What can I do?

scottyg938 · 24-04-2012, 05:45 PM

Hey all.

I work for a security company doing night shift at a foreign ambassador's house, Today I got a phone call from my boss asking me 'what happened the other night when the ambassador went out?'
I had no idea what he was talking about as it was just like any other time that he left, nothing out of the ordinary happened at all.
He then told me he received an email today stating that myself and the other worker were both asleep when the ambassador went out (even though to get out of the gate we need to press the button to open it for him)

I cant think of any reason why he would say we were asleep, his driver came in 40 minutes prior to him going out, we opened the gate and let him in then we went outside and walked around with him and chatted, then when the ambassador left we both stood outside by the gate (as we are required to do).

Now the ambassador has apparently requested that neither myself or my colleague work on his site any more.
Being a multi-million dollar contract our company doesn't want to lose it so they will do anything he says.

SO... what the hell can I do about all this? where do I stand?

Geez Louise · 24-04-2012, 05:50 PM

Firstly, holding a postion such as you do, there is no way I would have posted this on a public forum. That being said, is there any security footage that you can get your boss to look at?

There may not be anything you can do if your boss does not want to lose the contract...unfair I know...but without proof you weren't sleeping..it will come down to his word against yours.

Hope it all works out.

Cheers
Col

scottyg938 · 24-04-2012, 06:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geez Louise

Firstly, holding a postion such as you do, there is no way I would have posted this on a public forum. That being said, is there any security footage that you can get your boss to look at?

There may not be anything you can do if your boss does not want to lose the contract...unfair I know...but without proof you weren't sleeping..it will come down to his word against yours.

Hope it all works out.

Cheers
Col

Nothing that most people of the public walking past wouldn't be able to notice was mentioned so it's all good.

Inside the security box unfortunately has no camera, although there are camera's all over the exterior of the place which will definitely see us once we step outside.

Don't know what happened to innocent until proven.

Might go through the video footage when I go in next and record it for myself in case anything dose happen I have video evidence to back myself up rather than it being a case of I say they say.

Being a full time worker, working 48 hours a week every week, if I am removed from that site and my company is unable to give me my regular hours, what exactly am I entitled to in terms of compensation for loss of pay?

Jim Goose · 24-04-2012, 06:17 PM

It sounds to me that your possibly being set up to get replaced....either by your company or by the person who made the complaint.

By replaced i mean by someone elses mate...

Exact same thing occured to me (as a co-pilot in an aircraft!) i was accused of being asleep by a passenger who turned out to be a mine manager of a mine site we were flying to. A few months later i was "replaced" by the son of the cheif pilot of the company we were subcontracting for!

2011G6E · 24-04-2012, 06:51 PM

Any computerised log kept on when the gate is opened and shut? One would think that would prove that you were "awake" to push the button and open the gate...

scottyg938 · 24-04-2012, 07:05 PM

Nope no log of the gate, you would think that us opening the gate and both standing outside within a meter of his car as he drove past would be sufficient but apparently not :/
I'm pretty sure 1 of the camera's points towards the gate so there will be video of it opening well before the car is even close to the gate.
I received a text from my boss saying 'I'm sure I'll be able to straighten it out' but I'm going to go in and get a record of it all just to cover my own ***

Windsor342ci · 24-04-2012, 08:11 PM

Hey man.

Being previously in Security and now Managment, I know all to well how this crap pans out. To be bruitally honest with you, dont build yourself up to argue the point because it will fall flat on your face Im sorry to say. You need to think about it like this from a business pov. If your costing the business say 75K p/a with super and insurances etc, yet this client brings in roughly 125K p/a, as a business, if your seen as making to much of a headache and potentially causing grief you will be moved on one way or another, and thats totally out of that organization not just that particular contract.

I know it sucks dude but thats politics and has happened to all of us regardless if we were aware of it or not.
Dust yourself off and just move on to the next contract/client. In todays economical times, we are not in a position to flip the bird to the boss as he does not share our values.
Good luck bud.

nuthin' fancy · 25-04-2012, 12:02 AM

Your word against his, his word pays more bills.

Good luck, but get your resume up to date.

scottyg938 · 25-04-2012, 12:29 AM

Been into work and spoke to someone, they said the email sent to the boss was a complaint saying that we had the lights in our office turned off so we must have been up to no good.
after reviewing the camera footage the lights did turn off for approx 10 seconds when the ambassadors driver arrived on site as when they are on we can't see much out the windows other than our own reflection, I've taken photo's of the camera footage with the date and time stamps on them.

I had already placed my application for the job I've dreamt of since I was about 14 so fingers crossed all goes well with that, although the last round of people they took in waited about a year and a half until they actually started so I still need this job in the interim.

flappist · 25-04-2012, 12:37 AM

Remember the golden rule......he who has the gold makes the rules.

The client does not want you. So who cares, work on a different site. It does not matter what the client thinks it matters what the boss thinks.

Over the past 20++ years I have had several occasions where a client did not want a particular staff member working on their gear for what ever reason.
Every time I just put a new one on it regardless of whether they were right or wrong.

The world is not fair.....get used to it.

scottyg938 · 25-04-2012, 12:46 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flappist

Remember the golden rule......he who has the gold makes the rules.

The client does not want you. So who cares, work on a different site. It does not matter what the client thinks it matters what the boss thinks.

Over the past 20++ years I have had several occasions where a client did not want a particular staff member working on their gear for what ever reason.
Every time I just put a new one on it regardless of whether they were right or wrong.

The world is not fair.....get used to it.

