Sudden concerns about my husbands work from boss

[Flocke]

Just wondering if anyone has any advice on this situation.

My husband has been in his job for 2.5 years. Passed probation with flying colours. Had a couple of bog standard appraisals where boss was happy other than a few minor areas to improve on. But overall all was very good and boss said very happy. The last appraisal was in January.
Then since March time the boss has started mentioning many issues and areas she doesn't feel he's doing well at. He has had a few instances where he's been taken into meetings to dicuss his work and mistakes he's making. (They are all minor mistakes but i also appreciate a mistake is a mistake)
Then he recently was given a letter of concern. And since then he's been told he can't be trusted and been questioned why he doesn't know certain things. None of these things are things he's been required to know in the past as they're not officially part of his job. The boss has been making comments like "why don't you know this after 2.5 years" etc. And in every instance the boss is making notes rather than just having a verbal meeting.
He's said he's more than happy to learn these things and try and improve but it's starting to seem like he can't win. He's told to take more initiative and he does. But then gets told the initiative was wrong or he said the wrong thing.
He's baffled as to why all these issues are arising now when for over 2 years the boss was apparently very pleased with him. And he doesn't feel like he's changed anything in the way he's working and he was very happy there before all this.
He feels like he's being targeted and isn't sure what to do to try and fix it. He is now looking for another job but does anyone have any advice about what to do in the meantime?
Should he also start keeping a log of things that are said? He's tried asking for a meeting to discuss how he can improve but he's just told all his mistakes again and that he just "needs to do better".

Are the mistakes he is making new behaviour or are they increasing in frequency? Are they things which actually are part of his job so she should be doing them properly without intervention?

Maybe she is just getting fed up of the mistakes so is now picking up on everything. I’m guessing the “little things” to improve on in his appraisals have mentioned errors like these? Unless they are new, in which case that’ll be why he is getting pulled in more and more.

He really shouldn’t be making so many mistakes when it’s part of his job description. I’d be losing patience with him too.

It sounds like he’s been earmarked for removal for some reason and she’s creating the trail for that to happen.
Id ramp up the new job search if I was him.

This.

can you say what type of a job is it?

Just wondering if it is one where things are constantly changing and you need to keep yourself up to date with training courses etc. could he show initiative that way?

Did they actually say ‘he can’t be trusted’

if I were him I’d ask to go on a pip they will have to identity skill gaps and shortfall
work out if it’s lack of skill or incompetence
put supportive measures in place with review dates and measures

they can’t simply say your shit do better
after 2.5 years he’ll have rights and unless it’s gross misconduct they can’t just sack him
I’d advise to join a union
keeping a log would be best

No most of the things aren't part of his job description. They are a very small team. So if someone is off everyone else needs to cover. All their contracts have "any other reasonable duty" in so they're all expected to do things not in their official jobs. So he's not ever really able to learn these things as he only ever needs to do them when someone is off. And he was told when starting he wasn't going to be trained on that part of the system as he didn't need to know it. So he doesn't know it. And has to wing it when needed. And she us now annoyed that he doesn't know it.
He genuinely wants to improve. It's no good just telling someone they're not doing a good job over and over but without help to get trained on things how can anyone ever improve?
For example a customer asked a question. He was told by the boss to refer to the manufacturer for the answer. He did. He got pulled in and asked why he told the customer that because it was wrong. When he said it was what the manufacturer had said he was told he should have used his experience and initiative to know that wasn't a good answer.

The root of this seems the mistakes, but you gloss over this,why is he making these mistakes?

For example a customer asked a question. He was told by the boss to refer to the manufacturer for the answer. He did. He got pulled in and asked why he told the customer that because it was wrong. When he said it was what the manufacturer had said he was told he should have used his experience and initiative to know that wasn't a good answer

but that’s likely ok, it depends in the question and answer, she’s telling him the response wasn’t ok for the customer and he should have known that,

The mistakes are all different. It's hard to explain. Another example is he was told if anyone asks to buy a product they are not to give a discount to anyone except if its x or y. Z rings up and my husband tells them no discount. Boss gets annoyed as actually z DO get a discount and my husband should have checked with her before saying no. But he's been told before not to keep checking and to use his own initiative. Which he was because he was told originally to say no discounts.

They want rid, I’m sorry. Sometimes there’s no reason, someone high up takes a dislike, or someone new wants to look dynamic and ‘shake things up’.
It sucks, but they might pay him off? Difficult to bring it up though……

Is in he in a union? If not, now would be a good time to join, they can definitely give advice on how to manage this.

He'd definitely being performance managed out. After 2 years it's pretty hard to get rid of someone without something major happening. In this way, they can demonstrate he doesn't have the capability to perform the job.

If he suddenly starts having target meetings/performance meetings at set regular scheduled times and is offered more training, there will be no doubt.

There's a similar situation occurring in my office right now. He has to speak to an employment lawyer before it escalates.

