Are they trying to sack me?

[bouncingblueberries]

I don't think I'm being paranoid, but I think my work are trying to get rid of me. I've been there for 2 years 8 months but don't think they ever forgave me for falling pregnant.

Went back after mat leave (which was very poorly handled) last spring, then suddenly was given an appraisal just before Christmas (only my 2nd ever appraisal). It was overwhelmingly negative and I was told I had 1 month to improve my performance. No indication prior to this that they were worried about my performance.

Thought about little else over Christmas and decided to give it everything I could to improve my performance. Worked late, worked in the evening, really tried my hardest.

Had my follow-up review yesterday and was told I'm still not performing. I work in advertising and they told me my basic problem is that I'm just not proving my creativity. I mentioned an ad of mine currently running in the press and was told it wasn't relevant - they wanted to see evidence of creativity in January, not from last year.

Have a follow-up meeting tomorrow morning to discuss a couple of points I disagreed on but after that, I'll be issued with a written warning.

Is it that easy to sack someone? I don't really know what to think. Does anyone have any thoughts? Am I being paranoid?

It's hard to sack someone for capability. It's impossible to advise you without more information. Why do you think they might want to sack you? Are you underperforming? Do you have targets?

No, I don't have any targets. I did ask for specific goals yesterday but was told we're not in an industry of specifics (weird).

My gut feeling is that they no longer want the inconvenience of a working mum that sometimes has to take time off when her children are sick. Although I always try to work from home when possible or when sick children are sleeping to minimise disruption.

As for underperforming, I probably was at some points last year - we had a terrible year health wise with dh in hospital for 2 months and ds2 in hospital for a week. I didn't take any time off when dh was in hospital though.

You could ask them to set SMART objectives (google if you're not familiar), but obviously you'd then need to meet those. To sack you for capability, they will need to show that you knew what was expected of you, and unless your performance was so bad you deserve to be immediately sacked, that you were given an opportunity to improve and objectively didn't. What investigation have they done? What evidence did they rely on at the capability hearing? Did they allow you to be accompanied at the hearing?

Just saying 'prove your creativity' without specific goals is meaningless surely? If the ad that's running is based on recent work then it seems reasonable that you brought that up.

Take a deep breath and think about what you've been working on and with whom. Are there any projects in development, even early stages?

Capability reviews/dismissal I thought needed to be based on clear, achievable targets with appropriate support. It sounds like they've given you neither. Do you know if anyone else has been asked to 'prove their creativity' in the same way?

To be clear how long were you there before you told them you were pregnant? How long before you left for maternity leave? And how long were you off for? Can you find specific examples where you were treated differently after your mat leave than you were before?

When was the 1st appraisal you got and what was said in that? Was it in writing and do you still have it? does your co have an HR dept which specifies how and when appraisals should be given? Has you manager complied with this? Did colleagues have appraisals before Christmas? This could provide evidence you are being treated differently to other people.

When they said your performance was not good enough did they give you specific examples, specific areas where you should improve and measurable targets to show you had improved your performance?

There is some info here on getting rid of employees for poor performance. It's written from the employers point of view but says that it is a slow process and co's must be v careful not to leave themselves open to a constructive dismissal claim.

I have two options you may want to consider:

1. take the bull by the horns and request a meeting (you can have a friend or colleague present if you want) saying you are committed to improving you performance so want more specific information about how you can demonstrate you have improved. Be honest that you had a tough time last year and may have affected your performance but things are better now. This could help build bridges and create a fresh start with everyone working together to move forward. It could also get you more info on the background to the appraisal

1. If you don't want to stay (or you have tried 1 and it didn't work) you could say that you feel you are being pushed out, you are not happy as you don't think your performance merits their actions. You feel you are at risk of being constructively dismissed and work is becoming intolerable for you. You are feeling as though you can no longer work there and perhaps you could come to a mutually beneficial agreement. Which is nice speak for they pay you off and you leave as a 'voluntary redundancy'. Get some advice if this is the route you want to go as I am not a lawyer but know friends who have negotiated this.

Or you could play really dirty and get a doctor to sign you off for stress. A friend has a passive / aggressive bullying employee who has done this - my friend has now been told by her HR dept that she has to keep her, be nice to her and basically let her get away with murder!

You can appeal the final warning. If you haven't already, get hold of a copy of the capability procedure. If you've been judged without any criteria or clear objectives I'd say you've got a good case to challenge the sanction.

Thanks for all your replies and advice, it's really helpful.

Choux - I joined June 09, told them I was pregnant Jan 2010 and started mat leave July 2010. Then returned to work April 2011.

The appraisal before christmas was only the 2nd appraisal I'd ever had, the first one being at the end of my 3 month probation.

Sorry for multiple posts: I'm on my phone.

I don't have a copy of my 1st appraisal - I was never given a written copy. The copy is very small (18 employees) and we don't have an HR dept. everyone else, as far as I know, did also receive an appraisal pre-Christmas.

Evidence of being treated differently: hmm, not sure really. (which is why I wondered if I was being paranoid) but whenever another member of staff is off sick/on holiday, their projects are automatically returned to them. That didn't happen with me though. And while I was on mat leave, everyone was given a pay rise except from me

Sorry, last post - just trying to make sure I've answered all your questions. The pre-Christmas appraisal cited 'sub-standard levels of copywriting' and 'quality control issues' (typos). In my mind, I've addressed both those issues. I've double checked all work to ensure there have been no typos (there hasn't been) and taken a lot more time over anything I've written to ensure it meets the brief, is well thought out and reads well etc. These were the only goals set out in writing.

It's all getting quite stressful now and I need to protect my reputation but I'm struggling to keep calm and think about it all rationally!

I've now been given a written warning

Can anyone point me in the direction of where to look for help to draft a letter appealing against the warning? Had a look on acas website but all the templates seem to be for employers.

I don't agree that my work hasn't improved and feel that their response is out of proportion. Not sure what to do and can't sleep for worrying about it. Pretty sure they want rid of me - they were asking colleagues if my flexible/part-time working impacts negatively on them, so I'm sure they'll use this as the next excuse

Did anyone else get a wromitten warning or negative appraisal? Maybe they are trying to get the business in order? If it is a small company than every staff member counts?
Did you return to work after maternity on different hours?
Sorry you got the warning letter!

xmyboys no, nobody else has a written warning although they are cutting back on freelance staff.

I've just read through one of the documents they are claiming is sub-standard and looked at the tracked changes - they claimed in my last meeting that I'd simply accepted all tracked changes instead of responding to them. But looking at the document, 90% of the tracked changes are simple insertion/deletions with only a handful of comments that required an actual response (ie. insert more data here etc.).

Anyone have any advice on how to draft a letter appealing against my written warning?