Pressured by Management to Identify Co-Workers Who Complained About a Supervisor
My question involves labor and employment law for the state of: Massachusetts
Hi, I have a really horrible situation. I am being pressured... basically interrogated (with threats of repercussion) to give up names of my coworkers who complained to HR about my boss and other high official having a relationship.
My boss told me yesterday to give up the names and I said I want to be left out of this. She told me to think about it overnight and this conversation isn't over. Today she interrogated me again and said that there could be consequences. Then the "other half" called me into his office and they BOTH interrogated me again. I said I can't deal with it and walked out straight to HR.
This is really effecting my work and worst - my offwork life because this is too much stress. I tell everything to HR but nothing has been done yet to stop this.
I think the reason she's pressuring me is because she knows that I am easily stressed and she knows that I am friends with everyone in the office so she assumes I know the names.
Please let me know what my rights are and what I can do. I am afraid they may lay me off as soon as they find a "reason".
Thank you!
Re: Being Interrogated for Gossip Related Issues
Re: Pressured by Managment to Identify Co-Workers Who Complained About a Supervisor
Don't expect any help from HR. HR works for the bosses. HR is likely to do you more harm than good.
As for your rights, you have the right to develop a spine and say "no comment" every time somebody asks you about this. Keep saying it over and over again until you get the message.
If you are the kind of person that's weak and succumbs to pressure at the workplace, then I don't know what to tell you.
If this is too much for you, it's time to seek employment elsewhere.
Re: Pressured by Managment to Identify Co-Workers Who Complained About a Supervisor
Thanks, that's what I will do.. keep telling them that I want nothing to do with it
Re: Pressured by Managment to Identify Co-Workers Who Complained About a Supervisor
Do you work for the government or a private employer? Are you a member of a union that has a collective bargaining agreement with the employer? If the answer to either one of those is yes you may have more protection than most employees do.
For the nonunion employee in a private company, there are fewer protections against this sort of problem. However, depending on the nature of the discussions you and your co-workers have had regarding the company romance it is possible that those conversations and the reports of them to HR might be protected activity under the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Retaliation by the employer against employees for protected activity can result in fines by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and subject the employer to a lawsuit for damages. A lot of employers do not understand that the NLRA covers more activity than just union organizing. Employers must be careful about retaliation for any activity between two or more employees that might be regarded as activity meant to try to improve working conditions.
I disagree that going to HR is always useless. That depends very much on the particular company and how strong its HR department is. Perhaps the HR departments of most of the insurance industry in which Jack worked sucked, which would account for his very negative views of them (which he’s expressed often here). I too have seen some HR organizations that were pretty terrible. But I’ve also seen some that were very good and would indeed help employees with their workplace issues. HR, of course, can’t fix everything and usually doesn’t have the power to directly overrule your boss. But a good HR rep will point out to your boss when he or she is doing something that might get the company in hot water legally. And in this case, going to HR may be exactly what they needed to do to establish that they concerned that this relationship is affecting their working conditions and they are trying to make that better by using the processes in the company that are available to them. That can help establish a case for a NLRA violation later if retaliation for the reporting occurs. Hopefully the HR reps will tell your boss to tread carefully in asserting “consequences” for your failure to name the other employees. Again, much depends on the exact details of what has been happening.
Re: Pressured by Managment to Identify Co-Workers Who Complained About a Supervisor
If you refuse to cooperate you may well get fired for insubordination!
If you have acute memory confusion and failure..that may be differnt .
Witch hunts for tattletale can get darn nasty but not necessarily illegal.
I would not tell my boss the story by saying you want nothing to do with it..it sure leaves open that you do know a lot,about it.
Re: Pressured by Managment to Identify Co-Workers Who Complained About a Supervisor
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Taxing Matters
Do you work for the government or a private employer? Are you a member of a union that has a collective bargaining agreement with the employer? If the answer to either one of those is yes you may have more protection than most employees do.
Thank you for the reply.
This is a private company (about 150 people) and HR seems very much on my side but I guess they are just trying to defuse the situation without making big waves so to speak. I went to HR specifically for the reasons you mentioned. She was already talked to by other people regarding this alleged relationship and from what I heard, this is not the first time this came up only this time somehow I got sucked into this mess.
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HRinDEVON
If you refuse to cooperate you may well get fired for insubordination!
If you have acute memory confusion and failure..that may be differnt .
Witch hunts for tattletale can get darn nasty but not necessarily illegal.
I would not tell my boss the story by saying you want nothing to do with it..it sure leaves open that you do know a lot,about it.
What do you mean I refuse to cooperate? My boss is demanding me to tell her names of people who told on her (about her relationship) to HR and Controller. This is not work related and I don't have to obey orders that are not work related. I don't even know exactly who said what. I just know that I don't have to answer questions not related to my work or something that is required (such as if I know of some theft at work or something).
If what you are saying is true, this is one screwed up system we have.
Re: Pressured by Managment to Identify Co-Workers Who Complained About a Supervisor
Insubordination my hind foot! This is NOT insubordination. Insubordination is a term some people around here just love to throw around. What you are being asked to do...just tell them no. Tell them you would choose not to discuss this issue. Let the chips fall. If they are stupid enough to fire you for this reason, which I do not for one minute believe HR would allow them to do, then you will qualify for unemployment benefits. You're right you do NOT have to obey orders from any supervisor that are not work related. These people are bullying you, and you need to just let them rant. They have no power here except what every supervisor has over employees, the right to terminate, but HR does have one whole lot of authority in saying what a person can be terminated for. If you are terminated for not a valid work related misconduct reason, (and failing to disclose who is gossiping about some affair the boss is supposedly having is NOT misconduct) then you can still be fired, in this "at will" employment world, but it's unusual. You'll probably qualify for unemployment benefits, which is always your recourse in these type situations, and this will cost the employer money.
Re: Pressured by Managment to Identify Co-Workers Who Complained About a Supervisor
Ummm, we forgot to mention that HRinDEVON's "legal" advice is, well, a little out there. Sorry.
Re: Pressured by Managment to Identify Co-Workers Who Complained About a Supervisor
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eerelations
Ummm, we forgot to mention that HRinDEVON's "legal" advice is, well, a little out there. Sorry.
+1 :grumpy: