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Original poster

DH been demoted without warning and looking at a £100K pay cut.

93 replies

WifeandMotherof4 · 15/11/2008 12:45

He went to work on Friday as SD and came home a sales manager....
Apparently his immediate boss is looking to go 'forward' in a different direction than he believes my DH can take them in. (there is no further explanation). We know this is illegal and there's nothing he can do as he can still earn £90k and couldn't elsewhere.
I think he should try and get a better package, at the moment they're offereing a £15k parachute payment and reducing his basic to £40k. They are a shoddy twattish company who he has worked for for over 13 years. Our outgoings are £3800 per month and we will probably have to move and take our children out of their (quite cheap) private school. There is also current business to get commission from in January which at 3% he'd get £18k ( at worst £9k) and they've demoted him now to give his replacement good weeks to start his new job....this is their best time.
I am at a loss as to what to advise my Dh besides giving him a pistol full of bullets!!!

OP posts:
edam · 15/11/2008 12:48

Blimey. Have a look at the ACAS website for employment law or try tiger.gov.uk.

TrinityRhino · 15/11/2008 12:48

'(quite cheap) private school'

roffle

I'm sorry that this has happened to you, I hope everything works out fine

Carmenere · 15/11/2008 12:51

I would definitely seek legal advice iiwy.
I think it is worth warning you that you will inevitably get some posters who will come onto your thread and complain about the size of your dh's salary.

MinkyBorage · 15/11/2008 12:53

Hmmmmm, I suspect that there will be a general lack of sympathy re the amount he is getting paid too!

LaDiDaDi · 15/11/2008 12:54

This sounds awful and quite complicated. Hope that your dh is able to sort things out. I would try to contact a specialist solicitor in employment law on Monday.

Original poster
WifeandMotherof4 · 15/11/2008 12:57

Well, it didn't make us rich or happy...it made us complacent tt the money would keep rolling in and we spent way too much and thought we should buy everyone really lavish gifts (as he hasn't always earnt so much.
I understand that we won't get sympathy but I feel sorry enough for myself and can't think how shitty it's going to be when we tell the children they have to leave their school.

OP posts:
rookiemater · 15/11/2008 13:00

WifeandMotherof4, shouldn't matter how much your DH was on its the principal and legality thats important. We all tend to live to our income and it doesn't make you bad or wrong. Hopefully flowerybeanbag will come along, she gives great employment advice, it doesn't sound as if what they have done would stand up in a court of law.

duckyfuzz · 15/11/2008 13:00

he needs to get legal advice, quickly

Lizzylou · 15/11/2008 13:01

You should still get sympathy, imo.

That is a shocking way to treat someone, SD or not.

Of course you were spending money that your DH earnt, at that point you could afford it.

CAB or Acas, am at how a company can do this, wouldn't think it was legal (certainly not ethical).

Hope it gets sorted for you

duckyfuzz · 15/11/2008 13:03

a pay cut like that is a massive shock to the system, we all leave to our income - what's the point in earning that much if you only live on a quarter of it?! Yes, you can do things to soften the blow, like move and change schools, but that doesn't make it any less of a shock

FiveDollarShake · 15/11/2008 13:06

You have to prioritise and budget.

90k is still a massive salary! Could you downsize your house, cars, holidays etc so you can keep your DC's in their schools for the time being?

At least you have the scope to downsize.....and that your DH still has a job at all! He could have been made redundant.

Lizzylou · 15/11/2008 13:09

£90k per month is still a lot more than your £3800 a month outgoings isn't it?

I'd have thought you'd be pretty comfy still?

LadyMuck · 15/11/2008 13:12

Have they actually gone through the proper process in this case? There are legal processes which must be followed before you can downgrade an employee - it is not a sudden unexpected move.

HolidaysQueen · 15/11/2008 13:16

Like FiveDollarShake says, I'd try to minimise other outgoings first before taking the kids out of school - it would be best not to disrupt them if you can help it at all.

Small things may help like switching gas and electricity providers, switching the mortgage to a longer term so you can cut the monthly payments (although i know that's not easy at the moment), cutting back on Sky if you have it and just using Freeview, shopping at a different supermarket and planning meals better so you don't waste food, switching to cheaper mobile phone provider and using landline more, cutting back on after school stuff the kids do. These could actually save you a few hundred pounds a month.

Good luck. Whatever the salary, things like this are really really hard as pretty much everybody lives to their means.

UnquietDad · 15/11/2008 13:21

Where does one find these "quite cheap" private schools?... State schools are free, you know.

HolidaysQueen · 15/11/2008 13:26

lizzylou - i think his salary is 40k so the other 50k is dependent on his sales, so i guess they can only rely on 40k

nkf · 15/11/2008 13:29

I think your options are fight it or go along with it.

It's obviously illegal so it might be worth a visit to a lawyer.

TrinityRhino · 15/11/2008 13:30

I have a lot of sympathy for you
getting a huge pay cut is a dreadful shcol and to tell the kids they have to leave their school will be hard for you and them

I shouldn't have made a joke but really you didn't need to mention that it was a orivate school...and then add it in wqas cheap lol
the issue is that your kids will have to move schools

Lizzylou · 15/11/2008 13:33

Aah, thanks Holidays Queen, has misread that

Original poster
WifeandMotherof4 · 15/11/2008 13:35

UD....the schools in our area are truly shit, even in the leafy areas. We have policemen on duty in nearly every secondary school.
The school is £1400 per term.... the state school failed my first child greatly.

OP posts:
FiveDollarShake · 15/11/2008 13:41

If you feel it's important to keep your DC's at their current school then you'll have to look at other ways of cutting back. i can understand you not wanting to uproot them.

artichokes · 15/11/2008 13:41

Of course you deserve sympathy. Your life is being turned upside down. What you have come to accept as normal will now be unreachable.

I cannot see why mentioning a private school is bad. That is one of your outgoings and you may not be able to afford it. That is horrible for you and your children.

There is no doubt you can survive on the new salary. But the fact it is will be hard for you. In addition your husband has been treated appallingly.

I hate to think that anyone would fail to have empathy with your situation.

Piffle · 15/11/2008 13:45

pretty sure it falls under constructive dismissal
Let's not badger OP about private schools and outgoings here.
Fact is when you've lived on higher income losing that is a massive shock.
Pursue legalities while figuring out how to cope in the meantime.
Priorities debt repayments too to avoid penalties and snowballing credit issues.
Sounds like a shit company...

Original poster
WifeandMotherof4 · 15/11/2008 13:53

By the time Mr Tax and Mrs National insurance take their cut we're down to (if he sells well) the knuckle and I have not included food or petrol.

OP posts:
BoccaDellaVerita · 15/11/2008 13:58

Could you speak to the school and make some arrangement about the fees? I've seen other threads on here in which schools have been quite flexible when parents' circumstances have changed.

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