Please tell me what you think of this. We have a manager who will not let us contact HR unless she does it for us. Is HR not there for us to talk to and does she have the right to prevent us from calling them? What has happened is I have a teller who went out for surgery on the 15th of this month. The manager ASSUMED she needed to use up all her sick and vacation time. Well yesterday after a call to HR for another employee who is going out next month for surgery who also was not allowed to call HR herself, we found out that the last employee situation would have created a big mess had they not called and casually questioned HR. Seems that the employee who is currently out on disability should have had paperwork done which she would have known had our manager allowed her to call. This manager is such a screw up. You cant beleive some of the things she does and gets away with. Just needed to vent about this but how much more do we as employees have to take. I hate to think if I needed to call HR for a personal reason that I would not be allowed to do it myself and would have to go through her. Can she do this??

Why don't you call the HR Manager and schedule an appointment and explain the situation and see what they have to say about it. I can't believe that's an offical attitude of the bank. They can take actions to communicate will employees to let them know it is OK to call them directly without personally implicating you.

Restricting access to HR could cause some issues for your bank, especially when it comes to health issues. An employees right to privacy concerning illness/sick leave is considered confidential informaiton, and you should be able to speak directly with HR concerning this. You do not need the permission of your department manager. (what happens if the manager is out and you ned HR, just wait?) This sounds like a micro-management issue. I agree with RL, you need to contact the HR manager and set up a meeting to discuss this. A professional HR person will ensure that your name is not brought up in this subject.

Two good pieces of advice. As a manager I can't know everything. I am often fuzzy about HR rules and regs, and would expect and advise a staff member to check with them on any issue you've mentioned. I believe if I attempted to limit my employees access to HR I'd get my bumm kicked at my bank.

I would schedule that meeting ASAP. Be sure to deal with the HR manager verses a general staff member to keep it confidential. I could be speaking about my banks exclusively, but I've found some of the staff to be a bit too loose lipped when dealing with sensative issues.

Two questions I would have are:

1) Why doesn't this manager want me contacting HR directly?

2) What if my issue (perhaps unfair treatment, harassment, etc) involves that manager?

This "policy" doesn't sound good to me at all...

Eh, I've known a manager or two like this - we called them control freaks, among other things!

She is a control freak. This is a woman who in the past has screamed at her employees in front of customers. She was reported to our district manager who in turn came to our office with a rep from HR and spoke to her as well as a meeting with all of us. It has been somewhat better since. This though is unexceptable. If I feel I need to call HR I will call regardless of what she says.

She sounds terribly unprofessional! Make that call hopefully she'll find her way out the door soon. (You hit on my pet peeve...people who disipline in any way in front of clients...let alone scream)

I totally agree with Dawnie. Disciplining employees in front of customers (and other employees, for that matter) is completely unprofessional and out of line.

In the absence of a bank policy (and I find it very difficult to believe this could be a bank policy) you have every right to talk with HR. I suggest you indeed contact the HR Director or manager and let him or her know of this situation.

Two phrases:
Sarbanes-Oxley and Whistleblower

This manager sounds dangerous. Reminds me of a situation at my husband's old job. A co-worker fell to the ground complaining of chest pains. Another co-worker started to call 911, but the manager told him to hang up the phone. She said they needed to get clearance from security before calling the paramedics!!!!! Luckily the co-worker was not suffering from a heart attack. Imagine if she had!

Yeah - my husband found a new job a few months later!

Bonnnie - When a young lad (way back in the early 80s), I worked part time at the golden arches in high school. We had a customer that was choking, and stupid me picked up the phone and called the operator, requesting an ambulance (we didn't have 911 in rural La. until late 90s). The manager came running and screaming at me that I was not authorized to use the phone, didn't want to hear my explanation, and fired me on the spot. I didn't say anything, just picked up my stuff and left. Imagine my surprise when about 2 hours later, the owner of the franchise arrived at my house with a $500 bonus because "my quick action in getting the paramedics saved the customers life." I was offered my job back, a $1.00 per hour raise, and the manager was terminated. All in all, a satisfactory solution in my book.