Advice needed about JobLink

tankclare · 07-03-2010, 07:26 PM

Hi all..

Now I know im not the smallest person on the planet and am not having a whinge or anything but I am rather offended not sure what to do.

As the story goes the lady I have to see every 3 weeks has turned sour towards me ever since my last job fell through (where her husband works). At my last appointment a few days ago all was going well until a few minutes silence and then she had the nerve to bring my size into the picture. Asking personal questions like do I have any disorders to prevent weight loss and what my eating habits and exercise was. I went along with it but felt like crap to say the least. She could see I wasnt happy but still continued on. Now besides the usual job hunting she wants me to write up a new diet and exercise plan before my next appointment and even threatened that my pay may be cut if I dont do it. Surely this is a bad case of discrimination towards me. What is there that I can do. I am thinking about seeing the manager and making a complaint.

As if I dont feel low enough having to go to JobLink, she has put this on me.. I felt like giving her an earful but held back.

Any advice much appreciated.

Cheers
Tank

Kryton · 07-03-2010, 07:40 PM

Yes, that is a case of discrimination.
She has no authority to make you lose weight and certainly no authority to cut your pay if you dont.

Make a complaint directly to her manager, not the supervisor, the manager that runs the show.
Make it clear that you will be making an official complaint to the Anti Discrimination Board and that the matter will be taken further with them.

An official complaint is the last thing they want, leads to a lot of headaches and negative public exposure.

This is also the type of thing that you can take to court (if you choose) and receive compensation for.

Here are some pages for you to read:
http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/LAWLIN.../adb_complaint
http://www.lawlink.nsw.gov.au/lawlin...ages/adb_adlaw

Riksta · 07-03-2010, 07:46 PM

I'm sorry to hear you were treated like that, absolute garbage.

Follow Davway's advice and really mess with them. At ~120 kilos myself, I would definitely not be putting up with that kind of rubbish.

The only way I could even think that making you do some kind of diet and excercise plan would be if you were aiming to get into a position which required that of you (police/firey/personal trainer etc) - any other reason is just garbage.

Hope it all goes well.

Kryton · 07-03-2010, 07:54 PM

I personally would be aiming to have her removed from her job - i did have that written but i removed it from my previous post.
The choice is yours but dont expect that as an outcome.
Its up to the compnay to decide what happens to her, she may get let go, demoted or absolutely nothing at all will happen.
Be sure though, that once you make an official complaint with the Board, something will happen to her, not through the Board but the company wont take the issue lightly.

If she has done it to you, how many other people has she done it to?

left · 07-03-2010, 08:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tankclare

Hi all..

Now I know im not the smallest person on the planet and am not having a whinge or anything but I am rather offended not sure what to do.

As the story goes the lady I have to see every 3 weeks has turned sour towards me ever since my last job fell through (where her husband works). At my last appointment a few days ago all was going well until a few minutes silence and then she had the nerve to bring my size into the picture. Asking personal questions like do I have any disorders to prevent weight loss and what my eating habits and exercise was. I went along with it but felt like crap to say the least. She could see I wasnt happy but still continued on. Now besides the usual job hunting she wants me to write up a new diet and exercise plan before my next appointment and even threatened that my pay may be cut if I dont do it. Surely this is a bad case of discrimination towards me. What is there that I can do. I am thinking about seeing the manager and making a complaint.

As if I dont feel low enough having to go to JobLink, she has put this on me.. I felt like giving her an earful but held back.

Any advice much appreciated.

Cheers
Tank

Wow. This woman is out of line by a long way. I work for a Government agency that deals directly with these sorts of employment providers and it is no way their role to demand a person write up a diet and exercise regime much less threaten to put a breach on them for failing to do so i.e. cut your "dole" payment. She clearly has issues regarding the failed working relationship you had with her hubby.

You first need to speak to the Office Manager about your concerns and you must ask to be "re-assigned" to another person. If that brings you no joy you need to ask for the complaint to be escalated; whether that be to the area manager or even the relevant Gov department (in this case that's DEEWR aka Dept Education, Employment and Workplace Relations). Depending on where you live you may also be able to request through Centrelink to be moved across to another job service provider.

