Would you pursue a tribunal after leaving over a difficult takeover?

[Ermintrudedolphin]

I worked for a long time in private sector. Had a few change of ownership over time under TUPE and thought I’d be there till retirement. Great work/life balance and fairly paid. Spent a lot of years doing more management tasks than my actual job title and was appreciated by my bosses. We were taken over again and I thought it would be great with new energy and ideas but new owners turned out to be more of a corporate (bringing in own managers who would need paying). First red flag at Christmas was a link to a vote asking staff to vote for basically the best and the worst person (worded differently). All staff were called individually to a meeting. I was one of the last. Meeting started off ok but then I was asked to sign a new contract. (It was given to us 1 week before takeover so I’d already read through it and it was unfavourable to me). I pointed out a few mistakes which they said were mistakes and they would change (think this got their back up), then I mentioned my sick pay and they said I wasn’t getting that! (I’ve had 3 days sick in 26 years). I then handed them a letter saying I wasn’t signing and would renegotiate in a year. Mood changed and they said by not signing working I was under duress and then said from now I’d be working 1 day elsewhere (another town). My contract said I may be required to work there if needed but this was every week and wasn’t needed more wanted. I said I can’t drive at night due to 2 eye conditions and they said not my problem get the bus. I asked what I’d be doing there and it was doing the job I was only doing half a day but I’d be doing it the full day. I’ve never worked at this place and I’m struggling with peri menopause symptoms and anxiety and tbh would probably have passed out with the pace and overheating. I talked to husband and handed in my notice. I also talked to a lot of clients who were enraged ( I was well thought of and could get hundreds of character references) and they said I hope you are taking it further as that is bullying? I started early conciliation with ACAS which they haven’t agreed too so I now have my certificate. I have spoken to CAB but long wait on their solicitor. I’ve watched the videos from ACAS and googled tribunal and it says not many win so I don’t know whether to proceed. I have proof of their vote and everything written down. Proof that my pension wasn’t paid (I got one back but the other is still not found despite my payslips showing it went and it was supposed to go to the exact same company as before). I also wasn’t paid properly on my last wages (luckily I’d screen shot my holiday pay) and they refused to let me have it back till the following month. I have the messages etc. They also docked money as I left early but I’d sorted out a problem on my day off that took longer than what they’d docked and stayed in on lunchtimes and came in early for breakdown engineers. I now realise what a toxic workplace it was and after I’d handed my notice in I was extremely poorly with stress. I luckily have a new job now (less pay, more hours) but would you pursue on principle or let it go? (No union and would have to represent myself as no spare money for solicitors). Sorry for long winded post.

From what I’ve gleaned you may potentially have a constructive dismissal and disability discrimination claim but you should seek formal legal advice.

Respectfully, please use paragraphs.

Tribunals are very difficult on the individual. It sounds as if they acted within your contract description if it did say working at a different location on occasion.

You have a new job now, personally I would concentrate on that.

It is more based on the fact I was a TUPE transfer and because i wouldn’t sign their contract they have decided I have to work somewhere else.
My own contract said I was based at one location but maybe required to work at another location as of the needs of the workplace.
There wasn’t a need for me to work there it was more of a want because I wouldn’t sign and by working there 1 day a week that is a change to my contract which I didn’t agree too.

I am no expert and do consult a solicitor by all means, but I would have thought it would be difficult to differentiate between want and need on locution.

I would definitely be chasing up the lost pension as that sounds indisputable.

Find a solicitor, don’t wait for CAB.
Trust what solicitor says. If you are not likely to win then there’s really no point in trying.

Get a solicitor but yes your contractual rights were protected under tupe they can't enforce a new contract.
You'd need advice as to what to claim as constructive dismissal is very difficult to win you'd need to show they've fundamentally breached your contract to make continued employment untenable.

I suggest you find a solicitor who will fight for the best possible settlement for you without a tribunal.

Do you have legal cover with your house insurance? If so use it to get some advice on how to proceed.

i think you have to concentrate on the things that you can actually prove. Your contract says you have to work at the other place as needed - you can't prove that they told you to go there weekly as a punishment for not signing (although all the signs are there) so that is something i would let go.

If they actually said they don'T care about your eye condition - and if they already knew about that, then they appear to be discriminating because of ability if those were the actual words they used. But that, too is a bit "he said she said" imo (IANAL)

Concentrate on the absolute concrete things: mistakes in the contract that they had agreed to correct, but hadn't. Mistakes with pay is another they need to be taken to task on.

And if you can prove that they were making your workplace uncomfortable so that you felt you had to leave (a lawyer can advice) then you may be able to claim constructive dismissal.

But. Taking an ex-employer to work is really stressful. And often the end result isn't worth the hassle (you get a "yes, you were right, yes, here's the money they owe you" and that is it. In my case it was worth it because they didn't pay me for 4 months and i got all that back. But that was it.

I would get this thread taken down unless you’ve changed a lot of details, as it would be very recognisable and you refer doing some not ideal things yourself like telling lots of clients about things that may be confidential.

@Ermintrudedolphin as you know TUPE cannot be negotiated unilaterally as they have tried to do. Speak to a lawyer and take advice from them but yes I suspect you have a case.

I’ve definitely not told anybody confidential information and I’ve used clients as a term but they are not clients.

Union rep here.

Before you go to tribunal you need to show you have given the company the opportunity to make things right by following the internal compaints process.

Did you do any of that?

As your contract states you can work elsewhere they are within their rights to move you.

My advice is: -

1. Chase up any outstanding monies
2. Ignore any comments from well-meaning friends and colleagues

With respect, they are only hearing your side of the story, they like you so of course they will agree with your interpretation

1. Spend your physical and mental time and energy on the new job and moving forward.

I would pursue, particularly in terms of the pension issues (not sure what the claim is regarding this or if it shoumd go to.pensions ombudsman?) . Having said that, it is an extremely stressful process, especially if it does go to ET. However, it's highly likely they will settle. You could put your claim in and withdraw it at any point if it gets too stressful.

When did this happen

Now you have your certificate you have nothing to lose by sending in the ET1 outlining your claims. You could consult a solicitor if you want to understand the merits of your claim and are intending to pursue it possibly to a full ET. However, in some parts of the country these are being arrange for 2028/29, you need to look for work to mitigate your losses and the tribunal service will ask you to consider judicial mediation and a resolution hearing to unclog the system and resolve matters. Your employer may settle with you on receipt of the ET1 (wait until they get it and then ask for a settlement via ACAS and a COT3 again) and may offer nuisance money (an ex-gratia/PILON/agreed reference/you should have been paid holidays). It will cost them more money in legal fees and time than it will cost you at this stage. It gets more complicated at the preliminary hearing where a judge will look at the claim and start issuing case management orders. That’s where the work starts. It’s really up to you how far you push this. If they don’t settle you need to be prepared to walk away or put your efforts into fighting it which as a litigant in person is hard.

Unfortunately there is no HR or internal complaints services. I did discuss with one of the bosses before I handed my notice in but there were no compromises offered. The other staff who also should have transferred under TUPE all signed the new contracts because they felt intimidated.

Thank you. I was luckily offered 3 jobs immediately and started one the week after I finished. I have now received my holiday pay back and one of my pensions has been paid. I’m still trying to track the other down which isn’t showing in my portal. It’s more accountability I wanted as they have no experience in the field and intimidated the staff into complying rather than following correct procedures. There’s more to the story but it would be outing.