Constructive dismissal - demotion - help someone please

[x7c86]

Hi, Im new to this site so please be kind!

 

Im a part time professional accountant who has worked for their employer over 6 years. The first 4 years full time then after a years maternity leave i was lucky enough to negotiate part time hours (26 per week) - im the only person in an department of 200+ people who works part time.

 

Last week was my annual pay review- my boss gave me a scathing review of my work which left me absolutely devastated ( i sit at the desk next to him and he's not mentioned my supposedly poor performance until its come to pay rise time.)

 

After 6years in the company - ive never received a negative performance review and I know he just did this to excuse my lack of annual payrise. I dont actually care about the money but felt very upset to be treated this way.

 

I feel that he secretly hopes i will leave because my part time hours are a pain to him and his full time team of male colleagues. Also - as a mummy ive had to leave at 5.30pm promptly and occasionally had to take sick leave to care for my child.

 

Anyway , rightly or wrongly I took the above complaint to our HR department.

HR have spoken to my boss and although he apologised for the badly delivered review - he actually announced that due to a team restructuring I would be losing my staff member and from now on be placed into a new team which puts another layer of management between himself and I .

I view this as effective demotion on all counts - losing my staff ends my management status and being put into a team reporting to a guy who was previously on same level as myself is also very upsetting.

 

Sorry all for writing this essay but ive been so upset by all of this - its keeping me awake at night and i feel powerless.

Please tell me are any of these things illegal- my boss denies the demotion aspect reckons its just an efficiency based team restructure?

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, sounds as if you're having a tough time at the moment. Any change to your status should only be by consultation and it doesn't sound as if you have been consulted at all about the change.

 

Also, there may be a case for discrimination as under the sex discrimination Act (1975), it is against the law for an employer to discriminate on the grounds of gender, marriage, pregnancy or maternity leave. This can be classified as directly or indirectly. An example of indirect sex discrimination may be less favourable treatment of part time workers, for example, as more women tend to work part time than men.

 

If you believe you have not been treated fairly, you should lodge a grievance.

 

Kind Regards

 

Ell-enn

[Sidewinder]

Restructuring or demotion? It is incredibly difficult to prove the latter, particularly where the employer can demonstrate cost efficiencies or production benefits. You need to ask several questions - initially to yourself, but in time and in a rational manner, also to your boss.

 

Has you pay been affected? Has anybody else received a pay rise as a result of the restructuring? Will your career prospects be affected? Are there any other areas where you feel that your sex or status as a parent have caused you to be treated differently? Are you better qualified, or longer serving than you former equal, to whom you now report? Are you the only member of staff to be effectively 'demoted'?

 

If the answers to any of these questions are 'yes', and you can see no real benefit to the employer's efficiency or profitability as a result of making the changes, then you may have grounds to believe that you have been the victim of discrimination (intentionally or otherwise) and I would suggest that you request a meeting for a frank exchange of views. You are entitled to ask why your negative review has been left so long with no previous indication that your work is a problem, and are equally entitled to ask whether you may expect equal treatment in future with regard to promotion, pay and status. Tell your boss about your disappointment at losing management status and ask the question outright whether your responsibilities as a parent are causing difficulty. He would be very silly to confirm that particular point or to indicate in any way that you are treated differently on account of your sex but you never know. The law affords you considerable protection from both direct and indirect discrimination and if you are able to build a case, then you could ultimately take this to a Tribunal. they would, however, require significant evidence in support of your claim.

 

Good luck. I know how much unhappiness at work can also affect your life away from work and I hope that you are able to resolve this problem soon.

[Sidewinder]

Sorry Ell-enn - I took a while in typing my response and didn't realise that you were on the case!

[x7c86]

Hi,

Thank you for the quick reply - im so glad of your help.

 

When you say consulted do you mean told of the demotion? Yes i was told and even given my chance to argue case against - however, it all fell on deaf ears and despite my obvious distress the term 'demotion' was much denied by my boss.

