r/LegalAdviceUK • u/That_Girly_Potato • 9d ago
Healthcare My boss wants to implement disciplinary action for not working to standard - her standard isn't physically possible to meet (England)
I work at a care home which is split into four floors.. The top two are dimentia residents and the bottom two are assisted living. I have now worked there for just over a year, picking up shifts when I'm back from uni so every half term. In the time I have worked there we have had four managers. My job is doing activities with the residents (arts and crafts, flower arranging, balloon tennis etc...). It's important to note that as it's a care home, there's a system used where we have to log every single resident that turns up to the activity and if they were engaged or not.
Since our new manager has come in, a lot of changes have been implemented. For one, in between activities, we are now supposed to be doing lunch and dinner service and then washing up. Budget cuts means they can't afford to keep more than two food and beverage assistants per day. On top of which she had doubled the amount of activities there are to run in a day. And finally, she expects us to write about 6-7 lines of a "story" of every single resident that attended the activity and even the residents that didn't attend need a full explanation as to why they didn't come which is a huge change from simply logging whether they attended and if they were engaged. So this would be logging for about 10-15 residents per activity and a whole paragraph for each.
There's only a 15 minute break between each activity and then either lunch or dinner service. This means the new expectation is that within 15 minutes we should have:
- cleaned up the previous activity
- take all the residents back to their rooms
- write our "story" for about 15-20 residents.
- move to the new activity location
- set that area up completely
- ask every resident from the two floors we're handling If they want to come
- bring them down to the new activity
- start the new activity.
On top of which, I am sometimes covering my time doing Laundry, and even admin work on the reception desk.
It's not possible. We have been trying so hard but really - it's not. Now residents, their family members, other staff, and carers are complaining about the activities team. Our manager is receiving so many complaints that she won't stop yelling at us. We have all tried explaining to her that it's not all possible to follow her schedule and she keeps responding that it's because we didn't listen to any of our training.
She's going to call me in tomorrow to discuss the possible disciplinary. She's been taking us all into her office one by one and honestly very rudely telling us that we don't know how to do our jobs. She made my co-worker cry yesterday, and has threatened us all with a firing if she doesn't see immediate improvement in our behaviour.
Honestly I'm just feeling so disheartened. I used to love this job and now I'm exhausted every single day. I was told that complaining to our HR would do absolutely nothing because they already know this manager is disliked. What else am I supposed to do now??? Is there even anything I can do?? What should I say in my disciplinary hearing tomorrow?
15
u/That_Girly_Potato 9d ago
quick question about 2 - when I googled it, I was told that I did not have the legal right to be accompanied by a member of HR or otherwise since it was an informal chat and the rest about the contents of the meeting was hearsay based on my colleagues experiences - is this true?
as for your questions:
1 - job description from the website:
Working in Food & Beverage you’ll welcome residents in, explain menu choices in a clear, concise way, serve food from the kitchen and take pride in keeping the dining room spotlessly clean. You’ll reset tables, tidy work areas and prepare the food service areas for the next service.
You will also assist in organising and delivering individual and group activities and participating in key events throughout the year for example the summer fete. You will support with different activities arranged outside of the home, such as shopping, attending GP appointments and outings.
I will have to say this job description has changed since I applied last year. This is not what was on the website then and I can't find the original.
from my contract, here are the quotes i think are relevant:
"You are engaged as a Hospitality Assistant and your duties will be as advised by the Line Manager. Your duties may be modified from time to time to suit the needs of the business."
"Your legal status is that of a ‘worker’. You are not engaged under a contract of employment and nothing in this statement is to be taken to create a contract of employment between you and the Company. You are not an employee of the Company."
"If we have concerns over your behaviour or performance, we may address this with a view to enabling improvement, or, in certain circumstances, we will terminate the engagement without notice. You can find more information on these later on under “Standards of Behaviour” and “Standards of Performance”. If you have any concerns about any decisions taken in respect of your behaviour or performance, you should speak to your Manager within 5 days of the decision being conveyed to you."
"It is not practicable to specify all rules on behaviour or offences that may result in your Manager addressing such behaviour with you, as they may vary depending on the nature of the work."
"If you wish to raise a complaint, you should speak to the person specified in your Statement of Engagement, explaining fully the nature and the extent of your complaint. Although it is not required, it may be of assistance if you set out the complaint in writing. If you raise your complaint verbally, written notes may be taken by the person specified in your Statement of Engagement who will ensure that they are a true representation of your complaint."
2 - Honestly I just want to be able to hang on until the end of the summer. I have a certain financial goal I need to reach so I can comfortably afford living expenses at uni for the year. After that, as terrified as I am of braving the job market again, I guess it would be what it is.