Things at my workplace are very tough at the moment. I work in a residential home for young adults with autism and have done for about a year and a half now. It's not the workload itself that is the problem but my many work colleagues. It's been a year and a half and I am soon going to be one of the longest serving staff members and it's just shocking. This mass exodus of staff could have been completely avoided but upper management ran the place so poorly that the place is spiralling downwards. I'll try my best to summarise the drama at work and how it's damaging the workplace.
It starts around Christmas. Two men, C and L are very good friends and have been for years. Work keeps on contacting C asking him to work additional shifts. L informs him that by law you are allowed to ignore calls from work and “switch off”. C decided to do this but got reprimanded for it. C and L never did anything wrong but the manager attempted all she could to get them fired or to make them leave.
The next story involves a man called K. K was a bit of a weird guy and rarely pulled his weight at work. He was very much disliked by C and L who often reminded him that he needs to step up. K didn't respond well to this and there were many arguments. On top of that, my best friend at work D said that K was making multiple innappropriate comments towards her. She reported it but the report fell on deaf ears. Not for C and L though, who went after K and told him not to treat D like that ever again. C and L we're both placed on prohibition for bullying and K was transferred.
Next there is a woman called A. A came into the place recently and just like K, rarely pulled her weight. Eventually L made a comment and she immediately reported him for bullying. There was an investigation into the accusations but L was found guilty of no wrongdoing. On top of this, A is very unpleasant to be around if she sees you talking to L. My friend D is also great friends with L, and when A saw this she started to bully D. D reported it but once again, deaf ears.
Where am I in all of this? I am just working away with a smile on my face. I be everyones friend but nobody's best friend (except D) and it means I stay in everyone's good side and never become a target.
I came to the realisation why certain people are targets though. C and L are very intelligent men. They know their rights inside and out and can confidently tell management when they are wrong. K, A and even D on the other hand do not know their rights. They'll work any shift at any notice and will do anything their told. Because of this management like them more than C and L, even though C and L are far better workers and far better people than K and A.
Management's blatant targeting of C and L is causing people to become sick of the place. They continue to pander to useless people who work lots of shifts and punish hard workers who know how many shifts they're entitled to work. D and C are leaving soon along with a number of other people who have handed in notices or are going to. This will leave me and L as the longest serving staff in the building, after a year and a half of work.
Don't worry, it gets worse. Since there are so many vacancies (DM me if you want a job lol) they have set no requirements for an interview. Yes. You could have absolutely no qualifications at all and work in a residential home with autistic adults. Many of these new hires have already started and my god they are useless. Management just want to have people on the roster to make it appear that everything is going fine, but it's not, this place is a shithole, and not what the people in our care deserve.