Need accurate info to decide

[BozWalker]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY

i have a serious issue i need advice before i decide what can be done.
i work for a school district, i have been passed over for 3 yrs for jobs. when i have asked my boss a few weeks ago why this is happening i was told
1- they are hiring younger people who will stay with the job longer.
2-because students would say hello to me as a custodian in a school and i said hi back i was pulled out of a elementary school and told i did nothing wrong but not to talk to students. i was told i will never get a day position in a elementary school ever.
3-i am almost vested in the pension, but if i get laid off or fired for going over my bosses head and what can i do to save my pension?

i realize i need to talk to a attorney here but i wanted to get as much info as possible since i have no money for an attorney and dont want to loose my job but i know this was wrong.

 

[OHRoadwarrior]

Discuss the issue with your Business Agent.

 

[BozWalker]

huh?

Discuss the issue with your Business Agent.

im trying to get advice on this because if i do go over my managers head to hr and my manager decides to limit my work or lay me off or fire me what my options are. i have no proof of this conversation tho. i have been passed over 8x in 3 yrs for jobs and all new younger inexperienced people are hired

 

[tranquility]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? NY

i have a serious issue i need advice before i decide what can be done.
i work for a school district, i have been passed over for 3 yrs for jobs. when i have asked my boss a few weeks ago why this is happening i was told
1- they are hiring younger people who will stay with the job longer.
2-because students would say hello to me as a custodian in a school and i said hi back i was pulled out of a elementary school and told i did nothing wrong but not to talk to students. i was told i will never get a day position in a elementary school ever.
3-i am almost vested in the pension, but if i get laid off or fired for going over my bosses head and what can i do to save my pension?

i realize i need to talk to a attorney here but i wanted to get as much info as possible since i have no money for an attorney and dont want to loose my job but i know this was wrong.

How old are you?

 

[commentator]

Keep in mind that discussing something with HR is not like talking to the president or CEO or school superintendent or something. HR is legitimately involved in well--HR decisions. And realize that if you talk to HR, the manager will not be able to fire you or lay you off by himself without HR being involved in that action. So it's not like he can say, "Because you went over my head and talked to HR, I'm going to fire you right now!" Any personnel action will come from HR, not from the individual manager.

But fire you or lay you off, they certainly can legally do that, for about any reason or for no good reason. Age discrimination is getting harder and harder to show, especially in the case of one single individual, and not a pervasive pattern of discrimination throughout the system, which you may or may not have going on here.

It is possible they had what they perceived to be some sort of incident with you related to "talking to students." To tell you that "you will never work in a day position in an elementary school ever" leads one to believe that maybe there was more to this situation, or there is something that made them quite uncomfortable about your work behavior. That's legitimate, and might not have been based on age.

Did you know there was a strict policy about not speaking to or interacting with students? Did you get a write up for failing to follow this policy? If so, this may very well be what is keeping you from being promoted, not your age. But if so, this was doubtless done through the HR department, not just the supervisor. As I said, he doesn't have the power of independent action, doesn't do anything without HR's guidance and support, including write you up.

It is incredibly stupid for the supervisor to tell you that he was not promoting you because they want younger people who will stay with the job longer. But your first step would be to take this to HR and discuss it with them. Filing some sort of age related complaint without talking it to the next step would mean that your claim would go nowhere, as all the system would have to say is that they had no idea you had a problem and if you had brought it up they would have been glad to consider it.

 

[cbg]

1.) How old are you? It matters.
2.) If they don't want you to talk to the students, don't talk to the students. Unless there is a great deal more to the story than you are telling us, they do not have the power to prevent you from getting a job in an elementary school in another district. They - whoever THEY are - MAY be able to stop you getting a job in an elementary school in this district. But why are you so concerned about working in an elementary school?
3.) That would depend on the exact details and cannot be answered in a hypothetical setting.

