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Mark_Burgess

Does anyone have a section in their T&C's that state, any form of physical or verbal abuse including inappropriate comments and sarcasm shall not be tolerated etc, etc?

Thinking I need to add some to mine as I have just walked of a job today and will be emailing the MD with my complaint, also saying the work shall need to be done at a weekend when the workstations are not occupied.
 
That's very poor mate! Nothing in mine I'm afraid. I take it there will be an increase in cost that you'll be highlighting with the w/e work!
 
What happened Mark?

Nothing much, I was drilling a concrete ceiling and using my vacuum cleaner at the same time next to the drill tip to catch probably 90% or more of the dust, however the existing fluorescents have loads of saw dust on them, when anything gets disturbed the dust settles below. I had been above an un-manned workstation drilling and fixing conduit, I had not finished so had not cleared the remaining dust on the workstation below, bear in mind you couldn't see it except on black items, keeping the area as clear as possible and to cause as minimum disruption to them, I had my tool bag etc around the corner, I just went there to get some thing, then the gobby idiot that thinks he runs that area decided to shout off about the dust, just load enough for every one including me to hear.
I went back and said i'd vacuum it now if it were to be occupied (as he now wanted to put an agency worker there) he said no and started clearing it himself.
I just thought sod it, not in the mood for retards like him, packed up and cleared off home.

I had previously been above another manned workstation, hardly made any mess when drilling as vacuum was on and at the drill tip, then just to make sure went over the persons workstation, and the worker there was happy with it.

Its not much really and normally I'd ignore it or tell them welcome to the real world and carry on, today I could not be bothered, I have got laryngitis so could not be bothered to try to talk and explain where the additional dust from the lights was coming from.
Then I thought to myself, no way should anyone talk to or make comments of any derogatory type at me whilst I am at work.
 
That's very poor mate! Nothing in mine I'm afraid. I take it there will be an increase in cost that you'll be highlighting with the w/e work!

Yes they will, I was doing them a favour doing it during normal hours, there would have been just 1 or 2 hours after everyone had gone to power down change over to the new lights and remove the old.

Now they will have to pay for the weekend. This is why I want my T&C's to say that in the event of any for of abuse they shall be charged for the full day.
 
From a legal point I dont think that charging for the whole day would hold up in court,however if you had something like "any form of verbal or physical abuse will result in me leaving site and payment will be required for work done so far" would be more likely to have the desired effect.Alternatively work on your repertoire of sarcastic remarks,customers are often misguided but never wrong unfortunately,as one of my bosses used to say,but abuse is bang out of order.
 
Its a much longer history than what I have explained, they guy is an bunghole, I used to work there many years ago as the ops manager (was getting a lot more money than sparking) any way it got quite and I was made redundant, he always wanted my job and spend is whole time trying to stab me in the back whilst I was there, so there is a bit of history.
I know I probably wont get a days pay from them, I wont pursue it, but I need to word my T&C's correctly such that any abuse shall not be tolerated.
 
I think you can put anything you like in your T&C's as long as it's fair & reasonable, & I would think that what you're asking - not to be subject to abuse etc. - comes into that category.

Bear in mind not to go OTT though, otherwise you may find yourself not winning work because potential customers may consider you to be more hassle than your worth after reading all your "small print" - which in effect is what T&C's is !!!

Personally, I would have done exactly what you have done - walked away.
 
Mosty large places have policys regarding abuse be it physical,verbal or otherwise Have a look at theirs and perhaps include it in your tncs
something worded like " our employees are free to carry out their daily work free from any knind of abuse Abuse of any knid be it physical,verbal will be reported in first instance to client line manager If not resolved then employees will leave site and client shall pay for return visit out of hours to facilitate completion of works "
BUT try not to be petty Im working in a retail store just now where they sell Beds as I was walking past one of the lassies ( 2 girls good looking normal girl next door types ) said something about posistions in bed I just replied with " depends if the wife lets me in the bed !" we all laughted BUT some places may not like the language or tones used Similarly when going for "T" the 2 girls were in front of me and manager said "nice view there " I agreed we all laughed
 
I dont mind people openly extracting the urine out of me in open banter, normally I'd ignore a little dig, or turn it around and say it was deliberate to wind them up as a joke, just today I could not be bothered, which then got me thinking about the T&C's.
 
I dont mind people openly extracting the urine out of me in open banter, normally I'd ignore a little dig, or turn it around and say it was deliberate to wind them up as a joke, just today I could not be bothered, which then got me thinking about the T&C's.

I understand what you're saying & completely agree with you.

I'm sure that if the boot was on the other foot, the other party wouldn't have accepted it either.
 
I think personally you've over reacted,possibly due to you not feeling well but also because there's clearly a history between you.
terms and conditions for sarcasm?are you really sure you should be in this game?some of the comments we make to each other,production included,where I work aren't repeatable outside of that arena,in fact their often not repeatable to any female I associate with.
Id say wipe your nose,laugh it off and get on with it,you know the guys an idiot and so I'm sure does everyone else who works there.
The bigger picture is that work is scarce and you need to be very careful not to get a rep that your a moaner and awkward to work with.
Sorry if this isn't what you want to hear but I reckon you'll wake up tommorow and think that perhaps you weren't at your best and just too move on.
 
