Working over Christmas - Frequently Asked Questions

There are various issues here. Firstly, are your targets realistic? Setting unachievable targets can amount to bullying and would certainly be grounds for a grievance.

Similarly, there is the issue of harassment. If your facial feature can be classed as a severe facial disfigurement then it is possible you could be protected by the Disability Discrimination Act. This would mean your boss would have to make reasonable adjustments to your work, such as allowing you to work away from the public. I note your colleagues now treat you correctly. I assume that since you became one of the guiding lights of the organisation your boss made sure they did. If your customers are guilty of harassing you (to be classed as harassment it has to happen on more than one occasion), then your employer must also take action to stop them doing it. If he doesn’t then he can be vicariously liable, which means he is held responsible for the actions of the customers as if he had done it himself. You will need to make sure he is aware of the harassment and once again a grievance is the way forward. Your rep should, however, make it clear that ‘Ho, Ho, Ho’ is not an adequate response to a formal grievance.

As for the fact that you work nights, has he done a proper risk assessment for your team as required under the working time regulations? I know you only work one shift a year but it is 24 hours long. Any shift over six hours entitles you to a minimum 20 minute break (but only one) and it mustn’t be at the start or end of the shift, so he can’t ask you to work through and knock off early. I suppose your boss will argue that you rest as you stand around while he makes his deliveries. Rest breaks may be broken into shorter periods, but only as part of a workplace agreement, so get your reps involved in that one as well.

No doubt it is while he is making his deliveries that he imbibes all the drink that the customers leave out for him. I suppose we could argue that reporting him for drink driving is a public duty, so it could be a protected disclosure under the whistleblowing legislation, which would make it an automatically unfair dismissal if he sacked you. Not that he’s likely to. Who else will guide his sleigh?