It seems like the boss has taken a dislike to him for some reason. It sounds like she's finding fault with a lot of things he isn't really expected to know.
However, the example about him referring client to the manufacturer. I'm guessing the query was something that's meant to handled in house, and making them go to elsewhere is not providing a high enough service. He said the manufacturer said to refer for this? As in he has a direct relationship with them and that person told him to refer customers to him? If not then I don't see what he means by the manufacturer told him to do it? He clearly was meant to know the answer or look it up internally.
I'd say it's not a good fit at this stage. Goalposts appear to change and it seems his mistakes are getting more frequent, however unfair the circumstances.
I hope he finds a new job soon.

I think another key thing he can do to cover himself in the meantime is to email his boss questioning some of these "concerns".

So if they're not happy he did X, he needs to highlight this isn't a part of his usual role and he was asked to do this with limited/no training. If they want him to do X again, he will need Y from them in order to do so without any issues.

Push some of the accountability back to them and keep the written record.

That's terrible this is almost workplace bullying. I would be contacting a union and entering a grievance with HR today. Is this a large company?

No it isn’t, they are clearly all expected to cover each other, and will habe been for the last couple of years. So the question is why has he not picked these things up but the others have.

we need to remember the op loves him, and is only hearing his side of it.

Trust me I'm well aware of his flaws. And if I'm honest I can see how it might be escalating and I'm trying to help him. It's also just sad to see him so upset when he's been trying really hard.
There's currently only 5 people working there. One of whom is the boss. One is very new (3 months) and one has been there 15 years. There's only one other person on a similar level to my husband but has a different job title and duties.
Just 2 months ago the boss was giving him extra duties and mentioning a potential pay rise. Now he's getting letters of concern.
It's like working somewhere and when you start they say your job will be learning everything tesco and sainsbury's do and their products etc. Don't worry about morrisons Bob does them. Every time an email comes in about morrisons Bob deals with it. 2 years later you get called to a meeting asking why you haven't yet picked up everything about morrisons yet.
My husband has said now he knows they want him to know about morrisons he will happily start learning it. But it's still been noted that it's an area he isn't doing well on etc.

If it's a small team it's expected for people to know a bit about what others are doing. From what you've said it sounds like your husband is very 'black and white' about his approach and has no interest about anything outside of his role. It seems like there is no initiative to learn about anything else (there are areas in my wider department which aren't anything to do with my day job but I take an interest and can answer queries when needed).

The comment about the discount, also sounds like you're husband is very black and white in his thinking, he was told to use his discretion and didn't/his judgement was wrong.

After 2.5 years in a small team you'd expect people to be more integrated and it could be she's now lost patience, you keep saying he's willing to learn, but he should realised it was needed and proactively got that knowledge in the 2.5 years. And again, in a small team many little mistakes can have a big impact.

He’s being managed out and I really feel for him. It’s happened to me and it’s super unfair but there’s usually nothing you can do when a boss has their mind set on getting rid of you. I felt sad reading about the petty gaslighting that it sounds like they are doing… sadly familiar.

Really hope he can move on as I don’t see how you can stay in these circumstances. My only advice would be to write down and log absolutely everything as it may come to an unfair dismissal and it helps to have the most detailed notes you possibly can of every single tiny thing.

there is hope and 5 years on he will honestly look back and realise it wasn’t the worst thing any more… life moves on 💐

He needs to follow up any meeting like this with an email confirming what was discussed, and asking for training on the specific areas where he hasn't been officially trained already.

I'd also suggest that next time he is called in, he has a witness in there with him to take notes.

Maybe at a stage where they would have expected him to step up a bit more he is making more mistakes (as you say yourself). Leeway is given and slack picked up for newer employees but perhaps they just expect him to perform better than he is now that he has been there longer and not expect to micro manage him still.

Either he should ask for further training on the areas he isn't trained in, ensure he addresses the mistakes he is making or actually look to move on if he thinks he can't or doesn't want to or indeed if he feels he is being managed out then that is likely to happen.

There is such a thing called ' constructive Dismissal'. His next move would be ' leave' and would be well within his rights to seek compensation.
Employers are not allowed to make general statements like" Why dont you know this?" As its classed as a general statement rather than something like " This component goes into this box,". It sounds like hes being bullied into leaving the position which is classed as ' CONSTRUCTIVE DISMISSAL equalling COMPENSATION.
Everything must be logged so as to have evidence for a tribunal.
A good Employment Lawyer are worth their weight in Gold and will support morally in a situation like this. Guiding him through every step of the way.
If you leave a job through bullying from boss its quids in for you.

Sounds like they are trying to manage him
out for whatever reason

I would be looking for something else

I admire your moral support of that OP (certainly better than sole of the usual suspects in this thread), but it is incredibly difficult to win a constructive dismissal case. Advising OP that they'll be quids is very optimistic.