 

[BozWalker]

heres the info

1.) How old are you? It matters.
2.) If they don't want you to talk to the students, don't talk to the students. Unless there is a great deal more to the story than you are telling us, they do not have the power to prevent you from getting a job in an elementary school in another district. They - whoever THEY are - MAY be able to stop you getting a job in an elementary school in this district. But why are you so concerned about working in an elementary school?
3.) That would depend on the exact details and cannot be answered in a hypothetical setting.

im 49 yrs old this new boss came in 2 and half years ago and has hired all new people aged 18-27 years old and only people he personally hired as a sub.

as for talking to students its a known fact students talk to the custodians and mine always consisted of students saying how how are you have a good weekend or did you have a good weekend or can you open this soup for me. we were told to always be in the cafeteria when lunch is on and never told not to talk to students (FT custodians do btw) new employees are told not to talk to students. there was no write up just a lunch aide complained to principal that a sub was talking to students and principal called boss and i was pulled from school and held against me but no paperwork or complaint on file.

im not concerned about getting a job in an elementary it just theres so many of them in this district. i was told i should talk to assistant superintendent who is over my boss but they are retiring in june.

as a sub i only get work when im given it and im concerned i can loose work if this boss goes that route.

 

[commentator]

As a substitute, you are right, you only get work when you are given it. Your immediately supervisor can starve you if you don't do what they like. And you are concerned because you have not been put on permanently, right? You very first need to speak with HR. Ask them if they are sure that you have filled out all the necessary paperwork, and have let them know in every way you should that you ARE VERY INTERESTED IN BEING HIRED FULL TIME. Ask them if there is anything in your file that is keeping this from happening. Be very businesslike in your approach, as if you were receiving coaching from somewhere. (You are, you are being coached by us here.) Keep up with when this talk occurred and what you were told by HR. DO NOT discuss this talk with your supervisor. They may, but don't you.

Many a supervisor has "sat" on someone who was part time or only a substitute, telling higher ups that this person "only wanted to work part time" or "wasn't really looking for a permanent position." I have seen this happen with the state, city and county levels of public employment. You need to make it very clear that you do want to be on full time. There may be an extra piece of paperwork that you need to get on file to make this clear.

Do not always think your supervisor has as much power as you had imagined. But do not for a minute think they are obligated to be fair and will not try to manipulate the system to make sure they get the employees they want. Yes, you should speak first with HR. Then you should also speak to this person who is retiring in June. But don't hit him with a list of grievances against your supervisor or mention the unfairness of how you have been treated. Tell him you are very interested in being put on full time, or getting all the hours you can possibly get. Ask for his help in achieving this goal.

The best thing for you to do is avoid the whole subject of your having had a complaint made about you to your supervisor. As you said, there's nothing in formal, no write ups, nothing your actual file about this. The supervisor is just using this to you as an excuse for why you're not being hired on permanently.

Keep careful records of everything your supervisor tells you and the date you are told this. Keep up with how much work you get after you speak with HR. DO NOT tell your supervisor you are going to talk to anyone else, have talked with anyone else or anything else about your job except that you always make it clear to him that you definitely want to be a full time employee, and that you want all the hours you can get. It sounds like he is feeding you a line of bull about what "they" are saying and doing that serves to keep you thinking he knows something you do not. If you want things to change in any way you are going to have to move from under him and ask for help from someone higher up.

 

[Dandy Don]

How many years have you worked for this school?

What type of job performance evaulations have you received and has any of the things you were told ever been said/discussed by your supervisor in your performance evaluations?

 

[BozWalker]

answers and clarity

How many years have you worked for this school?

What type of job performance evaulations have you received and has any of the things you were told ever been said/discussed by your supervisor in your performance evaluations?

ok first off ive been a substitute custodian in 2 school districts equalling 8 yrs. This one with the issues i have been there 3 years with extremely good evaluations and recommendations for jobs. My facility manager is one pulling this the only hr is the woman retiring in June. They limited sub custodians to 28 hrs last april saying it was obamacare while sub teachers get 32 hrs a week. Also I just turned 49 yrs old, the past 8 jobs were given to new people with 1-2 weeks experience who are between 21-28 yrs of age all hired by facility manager. only 4 of us who werent have been passed over for jobs.

 

[commentator]

I've given you my best shot, you need to speak to your HR.

 

[Just Blue]

Px Hx****************************....


https://forum.freeadvice.com/sports-arts-entertainment-law-86/internet-radio-minors-592102.html

 

[Zigner]

I think it makes sense that a school district employee who has an "adults only" web broadcast may have an issue with his superiors at the school district.