I work at a Builder Merchant in the UK, and they got a new manager in October. He’s an absolute cockend I won’t lie. Constant stupid decisions that we told him will not work, but he doesn’t listen to anyone and just has to try them. For instance, moving all 30 pallets of the small sand bags 10ft to the left. This meant they moved over into car parking spaces, but it’s okay because ‘they look nicer’. Naturally customers kept using them as brakes and damaged them. So of course, we had to spend another hour of our lives moving them back to the right. ‘I had to try the idea, the yard looked better that way but customers ruined it.’ No, it looked shit and you put sand in the parking spaces.
Fast forward to Tuesday, he takes me in for a ‘chat’, told me that in his grand scheme of things he will be getting rid of the rest area in the mill ‘because everywhere I worked there wasn’t a space to sit down other than the canteen.’ Told him no, it’s a requirement, especially in this branch. But asked that if I did agree to this dumb idea, where would I sit? Told me I was to sit on the forklift when I’m not serving customers or getting a load ready. Refused it again and then asked the question ‘what if it’s like a morning like today where it’s 1° with showers?’ And it was amazing ‘you will use the fleece the company provides.’.
So I’m not allowed into the mill/warm no matter the weather in his grand idea? No. Then he asks about time keeping, he asked us to completely empty the mill so we can fill up the front with stock, and cover up one of the fire paths, again, I say no to this because it’s just stupid, and it isn’t a priority for us in the yard to work on the weird requests over doing what our actual job title is. We have a small debate about it which ends with ‘listen. I call the shots round here, if I want something done it will get done. Not later, not tomorrow, now it will get done.’
I didn’t agree with that so I told him I’m going to get transferred to another branch, or leave the company. He reckoned I wouldn’t, so I got a job interview lined up for the next day and got the job.
Handed in my notice, and now I’m doing exactly what the employee handbook says. When the other yard man is on break I don’t work with the forklift or mill because it’s a company policy to have 2 people in the yard when operating machinery. And the other guy is too, so 2 hours nothing gets done, and after 16:30 when he goes home I don’t do machine operations unless my manager is out to be the second person. Nobody on the premises has first aid, or fire Marshall so that’s illegal, told HR that and the area manager.
Anything else I can do to wind this man up will be greatly appreciated.
Cheers.