Bullying in the workplace

[ZiggyOtaku]

I need some real advice, because I need to know how to confront my manager about this.

The problem is I know what my manager will say, and I need help rationalizing what I've been feeling and why I haven't said anything previously.

I'm a shift manager at a pizza place, and only been there a few months. Needless to say the crew there is very tight, with one other girl that works there and she's also a shift manager. We're the only 2 shift managers - and she's the kind of girl that does not like having other girls around her. A territorial issue so to speak.

This girl will intimidate me at times, get mad at me if I don't cover up her own goof ups, but at the same time call my manager as soon as I slip up and forget to do something on accident. She's threatened to hit me after work when I stood up for myself once and she's a real shit talker.

She creates drama. She hooked her best friend up with one of the drivers there and whenever she didn't get her way she'd really take it out on him, forcing him to quit because he couldn't take it anymore. Granted- he was slipping up too, getting distracted and so forth - but she would overly react.

Now that he's gone, she hooked another driver up with her little sister (18) for a fling, and gets real nasty if he mentions he doesn't want a serious relationship with her (he's over 25). Saying 'he used her sister' as if he asked for it when she sort of held her sister out under his nose.

Things won't get done in the day time and then I get in trouble when some things couldn't get done at closing (typically I'm a closing manager and she's an opening manager). Like it'd be slow in the day time, but wouldn't fold any boxes or fill the fridge. That's really time consuming and I get the dinner rush and sometimes don't have time to have it done. Then at the end of the night when I need to get my ass out of there because labors going up due to sales going down I have to stay longer and do extra stuff.

She yells at me and tells me to 'make money up' when the drawer is short by voiding customers tickets after they've paid and keeping the money in there. (I haven't actually done that, I've pulled the 'I'm new and don't know how' card a few times)

So, recently I've been catching tons of flack and my manager puts this girl in a spot light as if she's the role model of the year, and that "I'll get there" and get ridiculed. Recently this girl and some coworkers have ratted on me when I was frustrated at getting yelled at by my manager. So my manager is pretty blue in the face with me.

I want to try and talk rationally with my manager, and tell her what's been going on, but there's 2 things that she's going to say.

"I tell you time and time again, you lead your shift, don't let the crew lead you." and "XXXX (the other shift managers name) is not the manager, you don't take orders from her."

However, I feel like this is a lot more difficult than she makes it sound. I'm the new guy - I can't just walk in and tell my other shift manager that she can't do what she's doing. I talked back to her one time and she told me she was close to punching me right in the face. I told her she'd get fired, and she laughed and said she'd get me after work, that she wasn't dumb. And this girl is a lot more... uh, brute, than I am. I'm not a fighter needless to say.

How do I make her understand that as a new person I'm at a bit of a disadvantage when it comes to 'veterans' and that I'm not here to cause problems, but now that I feel like I'm being pushed into a corner as if I'M the problem and causing trouble I feel it's necessary to point this stuff out.

I read an article on Monster.com with bullying and sabotage in the work place, that often point things out on how it effects the store, and not always personal.

Like: Labor wouldn't have been so bad, but there's been many times I've come into my shift with stuff not done on a slow morning that I'm then responsible for otherwise I'd get in trouble in the morning. So I either get in trouble with things not done such as boxes or the fridge filled - or labor costs would be up to get them done.

And there's tension in the work place and makes it difficult to run professionally when she takes her personal problems into the store and tells people to fuck off and not fuck with her that she's not in the mood and that she'll fuck you up if you mess around with her.

I'm so afraid that if I do this I'll end up being fired. I'm trying to find a new job right now - I have an interview for one on Monday.

I just don't have the right words to tell my manager things yet, so I really need advice without it making it look like I'm the cause of the problems.

[Nostalgia]

i had a problem at work where someone above me bullied me and constantly made me do the dirty jobs and reffered to me as a 'junior' and would also sometimes pyscially grab me and tell me i would not survive in any other work place, ect, my manager once saw her get aggressive with me, and sacked her, maybe just tell your manager you want some advice on something in the kitchen its self or in the main part of the pizza place you work and get your manager to watch what the other girl is like, i would suggest if she threatening to hit you ect you talk to your manager as soon as possible, maybe email it or write down as a letter and give it to your manager if you don't feel like you can tell your manager. dont put up with it i put up with it for a year and abit at work, i know dont feel confident in my job at all due to this, you should really tell someone.

[FlyingTrue]

This treatment is in violation of labor laws, let alone the law period in regards to the threat of assault. Since your manager is not doing anything, contact the owner of the business. If nothing is still done file a police report and contact the Georgia department of labor:
http://www.dol.state.ga.us/

[ZiggyOtaku]

Yeah, I've talked it over with my boyfriend last night before bed. (Actually it was a discussion that kept us both up all night) and we've decided it wasn't best to go to my store manager.

The reason being is that I feel like this girl has my manager fooled as well, that she wouldn't be able to fully believe this girl really behaves the way she does.

So we decided it would be best to contact corporate and let them deal with it. On top of that I took what monster.com suggested with sabotage in the workplace and to mention on how it hurts the store, not necessarily just myself. Because they're way more likely to take immediate action if I express how it hurts the store (especially if the store has been getting a lot of negative response from consumers lately, and it has).

So because I'm bad at remembering things on the spot and forget to word things a certain way or worse - word them the wrong way we spent the night on his laptop writing a bullet list for me on different things that are hurting in our workplace and why and how it's effected.

Everything from labor hours, to pizza speccing and why inventory costs are over with items missing, and store morale.

Unfortunately they're only open monday-friday so I have to wait. I also have that interview for a new job on monday too - which I'm hoping to get. It's just an administrative position and I'll get paid more without all the stress.