Grievances

A new chap joined my unit a couple of months ago and now works in my section. He has always seemed a touch highly strung but beyond that a nice enough chap. However, his manager has come to speak to me a couple of times because she is so stressed at his behaviour.

They’ve had to arrange a couple of big meetings recently and this chap has proved to be more of a hindrance than anything else. He had to be sent home from the meeting a few weeks ago. It was being held in a hotel and he got some room upgrades basically by lying and then kept pilfering everything in sight – he filled his pockets with humbugs and biscuits and anything that technically you could have but are not really meant to take by the handful.

Last week he came and spoke to me because he was really upset that he wasn’t invited to the lunch part way through the meeting taking place the next day. I said to him that numbers had to be cut so people within the unit would always be the first to be crossed off the list and it was more important that the delegates and speakers were fed than people who worked in the unit who could just do whatever they normally did at lunch time. But he just couldn’t understand this and was still going to complain to his manager (who was the person who had made the decision) until I persuaded him that it really wasn’t the best time. I did also have to tell him in no uncertain terms that it was entirely inappropriate to ask the delegates to bring him gifts. I had to explain to him how badly that would reflect on the organisation to do something like that. Is that something that really needs to be pointed out??

Anyway, he’s now thinking about putting in a formal grievance against his manager for discriminatory behaviour by not inviting him to the lunch. He thinks the decision was based on his grade (whereas some might argue that it was to ensure that there was enough food for everyone else). His manager is feeling really miserable about it because she knows she has done nothing wrong but it is threatening nonetheless. Yesterday she looked through his employment file and realised that he has put in grievances before, which makes it more likely that he will go through with it. I have tried to reassure her that she has nothing to worry about, various people have commented on how odd his behaviour is and would be happy to speak up for his manager, but it’s never a pleasant thing. He went home sick yesterday with stress, so we’ll see if he comes in today.

On the housing front, I can’t go and see the place again until Friday so I have to hang on nervously until then. At least the owner knows I am interested and so is unlikely to accept an offer in the interim (I hope). I just don’t think I can put in an offer at the moment without feeling really comfortable with what I am doing and going back to look at the kitchen again is key to that. So let’s hope the next few days go by quickly and then my plans to become a property owner become a reality.