · 03/08/14 - 07:05

Do not have a quiet word. Send an email, make sure all communications between you and your supervisor are documented. Take a picture of the notice too. I know what I'm talking about - I was compromised out of job once because management dealt with a situation at my work very badly to the point where it was impossible for me to continue working there. I left with a very healthy 5 figure sum. This is not right. If there are issues with your work, these should be dealt with on a one to one basis.

gdjman68wasdigi · 03/08/14 - 07:11

Popadopalous wrote: »

So I went in to work today after a few days off and I looked on the notice board in the staff room. There was a large notice written by the supervisor with a bold headline saying 'Naming and Shaming'.

The notice says a few other bits but the main point is that she wrote 'I'm publicly naming and shaming Popadopalous for the following error he made'.. then it explains what I did wrong.

I only made a small mistake but I'm furious at the fact that she has gone out of her way to write this notice and pin it to the board for all to see. Surely it would have been more professional to discuss the issue with me privately.

Anyhow, I want to know if this would violate any employment laws? I'm not really clued up on that sort of stuff so I hope someone here may know. I'm going to be speaking to her next time I see her to tell her how out of order it was to try and shame me in front of my colleagues.

Thanks!

No employer would ever dare do that . It just wouldn't happen

Companies have disciplinary procedures which have to be followed by the book..

If they are not, the firm can get into hot water...

Imagine walking into the break room at Tesco and there was a notice saying a certain individual had put the beans where the spaghetti hoops should go

It would never happen

Jamie_Bradley · 03/08/14 - 09:20

Popadopalous wrote: »

So I went in to work today after a few days off and I looked on the notice board in the staff room. There was a large notice written by the supervisor with a bold headline saying 'Naming and Shaming'.

The notice says a few other bits but the main point is that she wrote 'I'm publicly naming and shaming Popadopalous for the following error he made'.. then it explains what I did wrong.

I only made a small mistake but I'm furious at the fact that she has gone out of her way to write this notice and pin it to the board for all to see. Surely it would have been more professional to discuss the issue with me privately.

Anyhow, I want to know if this would violate any employment laws? I'm not really clued up on that sort of stuff so I hope someone here may know. I'm going to be speaking to her next time I see her to tell her how out of order it was to try and shame me in front of my colleagues.

Thanks!

This didn't happen did it!

Jamie_Bradley · 03/08/14 - 09:22

Apple22over7 wrote: »

The one-off event I don't think would violate any law that I can think of, however if it's part of a larger pattern you may have a case to raise a grievance for bullying in the workplace.

It didn't happen,

But if it did ever happen in a work place it's bullying and even as a one off is cause for immediate dismissal. There are work place laws to prevent this, an evey company will have a set of procedures to follow if an employee has made a mistake.

maxsi · 03/08/14 - 09:43

It's the same a a manager walking into a team meeting and having a go at one person in front if everyone else, wholly inappropriate.
write whats happened and tell another manager

gdjman68wasdigi · 03/08/14 - 09:49

maxsi wrote: »

It's the same a a manager walking into a team meeting and having a go at one person in front if everyone else, wholly inappropriate.
write whats happened and tell another manager

This.did.not.happen

maxsi · 03/08/14 - 09:58

gdjman68wasdigi wrote: »

This.did.not.happen

How.do.you.know?

gdjman68wasdigi · 03/08/14 - 10:10

maxsi wrote: »

How.do.you.know?

because supervisors dont put notices up in the break room undermining an employee

maxsi · 03/08/14 - 10:20

gdjman68wasdigi wrote: »

because supervisors dont put notices up in the break room undermining an employee

Just because they don't in your world, it does happen with inexperienced ignorant young supervisors in little companies that don't know better ...
Training is the key and if people don't know what they don't know they assume they are doing ok? It's life......

abarthman · 03/08/14 - 10:25

Take a photo of the notice.

Keep it safe.

Lushness · 03/08/14 - 10:37

You can't say it didn't happen, even if it didn't it is very believable to me because some managers are just scarily DUMB and you tend to hear stories like this in the HR world. I mean people are still asking women if they intend to have children in interviews for crissake....

I would take a picture of the notice OP and follow it up with a formal grievance. She should not be allowed to get away with that.

gdjman68wasdigi · 03/08/14 - 10:40

Lushness wrote: »

You can't say it didn't happen, even if it didn't it is very believable to me because some managers are just scarily DUMB and you tend to hear stories like this in the HR world. I mean people are still asking women if they intend to have children in interviews for crissake....

I would take a picture of the notice OP and follow it up with a formal grievance. She should not be allowed to get away with that.

lets see how the op gets on then, Monday morning, op needs to speak to his immediate manager(not supervisor) and take it from there..

if it has happened, im pretty sure she will be suspended immediately..

so keep us posted op

RebelScum · 03/08/14 - 11:28

Being humiliated In front of colleagues is classed at bullying in the workplace. Considering this was headed as Naming and Shaming then the manager can't really get away from the fact they have been guilty of bullying. Of course any decent manager will know this so wouldn't dream of putting up such a notice. If the manager did do this then they are incompetent and need to be reported. Performance issues should to be dealt with discretely and professionally.

jackol · 03/08/14 - 11:39

Take the notice down

Safi74 · 03/08/14 - 11:43

gdjman68wasdigi wrote: »

because supervisors dont put notices up in the break room undermining an employee

You obviously work in a far nicer environment than many then. Lots of bosses are great I'm sure, but many are bullies who intimidate and humiliate, thinking it will motivate their staff...how wrong they are.

OP, as others have said, document this well. Take photos of the sign in situ, email to the person concerned with the photo attached saying this is unacceptable behaviour and CC the main boss. Good luck.

John_Patrick · 03/08/14 - 12:23

Jamie_Bradley wrote: »

This didn't happen did it!

So you really think that someone just made that up for the sake of a post count?

There will be rogue managers, supervisors out there that just aint got a clue on how to speak to, or communicate with staff. Couple that with maybe some frustration on their part that the staff are not doing as well as they should, can lead to people forgetting whats right and wrong and targeting individual members of staff 'publicly'.

Hey there!

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