Do you have a good boss?

[tigwig]

Sorry in advance for the moaning but I need to get it off my chest! I have been on here before about my hubbys boss but he's excelled himself again in crapness. Yesterday he was picked up at 5.15am in a van with 5 seats (2 that are actually unsafe and were added by his boss not originally fitted in the van) and there were 6 of them in total. So he had to sit on the floor, all the way to the job which was over 2 hours drive away on the motorway. Great that isnt it? Thats on top of all of them smoking in the work van (boss included). Then 2 of them are dropped off at one site and the rest go on to another. My hubby had done all the work by 4.30pm and his site shut. They are then supposed to get picked up again at roughly the same time for the journey home. But the other lads had had a disaster and they ended up waiting for them for 4 hours. He didnt get home til after 10pm (all for no extra pay) and had to go back sitting on the floor again in a van full of smoke. Right thats rant over. So obviously if he took steps to report his boss the company would no longer exist and they would all be out of work again so he's stuck with it til he can get something else. Which isnt easy in construction at the moment. Can anyone else beat that or does he have the boss from hell?

[squarebear]

Can't he just find another job? He's lucky to have one in today's climate.

[tigwig]

He's a bricklayer by trade and the few other brickies he's seen on sites are earning less than him so he has no choice. He does look for other jobs but there's not alot about.

[WELSHYORKIE]

What area are you in tig, if you don't mind me asking?

[mccfluff]

that's wrong on so many levels. my boss can be a right t0sser on occasion but generally he's ok. but i work for a large compnay and everyone is so scared of gettign sued no-one does anythign without it checked checked but hr etc etc

I'm afraid if your OH wants to keep his job he's have to put up with it. As you say you can reprot him but he'll be out of work then and employment tribunals can take time!

[tigwig]

I am in West Yorkshire.

[ummmm]

Does he never speak up? Sitting on the floor for 2 hours....surely anyone would say...no way, I sat on the floor on the way I'm not doing it on the way back.

[tigwig]

I asked him that and he said he is the politest! Everyone else was already sat on the seats so he didnt want to ask them to move. I bloody would have done! Not the point though really is it? No one should have to.

[milly143]

Why are there that many people travelling in one van? Surely if they are going to differents sites, etc then they need extra transport. Even though 80% of the time all our guys are working in London, they all have their own vans loaded up with their own stuff for their own jobs. If he can fit ductwork he can have a job with us.

[milly143]

Oh and none of our lot smoke. Well apart form me but then I don't get in the vans.

[ummmm]

No it's not the point. But he's going to have to speak up if he wants anything to change. If I was him I'd ask to sit by the window as the cigarettes are making him feel sick.

Got anyone you can borrow an inhaler off...

[mccfluff]

it is illegal to smoke in work van and to sit on the floor like that pixi. but i think the situation is such that if he does complain or try to do soemthing about he'll be out of a job and so will his boss

[WELSHYORKIE]

Tig, has he tried the agencies (Hays, etc), we use them quite often for our sites - unfortunately at the moment we haven't any sites in your area but we are due to start in Huddersfield within the next couple of months and there will be a couple of sites within the vacinity - all told there wil be about 30millions quids worth of construction going on. No doubt they will use the local brickies. Maybe he could get on there? Also has he tried people like Shepherds - I understand they have big projects running in W Yorks

[mccfluff]

pixi, i wouldn;t keep my gob shut for one minute :-)

[tigwig]

He isnt in a union no and as much as he hates whats going on unfortunately until he can find something else better or equivalent he has no choice. I know its just a job but at the beginning of the recession he was out of work for 18 months completely and we had to live off handouts from my parents the whole time. We werent entitled to any benefits as he was self employed previously and he was very depressed. He just cant go back to been in that situation it was horrible. I was heavily pregnant at the time too and was forced to work the whole time only having 4 weeks off to give birth!
Welsh, he has tried the whole lot of construction companies but to no avail. They all have their own men and the majority of them got laid off. He does still keep an eye out obviously but bricklaying is just not a secure job anymore at all and if he did get something hes scared of giving up the crap job he has for short term work.
Anyway to cheer me up please tell me your stories of crap bosses too lol!

[boxtops]

I'd be worried on two counts - firstly, the Health & Safety angle of travelling in a vehicle not equipped to carry that many people, and secondly, the smoking. They need a minibus or people carrier, I'd have thought that hiring one in would be cheaper than risking a serious accident. The smoking is a different matter, smoking in the workplace is not allowed, but I don't know how you define the journey to work in this situation. He is between a rock and a hard place on this one, as you say!

[WELSHYORKIE]

Tig, my lad was is a brickie by trade but gave it up to be a home delivery driver for Asda - absolutely loves it. Doesn't miss working 'on the tools' Does your hubby have any tickets for driving fork lifts, dumpers or similar?