Asked to Leave

[Giulia123]

Hi I have effectively been asked to leave my corporate job after 6 years of service. They are trying to put this down to poor performance however the arguments they are using are arbitrary and I am confident I have a good case to rebute this. I have not been back at work long after mat leave (6.5 months) and have been working 4 days a week since I have been back. They didn’t want to agree to the 4 day week but think they knew they had to. Does anyone know what my options are? Am I able to fight this or now that they have asked for me to effectively resign can they force me to leave? My understanding is that I would have to be given a formal warning and put on an improvement plan before they could actually dismiss be legally. Is that right? Has anyone had any experience of this? I think it would be easy for me to pass any test as I am good at my job. I fear that this is personality related and also that they don’t want a working mum on the team (I’ve had to take some time off due to childcare)

Thanks it sounds like I could fight it, which means they will have to carry out a fair process with clearly defined targets in the areas they have identified for improvement. I am sure I would pass this as part of the reason they are saying I’m poorly performing is because I’m not having the opportunities to actually demonstrate what I need to / the goal posts are constantly being moved and are vague. They also acknowledge I’m technically good at what I do.

the alternative would be to settle but how would I get them to come to the table on this? I guess it would be the possible discrimination claim?

you are right it would be awful having to stay there now after this and they know that. I need to be properly compensated though really for leaving. Is there a measurement of what would be reasonable to ask for?

If they've explicitly stated it was a "protected conversation" then they are at the table, just empty handed with no proposal which is bizarre.

You'll give them an idea that you're on to the potential discrimination if you email them confirming you had a meeting on x date where they asked you to resign, ask them to clarify what concerns they have re performance, and the next steps. Then see what they say would be my approach. I wouldn't spend any money on legal advice at this stage.

They did offer me something but my initial feeling is that it’s not enough and I would prefer to stay and fight it than accept that. Do you think they will be anticipating a counter offer or is that their full and final fee usually?

What have they offered? No need for exact figure if you're not comfortable sharing.....how many months pay?

And do you have any benefits like bonuses, private healthcare, higher than stat pension etc?

Give Pregnant Then Screwed a ring too, they are amazing.

What's the company redundancy policy OP? That's a good starting point figures wise. It would need to be more than your notice period also.
If you feel you have a strong discrimination case then I'd probably say 6 months salary.

You are drip feeding which makes it incredibly difficult for anyone to offer you advice.

From your posts. With some questions added:

• they agreed to part time hours as part of your flexible working request but they don't think this will work, is it working?
• you were invited to a formal meeting, possibly a protected conversation but you don't know, did you get anything in writing?
• you have taken some time off for emergency childcare - how much and in what time period?
• they think you are underperforming - in what areas, are they right?
• they have offered you some kind of financial settlement to leave - how much, what terms?

Home - Pregnant Then Screwed

You’re giving half the info, you’re not answering questions and if you do answer, you again only give half the info. How do you expect any help here?

Start again. With all the info this time.

This all this.

It's really hard to help as you're not being clear

@Megifer thank you!

Definitely negotiate with them. How long will it take you to find a new job? If reasonably straightforward, in your shoes I’d ask for 12 months full pay in your settlement agreement and to immediately be placed on gardening leave for your notice period. They’ll say no, you look them in the eye and say “I can’t help feeling like this might be something to do with my recent maternity leave….” leave that hanging in the air and don’t fill the awkward silence. You’ve been there 6 yrs with no performance problems - they do not want to take this to an Employment Tribunal which will see them for what they are.

if they don’t meet your demands they’ll have to dismiss you and open themselves up to a discrimination claim in which case you’ll most likely engage a solicitor to negotiate a settlement. As part of the settlement they’ll likely agree to pay your legal costs.

good luck!!

Do you know if they would be legally obliged to do the PIP?

They need to follow a process, yes, unless you agree to go under a settlement agreement.

Can you answer FlabMonster’s questions please?

