Can they do this to me during my notice period?

[Notcool1984]

After many years of toxic work atmosphere (Male toxic environment / workplace bullying etc) I managed to get a new job. Unfortunately there is a three month notice period in my current role. I handed my notice in one month ago. It has been awful since, with my hours being changed to be less flexible (I’m single parent) - my exact hours are not in my contract, lots of passive aggressive emails about my work (which has never been a problem - in fact I got highest rating in my personal development review) and lots of whispering / ignoring me etc and leaving me out of all meetings. Now I’ve just had a call from the boss to say for the remainder of my notice period they are going to get me to the most junior role in the workplace (I’m currently in middle management). I’m so upset, can they do this? I still have around seven weeks notice period to go.

It's not rocket science. The company pays HR, employees pay the union.

Senua Agree totally!

@Notcool1984 just go off on sick.
Claim constructive dismissal if they argue. They are making it impossible to do your job. Just leave. What can they do about it??? Are there any penalties?

They are an unprofessional shower of idiots who don't have a clue about how to off-board staff with dignity and respect. One day they will join the dots and realise why they're losing all their staff

That doesn't mean they'll care. There's usually more fish in the workforce pool

Ffs! Why do people bother posting when they have no idea what the LAW is?

If someone has ALREADY RESIGNED and are mid notice they CANNOT sue for constructive dismissal as they have - and the clue is there - already resigned

RTFFT would clear a lot of this crap up.

HR can help make sure a company isn’t about to wander into dangerous territory wrt legal repercussions when an employee is being treated in a manner that isn’t acceptable

Of course in my experience, they completely fuck up through arrogance and ignorance because they consult the legal experts known as Google and Bluffit...

This sounds like "Constructive Dismissal" in the sense they are maybe trying to push you to be in breach of your notice period, would they gain anything? Or generally just be spiteful as that's the culture there & you are now targeted. Either way it's not legal. I went through similar to the point where I walked out & took them to court with ACAS backing. Speak to your union or ACAS

Mzhz oh sod off is all I can say.
..... You have no idea what people do. Or what their qualifications are.

I am going to make a wild guess, but I think MzHz has no HR qualification.

I might be wrong.

Constructive dismissal is a difficult claim to bring as the onus is on the resigning employee to pursue a case against the employer. Damages are also capped. A discrimination claim on the other hand potentially has uncapped damages (depending on the circumstances).

However, my view would be that the best outcome is for the OP to either get paid gardening leave or be allowed to work out her notice without anymore overt unpleasantness. It may take the Union leaning on management over the different treatment of the male leavers to achieve that but any more of a fight really isn’t work the hassle and stress for 30 odd more working days.

OP, you stated that yours is a small industry.

That being the case, I would in your shoes try to negotiate either an early exit (if you can make that work with your new company) or garden leave; if that's not forthcoming then I'd swallow my anger and stick it out to the end.

Even when references have been already given and a formal job offer made, in small industries everyone knows a "friend of a friend" and informal word-of-mouth character assassinations are common. Piss off the wrong person and you could find your offer withdrawn "due to budget constraints/company restructuring" or fail to pass your probation for some spurious reason.

What they are doing to you is WRONG and SHIT but do not shoot yourself in the foot to prove a point.

This sounds like "Constructive Dismissal"

It really doesn't. The OP has already resigned for other reasons.

If you have a long notice period and your employer breaches your contract during the notice period there is a case where employees were allowed to terminate the notice and leave immediately then claim constructive dismissal. However, the notice periods were very long in that case 6m+.

www.clarkslegal.com/Blog/Post/Constructive_Dismissal_Employees_working_a_lengthy_notice_period_might_accept_an_employers_breach_of_contract

I am a lawyer but not an employment lawyer.

As I posted above, constructive dismissal is a tough fight and I agree with a PP that in a small industry making a lot of waves is not always a wise move.

They are an unprofessional shower of idiots who don't have a clue about how to off-board staff with dignity and respect. One day they will join the dots and realise why they're losing all their staff

That doesn't mean they'll care. There's usually more fish in the workforce pool

It isn't only about "caring". It's that recruitment costs are astronomical especially for SME. Staff retention is a goal of every organisation that wants to be competitive. Having well-motivated staff, who'll go the extra mile because they are, you know, treated like intelligent human beings, gives competitive advantage, because of the knowledge retention in their organisation.

HR, the Bean Counters and Snr Management care about that stuff, that's part of "joining the dots", the repercussions of how people are treated exiting the firm will be suffered by the people who remain.

Hr...do you get paid the same..sick leave due to stress. Can you go onto gardening leave.

If you have worked certain hours over a reasonably long period of time then those hours become your "contacted" hours even if not in writing so they can't just change your shifts. I hope the union is able to help you through this shit storm.