Co-worker Is A Convicted Child Sex Offender

[Neverthesame]

His presence causes your ptsd, anxiety, fears to fire up making it impossible to do your job effectively, and your manager isn't taking it seriously.
(the implication of stress leave gently pressed on as well, without a threat, might help)

This might also get her sacked. Going over her direct bosses head, to complain about another employee. Trying to use her level of productivity and professionalism the day prior to a special function as a hostile bargaining tactic. When she is seemingly the only one with a problem. Sadly, will probably just blow up in her face.

The first thing this manager is going to do is speak with her supervisor to verify these claims. To which they are probably going to deny, deny, deny. This is assuming that this senior management person isn't already aware of the situation, and turning their own blind eye to it as is.

Going the way of stress leave, is also the double edged sword. She will need to have a doctors excuse for the time off.
Depending on how much of a malignant prick her boss is, this could paint a rather large target on her back.

She may be able to avoid working with the sex offender, but her boss may make working there so miserable for her, it may not even matter.

Dodgy scheduling tactics, being reserved the unpleasant job tasks, being held under a proverbial microscope, for every little thing she does wrong. Are all pressures can be legally applied to an employee to try to make them quit. Her own lengthy tenure with the company can be used against her to this effect. Citing nonsense such as "being held to a higher standard because of her experience on the job".

I don't know 100% about the UK (I left England before I was working age) but this how they can screw you here in Canada. It's f*cking petty bullshit, but it's something that happens frequently.

I don't know if this will be exactly what will happen. But it's a real possibility.

I wish I had a better idea. This shit just shouldn't happen.

Not picking on you Mary, I see where you're coming from. If she wasn't the minority, I think this would be a good strategy.

 

[NoWhereKnowWhere]

@Neverthesame no not in the UK. And if she was sacked again she would be entitled to a certain amount of weeks pay, unfair dismissal.

You only need a doctors line (note) if you're off sick for more than one week.

Whether or not you even have a contract you have rights.

Although they can't just fire you for any damn thing they like. They can find a reason to fire you but will have to follow procedure verbal warning, written warning, final warning. Fired. Or for gross misconduct: assaulting coworker, swearing at customers, you know really bad shit. Even then if you've been ender too much stress because of the work environment yes you could get away with that too.

But seriously get in touch with citizens advice don't take legal advice from the internet.


The reason people get screwed in the UK is because company's like to have us believe we don't have certain rights. Which is total BS. The amount of people I know who've been f*cked by employers (myself included) simply because they didn't know their rights.

 

[EveHarrington]

IME in theory people have employment rights but employers will fire for any darn reason and lie about the reason.

Want to fight it? Hire a lawyer! (Most won't do this.)

It's a losing battle.

 

[NoWhereKnowWhere]

Work tribunals generally side on the side if the worker.

I've worked somewhere that someone was stealing money. The employer had proof took what he was due from his last pay check. He took them to a work tribunal got the money from his las pay back was awarded unfair dismiss a and the employer was forced to pay 11weeks wages.

Employers get away with what ever they want and employees are too afraid to say boo to get what's owed to them.

It's a losing battle because no body bothers to fight.

 

[cat-lady]

@Neverthesame

Like, times like 1,000. Seriously! Spot on.

@Mii...

I believe that EveHarrington strikes the best balance here in terms of concerns over going to the media versus not going to the media. I agree with all of your comments about concerns over negative consequences of going to the media but sometimes there is just no other option left. If you are in a situation where other ways of protecting people actually work you have no idea how incredibly lucky you are. Sadly that is not the situation for me and a lot of other people out there. Mary1979, sorry if I triggered something in you, but it's really not full of yourself to speak out to protect others if there's really no other option left. Miinah, good luck in dealing with this. I hope that one of those other solutions works before it gets to that point.

 

[Miinah101]

Hi all,

Thanks so much for all your replies.

I want to just clarify a few things. I work for a family run business, where there are essentially three people with power over me - my own mother, then a new office woman, then the owner/boss. Mother doesn't know about my PTSD so she's not an option, though I have brought up how uncomfortable he makes me. The owner thinks he's innocent, and he's really wriggling his way into her good books like a snake so she won't hear a bad word against him, so at this point in time, she's not really an option either.

Which leaves me with new office woman. I'd never actually met her before, but when I did that night she was lovely and I felt comfortable enough to talk to her about it later on in the night. We talked about the legal aspect of it all and according to her, they are not breaking any laws. He does have restrictions in place, and she is aware that he's pushing firmly against them and occasionally breaking through, and is doing her absolute best to stop him. He is essentially a manual labourer, and should be far from customers (ie, in the woods and fields, far far away), but I still seem him hanging around the restaurant, which I also brought up. She said nothing more than "Well, he shouldn't." And also, she stated that we do not employ anyone under 16 (it sounded as if to say "So no worker is in danger". Yeah right.). I know this to be false, as we have some new members of staff who are, though I believe they are volunteers, not employees. She did agree however, that she would keep him as far away from me as possible, and that he should have absolutely no reason to be near me. I just don't think I trust this, as I've already seen how close he can get.

