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Original poster

Grievance and employment options

39 replies

threeisacharm18 · 24/07/2022 10:20

I filed a grievance with my company - don't want to get into the details.
They didn't uphold the grievance
In the interim I've applied for and secured a new job.

My solicitor advised me to go on sick leave - company will likely settle for an amount around 20-40k.

If I leave and go to a new job it minimises my losses since I can't claim constructive dismissal.

My issue is

  • go on sick leave, get paid for however long it takes to resolve this issue, plus I'd get the additional compensation. But my mental health can't take sitting at home doing nothing. It would actually send me into deep depression.

However I feel so hard done by, so if I leave an go to the new job I'd be getting less compensation.

Any advice?

OP posts:
Jalisco · 24/07/2022 12:39

You are assuming that you will get ANY compensation. That is a very huge assumption. Just because a solicitor has suggested you might get compensation doesn't mean you will. Solicitors love dangling what you might get. They'd have no clients if people didn't hope they'd win.

I would never bet on constructive dismissal, which is the hardest case to win. Think almost impossible in terms of odds. So you would be betting a firm job that you presumably like, against total uncertainty. To say nothing of what some potential employers might view taking on an employee who makes legal claims - that's not a reason not to make a claim of one had one, but equally you can't ignore the fact that some employers won't take the risk on litigious employees no matter how reasonable their claim might be.

skilpadde · 24/07/2022 12:51

Your company rejected your grievance, haven't offered you compensation, and you're concerned about your mental health. And you've secured a role with another company.

You want to know if you should:

  1. get signed off sick, holding out for compensation your solicitor has alluded to but isn't actually on the table, risking your mental health and potentially risking the other job offer.

  2. resign, take the new job, get a fresh start, boost your mental health, not get any of the compensation that hasn't actually been dangled in front of you.

It looks like a no-brainer to me.

Chewbecca · 24/07/2022 12:53

Absolutely go to the new job. You might not achieve anything by pursuing a claim against your existing employer except a lot of stress.

Figgygal · 24/07/2022 12:55

Your solicitor shouldnt be telling you youll get anything so youd be mad to hang on for a tribunal whilst in employment and allowing your mental health to be battered in the meantime.
Move on continue the claim if you want the moral victory and perhaps some compensation but on knowledge you wont get a loss of earnings award (which you dont need anyway if your new role is comparable)

MichelleScarn · 24/07/2022 12:56

skilpadde · 24/07/2022 12:51

Your company rejected your grievance, haven't offered you compensation, and you're concerned about your mental health. And you've secured a role with another company.

You want to know if you should:

  1. get signed off sick, holding out for compensation your solicitor has alluded to but isn't actually on the table, risking your mental health and potentially risking the other job offer.

  2. resign, take the new job, get a fresh start, boost your mental health, not get any of the compensation that hasn't actually been dangled in front of you.

It looks like a no-brainer to me.

This is what confused me, wheres the compensation coming from if grievance not upheld?

Jalisco · 24/07/2022 13:03

MichelleScarn · 24/07/2022 12:56

This is what confused me, wheres the compensation coming from if grievance not upheld?

Show quote history

The OP is assuming their case is so strong that winning is a certainty, so they believe that the employer is falsely dismissing the grievance, but will fold later, and either offer a settlement or lose a tribunal. That is an assumption that I wouldn't make even if there was "a strong case". Being sure that you have a strong argument (and evidence to support it, of course) is not the same thing as having a court agree with you.

MajorCarolDanvers · 24/07/2022 13:10

my mental health can't take sitting at home doing nothing. It would actually send me into deep depression

I think you have to put your health first and take the new job.

radaradaradar · 24/07/2022 13:26

Get signed off sick with stress, hand your notice in and start your new job when your notice period is served.

Beercrispsandnuts · 24/07/2022 13:28

You lost me at they didn’t uphold the grievance but will give you compensation. They would not do that if they have not found in your favour. Is something missing?

Beercrispsandnuts · 24/07/2022 13:31

If I leave and go to a new job it minimises my losses since I can't claim constructive dismissal

do you mean minimises your compensation? And you can claim constructive dismissal even if you’ve another job.

KatherineJaneway · 24/07/2022 13:34

Go to the other job. There is no guarantee of any compensation.

ChicCroissant · 24/07/2022 13:49

Not that I think this will go to Tribunal or achieve a settlement, but if it did it is extremely likely you'd have the amount reduced for not minimising your losses by taking the new job.