After the chat I had with somebody else tonight it apparently wasn't actually the client that emailed or even complained. The complaint was sent in today by his 'head of security' after he reviewed the footage. The ambassador is out of the country at the moment on a personal holiday so I'm doubtful it had much if anything to do with him.

I would have no problem with moving to a different client if we had any other clients that require the same hours and that have not already been filled with another full time worker

05_ENFORCER · 25-04-2012, 12:53 AM

I smell something fishy going on

And it goes with the job unfortunately

.

wrongwaynorris · 25-04-2012, 10:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CRYHSV

Hey man.

Being previously in Security and now Managment, I know all to well how this crap pans out. To be bruitally honest with you, dont build yourself up to argue the point because it will fall flat on your face Im sorry to say. You need to think about it like this from a business pov. If your costing the business say 75K p/a with super and insurances etc, yet this client brings in roughly 125K p/a, as a business, if your seen as making to much of a headache and potentially causing grief you will be moved on one way or another, and thats totally out of that organization not just that particular contract.

I know it sucks dude but thats politics and has happened to all of us regardless if we were aware of it or not.
Dust yourself off and just move on to the next contract/client. In todays economical times, we are not in a position to flip the bird to the boss as he does not share our values.
Good luck bud.

Totally disagree , I would rather die on my feet than live on my knees . What ever happened to principles ? For evil to triumph all that is required is for good men to do nothing .

b2tf · 25-04-2012, 10:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wrongwaynorris

For evil to triumph all that is required is for good men to do nothing.

...............or turn the lights off.

wrongwaynorris · 25-04-2012, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by b2tf

...............or turn the lights off.

Touche

Windsor342ci · 25-04-2012, 12:30 PM

Dont get me wrong. I agree with you. Hence why I said they dont have our values. I just think it todays economical times, its really a matter of pick your battles. Unless you can genuinly afford to go without work for X amount of time then good luck to you. I just think if it doesnt effect him and he can still get his hours elsewhere with a different client then he just needs to be careful.

I totally agree with you opinion on this, but just need to be a little diplomatic in the pitch.

Maka · 25-04-2012, 12:48 PM

Workplace lawyer, FairWork Australia? You probably need some advice to know where you stand. That being said, get all your facts/proof together but, be careful if you need a reference from the ex employer. Good luck, hope it works out mate!

cheers, Maka

flappist · 25-04-2012, 02:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maka

Workplace lawyer, FairWork Australia? You probably need some advice to know where you stand. That being said, get all your facts/proof together but, be careful if you need a reference from the ex employer. Good luck, hope it works out mate!

cheers, Maka

Ambassador....... Australian law does not apply.

Maka · 25-04-2012, 02:53 PM

I thought i read scottyg938 saying he works for a security company in the opening paragraph. Does the ambassador own the security company? So flappist are you saying the company also recieves diplomatic immunity (tounge in cheek lol)?

cheers, Maka

DBourne · 25-04-2012, 05:04 PM

If you're like our security people, your internet logs will show you were finding every porn site known to man at the time, therefore couldn't possibly be asleep

flappist · 25-04-2012, 05:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maka

I thought i read scottyg938 saying he works for a security company in the opening paragraph. Does the ambassador own the security company? So flappist are you saying the company also recieves diplomatic immunity (tounge in cheek lol)?

cheers, Maka

No but the client can do what they like and be immune from out laws.

The his boss is between a rock and a hard place. The client does not want the worker not the boss.

Are you suggesting the boss is responsible for this situation and should be punished?

Maka · 25-04-2012, 09:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flappist

No but the client can do what they like and be immune from out laws.

The his boss is between a rock and a hard place. The client does not want the worker not the boss.

Are you suggesting the boss is responsible for this situation and should be punished?

Flappist,yes, i understand what your saying & i agree that the boss is in a difficult situation but no, i havent suggested he's responsible for the situation at all! Hopefully, 1- the company doesn't lose its contract , 2- the op is placed at an alternative work site with no loss of hours, 3- if no union rep at op's employer, he'll still should speak to the above mentioned by me. Whether he is sacked or not he has the right to find out where he stands on the matter and its up to the op how far he wants to go with it, just because he contacts jo blo for information dosen't mean he's going to have his boss punished/sanctioned. They could very well tell the op to "suck it up cupcake" lol!(sorry scottyg938,you know what i mean i hope!)

cheers,Maka

scottyg938 · 26-04-2012, 12:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by flappist

No but the client can do what they like and be immune from out laws.

The his boss is between a rock and a hard place. The client does not want the worker not the boss.

Are you suggesting the boss is responsible for this situation and should be punished?

This is basically it, rock and a hard place, the boss can only do so much or risk losing a multi million dollar contract, although they do still have to hold up to their end of the contract to myself

Quote:

Originally Posted by SgtBourne

If you're like our security people, your internet logs will show you were finding every porn site known to man at the time, therefore couldn't possibly be asleep

Funny you say that, the company has had to fire another employee on a different site because he was looking up porn when the computer froze and he didn't think to just hold down the power button to turn the PC off

But we don't have internet access on this site so I don't think they will find any logs for that here.

Dusty1 · 26-04-2012, 12:30 PM

Ingot put off just after my three months were up. Told I wasn't meeting my KPIs, which was interesting as I wasn't given any. Also because of a communication issue with the other staff member. I had a talk to her for over an hour that day about work and other stuff. The same week they told me I was doing a great job and everyone was happy with what I was doing.

That was at the start of March. Didn't argue with them, when they did it, no point. Just said I was surprised and wished them well. I'm not begging for my job when lies are being said. I just move on.

I'll get a job sooner or later.