Has anyone been down the constructive dissmissal route ?

[pippylongstockings]

I was made to move to a new job role in a different branch location 3 months ago. I returned from my christmas holiday yesterday to find that while I was away another staff member has taken over my desk and in doing so has had a 'clear out' getting rid of all my sales sheets for last quarter making it very difficult for me to have an and of year appraisal.

On top of this it transpires that everyone else was asked to submit their annual leave requests early last month - they are granted on a 1st come 1st served basis - I am part-time, and these sheets were given out on a day I wasn't in, and no-one had thought to ask me. I now have had some of my holiday refused because I asked too late - which means I have no child-care as I only have holiday when my child-minder does.

These are two petty items on top of a big pile of stuff that has happned over the last 6 months.
My job role has been changed with no consultation from an assistant manager to direct sales.
After I took this to the Union I was offered a job share role over 40miles away, which is unworkable with no car and 2 children of 2 and 4.
Being made to move office's and change my working hours because the new office is open till 4pm on a Saturday.
Being made to work 3 out of 4 Saturdays which is impacting my family life.
Having minimal training for new job role.
No 1 to 1's within the 3 months I have been in new office.
Meetings arranged during my annual leave that I am expected to attend.
Constant snipes about being part-time.

I really feel that I want to leave because my working life is being made unbearable. yesterday I just wanted to cry. I am hardly sleeping with worrying about it all as I am paid well for my job and I can't earn enough money if I leave.

Last time I took this to the Union they said that because I had started the new role all be it on a trial basis constructive dismissal was a hard one to prove. My career has gone from being a Branch Manager to now being made to be Personal banking adviser in 2 years since I returned part-time.

Anyone any suggestions ?

This sounds difficult for you.

Have you asked for a serious discussion with HR as I suggest you put all these things down and ask to discuss them. Alternative is to do so with your manager, or if the manager is the problem, then your grandparent manager.

Try to identify which issues are the most important and which are annoying but could bee asily resolved if you politely make it clear that your leave planning is being overlooked. You could suggest that no-one's leave is agreed on 1st come 1st serve basis - rather it should be agreed once all bids are in.

You could also ask for planned training and 121s - these should be feasible with some good will from yr manager?

I'd suggest you do raise these things and keep a brief record of the discussions. If there's no improvement you could raise a grievance but as the union said if you agreed to new role and move then it doesn't sound a good position to try for CD. I'd suggest you keep the approach of informal requests, formal requests, internal grievance before you try CD, as its a bit drastic and you're not going to improve working relations if you go for CD too quickly. Think about your long term working relationships too.

I'd also say CD route is too high risk if you need your current income.

I hope this doesn't sound too preachy or like trying to teach Granny to sauck eggs. Good luck.

Agree with sandripples.

Start by approaching your manager, manager's manager or HR. Be nice about it. Say that you are a bit confused about how things are operating and you need a bit of advice as life is going to be extremely difficult as things stand.

Plug away and keep lots of notes. If you are unhappy then check out the grievance policy and raise a formal grievance. Only until you have done as much as you can internally should you think about going to tribunal or anything like that.

Also, ACAS are very good if you need third party advice or intervention:-
www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1461

Pippy do you work for an organisation that was eaten up by another bank about 15 months ago?

I think we may work for the same bastard company and I might be able to help or put you in touch with someone else who has had a similar experience. CAT me if you want and we can discuss.

I am about to engage a solicitor because of the shitty way I've been treated whilst on maternity leave. They've got until Friday to reply to my grievance and the HR woman has yet to give me the info she said she would at beginning of December (basic stuff, like who my new line manager is, how do I contact them, when will my 2009 appraisal be) so I'm not hopeful

I went throught the constuctive dismissal route, I used to work for a rather large pub chain, I had my hours slashed by 50% because I took time off with my child when he was ill, it was just a few days, I'm a single mum with no family here so it was me or no one. What it means is that your employer has created a situation where you can no longer work there because they have broken the trust and faith that you have in them, it effectively means that they pushed you out of your job so you were 'fired' rather then resigned. It is important that you write in your resignation letter that you consider yourself to be 'constructively dismissed' because of their behaviour. ACAS prefer it if you go through the company grievance procedure but it's not always possible to do this, to claim constructive dismissal this needs to be immediate as they have broken all trust and faith that you have in them in an irreversible way. It has been years since I went through this, my employment law isn't up to date so things may have changed.