(HR Director)

Does your household insurance policy include legal expenses cover? If so, this would probably cover the cost of instructing a solicitor

Unfortunately not but I’m not too worried about solicitor cost- thank you

It's a policy rather than a legal obligation. What is the company's performance management or similar policy? Look that up.
It seems like you are quite unclear about what has happened to date, be it settlement offers/performance concerns/absence policy.

I suggest tomorrow you write an email to HR asking to clarify everything in writing. Then a solicitor can give you proper advice. If you go now you'll just waste money as they will need to know the answers to the sorts of questions PP are asking

As per previous posters, I second Pregnant and Screwed. I sought similar advice on here for my pregnant daughter who was experiencing really bad discrimination when she announced her pregnancy, (by a female boss with children herself!). It was claimed performance related and was told demotion with a big pay cut, but all her previous appraisals had been exemplary, and P&S told her that she should have received previous warnings and given the opportunity to put things in place to sort out issues first. She went to the employer with that, who backed down. She’s really disillusioned though and plans to leave when her mat leave is up. So I would definitely suggest P&S as your first call, just to get a bit of advice. Good luck.

Thank you apologies I am not unclear about the absence policy nor the terms of the offer. More where I stand legally and what options are available to me to contest this. I will reach out to the relevant bodies and my solicitor as I think it is worth getting proper advice on this as I do feel that the catalyst for this is being an mother (and therefore a woman) and the part time request.

does anyone have any experience of being ‘managed out’ which is I think what this is? Can they actually get away with it without good reason? The examples of poor performance which they have given me won’t stand up to questioning and I have evidence to directly contradict their claims …

Are you saying that completely out of the blue, with no prior conversation about your performance, they took you to one side to tell you your performance has been poor and you should leave?

@Giulia123 i am currently going through a similar situation, albeit due to ill health caused by work related stress- previously and recently told I’m brilliant…until one week of sick leave and suddenly I have a long history of under performance (which they can’t evidence) .

I would recommend that you search for a solicitor who specialises in employment law (I can DM you the details of the solicitor I’m using, although with the caveat that we haven’t been all the way through the process yet, I just know his reviews are very good).

I know what people are saying about following up with an email clarifying what they said to you but I would recommend speaking to a solicitor first before you do anything. You don’t want to give them an opportunity to start a paper trail of accusations of underperformance.

As they’ve made you an offer to exit the company the ball is now in your court to go back with a counter offer (under the guidance of your solicitor- usually directly from your solicitor). I was told a typical settlement is your notice period plus 4-6 months salary ex gratia (so the first £30k is tax free), plus outstanding pro rata leave, agreed wording in your reference, contractual payments due up to the date you leave and an NDA.

Seriously?
Just get job hunting and let them know you are doing it., to take the pressure off you.
You will not win here
I'd sooner job hunt without having a performance improvement thing hanging over me or a disciplinary.
It will be very uncomfortable to carry on working there and you will not succeed at making them change or be nice to you.
It's not worth the stress, and it sounds like it was not working anyway if you are having to work on your day off.
Or are you just after money?
(I'm clearly from a different sector, but have been through being bullied out at work)

You said you took some sick leave to cover childcare - is this correct?

I would start by calling ACAS

Rather than an expensive solicitor, I used an HR 'conflict resolution' consultant. She was ex corporate HR and therefore knew all the tricks!! She knew the law / processes inside out and held my hand through the whole thing - we nearly got to tribunal but then they settled at three times their initial offer.

I wasn't managed out though - after a protected conversation about my return from mat leave they tried to claim redundancy but it was all arse about face and was to do with indirect discrimination / part time working so we got them on a lot of counts!

you could google / ask around theres always loads who are members of your local chambers of commercw

Being managed out is usually a performance management process. IME takes about 6 months to performance manage someone out.

As per my previous post, it's up to you. You have rights, you can go through the process and prove them wrong and retain your job (or worst case they do manage you out which means they'll terminate you at the end of the process). Or you can demand a wadge of cash to go.

Legal rights are not really relevant in the latter. You are effectively going to waive your rights in exchange for a payout greater than you'd get going through the legal process.