We have an incompetent do-nothing manager. She recently designated 2 team leads which effectively reduced our team of 11 workers to only 9. They are essentially doing her work for her. In March we were told these team leads would begin counseling us on a monthly basis. That is not going over very well. 2 people said the team leads commented on personal information that should have been restricted to HR? and our manager. I've managed to avoid a session so far. I have a sense of this being wrong on several levels, but our L3 praises her for her insight. His support of her actions creates hesitancy for those of us wanting to ask HR about the legality of this arrangement. Anyone have any experience with this? All of us are us are comfortable but also can't ignore the feeling that it would be career su----e to speak up.
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“When I managed bargained for people and was handed some misspelled and poorly thought-out nonsense, I simply threw it in a drawer.”
You are the exact Manager everyone complains about. Since you use the past tense in your reply, I’m glad you no longer Manage people. Your brag is why people hate you, you piece of excr-ment.
" FILE A GRIEVANCE"
This amuses me. Like it's some kind of panacea (look it up).
When I managed bargained for people and was handed some misspelled and poorly thought-out nonsense, I simply threw it in a drawer. Usually no one ever even asked about it again.
Sounds like the male L3 is simply letting the female L2 do whatever she wants. I have seen this type of thing before. In one version the female L2 was an attractive younger person. She could do no wrong in the male dominated workspace. I am not stating this to be chauvinistic; it was clear as day to anyone that could be objective about it. Attractive younger female, with unhappy long married dumpy guys tripping all over themselves to gain her favor. Pathetic, really. She was smart (good for her) and fully worked that situation to her advantage.
If these “Team Leads” are non management FILE A GRIEVANCE. If they are Management, request a direct report list to determine who you actually report to. Any attempts to “Counsel” you, demand a Steward. Demand to know what the criteria is expected and is ALL Craft employees being held to that standard. (Each crew runs differently). Document field swipes (or none. Time and length) daily in an email to self. (Date and timestamp, paper trail). Do everything by the book. (That could take an hour alone).
Yes, I previously worked for a Manager (I took a downgrade just to get out of a prior toxic environment). I think the Manager hired me as I had both technical and managerial skills and great performances. He also told me he would promote me back to my Assoc Dir position when I had been there long enough. He had me doing every aspect of his job his job for two plus years while only God knows where he ever was. He then retired unexpectedly and had kept lying to me the whole time while doing his presentations, handling the contractors paperwork, approving time, covering weekend releases for him on top of my own technical responsibilities. I can not tell you how many times Managers dumped their work on me when they found out I was competent. I had one Asian Manager who asked if I wanted to go back to being an individual performer as he said there was someone he knew in need of a job?? One of his friends it turned out to be. My response, was, No not interested but thanks for thinking of me...
First thing, was the new job posted? If not, then L3 has violated ATT policy. I am pretty sure telling one of your peers to make comments on job performance on other peers violates many HR policies.
You hired an attorney for a run in with a foreigner?
I had a run in with a offshore manager. The situation needed to be corrected. There was not going to be any internal support. I consulted an attorney. She asked if I had ever been in trouble. She said it was common for a company to slander the employee for complaining. I told her I had never been in trouble. She asked for copies of my past three annual reviews, and then sent a letter to AT&T. She told me to contact her if there was even a hint of retaliation. Problem solved. The consult was free and I paid $120 for the letter. The offshore manager apologized to me within 2 weeks. His Director contacted me on Q and wanted to set a meeting. I declined the offer because I considered the matter resolved.
Remember, HR is on your manager's side and will only act if they are breaking policy or the law. If you call the hotline, they too side with the manager and will expose what they can about the employee complaining and only act, again, if a manager is breaking policy or the law. HR is not there to protect employees but to protect the company!