Reporting your boss to HR

[thyme4change]

A few months ago we had a thread about someone who reported her boss to HR for being a bad manager (nothing illegal there.)  Some of us told her that move likely branded her a whiner instead of any useful action.  Yesterday at work I was talking to a co-worker and she was about to report her boss to HR for being a bad manager - and here is her take.  

Our department has been through quite some transition.  We are a specialty product, and we are an enthusiast hobby product.  You don't need our product unless you are really into something.  8 years ago our company got bought by a big company that wanted to have a slice of this market.  The reason they wanted to buy us is the head of the company and his wife are both enthusiasts.  We are big company, and publicly traded, but the family stills holds a controlling interest in the company, so he does whatever he wants.  After several mis-steps in filling leadership positions, our sales are in decline and we are floating around with no direction.  We are going to get yet another VP to head us up soon, but in the meantime, the big boss's wife decided she could step in and help us.  She had a prosperous career in the 80's, but has been retired for quite some time.  

We have all been working with her, and her style is pretty dated - using old catch phrases and such.  I find it pretty funny - kitchy, like going to a 50's diner.     I'm not sure what this lady is up to.  I think she just volunteered so she could spy on us.  She asks a lot of leading questions that are hard to answer without blaming someone.  Now she is starting to use her information to pit people against each other.  It is ugly - crying and blah, blah, blah.  I thought if we could all sit tight, the new guy would come in, we would have 4-6 months of hell, and then it would all settle down.  But, everyone seems to think this is the end of the world.  

One of my co-workers went to HR to tell on the boss's wife.  I think that is a bad idea - especially since this is the first boss she has reported for being a bad manager.  I told her not to get her hopes up.  I don't know what a regional HR associate can do to change the style of a majority share holder.  She would be a fool for even trying.  But my co-worker said that if she went to HR and put her complaints in writing, then if she took a job with a competitor they couldn't sue her for breaking the non-compete clause.  That doesn't sound right to me.  Just logging your complaints doesn't make you exempt from the non-compete clause.  I know those clauses are notoriously hard to enforce, but our company has challenged 3 people that left to work for a start up that will compete with us, so everyone is shitting a little brick.  

Is there any benefit to going to HR with this complaint?  

[The Captain]

None.  Unless it's clearly illegal, every company I've ever worked at never gave HR any type of teeth.

[NomoreDramaQ1015]

Does she have any real proof she's a bad/hostile manager? My take on it is it's my word against the manager's. I'm much easier to dispose of. So if I am going to complain I better have a mile long list of documentation to back up my complaint.

HR isn't going to care that I think my boss is an asshole.  If I am going to report something it'd be a case of non-compliance because that can take me down along with my boss.

[alabamagal]

Sounds like a bad idea in this case.

First off HR has no power over a company owner, or wife of owner or majority shareholder. Where I work HR is sleeping with the owner. Literally. It is a very small company.   I'm not going to complain about the owner to HR.

And I don't think complaining about management or your owner or anything similar to that will get you out of non-complete clause.  Not at all. 

[tloonya]

Apr 18, 2014 10:07:08 GMT -5 The Captain said:

None.  Unless it's clearly illegal, every company I've ever worked at never gave HR any type of teeth.

My friend was giving an yearly review that was completely unfair. Based on that review she wasn't doing her job and she was a top performer in her team. One thing lead to another and she got stressed out to the point when she was supposed to take leave for 2 month and see the shrink. When she returned her boss continued to treat her unfairly. They went to the company court and my friend was told she is keeping her job and her manager was moved and gone soon after. So, I think this is something that can be done and if you know you are right and hurt - you can win.

[Deleted]

Bad and stupid idea...

[Tennesseer]

Apr 18, 2014 10:18:04 GMT -5 tloonya said:

Apr 18, 2014 10:07:08 GMT -5 The Captain said:

None.  Unless it's clearly illegal, every company I've ever worked at never gave HR any type of teeth.

My friend was giving an yearly review that was completely unfair. Based on that review she wasn't doing her job and she was a top performer in her team. One thing lead to another and she got stressed out to the point when she was supposed to take leave for 2 month and see the shrink. When she returned her boss continued to treat her unfairly. They went to the company court and my friend was told she is keeping her job and her manager was moved and gone soon after. So, I think this is something that can be done and if you know you are right and hurt - you can win.

Out of curiosity, did someone else write this for you?  It ìs unusally clear to read.

