Employment law question

[TurnsOutIQuit]

Can a boss ask an employee whether they are job hunting and planning to resign?

Absent all other context I would say there's nothing in employment law meaning they can't ask, but the employee wouldn't have to answer. It's a fairly common question on staff surveys for instance so the organisation can gauge their likely level of turnover but I am guessing you aren't asking about an anonymous survey?

Depending on all sorts of things, the context the request was made in, the reason for the question, the tone it was asked in, it's possible the question could be a perfectly friendly, proper and natural inquiry or could be part of a concerted pattern of bullying/harassment/discrimination (as could almost anything to be fair depending on context!) and I guess in the worst case scenario could contribute to a constructive dismissal claim (if in the context of an ongoing dispute for instance the underlying implication was 'because if you don't we're going to sack you') but that is a tricky tricky thing for an employee to prove, in particular if they are relying on their own recollection of un-witnessed conversations rather than a paper trail, as the manager could always deny saying any such thing....

Going to need more context to give a proper answer I'm afraid OP!

I don't believe that there is anything in employment law prohibiting an employer from asking that question. Equally, there is nothing to say that an employee would have to respond truthfully. Where employment law would step in, would be if the boss acted unlawfully upon the outcome of that question, eg fired the employee with no contractual notice and no pay in lieu of notice.

To add to maxelly's answer, the employer cannot discipline or dismiss an employee just because they are looking for another job.

Of course they can ask. Discussing career aspirations would be a fairly normal conversation to have with an employee.

Can ask. No obligation to answer truthfully.

Essentially I have asked for a clarity on when a payrise was meant to start (after being promised for many months) I have been told in no uncertain terms that it is not possible. This despite taking on more staff who have now been given many of my contracted responsibilities.

I have stated that I need to earn more money, and my manager has taken this to mean I have tendered my resignation and is expecting me to leave. I've been asked if I am looking for a new job.

That's the gist of it.

Seems reasonable if you can’t live on the pay they can afford to give you that you go elsewhere. Especially if you have effectively already given them an ultimatum about needing a pay rise to stay.

And by the sounds of it they have invested in replacing you.

To be 'expecting' you to move on, since you've said you need to earn more and they've said they can't pay more, fair enough. To take active steps to remove you from payroll, process you as a leaver, be actively recruiting a replacement or otherwise acting as though you've resigned when you haven't, not fine. Or to threaten to do the above unless you do resign, also not good. Which is it?

What did your manager do when you said that you hadn't meant you were resigning and fully intended to continue in employment? How long ago was the 'I need to earn more' conversation relative to the 'are you looking for a job' conversation? Also surely s/he wouldn't be asking if if you are planning on resigning if their assumption was you have already resigned? Did they not mean that they'll be expecting you to be job hunting asap/to be receiving your resignation as soon as you get another job, rather than that they literally took your comment as an on the spot resignation/handing in of your notice?

Don't get me wrong, I've been on the receiving end of this, where I've complained about various aspects of my job and basically been told 'well if you don't like it you can leave', it's not very nice and not the reaction I was after, but to be fair if you play the trump card of 'I'll leave if you don't do this' you can't really complain if the response is 'well leave then'. That's not really the same as actively or constructively dismissing someone IMO especially if said in the middle of a heated conversation. That being said case law does guide employers towards not accepting 'heat of the moment' resignations that may be said in anger, and waiting until the employee calms down and ask them to calmly/considerately submit a written resignation rather than literally taking them at their word. So if that's what's happened here your employer should definitely consider rescinding your "resignation" and not penalising you for it. But it does sound like you need to get out of there either way!

There’s a lot to unpick here, I think you need to share a bit more of the detail, specifically around:

• what do you mean when you say that new colleagues have been given your responsibilities? What has this meant for you and your role?
• in what sense were you promised a pay rise? Is this something contractually agreed?
• what did you say in the conversation that made your manager assume you were resigning? Did you correct them and tell them that you’re not resigning? What has happened since, have they processed you as a leaver?