HTH

Spudz27 · 07-03-2010, 08:46 PM

WOW I thought I was the only one. A few years ago I was with one of those job agencies for people with a disability (heart condition). Anyway let's just say the place I was doing work exp at was, at the request of my job search guy telling him my daily eating habits. As I was trying to lose weight, everyday was pretty much salad, but one day I had a chicken burger (might I add from a cafe so it was loaded with salads) and next thing I get a phone call asking how could I be serious about losing weight if I ate a burger. Needless to say I told them to **** off, and told the place I was doing work exp at the same (the job was just a shelf stacker anyway). To keep centrelink off my back I studied I.T then after my daughter was born I got a job without any stupid government agency and have been there nearly 4yrs now.

tankclare · 07-03-2010, 09:37 PM

Yer I thought it was rude. I'll call into JobLink during the week and see if I can talk to the manager to say something and get another person. And yes it has been since the fallout of work where her hubby is. Before that she was pretty good to me but ever since I have been treated differently.

Cheers

MAV50L · 07-03-2010, 09:45 PM

She should of stopped handling your case the second that it even appeared that you were looking at a job with her hubby.
It is called conflict of interests.
Also she should be having nothing to do with placing people through the agency she works at her hubbys work. The agaency should not even be taking on the work related to an employee , much less giving it to the said employee.
It can be classed as corruption. Maybe if they are not interested in your quite rightfull beef , you can start to mention that the ICAC might have to hear about what is going on.
It would really cause some trouble , especially if there is any form of fees paid for filling positions.

**cs123** · 07-03-2010, 09:45 PM

Wow not good.

The only advice I can give you is when escalating be completely honest about what has transpired in the past.

I'd call the agency and make an appointment to see the manager. Don't just show up hoping to get some time. It may pay to see legal aid and discuss how you would progress this properly.

lubby1 · 07-03-2010, 10:04 PM

Sorry to hear you are being treated like that.
Her job is to assist you in finding employment and nothing else, i would go with what davway suggests except i would probably contact the Anti Dicrimination Board first and tell them what has happened, they will guide you in the right direction,

I'm worried that if you try to handle it on your own they may try to cover it up.
Good luck with it

tankclare · 07-03-2010, 10:10 PM

Thanks for all the replies people. Is very helpful. Im not the kind of person to go stirring up trouble. I'll see the manager and if I dont get a decent response then I will take it further and see how they like it.

Kryton · 07-03-2010, 10:18 PM

you should take it further anyway even if you get a response from the manager.
This sort of thing has to be stopped and if you arent going to take it further, it will continue.

**cs123** · 08-03-2010, 10:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davway

you should take it further anyway even if you get a response from the manager.
This sort of thing has to be stopped and if you arent going to take it further, it will continue.

Agree with this 100%.

Jason[98.EL] · 08-03-2010, 10:58 AM

that is just utter crap

if it was me i would be taking the incident to centrelink

when i was doing the same thing as you i had an issue with the guy that was my case manager andhe was a pr1ck to say the least

I mentioned it to centre link and could not beleive how good they were about it
Had a crapload of forms to fill in but was well and truely worth the effort ( the company is no longer a part of the job network ) he was sacked from his position and no longer allowed to do that type of work

Don't let them get away with it as they don't have any right to say that you need to loose weight and deff don't have a right to know what your diet is

hope that helps I know excactly what you are going through If you want totalk in private you can give me a call anytime just ask for my phone # in pm

Jason

JC · 08-03-2010, 11:15 AM

She may have been coming at it (badly) from the angle that if you lose weight, you may feel more confident about yourself. She just didn't do it very well. You really should ask her why she asked you to lose weight - you may find her motives to be in the right place, she just lacks poor execution. On the other hand, she may just be picking on you, so better to know her motives.

Also, I am not aware of an activity called "Dieting" that could be added to your Emploment Pathway Plan (might be giving away who I work for now), so there is no way she can take compliance action against you for not completing a fictional agreed (optional) activity - it certainly wouldn't be a mandatory activity. And you don't have to agree to any optional activities.

Lastly, discrimination or harrassment is looked at from the point of view of the person on the receiving end - if you feel harrassed (she hasn't actually discriminated against you, because she has not withheld anything from you), you should confront her by asking why she is treating you the way she is. If that doesn't get you anywhere, talk to the office manager and follow up with an email or letter to them as well, if you get no satisfaction from either discussion (they can ignore a verbal, but they will not ignore a written complaint).

Lastly, is there another agency near you that you could transfer to? You can transfer due to breakdown of relationship reasons - it will be their loss, as the substantial fess they get paid to assist you will go to the new agency, and if you do score a job through the new lot, you can always go back and rub it in their faces. Who you are serviced by is your choice at the end of the day.

aussie muscle · 10-03-2010, 03:30 PM

and if you don't get anywhere, write to Toady Tonight, or A Caughtup Affair. they love discrimination stories...