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Original poster

Handed Notice In and All Hell Broke Loose...

691 replies

MyNameDefinatelyIsntJanet · 05/07/2018 09:05

I handed my notice in at work yesterday, it did not go the way I was expecting and I need to know where I stand legally.

For context, it's a fairly senior position, a big jump up the ladder for me and it took them 6 months to find someone to hire into my role before they got me. I've only been in the role 6 months. Over those 6 months, it's become abundantly clear that I'm not the right person for this particular role. They need someone with strategic skills and I'm a technician. I'm bloody good at my job and an industry expert, but they don't need that skill, they need someone who can do the big picture stuff with clients and that's not me. I've stopped enjoying the job and I do feel that it was mis-sold to me at the interview stage, but I'm not bitter about that. I tried it, it didn't work out.

I gave these reasons when I handed in my notice but my line manager was apoplectic with rage. She called me a liar and accused me of using her/ the company as a leg up and that this had been my intention all along (I'm going to an equally senior role in a much bigger specialist agency). This is completely untrue. The job I'm going to is a technical role and much more in line with my skill set but at the same level as now iyswim.

She walked out of the room and slammed the door behind her and told me to leave the office immediately. So I did and have had no contact since.

WTF do I do now? I haven't gone in to the office today but I've been responding to client emails as usual this morning as there's stuff I need to get done.

I've since realised I was never asked to return my signed contract when I was hired and found it in my collection of papers this morning. I have signed it, but they don't have a copy.

I REALLY don't want to go back to the office after yesterday, but I have a 6 month notice period so not having to serve this would be great. I'm not sure where I stand legally. I'm prepared to hitch up my big girl pants and go back in but I'm not sure if they're going to want that so my questions are:

Legally, do they have to pay me for my 6 month notice period even though they've asked me to leave the office (they haven't asked me to leave my position yet).

As they don't have evidence of my signed contract, do I have to serve out my 6 months?

I want to hand over things properly and make sure they've got a plan for my leaving, but should I even care about this after yesterday? I don't want to leave my team in the lurch Sad

Also, the new company is not a competitor of any kind with my current one.

Help?

OP posts:
Bluntness100 · 05/07/2018 12:20

Yeah I'm a bit unsure of timing to be honest, probabation ended on the 2 Nd, and you handed notice in on 4th, you must have known at that meeting you were leaving. And I can see why they may think you fucked with them on purpose.

However it was your right to do so. You need to be willing to work thr six months.

jumblefun2 · 05/07/2018 12:20

Does look a bit dodgy re the timing to be fair.

TammySwansonTwo · 05/07/2018 12:21

Personally I would go in, ensure notes are being made and / or record the meeting, then say as little as possible. If they’re going to behave appallingly or illrb

Bluntness100 · 05/07/2018 12:21

How long have you been there in total? Sorry if I've missed it.

Messex · 05/07/2018 12:22

Why does it look dodgy on the timing? Surely OP can resign at any point she wants and probation should not come into it? People don't need to pass a probation to get a job elsewhere, just to stay in their current role.

pasanda · 05/07/2018 12:23

Good luck at 2pm. The company sound bonkers and I bet you can't wait to get out.....!

TammySwansonTwo · 05/07/2018 12:23

Or illegally, let them hang themselves. Only discuss how handover will Work or negotiations for early release. If they criticise your work, point out that you have appraisals that refute this. Point out that you’ve repeatedly raised your concerns.

If it doesn’t go well, take those notes to a lawyer.

SoddingUnicorns · 05/07/2018 12:23

God how horrible for you OP, it sounds very much like they’re behaving very unprofessionally and almost like they’re in a playground! I hope today gives you some answers and means you have a clear path moving forward.

Stick to your guns, they’ve proven that they’ll turn on you for nothing. You’ve not done anything wrong that I can see.

timeisnotaline · 05/07/2018 12:24

I’d be very tempted to go say hi to my team on my way in after that last comm.

jumblefun2 · 05/07/2018 12:24

Because before probation ended they would only have had to give her a week's notice, and she them. Now she's got 6 months and if she's in any kind of senior role that usually means gardening leave because they don't want her in strategic meetings - and indeed, she says her role was specifically strategic with client facing part as well

ApolloandDaphne · 05/07/2018 12:24

What a weird reaction from them. You sound well able to speak up and hold your own so good luck with the meeting this afternoon.

Shumpalumpa · 05/07/2018 12:25

Hmm, could they be planning to convince you to stay? e.g. with a pay increase.

LEMtheoriginal · 05/07/2018 12:25

Christ almighty im stressed out just reading this

Messex · 05/07/2018 12:25

@jumblefun2 Thanks for explaining that another way.

Original poster
MyNameDefinatelyIsntJanet · 05/07/2018 12:25

Bluntness I've been there 6 months and yep, the timing is really bad. I did know in the probation meeting I was planning to leave but as I didn't have the offer letter from the new company at that point, I'd have been mental to tell them.

