Hi there . just finishing off 3 days of rest from work . Really don’t want to go back tomorrow. Let me explain why. We have a new member of staff who has been with me since 2 weeks pre Christmas . Se gave her the basic knowledge on how to use our systems which is a basic computer package that charges our detainees for their products . She has glasses but does not wear them .
Last Thursday , she was complaining about not getting her uniform order completed , asking to phone IT ref her System Access . I told her to phone in the breaks but had to give into her after being asked continuously to use the phone .
Thursday evening , a resident came up to us (They are not called prisoners ) and tried to buy some goods . She told him he did not have money. He was adamant that he had £40 on his account . I went over and took over and checked his account transactions to find out that when he came earlier in the day, she incorrectly charged him over 600k for goods, yes , over £600,000 . She was oblivious to what she had done . I took over the transaction on my own terminal. Usually i could reverse the transaction myself but i was unsure this time as the amount had been put through as cash as well . If the residents go above their limit, the system gives us a warning , so she must have overridden that. Anyhow , to keep the resident happy , i went to the Senior Officer in charge and asked could i give him the goods and refer the matter to finance to sort out . He agreed to that. I also asked should i report it as well on a report which goes to the directors . he said yes to cover myself . i went back to the resident and he got the goods . i filled out the paperwork for the report and sent it but since then the feel so bad as she is a colleague.
I am on duty at 9am but usually arrive earlier . The finance supervisor and myself don’t get on and i really don’t trust her as my manager now . It might be sour grapes since i did not get a promotion in the shop but it seems she does not care about my team and just about the other retail team. When i left the prison on thursday i told my other team member that i just wanted to get drunk . needless to say i did not .
Was i right in reporting my work colleague . should i have attempted to fix the error which could have made it worse .
i don’t want to go in stressed out or go in and become stressed as this won’t help my condition
Oh, no wonder you are feeling cr*p with work, @Jbeaver12 Perhaps you might be feeling the same whatever you have done, you have tried to do the right thing in the circumstances and that is all you can do.
I certainly do not deal with what personally stresses me well since diagnosis and I was actually lucky enough to have responsibilities taken away from me when my bosses panicked at my diagnosis, however I was resentful at the time!!
During lockdown I actually gave up things that were stressing me.
You were in a very difficult situation, which I would have hated to be put in, you followed guidelines and advice which is all you can do.
You call the new member of staff your work colleague, but perhaps she is still a work trainee and will benefit from some more supervised training and another discussion about wearing her glasses. Perhaps your work environment means you might benefit from documenting your interactions, you are working in an environment where weaknesses in the system might try to be exploited.
Do you have an Human Resources or Occupational Health Department that you might discuss things with.
I can tell from your post how caring you are and that you only want to get it right.
I really hate having a yukky feeling inside especially on all my weekend off.
Good for you not getting drunk.
Be ever so kind to yourself
Hi erica, it’s not the illness making me feel like this . We do have a care section in work which i have felt like using at times. It’s just the feeling of have i not been doing a good job. As i had said earlier on in a post, i’m waiting for ab occupational health appointment to see if i am able to return back to officer training . This afternoon i came very close to typing a resignation letter but stopped myself . i get on well with all the officers and the senior officers . Just the finance manager i can’t seem to get on with . the illness is not worrying me finally . i am getting on with things and i do feel like the way i was health wise before i developed the tlgl . the work has supported me so much . becoming an officer is my dream and also will help me provide for my family more (extra 6 grand) .
Tomorrow i will get hold of the care team and have a chat with them. Thanks for the advice erica
Sorry if my experiences were not the same as yours @Jbeaver12
I am so glad that becoming an officer is your dream.
You seem to have a great personal insight.
Take lots of care of yourself
Please do let us know how you get on with the Care Team, sounds like a good step to me.
Hi there Erica, no need to apologise. I am in work at the moment. Its been a quiet day so far but extremely hot in the shop. It was always my dream to be in the uniformed services. I did have 15 years service in the Volunteer Ambulance Corps but this is on a different scale in the Immigration Removal Centre. As for the other issue, my supervisor did not say anything so hopefully they will take note of my report and act on it eventually. I will be glad when I finish my shift tomorrow and have 2 days off. Also the heating is far too high in the shop, we have to use 5 fans and its still at 29 degrees but i was told this is a malfunction and will be back to normal tomorrow so leaving the detention centre will be great as its extremely cold outside atm. Anyhow, have a good evening.
Have a good couple of days off after your shift today and I hope that heating gets fixed.
It’s warmed up a bit outside here today.
Take care @Jbeaver12
Hi @Jbeaver12 thank you for sharing your experiences here and I’m sorry to hear it’s been difficult for you. I do hope your report is appropriately addressed. I just wanted to reach out to share our money and work pages with you, in case they’re helpful. Specifically, I wished to mention the organisation ACAS, who provide confidential advice around work-related issues, in case that’s useful at all.
Hi Erica, everything is going okay now. Nothing was said about that issue i had discussed on here . Shop was getting temperatures of almost 30 degrees which is not good . Making all of us tired . Drinking tons of water on shift .
I’m off till Wednesday now . Went to a gig yesterday in London. If you remember the Tv Drama ‘The Bill’ , one of the actresses is also a singer and has her
first ever gig. Also met some of the actors as well
I managed a safeguarding team for 15 years so have dealt with many difficult situations. You were absolutely right to report this. It is a significant incident which you had a duty to report. If you hadn’t then how can it be addressed and prevented from happening again ? You also have to cover yourself. This member of staff would do well to learn from you with all of your experience. Don’t feel guilty or doubt yourself for a minute , don’t lose sleep over it, it may not feel comfortable putting an incident in about a colleague but in these environments you have to. I had an incident a while ago where I was placed at risk by the actions of another staff member and I put an incident in , we have to . Hope this helps x
