Discrimination at Work

[as_cute_as_pie]

this is kind of related to the the bullying in the workplace thread as its similar

anyway

Ive been at my job (my first proper job) for over a year now and in about march time i moved to a different department (menswear) from womens shoes, since everything we sell we earn comission on it i was making considerbely less on this new department than on womens shoes im takin a change from £200 extra a month to £50 so i made the descison to get a new job which i did.
When work found out they offered me my old job on ladies shoes and a new contract of 30 hrs a week from 9 hrs which i accepted.


Ive been on womens shoes for a couple of months now and have noticed the girls well women i work with during the day are considerly older than me (im eighteen) we get along fine but don't have that much in common so we don't really speak apart from about work however the part timers are the same age as me or about so we get along much better for obvious reasons, but theres no big problem or so i thought

theres this one woman hmm lets call her Sarah who has little digs at me and seems to have a big problem with me this is why...

When i moved back to ladies shoes i mentioned to her that i was glad to be back upstairs again cos i wouldnt be downstairs as much and she suddenly snapped back 'well don't think your'e getting out of it we all have to go downstairs you know'

strange

then another day there was 2 boots left on the floor off a customer but cos the floor was so busy they hadn't been picked up yet, another girl asked me to pick them up i laughed and said no (we had a little joke cos she said she couldn't say no to the manager) and then said 'see i can say no!' i smiled at her to make it more obvious i was joking and she laughed back. So i walked over to pick them up but Sarah came over and said 'no ill do it look you really should learn to pick up after your customers you know'

then on thursday I was downstairs from 12-2 which i hated as id been down all week and no- one else took turns so i went back up after my break and as soon as i got upstairs this lady asked for 4 pairs of shoes so i went and got them, while i was the manager asked me what i was doing upstairs cos she needed me on mens, i simply said can no one else go? and she replied with ermm send lucy then

i went out with the shoes and was heading for the desk when Sarah stopped me and snapped 'didnt you know you were supposed to be downstairs' so i said 'erm ive already spoken to the manager about it' i said it clearly and in normal tone

though today when me and Sarah were alone in the stockroom she started shouting at me that she didn't appreciate the way I spoke to her on thursday and she wouldn't stand being spoke to like that by a 18 year old cos her sons don't.

i said i didnt say anything wrong and if i did it was cos she snapped at me and she just said she wont be spoken to like that by a 18 yr old

i was absoloutly gobsmacked thinking is she havin a go at me cos im 18?? and alot younger?

i didnt say anything back but i really want to complain to the manager as this Sarah is of no autority at all and seems to pick on me alot and never says a THING to the others

sorry for such a long post i just really need some advice !

 

[Raerae]

I would follow the same advice with regards to the workplace bully thread.

You can start by informing the lady that regardless of your age, you deserve to be treated with the same respect as anyone working for your company. If she continues, and you feel it's worth persuing, you can document her behavior, and what she says. Just remember to always be polite. The next step would be to go to your manager. I would go to HR after that, if after talking to the manager, she keeps giving you a hard time.

Looks like she's just jealous. Your probably smarter, and prettier than she is, and for you, it's just a temporary job, not a career. So when you go on to do bigger and better things, she'll still be in women's shoes.

 

[Hilly]

Maybeco-worker mediation? from the manager or an unbiased person that works in a diff dept?

 

[SparklingWaves]

This lady has an issue with age. I dealt with this for years. I don't have to worry about this one anymore. Anyway, I remember being called kid, child, and little girl at work by the middle aged ladies. I hated it! They talked down to me. I remember that vividly. I am now probably considered middle aged (sniff sniff). I will never treat anyone like I was. This person has a problem. They are taking out their stuff on you and that's not right. They are threatened by you too. That's just tough.

What's she is doing is defiantly age discrimination. I would tell her, "It appears that you are having difficulties working with someone of my age." Also, when she screams at you, tell her - "I will talk with you when you have control of yourself" and walk off.

She has grown old in her mind and doesn't realize it can be a kick to work with anyone of any age. She thinks she is a momma to teens. NOT. She is acting like an old bitter woman. Maybe, she has mental problems or hormone issues. Whatever it is, it's her problem. She needs to back off. She can learn a very important lesson from you - RESPECT. ;-)

 

[frocher]

Always be calm and firm when dealing with this individual.

 

[Love Always Ivy]

shes just jealous cause youre 1/3 her age and making the same she is and she knows she's washed up and you have the whole rest of your successful life ahead of her.

"let haters hate. thats they're job" ~ kat williams

 

[CantAffordMAC]

you probably already put her in her place. If she continues to have attitude or says rude things, i would go to the manager and let him know that you're not comfortable with the way she talks to you and that u deserve to be treated with respect, regardless of your age.

 

[frocher]

How is it going? Is it better for you or is she still crazy.

 

[as_cute_as_pie]

hey.. thanks for all the replies

the manager approached me and asked what was going on so i told her all of it. and she just basically said ignore her cos shes not even a supervisor LOL
then she asked later if she was talkin to me or still being in a 'huff' and at that very moment she walked in it was so obvious what we were talking about..
now we just don't talk well we never really did in the 1st place just idle chat not really bothered tbh

if we don't speak she doesn'y have a chance to be nasty

 

[Amymo]

I'm sure I remember from ages ago that you said you live in Newcastle, if John Lewis or Fenwicks is the department store you work at then I can sympathyse, worked at both there when I was 19 and 21 for two months at a time during my summer hols from uni. Both had me on every dept but the one I was meant to be on and all of the women that worked there hated students and younger people because we "had more ambition and wouldn't stay anyway" so they didnt talk to me!