 

He said it was efficiency based reorganisation - but its funny that Ive just lost my status after complaining about him to HR last week.

[Ell-enn]

Sorry Ell-enn - I took a while in typing my response and didn't realise that you were on the case!

 

No problem Sidewinder. As always, you've given good constructive advice:-)

[x7c86]

Just wanted to say thank you so much for your help - the advice you gave me last week (esp. from Sidewinder) was absolutely crucial to my success last week as I took a stand against my boss regarding my 'perceived' demotion.

The day after my post - I wrote a very clear email to my boss and copied in my HR representative - which cited all the applicable points that Sidewinder had mentioned (eg. my future employment prospects had been harmed, my proposed new boss was actually less qualified and shorter serving than myself etc)

The response from my original boss (our finance mgr) was amazing +lightening fast for someone so busy!!

He ushered me into the finance directors empty office and for 2.5hrs he tried to convince me against every point I had raised on my email and relentlessly continued to give me a counter argument to any defence I could come up with (please believe me he is an expert negotiator! )

I was tired by the time this had reached 2.5 hrs and the tears in my eyes meant I was embarrased to continue the debate with him

 

Anyway, there was no progress made on my side from the 2.5hrs debate . Not one of my suggestions was considered regarding work redistribution as an alternative to demotion.

I have since accepted the demotion - my positive outlook and avoidance of further confrontation has caused me to get on with my work however, unfortunately ive become more upset because in the past two weeks my new 'boss' has made no attempt to speak to me or to talk about the redistribtution of my work load following the reorganisation - despite the obvious support that his presence was deemed to provide.

In addition to this - today my original boss (our finance mgr) effectively told me that my role is actually unimportant and has no significance on real profit and loss figures. He said my department was merely a reporting function and an estimate from him regarding total costs fo my area for one month would suffice therefore he saw no need for any detailed calcs.

It actually takes me approx 4hrs each week to make the complicated adjustments that he so quicky dismisses.

This final comment is particularly unfair - I have spent a year learning the role which Im currently working in - also I have managed to qualify as a an accountant despite having a young child throughout my final exams.

The area that I work in admittedly isnt the most exciting and profit making of all -however, I save approx 20k per month in stock valuation adjustments - and previously my department has contained at least 2 full time staff members not just one part time person like now

 

I am torn between handing my resignation in on Monday or visiting the doctor with stress.

So far my HR dept have been useless - just siding with my boss and trying to persuade me what great support the demotion will bring following introducton of new line mgr.

I long for some more advice from you please can you help

Anything that is not clear please let me know

Many Thanks

[bed32]

I think to resign and claim constructive dismissal is a high risk - a tribunal might reason that bad though your boss has been that doesn't reach the level necessary for it to be constructive dismissal.

 

If you believe that you have been discriminated against because you work part-time then you can take your employer to the tribunal while you are still working there. You can make a claim for "detriment" on the basis of being discriminated against because you work part time. This has a number of benefits:

• I think the burden of proof is transfered to the employer. It is up to him to show that his reasons for acting were not that you work part time.
  
• Detriment can include a claim for injury to feelings, I don't think unfair dismissal can.
  
• Because you are still working there, there is more incentive on the company to resolve things quickly.

In order for such a claim to succeed all you really need to show is that you have been treated less favourably than an equivalent full time person.

 

In order to make such a claim you need to have raised an official grievance about the way you have been treated. I'm not sure from your earlier posting whether your letter constituted a grievance or not. If it did then you will get an official response telling you that you have the right to appeal against the decision. If not then resubmit it as a grievance - you should include in that any areas where you think your boss is treating you unfairly, particularly the poor performance review and lack of pay rise.

 

If you are genuinely suffering from stress then you should see your doctor, irrespective of any claim you may bring. If you do get signed off with stress that could help your case but that shouldn't be the main reason for going.

 

Note that I am not a professional or expert in the field. My comments are given for general guidance only. You should not base any actions on what I say without getting professional advice.