Ongoing issues with employer, this is the final straw!

[karma]

Hi, I really don't know where to start My boss has left the company where I work (I am her Exec Assistant), she has had a settlement and is highly revered by the powers that be! Since I am her assistant I had guessed that my role would be at risk, however, due to Corona virus I have opted for furlough. I had some oustanding expenses to submit for my boss and entailed getting approval from our CEO's office (his EA). Since these expenses where delayed (2019 expenses which was the fault of my boss for not supplying receipts on time) I have been blamed in an email to the CEO's EA, not only that, but my boss had doctored the Email she sent to her by deleting bits out of it and the whole of the first email I sent her as this would have shown I was chasing my boss for her signature/agreement that her expenses were correct and permission to submit them. I was given access to my bosses email account to manage it, however, before she sent this email she had thought she had withdrawn access but she hadn't (I had a microsoft notification which did not make sense so I tried to access her emails and found that I still had access, I think she believed she had withdrawn access). I had been ill from end of Nov, has I have MS, had a bereavement, IBS brought on by all the stress at work and increasing workload This led to depression and anxiety and my GP put me on anti-depressants, (dose was doubled from 50mg to 100mg during the last month as my boss upset me and humiliated me in front of the Temp EA who was covering my sickness)...sorry it is so complication. I called the EA of the CEO to clear my name, that went really well and she said she knew what my boss was trying to do. HOWEVER that evening I was on my laptop and saw an email that did not make sense since I had submitted many expenses so I went into my bosses email again and saw another message to the EA of the CEO telling her that I was frequently ill and that I have MS! She (boss) went on to say that I had been furloughed for 2/3 months and that I am not expected back! there are other bits in the email but this is the jist of it. So that means that I will be made redundant and I have not been formally told and not had any consultation meeting. I also saw that I will be placed in a selection exercise with another admin who has been there for nearly 10 years, I have been there a year next month.

Do I/can I take any action as my boss has left the company What action can I take as clearly this is breath of confidentiality and I understand MS comes under inequaility law/disability law. It is interesting how the boss has thought she had taken away access to her emails and then sent these messages. She does not know I had a confidential conversation with the EA of the CEO who approves her expenses and cleared my name.

there are other instances of my boss being unfair etc but I would need another hour to explain, the main thing is the breach of confidentiality and statement that I am not expected back after furlough!
should I raise a grievance if so, who do I send it to, is it HR or her boss who is the CEO I sent to? Unfortunately I don't belong to trade union and don't trust HR much. thanks

[karma]

Anyone?

[ULA]

There are a couple of things to unravel here and some questions i need to ask.

Was your boss who has now left the only person who knew you had MS? Had you asked for any reasonable adjustments to be made to your working environment under the Equality Act 2010? Were there other people e.g. HR who are aware you have MS?

I understand from your post the breach of confidentiality was by your ex-boss who, now no longer works at the company,

to the CEO's EA. You could raise a grievance about your ex-boss being unfair and breach of confidentiality, however since they are no longer an employee of the business it would be very difficult if not impossible for the company to investigate the grievance and make any meaningful conclusions.

As an EA are you automatically given access to your bosses email account and is the laptop your property or that of the company's?

I presume you are on furlough under the government's CJRS in response to COVID19 and if so where you on this scheme when you accessed the computer for work related matters?

If there is to be a redundancy situation then the company will need to follow a fair process including consultation, determination of an "at risk" pool, selection criteria etc.

What correspondence if any were you given when you went onto the CJRS furlough scheme? Is there any reason why your boss would have thought you would not be returning once furlough is concluded?

A response to the questions I have asked would be really helpful in me getting a better understanding of the situation and then to guide on the best way forward.

[karma]

[QUOTE=Ula;n1521349]There are a couple of things to unravel here and some questions i need to ask.

