Service terrorized by a director: Rolex’s inaction denounced

“People were afraid of him. It was a terror in the company!” The testimonies of several ex-Rolex employees are chilling. Their common denominator: the former director of a department with around a hundred employees. Harassment, mobbing, sexist remarks… Monday morning, four people described their ordeal, some of which date back to 2018. “These are not isolated cases, but a collective situation, which lasted for years,” explains Alejo Patiño, union secretary at Unia. For three years, no less than 50 members of the same department have contacted the union.

“The department functioned like a caste system. At the top, there was the director, surrounded by four soldiers who applied his methods. It was a pyramid and he reigned as a prince.” After 30 years in the box, upon the announcement of his early retirement, Robert* was relegated to a storage room, deprived of work. “I left with a lot of anger and disappointment,” confides the retiree with a tight throat.

Pierre* was initially drowned in work. Despite his cries for help, nothing helped, leading him to burn out. After two months off, when he returned, all his responsibilities had vanished. Shortly afterwards, he was dismissed without cause, after more than ten years of service. Nathalie* suffered sexist comments from the manager for several years. Fed up with the situation, she left the company in 2018, delivering a full page of sexist comments. The response from human resources: “I think there is a misunderstanding on your part!”

For the Unia union, Eric*’s situation was the last straw. In the company for 24 years, this employee held on despite attacks from the boss, in office since 2016. “One day the mask fell: he slammed his point on the table and yelled at me: Why are you staying here ? Why don’t you leave? I do not want to see you anymore!”

The one who had two serious traffic accidents a few months apart, “due to his state of advanced distress”, describes “a station of the cross”. In 2021, when he reached his limits and contacted Unia, he sent a 10-page file to the watch brand denouncing the actions of the manager. I was told: “Have you seen the job market? It’s quite dynamic at the moment…”

“Despite numerous denunciations and two internal and external investigations, nothing has changed. The control system is faulty. The person responsible continued to wreak havoc,” confides Alejo Patiño.

Faced with the inaction of human resources, in May 2023, around fifteen people filed a complaint with the cantonal labor inspectorate. Noting managerial problems and a danger to the health of employees, it demanded compliance, requesting in particular “an audit of the department concerned, but also of the production department, made up of 3,500 employees. This is unheard of!” notes the trade unionist.

Only State intervention made it possible to put an end to this hell, with the dismissal of the manager last December. But a whistleblower suffered the same fate. In January, Eric was laid off. “A retaliatory leave,” castigates the Unia representative. Since then, all steps have been taken to reinstate him, but the brand doesn’t want to know anything.” Also, the trade unionist plans to take the matter to the industrial tribunal by the end of June.

“Why did Rolex protect this boss? How could the company let the situation deteriorate to this point?” The union secretary cannot explain it. But for him, “the situation is far from being resolved. Compliance is not complete and there are still people who suffer consequences for daring to speak out.

Contacted, the company ensures that it “immediately took the necessary measures to put an end to the situation, after having noted malfunctions in one of its services. These led to breaches of contract at different levels of the hierarchy, including the highest. They resulted in the complete reorganization of the service concerned.” The company is currently working on prevention measures.