Harassment in EMS

[Stephanie.]

Everyone deals with harassment, some decide to do something about it. There are many types of harassment including sexual, physical, verbal, psychological, bullying, racial, and legal harassment. Many companies decide have different policies, and I was just wondering if you were familiar with yours? What does your company do with the victim and the subject? What are the steps to take when filing a complaint? I think everyone should know the consequences and how to deal with it, especially in a work place. Feel free to chime in. h34r:

 

[exodus]

"write an incident report"
That was 3 weeks ago, nothing has happened yet =/

 

[Sasha]

Be aware, EMS is a small world. Before you take your complaint to a higher up, weigh the benefit vs risk of getting black listed.

 

[atropine]

Be aware, EMS is a small world. Before you take your complaint to a higher up, weigh the benefit vs risk of getting black listed.

Agreed, if you can handle it at your level before you climb the high archy, or chain of command try to fix the problem at the lowest possible level.

 

[Sasha]

Agreed, if you can handle it at your level before you climb the high archy, or chain of command try to fix the problem at the lowest possible level.

Or even if you could just grin and bear it. In a perfect world no one should HAVE to deal with harrasment, but sometimes just putting up with it is more appealing then dealing with the consequences that could ruin your job and job opprotunities in that area. I know someone who'se going through something like that now. Unfortunate, not right, but it does happen.

 

[46Young]

Try to speak with the offending party in private, and basically tell them it's not cool to do what they did. If they continue to act the same, see them in private again and tell them that the first warniing obviously didn't work, so this will be the last. If they contimue, you're going both to your immediate superior and also HR. It's on them now. If anyone wants to give you beef over going to HR, tell them that you gave two warnings, the problem still continued, so that was the only way to get them to stop.

Now, if you decide to start a paper trail, be wary of the supervisor that asks you to refrain from calling HR. They may be showing favoritism.

If you do go to HR, make sure you go to the city/county HR and not the departmental HR. The dept's HR may try to cover up the issue. If you're employed by the privates, this doesn't apply.

In fact, I would skip the dept HR for the county/city HR for any issue, really.

 

[Aidey]

Everyone deals with harassment, some decide to do something about it. There are many types of harassment including sexual, physical, verbal, psychological, bullying, racial, and legal harassment. Many companies decide have different policies, and I was just wondering if you were familiar with yours? What does your company do with the victim and the subject? What are the steps to take when filing a complaint? I think everyone should know the consequences and how to deal with it, especially in a work place. Feel free to chime in. h34r:

Try to speak with the offending party in private, and basically tell them it's not cool to do what they did. If they continue to act the same, see them in private again and tell them that the first warniing obviously didn't work, so this will be the last. If they contimue, you're going both to your immediate superior and also HR. It's on them now. If anyone wants to give you beef over going to HR, tell them that you gave two warnings, the problem still continued, so that was the only way to get them to stop.

^^^ The above is pretty important. In my opinion, unless it is something really big (like a guy grabs your butt or something like that) you should speak with the person first. It is a good way to piss people off if you turn them in for something they didn't even know offended someone.

As for what my company does, it depends on the situation. At the base level, the supervisors will tell you to talk to the person first. After that with most stuff it is write up an incident report and each party talks to the supervisor and a resolution is reached. Beyond that HR and possibly the union get involved.

 

[Stephanie.]

What if...

What if... in MY particular situation it is upper level management being the harasser... to all of us employees. All verbal.. Screaming. Cussing. "We're idiots".. He has ## years of experience.. He is better than anyone in this county... We never do anything right. The list goes on and on...

 

[alphatrauma]

Be aware, EMS is a small world. Before you take your complaint to a higher up, weigh the benefit vs risk of getting black listed.

Yeah, this is what f****ing sucks about the whole process. Had this happen to a co-worker of mine.

 

[Seaglass]

I agree with everything above. Try not to initiate any formal complaint if you can deal with it at a lower level. If you have to take it higher, be really careful about who you talk to. It's also worth considering how far you'd be willing to go. Could you switch not just stations or services but counties, if it gets really bad?

In my opinion, unless it is something really big (like a guy grabs your butt or something like that) you should speak with the person first.

At one place I worked, that wasn't considered big at all. With certain places, your best or only way to handle it is just leaving.

What if... in MY particular situation it is upper level management being the harasser... to all of us employees. All verbal.. Screaming. Cussing. "We're idiots".. He has ## years of experience.. He is better than anyone in this county... We never do anything right. The list goes on and on...

I'm pretty thick-skinned, but I've had two of those in non-EMS jobs who got to me eventually. With one, all of us on the staff met with him together and asked him to please be more patient and respectful. It became a pattern--he'd be nice if we did that for about a week, than get nasty again. Meanwhile, he started this crazy witch-hunt for the ringleaders of our little rebellion. Eventually I found a better job elsewhere. With another, everyone was too scared of him to say anything. Same solution, though I stayed a lot longer because it was harder to find a new place.

My rule now is that if I spend more time thinking about workplace drama than I do thinking about the job after reasonable attempts to resolve it, I start looking for a new job (or vollie squad, as has also been the case). So far it's working well.