I found the equal opportunities commission really helpful for advice, you can give them a call, they will give you up to date advice.
I think they have changed to this now but they seem to concentrate more on disability/racial rights rather then part time workers rights.
www.equalityhumanrights.com

Your Union should also be helping you, some household insurance companies give free legal advice and will fund a solicitor so check your policy.

I hope it works out for you, it's a nightmare. Do go to your GP if you feel like you need to, it can affect your health as it's stressful, it can help you in your case if it's documented.

Justanothermanicmummy - yes I do, worked for the old company for 15 years as a branch manager, came back after mat leave of having DS2 on a part-time basis, I was seconded into a temporary job role which eventually resulted in me being an ABM in a city centre branch - all good, until rug sharply pulled from under my feet - forced into direct sales (yuk bloody bank account and no customer care) and moved to other banks high street branch - everyone thinks I'm making trouble just cause I speak out.

How do I cat you ?

Click on "contact poster" on the right next to my name or you can email me direct: justanothermanicmummy at yahoo dot co dot uk if you've not got CAT set up and we can have a proper bitch exchange

I worked for the new company, left because of their dodgy local management practices and then got eaten up by the bastards again 3 years later! I am BM too, although was moving into HR (oh the irony!) before the proverbial hit the fan.

Pippy I've just had a quick look at your profile and if you are who I think you are, I may have spoken to you in the past and I thought you were very nice about some business that was showing on my branch that actually belonged to yours. How funny!

Constructive dismissal is very difficult to prove and stressful. It's particularly hard when you are claiming it because of lots of things making life unbearable rather than one clear breach of contract, as obviously a clear breach of contract is much easier to prove and demonstrate as being serious enough to feel you must leave your job.

The first two things you mention sound thoughtless, irritating and inconsiderate, but not really anything more. In terms of dealing with them, are there no other records of the sales you have made internally, could that information be resurrected for you? In terms of your childcare difficulties, do you have a DH or DP who could take leave on the days your childminder is not available, or any one else who could take your DC at those times?

If you are contemplating claiming constructive dismissal it's important you can demonstrate that you have attempted to resolve the issues internally, usually with a grievance, so you need to look into doing that. If part or all of the reason you want to claim constructive dismissal is because your job content or terms and conditions have been changed unreasonably or without your consent, it's really important that you either refuse to accept the new conditions, or, if you do continue working under the new conditions, you make it clear in writing that you are doing so under protest.

See here about what an employer needs to do to change your terms and conditions, and here about what happens if you don't agree with the change. Note the section under 'What you can do'.

I'm assuming the changes of hours and office are all connected with the fact that it's a different job rather than separate issues. The trouble is, as your union have said, if you've started working in this new job with the different hours in the new office without making it clear that you are doing so under protest and formally complaining about it at the time, it's difficult to claim now that your contract has been fundamentally breached forcing you to resign. How long ago was it this new job started and to what extent have you protested about it?

flowery - thanks for the extra info.

When the job changes were first announced I was led to believe that I had no cause to complain - my job was fairly much the same, in the same office with the same team and customer base. it was about 6 weeks later I was told that 48 offices were doing a 'talent re-deployment exercise to aid intergration' and that I was chosen to take part. I said that I did not want to but was told I was a 'smart' person and knew better than to decline. I took it to the Union and all the way up to HR but the only offer they came up with was to offer me a temporary job share over 40miles away. I asked for it to be a temporary move for 3 months rather than a perm move, but I have now find out that a new employee at the old branch is being trained to be a PBA and that I can't move back because of this.

I know that some of the stuff I am complaining about seems small but it is ontop of a constant drip drip drip undermining me as a person and as a part-time employee. For example today my manager told me she couldn't get to grips with my hours and that it was making her branch hard to manage. Another collegue constantly call's me by the old comapny I worked for name 'mrs oldbank' than my own name. We were given targets today and I was told mine were easy because I was part-time. I asked about additional training and was told it is hard to arrange because I am not in everyday.

It is just so bloody hard - I have been part-time for 2 years and never had this hostility before. It mystifies me as a manager why you would need to be like this to some-one?

pippy I got your email and have replied