Not being allowed to complain....at work

[jackfaire]

At first you might think this related to other similar post but this isn't about "people have it worse than you"

Rather the other side of the coin, "Your not alone!"

One of the reasons people complain is to receive validation we want to know that people can understand how screwed up something is and that it isn't just something in our own heads telling us that being screamed at and called names is bad.

My coworkers and I are nice to our customers downright rays of sunshine. We praise the goods ones the customers who are ready with everything we are going to ask for and who don't start complaining to us about policy that every other company they already do business with also has.

That being said our company has decided that it is awesome if we do that if we praise the customers. There is a new policy though that states we are not allowed to complain about our customers. Ever.

Now that being said I can understand that policy on the floor for the same reason we are not allowed to swear. A customer talking to another rep may overhear. However we are not even allowed to share horror stories in the break room where the only way a customer could hear would be if they found out the name of our company, we are an outsourcer, the location of our office and broke through our security to get to us.

The no complaining policy states, "If we discover you complaining about the customers you will be penalized up to and including termination" It has been strongly implied this extends to anything said online or at any point in our personal lives.

Their thought is being able to vent doesn't allow us to vent but builds animosity towards our customers and lowers morale.

This policy comes not from our direct supervisors who share in our stories and have plenty of their own but rather their boss who walks the floor at least once a day.

He doesn't seem to understand the camaraderie that comes about in the trenches when things are bad and when things are good. Ironic given he holds the rank of Colonel in the Army Reserve.

And before you poo poo this and point out it's probably another useless looks good on paper to the clients policy do be aware that a man was already fired for complaining.

If he wanted to divide and conquer he couldn't have done any better if he had promoted someone.

[bhskittykatt]

That policy is BS. People need to vent. If you bottle it up, eventually the pressure builds and you just explode!

Besides, if it wasn't for complaining to CWs about certain customers, some people we've banned might not have been. If SC pulls some crap with me, and I find out they've pulled crap with my CWs, then we can piece together the big picture. If we can't complain amongst ourselves, the hypothetical SC could get away with all sorts of stuff!

[jackfaire]

That's certainly been a problem for us too. People will often do things like change their name but never the address, we handle gas service which is address specific, and if you heard someone talk about the girl that got mad for her 300 dollar bill she never paid now wanting to start another account it's helpful to know that you should refer the call to ID to see if it's the same person. It usually is.

[blas87]

I feel for you.

As soon as the shift changed at work, my bf's boss told everyone that they needed to keep a "positive attitude" and to not complain.

[jackfaire]

One guy uses the mute button and complains quietly no one sits near enough to him that their mike could pick up what he says and his rants often lighten the mood and keep us from snapping on the phone.

I keep telling the bosses we need a scream room. It's a serious suggestion too. We get paid not a lot of money be the toilet for the customers. Our client has a "do not hang up on the customer" rule. This means if the customer want's to spend 20 minutes telling you what he will make your brother and your sister do in graphic detail while holding your mom at gunpoint to make his point of how pissed he is you have to listen, thank him for calling and ask if there is anything else you can do for him.

[Racket_Man]

That being said our company has decided that it is awesome if we do that if we praise the customers. There is a new policy though that states we are not allowed to complain about our customers. Ever.

Now that being said I can understand that policy on the floor for the same reason we are not allowed to swear. A customer talking to another rep may overhear. However we are not even allowed to share horror stories in the break room where the only way a customer could hear would be if they found out the name of our company, we are an outsourcer, the location of our office and broke through our security to get to us.

The no complaining policy states, "If we discover you complaining about the customers you will be penalized up to and including termination" It has been strongly implied this extends to anything said online or at any point in our personal lives.

Their thought is being able to vent doesn't allow us to vent but builds animosity towards our customers and lowers morale.

This policy comes not from our direct supervisors who share in our stories and have plenty of their own but rather their boss who walks the floor at least once a day.

He doesn't seem to understand the camaraderie that comes about in the trenches when things are bad and when things are good. Ironic given he holds the rank of Colonel in the Army Reserve.

And before you poo poo this and point out it's probably another useless looks good on paper to the clients policy do be aware that a man was already fired for complaining.

If he wanted to divide and conquer he couldn't have done any better if he had promoted someone.

here is my take. what your company is doing is illegal by both the FSLA (Fair Labor Standards Act) and NLRA (National Labor Relations ACT). what you are engaged in is "protected work speach" you do NOT have to belong to a union to be protected by either of these Federal acts. sorry but company rules DO NOT trumpt Federal law.

the NLRA covers (and this is through many Admin Law and civil court cases) making illegal to punish workers who complain about pay rates or working conditions or comparing paychecks. it give workers the RIGHT to engage in concerted activities for the purpose of mutual aid and protection. an employee can not be labeled and or fired as a "troublemaker" or not a "team player"

I am not a labor laywer so take this with the appropreiate grain of salt----
my advice to your fired co-worker is to file a complaint with the NLRB on the grounds his protected work speech was stiffled by illegal company rules esp since the rules also imply that your off the clock speech is also impeeded or stiffled. the company in most cases can not control you off the clock.

[Andara Bledin]

Talk to your local labor board about it. They'll have the skinny on what is legal and what is utter bullshit that can't be enforced.

And whatever you do, document, document, document. If this is an official policy change, get a copy in writing.

^-.-^