Am I right to fight back here (employment issue)?

[Thepek]

Been with a law firm for almost 10 years. A year ago almost to the day I returned from maternity leave, DD is nearly 2. In the last year I’ve had 3 managers (constant changes in management which now seem to have settled), had some underhand stuff go on with a colleague trying to take work/arrange meetings behind my back which I raised with HR as I was so upset at the time but nothing was done and have not been included in pay review since my return from mat leave despite all my team having pay rises. I’ve not felt like I had any continuity or direction since being back.

Anyway in October I had a first meeting with the third (and seemingly final) change to my line manager. They said it had seemed a bit like I was trying to get to grips with things when I came back from mat leave but that things were very much in the right direction and they were pleased with moving forward into the next year and explained all the plans for the team that they wanted me to be involved with etc. In that meeting I specifically asked about performance and was told there were no issues with my performance at all.

Unfortunately in January I was unwell (for the first time in 7 years!) and off sick for two weeks. New manager was annoyed I had contacted HR rather than them directly when off sick and I explained that I had done that because I thought that was the correct procedure. It was a bit awkward and he seemed to be making a point. So, fast forward to the next catch up meeting which happened last week and I’m told that actually there’s serious concerns with my performance and that if I don’t sort it out within 4 weeks then HR will be brought in and I will have a formalised performance review. Obviously I asked to examples and he said I hadn’t saved documents to the right file site, I had made spelling mistakes (spelled February wrong on a document that I didn’t realise didn’t have spell check so it seemed it was correct) and that I hadn’t included the right documents in a list for a hearing. I asked for more examples and he said he didn’t want to go through that but he did have a list. He then said he thought I had lots of leeway since returning from mat leave and perhaps my focus was elsewhere or maybe I wanted to look to work somewhere else. I was pretty taken aback by all this and asked him to confirm if this was a formal procedure and he just said no, it would become formal in a month if no change. He said he would send me some objectives by the end of this week.

I honestly don’t know what to make of it. I never really gelled with him much but I didn’t dislike him. I get the strong sense he wants me to leave and now have zero confidence that he wants me to stay, it seems he is waiting to get HR involved. He said I could speak to HR if I wanted for ‘support.’ What I don’t understand is why he didn’t pull up these things at the time? Why leave it as if all was well then suddenly say this? I want to leave but in my own time and now feel pushed out.

This is bad practice, OP. I feel for you. In your position, I would start your own log so you are armed whatever happens (you're probably doing this anyway). Do you have an employee assistance programme you could contact for legal advice? I'm not sure about 'fighting back'. You need to behave impeccably - polite, co-operative, addressing the negative feedback you've been given - so that you maintain the moral high ground. Could you ask him why things have moved in a month from 'no issues' to plenty of issues'?

@IdaGlossop i did try and go into that in the meeting and ask for more detail but he just kept writing down things I said without really responding to me clearly. I just can’t understand it really. I’m not saying I haven’t made some errors but I also don’t see why he didn’t bring this up as an issue at the time? Seems a weird thing to do, to then tel me suddenly there’s four weeks to ‘sort it out.’

Feels like individually the mistakes were overlooked but mabe more came to light in your absence. Your best bet is to own them and be proactive, double check documents and ask for retraining where appropriate. However it may be that you will feel either micromanaged or managed out longer term.

HR Director here. These examples are pathetic, from him. What, so you’ve got four weeks to make sure you spell February correctly every time?

In my view, he’s decided he doesn’t like you for whatever reason. He’s hoping that you will resign. Don’t. It is also my view that in a law firm there’s no way he’d actually put you onto performance management - he would offer you a settlement. HR will already be aware if the above theory is correct.

You’ve done nothing wrong (a few menial errors after 10 years of service) and it would be very difficult to manage you out and issue warnings based on the examples he’s given. You should fight back by simply standing up for yourself and keep your job. If he does offer you a settlement to leave, maybe you’ll consider it! Depends how much it is and whether you want that.

@LIZS well I did own that I had made a spelling mistake etc but I know others make similar mistakes too .. in fact this manager has. I feel confused as to why he’s threatening involving HR within four weeks without having pulled me up on these issues at the time?

@CoffeeFluff thanks, he gave the impression that there were bigger issues with ‘where I was at’… ie not at the standard he expected and when I asked for examples he gave those and said a trainee should be able to do that. I asked for more examples and he said he didn’t want to go into the list because he didn’t think it was worthwhile in this discussion. He said instead he would send me objectives to meet in the next four weeks otherwise it goes to HR for formal action. I just don’t feel I can avoid this now as it seems he has made up his mind. He then told me I was welcome to speak to HR in the meantime if I had any concerns… I found this an odd comment too?!

What happens after four weeks if he’s adamant I have to have HR action? Presumably I have to accept any performance plan they enforce on me? Would I have to tell a future employer? What happens if I did get a settlement, would they have to explain that’s why I left to a new employer or would it say I resigned? I feel incredibly stressed and confused.

Yes, the HR action would be to start a formal Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). It usually lasts a minimum of 12 weeks (as you have to be given reasonable time to turn things around) and at the end of the period if you have not met the criteria you will be given an outcome (sometimes a warning, sometimes a dismissal- they have to follow the exact procedure set out in the employee handbook so please check that).

My hunch is that he doesn’t have much on you, based on what you’ve said. Saying he has examples that aren’t worthwhile discussing now says to me that he needs to come up with something. If he does put you on a PIP you can make life very hard for him by insisting that every goal must be measurable and not just his opinion. In the event that you did leave due to performance, yes it would be disclosed on a reference. However you could have a resignation letter in your pocket for the final meeting and present this if they give you the bad news. Most people would accept this and allow a resignation to keep the peace.