You have an exit opportunity, so what is stopping you? The prospect of mythical compensation? That's not worth sticking around for!

Yorkshirelass04 · 24/07/2022 13:58

Having been in this situation I'd take the job and move on.

It's not worth the stress and heartache trying to prove something to your old company. Send the ceo a factual letter and leave a glassdoor review.

Beercrispsandnuts · 24/07/2022 14:10

You can still chase your claim in a new job, that doesn’t change anything.

your solicitor is giving you terrible advice

Original poster
threeisacharm18 · 24/07/2022 15:33

Thanks for the replies . My ultimate issue is the new job doesn't offer me an advancement in salary plus I'd be going into the office and I have school age children which means I loose some of the flexibility to pick them up from school. Honestly I wouldn't even leave my company were it not because I'm pissed at the way I've been treated.

Solicitor advised me that company's rarely accept a grievance is valid.

I'm not certain I'd be successful at a tribunal .

In loosing signing off sick the pro is

  • pick up my kids and save money in childminder fees
  • it may help my mood
  • spend time on upskilling
  • apply for a job that pays more

Negative of not going to the new job is

  • my mental health and feeling down may make me not be motivated to upskill
  • recession is coming and jobs may be scarce
  • it may end up costing me £'000 in solicitors fees and I end up with no money at the end of it
  • I loose my share options
OP posts:
midairchallenger · 24/07/2022 15:37

A bird in hand is worth two in the bush.

If you want to leave, do so by taking the actual job offer.

madroid · 24/07/2022 15:51

It depends if letting your old employer get away without any recompense for the bad treatment you've suffered would bother you?

THAT can be bad for your mental health.

If you're worried you'll just brood on it all at home could you use the time to re-train/up your qualifications?

Jalisco · 24/07/2022 16:22

You forgot to add a couple more risks. Sign off sick, you get really really sick, and can't ever get back to work. Sign off sick, and your sickness record will be so bad that nobody wants to employ you.

Jalisco · 24/07/2022 16:31

madroid · 24/07/2022 15:51

It depends if letting your old employer get away without any recompense for the bad treatment you've suffered would bother you?

THAT can be bad for your mental health.

If you're worried you'll just brood on it all at home could you use the time to re-train/up your qualifications?

Just to clarify - alleged bad treatment . Sorry, it isn't that I don't believe that the OP is upset about something. But bad treatment isn't the same thing as unlawful treatment; what the OP considers to be bad treatment may not be; and there are always two sides to every story.

Last year one of my staff made an allegation of bullying against me. I am absolutely positive that she is not a bad person, that she genuinely felt she was being treated badly, and that she was genuinely sick when she signed off. I am also absolutely positive that she was not working the hours she put on her timesheet, that she had made several very serious mistakes (in some cases the same serious mistake repeatedly, even after retraining and support), that she was looking after her children when working from home (against policy), and that I had absolute grounds to put her into performance measures. Oddly, she felt genuinely aggrieved with me.

HermioneWeasley · 24/07/2022 16:35

Take the new job and get on with your life.

proving constructive dismissal is a very high bar - you have to prove they behaved so unreasonably it was a breach of contract - the employer equivalent of gross misconduct. They investigated your grievance and it wasn’t upheld. Unless there was something completely bizarre or discriminatory about their investigation and the conclusions they drew, then you don’t have a case.

KatherineJaneway · 24/07/2022 16:57

Solicitor advised me that company's rarely accept a grievance is valid.

Rubbish.

Beercrispsandnuts · 24/07/2022 19:22

KatherineJaneway · 24/07/2022 16:57

Solicitor advised me that company's rarely accept a grievance is valid.

Rubbish.

I know, right?

op you need to get a new solicitor this one is pure shite. Are you sure they are even qualified? The crap they are coming out with is unbelievable.

anyway your claim against your employer is irrelevant to whether you get a new job or not, the claim continues. In fact new employment would be in your favour.

your company is not likely to settle, they have investigated and found you do not have a complaint.

you need to find a path forward with them if you want to keep this job unil you find another you actually want.

and you need to get a better employment lawyer. Becayse they need to be as good as or better than theirs. And yours is talking like someone who didn’t even attend school never mind qualify into employment law.

Anothernamechangeplease · 24/07/2022 19:28

Gosh, just take the new job.

LIZS · 24/07/2022 19:41

You have already made the decision to leave, why would you prolong that and potentially lose the new role? There is no certainty you would be awarded anything or the company pay you off.

M340 · 24/07/2022 20:12

Just take the new job.