The night actually went smoothly, he greeted me really cheerfully, I replied with a rather lacklustre hello (as the boss was there) and I didn't say another word, kept well out of his way. If he came into a room, I promptly left, and I found any excuse to avoid being in close proximity to him.

Could anyone tell me the implications of getting the police involved for the business?

 

[Sideways]

Without crossing the line into your own history, have you tried speaking to mum about your concerns? Like "We have a convicted sex offender on staff, and I know that everyone likes him, but I'm getting concerned about the business' liability for his increasing interaction with underage workers/volunteers..."

Is that a conversation you'd feel comfortable having? Perhaps before introducing police into the picture? Mum might find police rocking up woth no prior notice a bit of an issue viz her relationship with you? It's hard to tell without knowing the detail and dynamics the way you do...

 

[cat-lady]

I'm not sure how it works in the U.K. Might he have a parole officer or someone equivalent to that who you could raise this issue with? If so, they might choose to make him move to another line of work instead. Double check this with someone local though because I don't know the laws where you are.

 

[Mit]

You implied he'd been given a custodial sentence for the offence. From memory I think this means he'll be on the sex offenders register for 5 years minimum. It could be longer depending on the offence and length of sentence. That means he'll be under supervison by a police officer / probation officer, who will be monitoring him and visiting him. He will of been required to inform the police of where he is living and working, and notify them if he moves. He will have had to provide the police of his bank account and credit card details so it's easy to trace any suspicious transactions (buying illegal porn). There may also be other restrictions imposed on him. It's likely he'll also be required to attend on-going treatment and therapy through the probation service.

It doesn't sound as though the work he is doing is something covered by the disclosure and barring scheme (the type of work referred to as a regulated activity, obvious examples being teaching, child minding, work as a carer etc.) which is designed to prevent ex offenders from 'working with' vulnerable groups (children and vulnerable adults). He'll be barred from working in a regulated activity for life. So it is quite possible he's not doing anything wrong by working there.

I see no reason why there would be any comeback on the company if you were to query his employment with the local police. If it's not a regulated activity they are doing nothing wrong by giving him a job. The police would not disclose your name, or reveal any details about his offences. If he shouldn't be working there the police will act to remove him.

As unpalatable as it sounds it is better he integrates back into society rather than being hounded into hiding. Better to have him in 'plain sight' where he can be monitored. Obviously this is of no comfort to you. I'd make the call to the police to be on the safe side (the local station should put you through to the relevant department or officer). It might make you feel a bit better too.

 

[Deleted member 34424]

I would contact the police and see if they can do anything.

 

[anonymous]

This whole thread makes me sick to my stomach.....a convicted sex offender working around kids!? seriously? Get him out of there, whatever you need to do... do it!

I know this is heated.... just hits too close to home for me.

 

[norm]

I wouldn't go there for two reasons:

(a) If you get along with him, there is a good chance so did his 'victim'. Many teenage girls see no difference between themselves and guys in their twenties who are nice. And even if she was the aggressor and he the weak-male who hadn't been taught life's lessons, well... he's a rapist in the eyes of the law. I've known a few guys who did stupid things in their twenties and paid way beyond what was deserved. In one case for example a guy's girlfriends sister of I think fifteen was constantly coming on to him. They never had sex but she said something to her friend about giving him oral sex and he was convicted of a crime that sounded so horrible you'd think he climbed into the bedroom of a stranger raped her at gunpoint.

(b) You have an excellent chance of causing further trauma and even ptsd in the victim that hasn't developed. As you probably know, the more traumatic events, the more likely ptsd will develop. That wouldn't be fair to her whatsoever. It would be very selfish of you. Consider also your own ptsd once repercussions come your way, which they always seem to.

Your best move would be to educate yourself by observing him and keeping an eye on his motivations. If he is a deviant it won't take you long to get the sensation you have no choice but to act. In that situation you'll know you'll be saving a victim rather than making one and your co-worker will know he is to blame, not you.

If he's as charming as he sounds there's a small but substantially possible chance he's a psychopath. Superficial charm and sex-related crimes are both symptomatic. The best advice you'll get is from the many forums on the web littered with both psychopaths and victims alike, and from the many excellent YouTube video on the topic. They'll tell you how important it is to not get in his bad books no matter what you do. Its really important you don't. I'm there now and I watch my back wherever I go now because I put myself in a bad situation not realizing I wasn't dealing with a completely developed human being: cognitive and emotional defects galore they learned to cover up so well.