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.

Billing target of 300k on a 76k salary is heinous. The firm sounds horrid.

Make a list of all the things he has said that are either overtly or snide about you not being on the ball because you have kids.

Accept that once they've decided to manage you out that you won't keep your job. Focus on leaving with a good deal, agreed reference, and finding a better job elsewhere.

Go through the motions with the pip. If you aren't confident to put your own wp settlement offer forward get a specialist employment law firm to help.

Billing target of £300 on £76k is completely standard. Four times salary is absolutely normal.

Why haven't you emailed him and asked him for the list, that he keeps denying you?

He hasn’t denied them. He said he would email objectives for performance management within a week

Exactly. 3-5 x salary is standard (and usually very achievable, OP is not far off).

@Ciri totally disagree. 4x is not the norm for the type of firm where they have an employee of ten years on a 76k salary....

Decent firms will be 3-3.5x

OP has already exceeded 3.5x. She is hardly a problem employee for a bloody spelling error. Manager clearly has a stick up his arse about women having the temerity to be in the workplace when they have kids.

Just on the basis of what OP has said so far, she has given examples of sex discrimination, victimisation for her previously raising issues, maybe an element of marital status discrimination because she's a single parent....

OP Google or search on LinkedIn for specialist employment law and pick a firm that looks like they care about women's rights.

You can't be doing too much wrong with your billing so close to target . I'm a public sector lawyer - we are always looking to recruit . Flexible hours , family friendly, amazing pension. . Would you think about that as an option? The salary is probably not comparable - at my place it's around 50k for a solicitor and 60-70k for team leader and 100k for head of department. I've done it for most of my career apart from a miserable 5 years in private practice. I'm retiring soon but look back and feel good about what I've achieved and the great people I've worked with

@Patapouf is status discrimination as a single parent a thing?

I feel so stressed about what to do and think I need to formally raise things with HR. In January I was prescribed anxiety medication as I was finding comments at work very unpleasant. I don’t know whether to mention that.

Marital status is a protected characteristic. Also women are most likely to bear burden of childcare responsibilities so sex as protected characteristic is also relevant.

Does your employer know you are medicated? Could your mental ill health constitute a disability and therefore be subject to additional protections under the EA?

I think by all means raise it with HR but remember they aren't your friend, they will batten the hatches to protect your employer but act as if they are working in your best interests. Raising a grievance is powerful if it's part of a wider plan to negotiate settlement, but you might want to hold off until manager comes back with his performance targets.

Don't just resign, but don't waste energy thinking you'll keep your job. Get some specialist advice from someone outside of your firm!

In my experience, managers will rarely start a PIP unless they are very certain there are enough examples to justify it and that you are not going to improve in the required timeframe- it's a huge hassle for the manager, HR, everyone involved basically so it's usually a last resort if you don't leave voluntarily. In other words, I think you have very little chance of turning things around so I would start applying for other jobs immediately while also trying to negotiate a settlement. They may or may not be willing (depending on how bad they think your performance is, the risk of a discrimination claim etc) but it doesn't hurt to raise it with HR when they initiate the PIP. Do not go off sick, as others said it's a small industry and this would look like a big red flag to future employers if they found out.

@Thepek having been through something similar albeit in a different field, I can tell you your firm/ mamager for whatever reason has decided that they want you out.

There is no PIP in place as they cannot identify credible underperformance and targets for improvement. No point pulling your hair out.

If any other lawyer's work is scrutinised, I sure small mistakes may be found - as they have been non consequential, there has been no reason to bring it to the forefront.

The firm/ your manager will likely nit pick on something else. Your anxiety will increase and you will lose your confidence.

However, if a formal process is carried out, it is actually not easy to get rid of an employee- especially one that has been around for 10 years. But I don't feel emotionally and mentally, you want to fight this.

Best thing to do would be to agree a form of settlement or start looking for other work ASAP and double check all your work and document any feedback etc so your firm cannot build a case against you

You’re wrong. And once again missing that this is not about a spelling mistake.

