Will I regret raising a grievance /complaint

[FunnyHazelPeer]

Name change for this

Is there much point in ever raising a complaint/grievance at work?

I have been treated so unnecessarily. I have so many examples of things happening that didn’t need too.

I have been told my job is being removed, and I can apply for another post. The other post is a demotion and less money, however within a certain % of my current wage.

I am the only person who can apply for this role.

I have been told I will need to have an interview for this job (despite being the only one in the company). When I questioned what would happen if I wasn’t successful in the interview I was told I would be given notice and redundancy would be calculated.

The job i am in is an operations manager within an insurance firm, I am in one department. The job being offered is a service lead in another, which is a step down in position.

I pushed and pushed that this wasn’t fair me having to interview as the only person and they eventually backed down. I was given the post.

the cherry for me was that all my colleagues (other operations managers) were told before me. A colleague said to me they were sorry about the job… before I even had a clue!!!!!

You may wonder as to why I don’t just leave, I feel pretty stuck. Myself and my partner are actively trying for a baby and my maternity package is fab. Most companies require a year in post to get the maternity package. No one at work knows that I am trying to conceive.

I have never had any issues with performance. I get the highest tier performance review every year. The company is constantly looking at expanding, so is doing well.

This is just one example of the unnecessary things that are happening - can’t go too much more into it as could be outting.

Is there much point in raising a grievance? I want them to know they can’t keep putting these stupid restrictions on me, changing their mind when questioned.

Any help would be so appreciated!

Has your pay been protected? I know when this happened with us the people who were moved into lower pay band roles got pay protection for 3 years (most of them during that period either got promoted into other areas of the business or left). Do you have a union?

I would get some legal advice from Citizen Advice Bureau or/and ACAS to check if they have followed the redundancy process correctly.

Redundancy means that a job becomes redundant, not a person.

If you think they are trying to get rid of you, rather than your job being truly redundant, then they are not following the process correctly.

I am going to have to raise a grievance for discrimination with my employer which I don't look forward to, but I don't want to give them the satisfaction of just letting them pushing me out without paying me off...

Good luck with your claim.

Pay is not protected because it’s within 10% of role.

spoke to union, was crap. Just said “oh sounds like you’re having a rubbish time”.

If the grievance is about a particular event, or particular individuals behaviour then they can have useful outcomes. If it’s about consistent niggles across an organisation then it’s less likely to be a beneficial use of your time. It might be worth a chat with your union again, or ACaS and understand whether there’s a time frame that has to be met for raising one about this particular experience.

Definitely speak to ACAS, they are so helpful and will tell you whether the correct processes have been followed. As for a grievance, it depends how much you want your job, as raising one can be useful to stop the nonsense, or you can deemed a nuisance and pushed out via another “redundancy“.

If you do want to stay, start logging everything so that after you do leave, you can start a constructive dismissal claim with ACAS for free and try and get some money from them. It’s the only language these toxic workplaces understand I am afraid. ACAS can explain your options.
Good luck!!

Is any of it in writing or is it all verbal conversations?

Take the role and hopefully you'll get pregnant. You're doing the right thing to protect your package. I agree they sound like shits, but you don't want to risk them reconsidering and making you redundant after all.