Asked to resign - what to do?

[MissElaineNeus]

My DH runs a department of about 70 in a company of 200 - 400 people, reporting to the CEO. He's been in the job nearly 11 months, so not the 2 years he'd need for proper job protection.

On Friday he was invited into a Skype call with the CEO and one of his peers, and told that this wasn't working, and it would probably be best for him to resign. Also in that case he'd work his 3 months notice, but probably could do a lot of it from home.

He is thinking that he'd rather stand up and be dismissed, rather than shamed into making it easy for the company. Also a signal to a lot of other good people who are pissed off with this very toxic company. I think his ideal solution would be a settlement agreement with a good reference and 3 months PILON, so that he had 3 months free of work to job search.

Any thoughts on what the outcomes might be if he did? What's his best tactic?

I think your suggestion is by far the best way forward for all concerned - less hassle, a small lump sum compensation, and time for him to job hunt
Good luck OP

Being dismissed is never a good thing. However honourable the intention.

Don't make it easy for them. Bastards. He should stay put, but start job hunting.

Stay put start job hunting the market is killer right now a wage is best

Ask for a compromise agreement.

This is illegal business practice. They have to genuinely make the role redundant and need to go through the proper channels, otherwise this is constructive dismissal. The best compromise is a settlement payoff and your DH should aim for 6 month’s pay.

Don’t let him resign.

Call ACAS for advice

I had this once some years ago and ended up with a compromise agreement. It was the best outcome as they've given me a good reference since then, no black mark on my CV and I stayed in good terms with them all. Maybe it made it "easier" for the company but it also made it cleaner for me - you have to think of yourself first in these situations.

Op - get your DH to make notes on every conversation regarding this matter from yesterday and going forward. Good luck.

A compromise agreement might work here.

“This is illegal business practice. They have to genuinely make the role redundant and need to go through the proper channels, otherwise this is constructive dismissal.”

I’m not a solicitor but this is false. Of course you can be dismissed after 11 months if a company feels you’re not right for the job. They don’t have to make the job redundant and there’s nothing illegal about it. In fact, all of the ACAS stuff is recommended, it’s not a legal requirement.

Hoping he is in a Union? In which case he needs to speak to them ASAP.

I was in similar circumstances, negotiated myself a good settlement agreement. Also hadn't been in the job for two years.

Thanks all, it's just meekly resigning he feels is making it easy for them. Forcing them to dismiss him makes it clear to his peers and the people who work for him that this is happening. (And this is not just happening to him BTW, there have been at least 3 "forced" resignations in the last week and possibly up to 20, though most of them may be straight dismissals - unclear.

Also the company is saying in an email from the CEO that two functions are no longer needed, hence the dismissals, but as far as he knows there are not redundancies. Again, I presume perfectly legal if they have under 2 years service?

I believe DH's reports genuinely respect him as they've said thinks like "You've done a brilliant job of shielding us from the madness but now it's starting to leak through."

ACAS is a really good idea, thanks. I think he also needs to look for lawyers who can help with the settlement - is there just a thing as fee based on actually getting settlement? So that we're not out of pocket if the settlement doesn't happen?

Yes as pp said. Ask for a compromise agreement. They will agree a sum of money to ‘pay you off’ and inc notice period. Usually 4 to 6 months tax free lump sum and then your notice period.

You leave on good terms and as part of the package they supply you with a good reference.

Win win and it’s better than a dismissal and the extra cash will tide you over until you get another job

Also realised my OP was a little unclear - the peer in the Skype call was my DH's peer, not the CEO's. isn't this a bit weird? HR maybe, but not another department head.

”This is illegal business practice. They have to genuinely make the role redundant and need to go through the proper channels, otherwise this is constructive dismissal. The best compromise is a settlement payoff and your DH should aim for 6 month’s pay.”

Such awful advice. I wish clueless people would stop giving legal advice on the internet.

I’m unclear why people think the employer would offer any compensation or pay for a settlement agreement in these circumstances? Unless there is a protected characteristic involved there is no legal vulnerability for them. They could just dismiss him without the need for any settlement. Up to him if he’d rather force them to dismiss him instead of resigning.

I’m not a solicitor

I deal with disciplinaries, redundancies and employment law every day.

What do his employers have to gain by agreeing a settlement rather than just dismissing him? It doesn't seem as though your DH has much leverage really. He might be cutting off his nose to spite his face. I think it would be worth asking to resign without any requirement to continue working (effectively PILON) but I just can't see that he's going to achieve anything by standing his ground.

Such awful advice. I wish clueless people would stop giving legal advice on the internet

@flowery it’s becoming more and more common on the employment boards.

OP it isn’t good practice but it certainly isn’t illegal.

As flowery said, unless your DH has some characteristic that is covered under the Equality Act eg disability, race, age (which you haven’t implied that he has) only then he may have some leverage to negotiate a better exit / settlement. I wouldn’t think it would be anywhere near a 6 month settlement figure if he had though.

In his position, I would suggest he gets the CEO to agree to him not having to work his notice period for all / part. No guarantee it would be given but may be something to talk about.

Good luck

When I had a maternity leave related dispute, I was recommended an independent HR consultant who was able to advise me a write strongly worded letters etc. She was massively cheaper than a lawyer and mostly worked on a % of the settlement although I did pay minimum hours charge in case I didn't get anything!

It might be worth a quick google to see if there's anyone like that in your local area - but if nothing illegal has happened, might not be worth it.

He has little leverage with less than 2 year and they're doing this across the board.
I would ask for PILON and spend the 3 months searching for a job - not easy in these Brexit uncertainty days.

What field is he in? If there is any chance of reputational damage, they may pay more as a token gesture. (Consultancies do this in case you move to a competitor).

He sounds fairly senior, so presumably on reasonable money. I would think it would be worth taking a punt on seeing a specialist solicitor. You will get initial high level advice from just one meeting.

”I deal with disciplinaries, redundancies and employment law every day.”

If you “deal with employment law every day”, you might want to invest an hour or two learning some basics.

@JennaRossetti

"I’m not a solicitor

I deal with disciplinaries, redundancies and employment law every day."

That's worrying, considering you've stated something that is factually incorrect. There is no need for redundancy in this situation. The OP's DH has worked at the company for 11 months, so can be dismissed for any reason, unless discriminatory due to a protected characteristic.

A compromise agreement is used to protect the company from a claim at tribunal, in two situations. 1. They want someone to leave but should have either good cause or a genuine redundancy situation, but don't.

1. When the employee has a potential claim against the company for a breach of contract, or wrongdoing, and the company would rather have the certainty of paying a fixed cost for disposing of the employee than risk a tribunal decision.

There is no way that this company would benefit from paying 6 months wages to an employee that they can just dismiss.

It sounds like they are saying "better to resign than face dismissal" and that is something to consider. Sometimes, doing what feels "right" isn't in your best interests.

I was quite senior in the public sector when I had my compromise agreement so had a Unison representative, who happened to be head of the legal department, with me at all meetings. The agreement included a certain amount (£500 maybe) of external legal advice and I only had to pay what came over that. But I wouldn't have guessed any of this without said Unison man.

Good luck for a decent outcome, OP.