I once told the builder to "do one" and walked off site only for my boss to ask me to just ignore him and go back. I went back half an hr later and said "sorry bout earlier John. I work for justin and hes asked me to finish the job. We both over reacted and i'd like to forget about it all. He has been different towards me ever since
 
I once told the builder to "do one" and walked off site only for my boss to ask me to just ignore him and go back. I went back half an hr later and said "sorry bout earlier John. I work for justin and hes asked me to finish the job. We both over reacted and i'd like to forget about it all. He has been different towards me ever since

Bang on,were all adults and to me the op got out of bed in a bad mood this morning and hasn't recovered since,that's why I think this ^^^^^ scenario is what will play out tommorow and he'll be laughing about it down the pub over a pint with his mates on Friday.
Weve all done it,I've nearly had people by the throat where I used to work and the same to me for whatever reasons then the next day/hour were friends again apologising for being babies.
Unless the guy slept with your wife/mother/daughter/son (delete as applicable) then I'd say most things are recoverable.
 
I think personally you've over reacted,possibly due to you not feeling well but also because there's clearly a history between you.
terms and conditions for sarcasm?
Sarcasm was the wrong word, derogatory would have been better.
are you really sure you should be in this game?
For once, I have decided not to retaliate in a non appropriate manner and you are questioning my fitness to be in this line of work? I am pretty sure you might know my answer to that!!
some of the comments we make to each other,production included,where I work aren't repeatable outside of that arena,in fact their often not repeatable to any female I associate with.
Id say wipe your nose,laugh it off and get on with it,you know the guys an idiot and so I'm sure does everyone else who works there. I know what you are saying there, it turns out me taking the right route in this instance to pack up and sod off has proved more effective.
The bigger picture is that work is scarce and you need to be very careful not to get a rep that your a moaner and awkward to work with. You needed to be there to witness what he said and how it was said. Normally with out a blink of an eye i'd use the normal 2 worded reply starting and ending in F.
Sorry if this isn't what you want to hear but I reckon you'll wake up tommorow and think that perhaps you weren't at your best and just too move on.
I will have more pleasure going in tomorrow knowing he now has to do what I say whilst working there with regards to clearing areas prior to me working.

I sent an email off, and had a reply already, in their words its turns out he has become a "bit of an egomanic recently" and they are glad that someone has finally said something so they can 'have a word' with him as he seems to have made everyone else afraid to say anything. After a good chat by email the table has just been turned on him.
Oh did I mention that I and the MD are good friends?
 
Firm i use to work for Had the apprentice out with me and this day I HAD to be somewhere which meant I couldnt drop him home so nearest train station on my road home He did a "letter" to the boss listing all sorts of keech such as me slagging off his hair cut to the way irefered to a female member of staff as "the ----" yes he got me into bother NOT for anything in his letter but for taking him home at all as it was up to him to make his own way to work Re the ---- she knew thats how I refered to her as when she phoned me id answer with "What can I do for my ---- today?"
The said apprenctice and I were split up but as we still worked for same squad our paths crossed now n then I tried to "Shake on it " but he was a huffy bam n never came to the apprentices leaving night as he fell out with everyone else
Banter is common place and is IMO a requirement of the job its knowing and defining "banter" from "Abuse" bescomes difficult
Id go back Head down Arse up n get on with work unless you have a need to talk to this guy just talk to his superior
 
I will have more pleasure going in tomorrow knowing he now has to do what I say whilst working there with regards to clearing areas prior to me working.

I sent an email off, and had a reply already, in their words its turns out he has become a "bit of an egomanic recently" and they are glad that someone has finally said something so they can 'have a word' with him as he seems to have made everyone else afraid to say anything. After a good chat by email the table has just been turned on him.
Oh did I mention that I and the MD are good friends?

Right to clear up before others start wading in I'm not questioning your ability,not in the slightest,in fact you sound pretty conscientious using a Hoover simultaneously, it's merely the fact that in industry particularly you have to work with people a million times worse than him all the time and if people like him get up your snout then heaven forbid if you go into a factory where the men are in dispute etc,in that case I'd say your better off doing domestic type work and just dealing with the public.
As for writing in "abuse" to a contract then your dreaming because your idea of abuse and mine are probably completely different,yes of course someone referring to your race,origin,sexuality etc is wrong,but how far can you go?im fat,I know I am and often I play it into conversation first incase someone doesn't know if their crossing the line,yet I know others who must see something different in the mirror to what you and I see,my usual means of dealing when the skinny ones get a bit cocky is simply to reply to them that they get cold quicker than me and won't float as well.
Your friends with the md,that's but sadly they all say that the other party is an idiot etc,that's standard evasive management technique rule 2 paragraph one,however put them in the room together with you not around and I'll bet my bottom dollar he's telling the other guy EXACTLY the same thing.
Im taking it this other guy is a permanent employee and your a contractor?if that's the case then it will always go in HIS favour as the md will have a lot more hassle trying to discipline him as he has the might of the union/workforce behind him.
Whether they dislike him or not isn't the issue,if they take your side and something happens in the future with a different contractor who's not in the right like you are,it'll be hard to get the backing as a precedents been set.scrub the last paragraph if your a company employee.
I was an union rep in my last place,it was a militant factory as well and often you found yourself representing people who really don't deserve even a second of your valuable time but sadly that £2 a week makes people feel that they can do what they want and you somehow should dig them out of the crap even when,as happened to me once,the persons been caught sleeping red handed and tries telling you it's the managers fault for asking him to do his job!!!
really sorry if it came out the wrong way,it's just I've been exactly where you are a few times and often it's easier to let karma deal with it to stop it getting messy.
 
I have spent the last 18 years in the industrial sector, today was probably me taking a different approach to dealing with this particular idiot, believe me, this is NOT normally my approach ever, rewind ten years and I'd have probably smacked him. FYI no union and the others think he is a ----er.

Rather than trying to analyse me, just reply to my original question in the first post, if you can't do that please move on.

I wanted an answer if anyone has it in their T&C's, thats all nothing else.
 

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