Husband being managed out - please help.

[Ebayaholic]

About a year ago my husband's company was taken over by another as it was failing. The new company appear to try to be managing my husband out so they can put their own staff in - they have publically humiliated him in a team briefing (despite excellent appraisals and no mention of any performance issues before), they have taken away staffing hours and increased his workload so that he cannot complete all his tasks, and his staff are working to rule as they hate the management so much - they literally drop what jobs are outstanding at their agreed finishing time, which makes things harder for my husband as the work needs finishing. (They are part time). We have been living with this and trying it make the most of it/work longer hours to get all of it done however they appear to have upped the ante this week as they have gone into his office out of hours and taken a photo of a minor infringement and then informally reprimanded him for it. I feel that they are now working toward a disciplinary scenario and wondered if anyone has any ideas how to deal with this - put a formal grievance in maybe? He is becoming ill with stress but doesn't want to get signed off as he feels this would be playing into their hands. Thanks so much for any help.

I assume he is looking for another job? In addition he needs to make sure he protects himself by keeping records of everything, and making sure any concerns he has about workload or working practices are documented.

Yes it sounds as if he is being managed out and he needs to keep his nose clean so whatever the minor infringement was, he needs to make sure that's the only slip up - don't give them the ammunition.

This might sound harsh, but most companies are there to make money or achieve a specific purpose and as such, they want the best people in positions. It is of no benefit for a company to go out of its way to make it harder for employees to meet their targets. It may be helpful for your husband to reframe his thinking and think about other possible reasons staffing has been reduced rather than it being a way to get at him - if the previous company was failing there is a good chance the finances or other indicators still aren't adding up.

I think it's interesting that the employees are working to rule. Sometimes this standoff gets into a war of attrition and the bosses think they have to be hard line but the more hard line they are the more resistant the staff become. Your husband sounds like he is in the middle of something like this. Is there scope of him to do some kind of mediation? What does he think the solution would be?

All this aside, if he is being managed out, he needs to decide what to do about it. Does he want to stay? If so, he needs to clear the air and find out why what he thinks is happening is happening. Or he needs to be planning his exit strategy.

But yes, keep records of everything. Document every decision and its rationale. Be punctual. Don't give them any room to sack on a technicality.

Regarding putting a grievance in...I'm not sure that there is any way back from it. If there is a genuine attempt to manage him out I can't see putting in a grievance having any effect.

Hope one way or another you and your husband find some peace - the current situation sounds intolerable

Thank you both for your input. Karen, I know that there are two sides to every story and we do acknowledge that some things they have implemented have been better than under the old management however they are applying this approach pretty much universally so I don't think its personal.
No he doesn't want to leave as this job fits perfectly into our home life and he has had ten happy years there with no problems at all. It's becoming overwhelming though and it's so stressful.
Thanks again

You say he doesn't want to leave. Does he think this can all be resolved then? That would be an unusual view from someone who feels they are being managed out, and who has been "publicly humiliated".

Have you ever heard a case of someone who was in the process of being managed out who then managed to become a happy and appreciated member of staff within the same company? Me neither. He needs to find a new job.

Well either he leaves or he will be fired.

My DH was in a similar position. One day he came home and cracked so we decided he had to quit. He went in and said he wanted to leave but he wanted to go on gardening leave. He worked a week then took seven weeks paid leave. That gave him time to find a new job and he did and so too will your DH.

Your DH's employers may be open to letting him work his notice at home. To fire someone takes a lot of time and effort all round and they'd probably rather not bother.

Get him to negotiate a deal and get out.

My sympathies btw! It was HUGELY stressful but everything is 100x better now.

And if he's been there 10 years he could negotiate a better deal. My DH had only been in his job just under two years and therefore had no rights - hence him having to negotiate just for his notice.

If they wanted to make him redundant theyd have to pay 10x two weeks salary I think, so five months pay? And then his notice? So let's say that's seven months.

He could ask for seven months pay paid in one lump sum which can be tax free. He may have to sign some sort of deal.

Or if a case goes to tribunal payouts can be up to 90% salary so he could negotiate along those lines, hinting at how it would save a lot of time and effort on both sides to sort it sooner rather than later.

He should talk to someone in hr confidentially or someone senior if he can to help him.

He might be surprised what they're willing to do.

Thanks everyone, food for thought and I appreciate all comments.

Document everything - make sure he is keeping a record of every incident - get him to email everything to his personal address so he has a record of it at home.

Make sure they get rid of him so they have to pay him off.

But he needs to be looking for another job so he's got something to go to as well, even if it's not as well-paid.

I ended up in a similar position with a micro-managing boss who I worked for for 4 years. Unfortunately I made a minor mistake that she was able to capitalise on, more fool me but it had to happen eventually, nobody is perfect, not even her. She got rid of two other people as well and tried to get rid of a 4th though she fought it and won and is still there.

I had the choice of leaving with a really decent pay-off (enough money to pay the mortgage for 2 years and I got a part-time job at a library to give me pocket money until another well-paid job fell into my lap about 8 months later) or to fight a disciplinary. I might have won - I had support from colleagues. But she was devious and clever and I wasn't sure I'd win. I took the cash.

I documented everything through the 4 years and particularly then things started going wrong. Your husband has to have evidence of what is going on so that his employers will want to let him go quietly. Make sure he has copies of those excellent appraisals for example.