 

[DrParasite]

What if... in MY particular situation it is upper level management being the harasser... to all of us employees. All verbal.. Screaming. Cussing. "We're idiots".. He has ## years of experience.. He is better than anyone in this county... We never do anything right. The list goes on and on...

find a new job. unless there is a super compelling reason to stay look elsewhere.

Here is why: if upper level management is acting like this, then one of three situations is occurring: the owner/director knows it is going on and doesn't care, the owner/director doesn't know what is going on and doesn't want to hear about the problem, or the owner/director likes this person for whatever reason, and if you file a complaint, it won't matter, since the owner will take his side over yours.

Some jobs are too good to walk away from (cough municipal/tax based cough) and sometimes it's worth it to go through proper channels and fight. But it often becomes an uphill battle, and one that isn't worth your time and energy. good luck

 

[Stephanie.]

find a new job. unless there is a super compelling reason to stay look elsewhere.

Here is why: if upper level management is acting like this, then one of three situations is occurring: the owner/director knows it is going on and doesn't care, the owner/director doesn't know what is going on and doesn't want to hear about the problem, or the owner/director likes this person for whatever reason, and if you file a complaint, it won't matter, since the owner will take his side over yours.

Some jobs are too good to walk away from (cough municipal/tax based cough) and sometimes it's worth it to go through proper channels and fight. But it often becomes an uphill battle, and one that isn't worth your time and energy. good luck

Our problem is the director. Our supervisor is best friends with him. We deal mainly with vollies... and have a board of comissoners that oversee it. He screams and yells... When we simply have a question. He is such a bully

 

[mycrofft]

His company, his rules?

Let him run it by himself then.
Also, people who resort to screaming at employees (at least in America) have something wrong, either they are not very good managing, or not too bright, or having a bad life and sharing it, or on drugs/alcohol. Or a mixture of the above.

 

[MonkeySquasher]

What if... in MY particular situation it is upper level management being the harasser... to all of us employees. All verbal.. Screaming. Cussing. "We're idiots".. He has ## years of experience.. He is better than anyone in this county... We never do anything right. The list goes on and on...

My response in this thread may be relevent...

http://www.emtlife.com/showthread.php?t=18232&page=2


If it's happening to others, then it's not you vs management guy. It's YOU GUYS vs management guy. If you obviously have many people who feel the same way, get together with them. Maybe someone can write a polite letter stating that the following people feel that they are being mistreated, and that they are human beings and should be treated as such. You recognize that no one is perfect, but that surely as a manager should know, he must understand that screaming at people does not correct their mistakes. Rather, a calm tone and gentle remediation will go a lot farther. And if he can't manage that, he'll be looking for new employees. And have everyone sign it. If he really wants to fire XX number of people at once, fine. Let's see him field the X-number of rigs he won't have crews for. Then, go over his head. Everyone has a boss.

In an extreme case, try contacting whoever the company holds contracts for (IFT, 911, etc), and maybe also a Better Business Bureau or Labor Dept.

 

[Stephanie.]

One particular incident was just this past Wednesday, I had a question about a call, stepped into his office and wasgoing to wait to ask because there was a fire chief there. The director insisted and then threw his hands in the air saying I was an idiot, didn't know what I was talking Bout and I need to go read the policies.. I was pissed. Crying. My relief was there so I packed my bag and left. I agree in repremanding employees for screwing up... But for asking a question!!?

Another thing is, when someone DOES make a mistake... He doesnt usually confront them. But if he does, he blows up about it and it's usually in front if all the other employees/ crews.. But when he doesn't... He usually just points that persons mistake out to EVERYONE else, and how much of a screw up they are.. It's ridiculous.


I don't want to quit, I love my job and it pays pretty good... But this is torture.
Thanks for all the help guys!!!

 

[mycrofft]

You love abuse?

There are people who can use your help everywhere. If there's a bruise on the peach the core's rotten; if the company is run by or supports a screamer, the company's rotten.

 

[MonkeySquasher]

You love abuse?

You know, I once met this girl who said she enjoyed being slapped around and choked, and then I jokingly told her to make me a sandwich, and she actually did... But I think these are different circumstances. B)

 

[mycrofft]

This is where I apoligize for the reply header above.

I meant that, if the job is abusing you, then what's to love?

 

[wolfwyndd]

Our problem is the director. Our supervisor is best friends with him. We deal mainly with vollies... and have a board of commissioners that oversee it. He screams and yells... When we simply have a question. He is such a bully.

The way I see it is you have two options. You can either go to the Board and voice your complaints. EN-MASS. Or you can walk away and find another job / place to run. Srsly.

We recently had (essentially) the same problem with our Chief. We voiced our concerns to our Board, en-mass, and they choose to ignore us. Once we threatened to have a special meeting to vote them out and replace them they told the chief he needed to resign, which, he did.

IF your squad / company / whatever is anything like ours, you'll have to go through your bylaws and SOP's and everything and figure out your best course of action. An attorney looking over your shoulder would be a good idea too. It'll cost you some money but it'll probably be worth it.