Apologies, but...FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK.

[grammarwoman]

The husband just called me for the umpteenth time since he started working at his current job, emotionally strung out because his boss is a vicious asshole.  Said boss chose to blame a tech's failure to show at a client site and a cascade of other departments' failure to notice it on my husband.  Said boss forced my husband to fucking sign an HR complaint that he is insubordinate and derelict in his duties.  This is the second such piece of bullshit the Boss has perpetrated on Husband in the past couple of weeks.

My husband just worked 16 hours over this weekend, frantically trying to juggle both oncall matters (that his boss blindly refuses to acknowledge, simply ignoring the mass of calls listed in the call log) and a recently assigned project for which the boss underestimated the hours.  Zod only knows if we'll see overtime pay for half of that time.

Husband is working in a short-staffed department which has the highest turnover rate in the company.  Average stay is less than a year.

Almost everyone else at the company loves my husband and thinks he is an outstanding, talented, motivated worker.  We're pretty damned sure at this point that Boss is paranoid about his job and is looking for any trumped-up circumstance he can to get my husband to quit to eliminate the possible competition.  With this latest event, my husband is more than ready to cede the field to the douchebag.

Job opportunities around here for my husband's skill set (tech support, network/computer installs and maintenance, but unfortunately no college degree or certifications) are pathetic.  He really enjoys his job, all but the parts of dealing with the psychopathic boss. 

I advised my husband to get the fuck out of there for today and go home, and tomorrow set up a meeting with Boss' Boss to talk about what Husband can do.

Anyone have any suggestions for framing the conversation in a productive (and hopefully job-retaining) way?  I've already told him that I'm behind him quitting, but I don't know if that will be any kind of effective, for lack of a better word, threat to improving his immediate situation.

Any and all help would be appreciated.

Comments

[highlander_ii]

The meeting with the Boss' boss is a good start. A chat with HR may not be out of the question.

Have hubby write down the list of things that have 'gone wrong' and been blamed on him, then list the reasons why these things are not his fault and why and what he did to try to avert, assuage, help, redirect, correct the issues - all in as positive language as possible. This can be his sort of 'crib sheet' when he goes to chat with the boss person. It may also serve a cathartic purpose in getting all of the frustration out on the paper/keyboard/whatever - but it will also give him a plan of attack for his meeting.

Toxic bosses SUCK. Here are a couple links from Monster.com that might help too:
Ten Warning Signs of a Toxic Boss
Neutralize your Toxic Boss

Both articles have links to other helpful articles on similar topics.

Depending on how bad the Boss is, your husband may have grounds for a harassment accusation - which would require an investigation from HR. If your husband feels he's being 'bullied' b/c the Boss thinks his job is in trouble, he may have grounds for the claim. Granted, this is a bit of an extreme, but it could become necessary.

And one of my fave quotes of empowerment seems appropriate here: "No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." - Eleanor Roosevelt If your husband *knows* he's good at his job (which, it sounds like he does), he shouldn't let one blowhard make him feel like he doesn't.

Good luck to you and your hubby!

[grammarwoman]

Those are great suggestions and links - thank you!

I have the feeling that his best bet will be getting out of there entirely; "toxic" is an unfortunately accurate description of what the environment is like there.

[highlander_ii]

I assume that, while he's waiting out the storm (so to speak), he's searching for other jobs? Monster.com is a good place to start. USAJOBS.gov also has a huge list of gov't jobs. Both can be narrowed to your specific area or go nationwide. There are lots of IT-type jobs open in the gov't - just depends on where you are and where you're willing to go. =)

The 'stick it out until something better comes along' part is the hardest part.