Can i make a claim for constructive dismissal

[emerson1988]

Hi All*
I am seeking some advice I have just returned to work after 11 weeks sick due to anxiety stress and panic attacks due to a few reasons there is a manager at work that thinks she/he is my manager and who i report to this is not the case my line manager is based at a different location the person in question is classed as my customer as i work in IT as a senior IT Technician i am the only engineer on site and i have a lot of users/equipment to look after the manager in question is always badmouthing me to others there attitude stinks and is always abrupt to me i am on a phased return to work and the first week i was back i was pulled up for being 2 mins late this was due to accidents on the motorway and out of my control before i went off ill i always left home at 5 am and got to work at 6 am when the working day started at 9 am i have never been late in 8 years but i wanted to make some changes and i decided to leave home at 7 am giving me 2 hours to do a 49 mile journey but i was pulled up early part of last year i decided to do a grievance against the person down to the same issues being badly treated bad mouthed being slagged off behind my back being made to look a fool in public but the persons manager talked me out of going through it so i decided to withdraw it and instead i had a long conversation with the person this worked for a few weeks then things went back to normal i feel like i am being bullied* harassed* bad mouthed i have kept all the emails regarding the grievance and i have made notes on incidents since my return the manager knows what i have been off for she did my back to work interview and put words in my mouth they are so intimidating they put down that i had not followed procedure reporting sick when as far as i am concerned i did i informed my line manager first i did not have to inform site according to my contract i just needed to contact my line manager but i decided to email the managers at site to let them know*i was ill after the first 7 days i got a sick note from my doctor that only had on physically unwell* the next 2 sick notes had physically unwell and anxiety when i was off work i paid 7 or 8 visits to my doctors and i ma going to see them again they have given me some medication which is helping me but i have had some setbacks since i returned all down to the manager any advice will be greatly received you have helped me in the past for which i cannot thank you enough* * *

[ULA]

Sorry i am just a bit confused do you work for one company but are an "on-site" senior IT technician for another company who is the client or are you an in-house person working at another location of the same company?
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[emerson1988]

Sorry i am just a bit confused do you work for one company but are an "on-site" senior IT technician for another company who is the client or are you an in-house person working at another location of the same company?

Hi I work for one company*

[emerson1988]

Sorry for the confusion I work for one company the way we the company works is that i am employed by head office but i am based at a different site providing IT Support*

[ULA]

Thank you for the clarification.*

Constructive dismissal is where an employer has committed a serious breach of contract, entitling the employee to resign in response to the employer’s conduct. A lot of people think resigning and claiming constructive dismissal is a good option for dealing with problems at work. But resigning is a big step and you might be able to solve your problem without resigning.

Also, it is in fact difficult to prove constructive dismissal - not many claims win. First, you must prove a fundamental (rather than minor) breach of contract by the employer. You must also show that your decision to terminate your employment was in response to the breach and not, for example, because you had been offered a more attractive job. An employment tribunal will also need to satisfy itself that you did not delay too long in resigning. In addition, the tribunal will usually expect that you have tried to resolve the complaint through the grievance procedure before resigning.

So bearing all that in mind I would suggest that, seeing as it appears a more informal route although made an improvement was short lived, then you probably now need to write a formal grievance and ensure that this is made/sent to your manager at head office. The specifics should be related to your treatment since your return, as those are the most recent incidences, however you should refer this to be an ongoing situation for which you have examples which date back to pre your absence. Also point out that having gone down an informal route by directly speaking with the manager concerned there was a brief improvement, however this has not been sustained.
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[emerson1988]

The first time this happened i did actually go down the formal grievance procedure using the correct procedure but the managers Line manager pulled me in to his office and went mad with me he basically bullied me into retracting the grievance and i did in the end as i felt i had no option but to do this and instead i was forced in to talking to the manager one to one and as i said things improved for a short period of time but then went back to normal its getting to the stage were i might end up going off sick again**

[ULA]

The formal written grievance I am proposing needs to go to your manager at head office. You can add into your grievance that the situation has already been a contributory factor to you being off sick with stress and panic attacks and this has not improved since your return.*

[emerson1988]

Sorry to ask but formal grievance what is the possible outcome if i won what i am frightened of is that the situation would improve but then worsen*

[ULA]

Constructive dismissal, as I have stated earlier is a hard claim to make. The Tribunal will look to you to prove that you were constructively dismissed due to your employer making serious breaches of your contract of employment. As part of that you will need to provide evidence that you did everything you could via the internal process to resolve your issues with your employer and that resigning was a last resort.*

[emerson1988]

What would you advise i do in the first instance go down the grievance road first what happens if i go down that road and it goes in my favor this are OK for a few weeks* things return to normal and i am back to square one**

[ULA]

Yes I would advise that you raise a formal grievance to your head office manager. i have given some indication at my post #5 & #7 what you should include in your letter, which includes the fact that although things got better after you informal discussion with the manager concerned it soon reverted back.*

I think you will need to wait and see what the outcome of the grievance is at which point you need to make it clear that any improvements will have to be on a permanent basis not just for a few weeks and then reverting back.*