ETA:  Thyme-sorry for the temporary hijack but I was curious.

[zibazinski]

HR is NOT there to protect you but to protect the company. Bad and stupid move.

[tloonya]

Apr 18, 2014 11:30:36 GMT -5 Tennesseer said:

Apr 18, 2014 10:18:04 GMT -5 tloonya said:

My friend was giving an yearly review that was completely unfair. Based on that review she wasn't doing her job and she was a top performer in her team. One thing lead to another and she got stressed out to the point when she was supposed to take leave for 2 month and see the shrink. When she returned her boss continued to treat her unfairly. They went to the company court and my friend was told she is keeping her job and her manager was moved and gone soon after. So, I think this is something that can be done and if you know you are right and hurt - you can win.

Out of curiosity, did someone else write this for you?  It ìs unusally clear to read.

ETA:  Thyme-sorry for the temporary hijack but I was curious.

I am seriously unaware of how these things are getting written by me. I told ya all I used to write to people on the top and never been reprimanded for my writing skills, so...it is all me. Unpredictable and awesome me.

[NancysSummerSip]

Apr 18, 2014 10:07:08 GMT -5 The Captain said:

None.  Unless it's clearly illegal, every company I've ever worked at never gave HR any type of teeth.

I agree with Captain on this. And even when the behavior skates pretty close to the illegal line, HR usually gets scared off. I've worked with and for screamers, hitters and managers who were so awful at what they did, they should have been fired and never allowed to work again. Anywhere. HR just never dealt with them, or handed out so many silly answers, no one believed them anymore.

[swamp]

She thinks complaining to HR that the owner isn't a good boss is going to help?  What world is she living In?

[Shooby]

For the most part, complaining rarely accomplishes anything. No matter where you work, there is probably someone who is dead weight. And, everyone KNOWS they are dead weight. BUT, the powers that be don't care. And, if they cared, they wouldn't have dead weight but they either don't care or are too wimpy to make a change or just like the status quo or whatever. Complaining gets you nowhere. Some people you work with and some people you work around.

[Nazgul Girl]

  I have no idea why your coworker thinks that "reporting" the wife of the owner to HR is a good idea, but she will probably lose her job if she does it.  It seems to be  quite a stupid thing to do.   She will no longer be employed there if she does it, guaranteed.  

[Sharon]

I wonder if she hoping to get fired because she already has another job lined up with a competitor.  This is her way of getting around the non-compete clause.

[milee]

I'm getting cynical because when I read OP, I actually burst out laughing at the thought of going to HR with a complaint about one of the owners and the idea that this would somehow invalidate a non-compete.

Please update us on how this goes because it should be really interesting to watch.

[swamp]

Apr 18, 2014 19:19:21 GMT -5 milee said:

I'm getting cynical because when I read OP, I actually burst out laughing at the thought of going to HR with a complaint about one of the owners and the idea that this would somehow invalidate a non-compete.

Please update us on how this goes because it should be really interesting to watch.

I didn't laugh out loud, it was more like a confuzzled chuckle.

[8 Bit WWBG]

...:::"If I am going to report something it'd be a case of non-compliance because that can take me down along with my boss.":::...

I certainly agree it is much safer to go to HR with a violation of some rule that results in expensive settlements like harassment or discrimination.

It seems to me though that even that isn't a guarantee.  Anecdotally, we've probably had just as many threads of some little peon being able to cause serious damage to a big company through a complaint as we have of the peon getting brushed aside by the king and tyrant.  The one about the woman who also got fired for complaining about someone elses behavior at a tech conference comes to mind.

Non-competes seem to come in various flavors.  Sometimes you can leave enough degrees of separation (ex. while you can't work directly for the competitor, you can work for someone who works FOR the competitor -- I always imagined this being like the surrogate in Arrested Development).  Others seem to imply you can't work for a competitor, affiliate, partner, supplier, or customer -- which for some companies could effectively rule out nearly every industry in the world.

[Deleted]

My boss reported herself to HR once.  That was interesting..

Two male members of the team had been saying that our boss favors women (she is a woman).  They said she favors them for promotion.  My boss got word of this and reported herself.  She felt it was her duty to report this.  HR did their investigation and cleared her.

These two geniuses report to me at the moment although one is being shipped off to a new manager in two weeks.  I haven't promoted them either, I guess I'm biased against idiots.