Does my DD have a constructive dismissal claim?

[teafirstmum]

My DD(24) has been on a training contract at a reasonable sized firm since 2023.
She is about to go into her final seat. However due to poor management of her time in her seats, she is only getting two months in this seat before she is set to qualify.
She has been told she needs to be perfect from day one in this seat in order to get a job at the end. No mistakes, arriving early and leaving late, working through her lunch break and her weekends.
She feels as though she’s been set up to fail, and at a really awful time for newly qualified solicitors to apply to move.
She is still waiting for her Solicitors Qualifying Exam results, and if she fails she may get some extra time.
I think she could have a claim for constructive dismissal. They’ve made it impossible for her to perform to their standards and made it clear she won’t have a job in two months.
Does she?

I think there is slim change of proving constructive dismissal not least because there is no dismissal yet! Training contracts are generally not offered with a guaranteed job at the end. Law firms tend not to take on all trainees. They may not have space in all practice areas to accommodate NQs and often have more trainees than roles,so it can be hard for trainees to secure a role in the practice area they love. In the final two months of a training contract, the trainee should be at NQ standard. It's rough that she will only have two months to prove herself but for a very good trainee I can see how she could do that.

A lot of trainee solicitors finish and pass all SQE exams before starting their 2 year training contract so your daughter is not in a normal situation as she does even know if she has passed the exams yet so I would just wait and see. I wasn't kept on (many years ago) after my training but went to one of the very top firms in the UK so in fact not being kept on was one of the best things that ever happened to me. I am sure she will be fine whatever happens. I have 4 solicitor children - last 2 qualified as last year and both went in-house right away and love it. Lots of people change jobs when they qualify. Her main thing here is whether she has passed SQE2 ( presume she has done SQE1 so is just waiting for results of SQE2 taken in April/May. Good luck with her exam results.

Just to add - your daughter can apply to any of the seats she's done. It doesn't have to be this last one. If she has no interest she just needs to do her best (as obviously partners/HR talk!) but she can apply to any seat.

I qualified into the first seat I did (M&A) even though (IMO) I was pretty rubbish at that point. I improved a lot so I guess the partners all discussed the trainees and their impression of them.

Tell your DD to get her head down and work hard for these two months then apply to the department she actually wants. I'd also really suggest applying for in-house roles (I know I've already said this but it tends to be culturally entirely different to a firm, shorter hours, flexible/hybrid working etc - I would never go back to private practice)

It’s a 2-year fixed term (usually) so no claim available if not kept on. Even if available, CD would be a massively unwise move and would harm her career.

High performance expectations and long hours are standard. AI can do a lot of trainee tasks better than a trainee, which does not bode well for NQ jobs either. Best advice is to get her head down and do her absolute best in her new department.

So you think there’s a chance that DD won’t pass her exams too?

either way, your dd will evidently not be offered a job at this company. This will be down to her performance over the last two years, rather than this current placement not working out. She is preparing you for this almost certain inevitability, but doesn’t feel like she can be honest with you because quite clearly you are very invested in your daughter becoming a solicitor.

OP, forget this nonsense about a constructive dismissal claim. I mean your own daughter could have told you how daft this idea is. Instead, just be there for her, no judgment, just a kind listening ear, and then… when / if she fails - try to help with a plan

Is your problem with this that you think that your daughter shouldn't have to work long hours, coming in early and leaving late and working through lunch and during holidays if required? Is she the only one of the trainees who is is being advised to do this, or is it pretty standard for all trainees with this firm of solicitors?

I think it's pretty standard for every single trainee at every single firm... At least every one I've come across and I have a LOT of lawyer friends/LinkedIn connections etc

OP needs to understand that this is what's expected from a trainee! Her DD isn't being unfairly targeted.

It would seem that the DD thinks the same as the OP.

which probably explains why this company spins as though they’ll be practically pushing her out the door in 2 months time

Im a solicitor and based on the information given she hasn’t got good Constructive Dismissal foundations.

Firstly she needs to have two years service and it’s unclear whether she does.

Secondly they haven’t told her she needs to do this additional work to qualify, the extra effort is required to get a job offer at the end. There is therefore no fundamental breach of contract which would be required.

Thirdly, even if your daughter did resign and claim CD what her compensation will be limited to the remaining time on the contract (I.e 2 months). It’s not worth it.

Im not saying they are behaving well but it’s not unlawful.

I don't understand how you're seeing this as a case for constructive dismissal, OP. What's the logic behind that?

As far as I can see, your dd was offered a training contract and they have honoured this. They are not under any obligation to keep her on once she has finished the training contract, and I honestly can't see how it's a breach of her current contract for them to set out the standards that she would need to meet if she wants to stay.

Yes, of course, the long hours/weekend working culture is unhealthy, but as far as I can see, they're telling her that that's what she needs to do in order to meet the standard needed to be offered a new contract. She's free to coast until the end of the training contract if she wishes, she just needs to understand that there won't be a new job offer if she does.

How do you think they are making her current contract untenable to the extent that they're leaving her with no option but to quit? Or are you just throwing out the phrase "constructive dismissal" without really understanding what it means because you think they're being nasty?

Yeah. I know OP was offended upthread by me saying I'd come across a small number of quite crap trainees (I wasn't implying her DD was one) but some just don't get it.

In my last role the really poor trainee I was helping my manager to supervise refused to go to a client dinner (all paid for and at a Michelin starred restaurant, with an important client!) as it'd mean she wouldn't get home until after 8 and she always clocked off at 5 every day.

Unsurprisingly she has not had good reviews and I very much doubt she'll be kept on.

Maybe law just isn't for your DD OP... Or at least law in private practice. I have had to do conference calls on the beach on holiday, my colleague had to close a major M&A deal on his honeymoon, weekends and evenings are standard. Again, not saying it's good but that's just how it is. If she's at a decent firm presumably she's being pretty well remunerated so this is all just part of the deal.

Don't get involved, OP.

If she isn't offered a job for September she will just need to apply elsewhere. This happens to tons of final seat trainees every year.

She should already be applying for jobs elsewhere actually.

If she hasn't been offered a job in the practice area she wants to do, she should work hard for the next two months in her current seat, whilst applying for jobs elsewhere in the area she wants to work in. Then come September she takes the best job offer she has, and if she doesn't have any, she keeps looking.

It's tough out there but there's no reason why she shouldn't find something.