Workplace Sabotage: Will there be an investigation?

Before a workplace investigation begins; there’s usually a pretty good reason for it. One of such is sabotage in the workspace. If someone is sabotaging your efforts at work, you might want to speak to management or HR, and often, there’s going to be an investigation to prove such a nefarious act happened within the office.

You can either be sabotaged by your coworker or an angry employer seeking an easy way to kick you out the door. Sabotage at work can lead to depression, work anxiety, and an eagerness to resign. While it’s healthy to leave such a toxic space, bear in mind you can apply for constructive dismissal if you can proof of you left your job due to the stifling nature of the workplace.

Did you quit your job because you were tired of being sabotaged by your box or coworkers? Are you being accused of sabotaging others at work? Here is what sabotage in the workplace truly means, signs you are being sabotaged, and how to fix things before you end up fired.

Sabotage: Why you may end up with a workplace investigation

Sabotage includes a series of toxic work conditions such as bullying, harassment, and exclusion. To safely handle cases of employees being accused of sabotaging others, there might be a need for a workplace investigation. The internal or external investigator will have to sufficiently uncover facts that either discredit or solidify such claims. Sabotaging a co-worker is a serious misconduct that can get you fired. Getting accused to be of sabotage can leave a professional dent if unresolved, hence the need to investigate such claims in the workspace.

Signs you are being sabotaged at work

If you are unsure of what sabotage looks like in the workplace, here are some clear signs you are not everyone’s favorite in the workspace.

• Lack of proper training to execute your job: If you are constantly struggling because you do not have access to the right information or insider skill to do your job, it could be a sign someone is sabotaging you. If you constantly never have the free information others do, there’s a likelihood someone is intentionally withholding it.
• You are always the scapegoat: Aside from your unintentional incompetence, you also have to deal with being the scapegoat due to regular mistakes caused by the calculated intent to withhold vital information about the job from you.
• Malicious treatment from others to undermine your worth: Your work laptop mysteriously ends up in the trash can or your PowerPoint presentation is stolen a few minutes from a multi-billion presentation. It’s crystal clear, someone is trying to sabotage you.
• They steal your credits at work: Another way to know if you are being sabotaged at work is if there’s an employee who’s always trying to take credit for the work you have done. They can do this openly or in secret. What they want to achieve is to prove you are not indispensable to your job, while elevating their worth.
• You are being snitched on: Whatever you say strangely finds its way to the management or HR ears even if you think it’s a secret. This shows that someone desperately wants you out and fast. You are always the ‘bad egg’ and singled out for myriads of wrongdoing even when everyone is doing the same.
• Nothing gets assigned to you, even if you are the best: If you are rarely assigned responsibilities even though you are the perfect fit for such a role, it is a sign you are being sabotaged.
• You are constantly being watched: when you have the eerie feeling of someone watching you all the time. You can’t take a break or smile at your computer without having someone look at you. It could be they are keeping tabs on you and will report every move to HR.  They are eagerly waiting for you to slip so they can run along with their tales.
• You often miss important meetings and announcements: Simply put, someone deliberately never tells you about these major company meetings. They want to paint you as an irresponsible, unserious staff.
• You are being gaslighted: this is another way to know when you are being sabotaged. Your words and actions are used against you and they often make you feel you are delusional about your perception of the workplace.
• You are excluded from social gatherings: exclusion is another way to show you are being sabotaged at work. The fewer people are talking to you, the more someone or everyone wants you to leave.

What to do when you are being sabotaged at work.

• Stay calm: Remember that someone is watching you, constantly. Rather than play into their hands, try to stay calm and gauge your options. Resorting to commit serious misconduct can give your employer valid reasons to fire you.
• Talk to someone on your side: If there’s someone on your side, you can try speaking to them. Be careful to note if they are truly on your side or spying on you.
• Speak to management: you might want to talk to the management or visit HR if you think you are being sabotaged at work. Your proactive approach can set off a workplace investigation that will reveal the root of all your problems.
• Seek professional aid: If you can’t trust anyone at work, opt to seek professional help. Talk to a competent workplace advisor like A Whole New Approach to gauge your chances of getting a solution to this problem. If you get fired eventually, you may need to file for unfair dismissal and you need all the help you can get.
• Gather evidence: since there may likely be an investigation to determine the truth, you should start gathering evidence early. Write it down in a book or your phone and try to highlight strong witnesses if you have any.
• Resign if it’s mentally draining: If you are mentally drained at work, then you should consider resigning. After your resignation, you can opt for getting a constructive dismissal application. This shows you unwillingly resigned due to the toxicity at the workplace.

In Conclusion

A working environment should thrive in productivity, acceptance, and inclusion. Sadly, this is often not the case in most workplaces. When you face sabotage at work, it can be mentally exhausting and ruin your productive ability. You might decide to resign and apply for constructive dismissal. What this entails is that you have to prove that you only resigned not due to any other reason but because you couldn’t continue working in such a stifling environment.

For your unfair dismissal application to be valid, it must be done within 21 days from the day of the dismissal. There is no time to sit and cry, you need to react proactively if you want a chance at justice. Also, it is not a bad idea to seek professional help, the legal world can be murky for a layman, and having a team to guide you through the process is a great way to achieve the result you desire.

If you have currently been dismissed for allegedly sabotaging others at the workplace, and believe your employer was wrong, the onus lies on you to prove that such dismissal is unfair. A Whole New Approach can help you assess the eligibility of your case for unfair dismissal and get you compensation from your employer. Book a free confidential consultation session with us today. Call us on 1300 766 700 to discuss your options and gain your professional reputation back. We work in all states, NSW, Qld, Victoria, Tas, SA, WA, and NT.