Not having the right documents for a hearing doesn't sound like a trivial mistake, might be pretty catastrophic in terms of a prosecution or defence. Spelling, I would expect a Lawyer to be able to spell without reliance on a spell checker, are you sure you haven't let things drift a bit after returning from mat leave? The trouble with being off sick for two weeks recently is that someone else probably picked up your work and started finding mistakes.

This is brilliant advice.

Op, you seem to be considering the worst case scenario as the only outcome, but don’t roll over and leave if you don’t want to. You’ve been there for a decade, presumably you already have relationships with colleagues and peers, a performance history and reputation to refer to, whilst this is a new manager who may or may not have a personal issue with you. Don’t make it easy for him to take your livelihood away from you. Play this manager at his own game, engage with the process, tell him what he can do to help you improve your performance and seek his advice as a mentor, and be professional at all times. If you decide to leave try to do this in a way that suits you best.

I’ve only read to this point in the thread. Say that this happens - so long as in your settlement meeting you’ve agreed the terms of the reference - and a lot of firms will only give a factual reference now of start and end date, position held - polish up that CV now and start applying for other jobs.

It sounds as though current manager and workplace aren’t a good fit for a family life. Some firms aren’t. But there are good law firms out there that do encourage a life outside of work, and a good work life balance (as opposed to saying that and meaning complete opposite).

So your reason for leaving when you go for an interview is that you have a young family and you’d like a better balance because whilst you’re committed to work you’d also like to spend time on a weekend with your child.

Most employers will get that. And they’ll likely look at your existing firm and I bet they know straight away what your current firm is like. Each firm knows what others reputations are. When I got my current job they looked at where I was leaving and just said “say no more - we know what they’re like”.

Thanks for the advice. I definitely feel like they’ve made their mind up as in the recent meeting there was zero acknowledgment of various things I had done well…and there were obvious things that I had done well, that can’t be disputed, such as good client feedback, internal emails saying great work etc, a nomination for a high effort out of hours award. There was no balance to the discussion at all, just an entire focus on HR. That was what made me think he’s got a plan here.

Having spoken to an employment lawyer briefly, I was told to make life as difficult as possible by referencing impact on mental health, lack of management for various periods, requesting a subject access request etc. To be honest at this point if they paid me for six months and let me leave asap I would take it.

I'm sorry you're being mugged off by your firm on 76k with a 4x billing target.

Hey OP, how is this all going?

@CoffeeFluff hi, thanks for asking. Manager massively played it down when I asked about the meetings he wanted. Said it was informal. I’ve had once so far in which he basically said very little. I have got two interviews elsewhere. No idea how things will be in a couple of weeks which is when he intends to ‘let me know how I’ve got on.’ It’s stressful but I’m trying to take it step by step and protect myself

Play the game for the moment. It sounds like he’s been appalling and you have the bones for a grievance. Document everything. If you raise the grievance citing impact on mental health and confidence, and less favorable treatment on grounds of protected characteristics, you may find it strings things out a bit (helpful if you’re looking for a new role) or it may move things to a settlement conversation fairly quickly. Good luck.

I may be being overly suspicious here, but I would wonder if he has a plan to either bring in someone else he already has in mind, or bring in someone else and pay them less. In that sense, it could really be nothing to do with you at all. Although based on what others have said I'm thinking maybe the cheaper staff option isn't likely if you're not being paid over average for the work you are doing.

It does sound like he has decided to try and manage you out. Horrible thing to do I'm sorry. Does he have a more senior manager you could raise this with - someone you have a good relationship with? Or, have there been recent changes at the top - sometimes things like this come from pressure from the top.

He sounds awful.

play the long game if you can - don’t resign until this mysterious vague meeting happens (because hopefully it’s a settlement)

Get some th ing else lined up and then propose resigning in return for a settlement a bit more than your notice period. If they don't go for it just hand I. Your notice and move on. It's shit but not unusual as many have said.

@Radiatorvalves thank you. I don’t think I have a protected characteristic to rely on… since the latest ‘catch up’ meeting I am even more sure that this is simply personal. He had nothing to raise and the woman he is very close to at work is a totally different personality to me. Nothing wrong with her, just very much not my style, loads of swearing etc and I’m not as loud. I’m not going to be what he wants unfortunately