A settlement is very different - it is a private agreement signed by lawyers for each party (they would pay for yours) and in the agreement, you get to discuss and agree a public reason for leaving, and a pre agreed reference.

@CoffeeFluff thanks for explaining. I don’t know what to do really as I don’t agree with what he’s said and I think he’s done this pretty much out of the blue. If he says he wants to involve HR then what can I do, I can’t refuse to engage with the PIP can I? In essence they can pretty much manage me out now it seems? I am very stressed as I’m the sole breadwinner so this will have huge implications if I lose my job. I don’t know whether to go to HR now myself but that will also escalate things anyway, but perhaps more chance of a settlement in those circumstances at least? I just want to leave now which is sad as I loved working at this place

A key point about performance management is that feedback is supposed to be timely and regular. Saving up “issues”’is poor practice.

Do you have a performance management policy/procedure? If so make sure you are aware of the procedure and make sure he has follows it to the letter.

@Harassedevictee I am not sure, I’ll look. I just feel trapped now as he will absolutely put this to HR. I know that’s what is coming. I want to leave but need time to focus on finding something else. I can’t believe it has come to this, I loved working here for so long

@CoffeeFluff if I go off sick will this halt e process and give me more time?

The Acas website gives the procedures that your employer should be following and also gives advice for you. I’m slightly concerned that he has said your interests are elsewhere. Do you think he was implying that a mother of a young child is less capable than someone else. If so record this, see the acas website about discrimination in the work place and report him to HR.

As a side note if you were following the wrong procedure for calling in sick surely HR should have told you that.

As another side note has the performance review not mentioned your billing figures. If you are on target or close to target it seems odd for them to be picky over tiny errors. And if you are not close to billing targets it would be odd for them to be fussing over tiny errors instead of those.

@Hugattack yes he has repeatedly commented on the fact that I focus on home life. I just don’t think he likes me to be honest. I actually didn’t mind him initially but it’s been clear he just isn’t keen on me for whatever reason. In terms of billing I’m around 15k off a 300k target

Putting incorrect documents into a hearing bundle is actually potentially very serious.

I think that is completely inappropriate and clear discrimination/harassment. If someone had taken up marathon running I assume they wouldn’t be chastised for having something time consuming and tiring but ultimately rewarding in their life. A line manager does not need to like their colleagues but they do need to follow employment laws.

anyway what you do depends on whether or not you want to stay in your job. If you are you are happy with getting another job then update your cv and get out of there. You have achieved good billing with difficult and inconsistent management so you would be an asset to another law firm.

if you want to stay where you are I would ask for an informal chat with HR to try and find a solution. Ask them what the processes that your manager is suggesting would entail but also inform HR about how stressed all this making you feel as this might help you to get moved to a different manager. I would mention the discrimination too (because it’s one of my pet peeves - honestly what is wrong with these people) because if he is prevented from saying that your head is not in the game because you have kids then he doesn’t seem to have much of a case against you at all.

good luck, hope it all works out for you and that you line manager spills their coffee all over their computer and breaks it and gets nothing done for a week while they are waiting for it to be fixed, because they sound like a right knob.

I think there is a failure to understand how significant the error potentially is. Being a lawyer is tough. You can be sued over mistakes and it can cost the firm thousands. There is a high standard of performance required and your head needs to be in the game. Saying someone is focussing too much on their home life is not necessarily discriminatory either.

A few things:

• Going off sick would delay things a little bit but can put you in a weaker position as they could view it as hiding.
• I don’t think it would hurt to make a written record (email) to HR of the events so far - say that you are concerned about the sudden switch from no issues to serious issues and that you think there may be a basis for discrimination, as hand-in-hand with this have been several pointed comments (include the examples).
• Going onto a PIP doesn’t guarantee a departure - it’s just him trying it. If you are generally good at your job then (a) he won’t have a very strong case for putting you on one and (b) you surely will just be successful at meeting the objectives anyway?!
• I would make note of any occurrence where you have ever seen your manager make a small mistake. If he’s going to put you through performance management for human error, surely somebody should be putting him through it too…? A point to make if you feel the PIP is way too heavy for the situation.

@CoffeeFluff thanks. If I go on a PIP will my next employer know? And would my next employer know if I was dismissed? I don’t know whether to cut my losses and just hand notice in which is clearly what they want.

I agree with this, are we not getting distract by the spelling mistake when this is the real issue?

I think @CoffeeFluff is giving good advice - as a manager I have had to performance management someone who ended up leaving but the process was much more robust than your manager’s approach of ‘I’ve got a list but I’m not going to tell you what’s on it’!

Don’t resign. Like Coffee said earlier, they will likely offer you a settlement agreement if they are hell bent on you going. Don’t resign and leave with nothing.

HR will not help, they are not your friends. Will always side with the line manager. Their job is solely to try to ensure the company acts within the letter of the law, which very much favours employers. So just to assist them in covering their arses. It's a bleak truth but if they are threatening a formal review, their WILL be a formal review, and HR will ensure the manager's desired outcome (i.e. you leaving) will be assured. If that become clear if, say, the first week of the performance review says unsatisfactory, you are much better off jumping than being pushed. See how the next month + first review meeting goes and, if the direction of travel is clear. Jump

you have a few months yet so get looking for a new job so you can go straight from having a job to stating a new job, with no break in between. DP is a HR director and there will always something found to manage out someone they want out.. HR will make sure what they do is legal...

presumably 3 months' pay?

This isn’t going to go away best way forward is to make it formal it’s a 2way street not just a case of your shit go faster
there needs the be examples of failings, measures of performance,support and reviews

All that aside contacting HR when off sick and totally bypassing your manager is a dick move totally undermines they

@rwalker i thought it was usual to go via HR