Ironing out the Creases

Husband has headed off to Scotland to see his mother, so I have a whole weekend to myself !

Much as I adore him, I am feeling rather excited about this unexpected period of freedom - that is, until :

- the reality of two weeks' worth of ironing dawns on me....
- and I remember I have lots of catching up with sponsees to do
- and that rehearsals for the amateur drama production I am currently involved in are starting to hot up

So barely ten minutes after fantasising about spending the weekend lying on the sofa watching the entire Bourne trilogy end-to-end while eating meals mainly composed of chocolate; I realise that I am not going to have a moment to myself after all.

Oh bum.

But no matter how over-scheduled my weekend is turning out to be, there is one task I am determined to complete. I am going to write as dispassionate and as-neutral-as-I-can-make-it account of my first hand experiences of Anonymous Council's "Harassment at Work: Policy and Procedures Code".

How so? Well, because some months ago during one of my many ghastly and pointless meetings with Personnel - when I was trying to explain yet again the impact of their inadequate procedures upon my emotional well being and mental health - I was assured that I could contribute to the formal review of this Policy which was being conducted later in the year.

No matter that I never heard another word from Personnel !
No matter that by the time I chase it up for the second time, I am informed that the review is already well underway !!
No matter that when they finally respond, they make it clear that they are not in the slightest bit interested in my two penn'orth !!!

I tenaciously stick to my guns, politely ascertaining which officer in Corporate HR is overseeing the Review (about as tricky as finding out the truth about what really went on at the BBC in the 60's and 70's), and then I email said officer, courteously requesting that I be allowed to submit an anonymised account of my experiences.

I make it clear that I do not have any axes to grind (after all, I "won" my case, technically speaking) but that I have deep concerns about what happened to me; and that I do not want it to happen to any other member of staff. Ever again.

A tad optimistic, but hey - it's worth a try I feel. (Most people consider me a fairly resilient person, but if I could be driven to a Mental Health Episode when I asserted my right not to be bullied in the workplace, then I truly fear for my less resilient co-workers).

So now that HR has formally "invited" me to produce a report, they are jolly well going to get one. One in which I hope to make clear that there are one or two flaws in the current Policy. I shall point out that allowing "witnesses" to appear who did not actually see the events in question is perhaps a little iffy. I shall draw attention to the fact that six months between incident and Disciplinary hearing is perhaps a leetle too long. I shall highlight my concerns that despite documented evidence that I had been expressing my concerns about bullying behaviour for over 18 months, no-one did anything at all about it. And finally I shall recommend that they come up with a Policy which HR will actually be willing to endorse, rather than a Policy which HR actively discourages complainants from pursuing.

A policy which is about as crumpled, creased and crinkly as my pile of ironing.

So now I am heading home to pick up my script and head off on the train to rehearsals. And in my bag is a notebook in which I have already started to flesh out my report in draft.

There's a lot to do this weekend, but this is my priority.

Neatly pressed clothes?
Hmm.
Now I come to think of it, they are vastly over-rated...