In the probation meeting however I did reiterate my concerns about the role in general and again was told 'yes but you're making great headway and it's getting there now, you're doing really well' Hmm. I said that wasn't the point and that I thought there was actually a wider problem about the direction of the business but they just weren't listening to what I was saying.

CEO's gushy email afterwards was very bizarre, he acknowledges my concerns about the infancy of the service for the company but has 'every confidence' that I'm the right person to lead the project Hmm

OP posts:
ThunderInMyHeart · 05/07/2018 12:26

Lawyer here (not an employment one though) and I've been through similar.

I've rushed reading the thread, because it's moving quickly and you're on a deadline. First off - no signed contract doesn't matter. It's an implied contract at this point.

Secondly - I appreciate you're under an incredible amount of stress and worry right now, which is 100% fine. You haven't done anything wrong and I agree with a PP...it sounds like they've shat themselves and are going all guns blazing. EXACT same thing happened to me. I walked out of the surprise meeting (20 mins notice) with a cash offer to piss off and never come back.

Was there a PILON (payment in lieu of notice) clause in the contract they gave you to sign?

They're obv not keeping you around for the 6 month period though, so that's good news!

Let us know how you get on. Good luck.

Sharkwithknees · 05/07/2018 12:27

Christ OP, sounds like you've made a good decision - they sound completely batshit!!

I'm in a senior role. I had a lady work for me - she was brilliant and a true asset to the company. She handed me her notice a few months ago and left the company last week. I bought her flowers and chocolate and had drinks with her to congratulate. This is what happens... No idea as to why your company are acting so mental but well done on the new job!!

DisturblinglyOrangeScrambleEgg · 05/07/2018 12:27

I would go with what RB68 says above - at this level everything really is negotiable.

Last job DP left, he had a long notice period. He'd also got another job lined up, and wanted out as soon as possible. By dint of keeping his mouth shut, and not being eager to pacify them, he walked away with his full notice paid, free to take up his next job whenever, and they even chucked in relocation (we'd relocated for the job) back home - which we didn't need, so spent on a holiday back home!

Depending on the meeting, maybe take someone with you just to be an extra person on your side of the table. Don't agree to anything (well, unless it's exactly what you want, and it's written down in front of you), and if it starts going south, end the meeting.

AvocadosBeforeMortgages · 05/07/2018 12:28

No wise advice, but they sound both mad and malicious.

Hopefully tomorrow's meeting isn't too painful. Do you have any paperwork to show that you passed probation - or might they try and alter paperwork to suggest that probation meeting has not yet been held or was extended? Make sure you screenshot any emails that refute this, and save them to a non-work computer.

NotARegularPenguin · 05/07/2018 12:29

I don’t understand why it would be considered dodgy to hand your notice in just after probation finishes? What difference does it make to either party?

DisturblinglyOrangeScrambleEgg · 05/07/2018 12:30

I'm in a senior role. I had a lady work for me - she was brilliant and a true asset to the company. She handed me her notice a few months ago and left the company last week

Shark handled how it's done. I've got good relationships with my past employers, and it's worked out very well - I've gone back permie with a couple, and I freelance for others - this company would be stupid not to keep a good relationship with you, as there may come a time when a couple of days work, from someone already familiar with them could save them a fortune.

NotARegularPenguin · 05/07/2018 12:31

I think the advice about not agreeing to anything is very good.

Just say that you’d like to consider any offers/suggestions overnight and get back to them?

ThunderInMyHeart · 05/07/2018 12:32

Please do not go in there and talk to members of your team (or anyone else for that matter). Don't be vexatious as a PP suggested. This is business...don't make it emotional or go playground to match their behaviour.

Expect the shittest behaviour from them and mud-slinging though.

Bottom line: you acted within your contractual rights. I doubt they've had time to trawl through your emails to find something that's a technically sack-able offence (so they don't have to pay you off etc). I wouldn't take anyone else in there with you. At most, some visible ACAS material, but otherwise you sound like a level-headed and erudite person who can stand their ground. That's all you need.

jumblefun2 · 05/07/2018 12:32

She's basically getting 6 months of wages for potentially no work by waiting til the probation period was over. Two days after the end of the one week notice (if it's standard - that's usual in a probation period) when she is two days into her 6 month notice period, in a situation where her role is strategic and client facing, she hands in her notice.

I get why it happened like that, and I totally understand the OP not handing in notice until the new offer was in writing, but from their pov it looks totally suss.

glintandglide · 05/07/2018 12:32

Good luck OP. The more I think about it the more I think a small company with the owners heavily involved- they probbaly are just pissed that a) they took a “chance”
On you and gave you a step up
In this role which you’ve since capitalised one elsewhere and yes b) they they’ll have to pay you off at great expense for a small
Company 3 days out of probation.

But- all of this is part of doing business. They hired the wrong person, and every employee comes with expensive risks attached. They can be disappointed privately but they’ve made themselves look mental to behave like this publically.

I agree with the poster above- forget ACAD, you’re too senior and as it stands you Dont even want anything right now. It’s a shame there wasn’t time to engage an employment lawyer and take them