DH, the evil boss, the "constrcutive dismissal" and ACAS update...

[ELF1981]

For those who read my other thread here here is a quick update.

DH has found out today that his sales role in the company has been taken up perm, by the guy who'd "assisted" DH in the office and quoted at a loss. The 2nd role (which had been DH's first role in sales, the one he'd requested going back to) has also been filled by somebody else in the office. Neither has sales experience, despite what the boss had said she wanted.

I have urged DH to phone ACAS again. A phone call to them last week confirmed his company were in breech of contract, and that there was enough of a case for a hearing, but now this has happened so surely more of a case?

What do you think?

For a constructive dismissal there has to be a breach of contract, something that completely undermines the relationship between the employee and the employer. It can be a loss of trust for example.

It is a difficult thing to claim as the onus is on you to prove that the implied trust you have between you has irretrievably broken down beyond repair. It can be a one off incident that does it or a number of things over a period of time. You have to have been treated so badly that you can no longer continue to work for them.

I followed the original thread and without a doubt agree that it has been appalling treatment and I am sure he would have a good case however I would suggest proper specialist advice.

He also must exhaust all possible avenues internally before resigning and claiming constructive dismissal. You can't just quit and then complain, you have to give them the opportunity to put things right (though there can be serious breaches or incidents that mean you have to resign there and then).

For this he has to go down the formal grievance route first, right through to appeal and if he still isn't happy he can then resign and claim constructive dismissal. He will need to enter this process with view of what he sees as a resolution - what does he want out of it?

Do you have legal expenses cover on your household insurance as this would probably give him free legal cover. Or is he in a union?

ACAS have said that he would need to quit the job he was now doing as despite not signing a contract, the longer it stays the more it appears that he is accepting the new terms and conditions. At the moment, him quitting his job would be terrible! We were just about to start looking at a new house and moving
The grevience route - he has followed the company procedure to the letter, the company has not followed their side. They have not replied to my DH's letters or issues.
I will dig our our house insurance, not sure what we have got to be honest, I work for a company where I get 10% off legal fees as part of our corporate discounts, but still expensive.
The company has been down the ACAS route four times this last year due to several issues.
I am hoping that DH can quickly secure another job elsewhere and then we can go down the proper channels. DH has been treated so unfairly, the whole "we want to replace you with somebody more experienced sales wise" was utter bollocks, seeing as they have taken somebody else in the company with no sales experience. Therefore in my eyes, DH has been treated badly in favour of this guy, who the boss preferred. I had assumed they would not be able to hire somebody until DH's issues had been resolved or he'd signed and accepted the new contact, but obviously not.
Having had no experience in this, I will sit with DH tonight and go through exactly what ACAS said (he's had to rush out) and find out what is going off.
As for what Dh wants out of this - at the moment we feel like he has been screwed over for personal reasons, and I dont think it is fair in the slightest that the company may be able to get away with it, or somebody else should have to suffer what he has had to.

I will keep you updated.

Difficult one as most people can't leave a job just like that. The fact that they haven't followed their own procedures just strengthens his case. Make sure its all well documented.

Good luck for him getting another job