Was your boss who has now left the only person who knew you had MS? Had you asked for any reasonable adjustments to be made to your working environment under the Equality Act 2010? Were there other people e.g. HR who are aware you have MS? NO, I HAD TO TELL HR AND MY BOSS PRESSURISED ME INTO TELLING ANOTHER ADMIN IN THE DEPT AS WE WORK CLOSELY TOGETHER. BOSS ALSO ENCOURAGED ME TO ALLOW HER TO TELL HER LEADERSHIP TEAM WHICH I WAS PART OF, I GAVE HER PERMISSION TO TELL THEM BUT TO KEEP IT CONFIDENTIAL. I, MYSELF, TOLD THE OTHER ADMIN AS I FELT IT WAS BETTER COMING FROM ME. MY BOSS DID NOT ASK ME FOR PERMISSION TO TELL ANYONE ELSE AND I HAVE SEEN THE EMAIL IN WHICH SHE TELLS THE EA AND BLAMES ME FOR THE DELAY IN HER EXPENSES.

SOME MINOR ADJUSTMENTS WERE MADE AS HR GOT OCC HEALTH INVOLVED WHO DID A REPORT JUST SUGGESTING DESK/CHAIR/SCREEN ADJUSTMENT AND MY REQUEST FOR FLEXIBLE HOURS (4 DAY WEEK) OR MORE WORKING FROM HOME. I ALSO HAD A CLOSE FAMILY BEREAVEMENT AROUND THE SAME TIME. I THEN ENDED UP AT GP'S WITH PANIC ATTACKS AND STRESS AND THEN OFF SICK.. STRESS/ANXIETY SHOWN ON SICK CERT. MY BOSS CONTINUED TO CONTACT ME ABOUT VARIOUS MATTERS WHILST I WAS OFF SICK. I THEN RETURNED TO WORK FOR A SHORT WHILE BUT WAS ILL AGAIN AND DR PUT ME ON ANTI-DEPRESSANTS.

I understand from your post the breach of confidentiality was by your ex-boss who, now no longer works at the company,

to the CEO's EA. You could raise a grievance about your ex-boss being unfair and breach of confidentiality, however since they are no longer an employee of the business it would be very difficult if not impossible for the company to investigate the grievance and make any meaningful conclusions. HER LAST DAY WAS 9 APRIL (LAST WEEK) BUT SHE WOULD NOT BE PAID HER SETTLEMENT FOR ANOTHER MONTH. SHE LEFT WITH A SETTLEMENT OFFER SO THERE MUST BE SOMETHING IN HER CONTRACT ABOUT ANY INFORMATION/INVESTIGATION NEEDED AFTER SHE LEFT.

As an EA are you automatically given access to your bosses email account and is the laptop your property or that of the company's? YES MOST EA'S IN THE COMPANY ARE GIVEN ACCESS, I WAS GIVEN ACCESS WHEN I STARTED AS A TEMP IN FEB 2019. THE LAPTOP IS COMPANY PROPERTY. ALSO THE TEMP EA WHO COVERED BY SICKNESS WAS ALSO GIVEN ACESS TO MY BOSS' EMAILS WHICH CONTAINED ALL SORTS OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION NOT ONLY ABOUT ME BUT OTHER TEAM MEMBERS.

I presume you are on furlough under the government's CJRS in response to COVID19 and if so where you on this scheme when you accessed the computer for work related matters? YES I WAS ON FURLOUGH WHEN I ACCESSED THE COMPUTER JUST TO CLOSE OFF BOSS' EXPENSES WHICH I HAD TO HANDOVER TO THE ADMIN. DOES THIS MEAN THAT I CANNOT USE THESE EMAILS AS EVIDENCE OR GET INTO TROUBLE? I WAS GIVEN NO NOTICE OF FURLOUGH I JUST HAPPENED TO GET AN DOCU SIGN EMAIL TO SIGN THE CONTRACT SEE BELOW. ALSO BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO GET INTO TROUBLE WITH MY BOSS AGAIN RELATING TO HER EXPENSES ETC I FELT PRESSURISED TO CLOSE OFF MATTERS ESP EXPENSES AS BEST I COULD.

If there is to be a redundancy situation then the company will need to follow a fair process including consultation, determination of an "at risk" pool, selection criteria etc. YES I HAVE SEEN A SELECTION DOCUMENT 9AGAIN IN BOSS' EMAILS) NAMING ME AND MY COLLEAGUE MENTIONED ABOVE TO GO INTO SELECTION PROCESS. I HAVE BEEN GRADED LOWER THAN HER, SHE HAS BEEN THERE A LOT LONGER THAN I HAVE AND OBVIOUSLY I HAVE BEEN ILL DUE TO WORK STRESS AND MS SO THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN TAKEN INTO ACCOUNT.

What correspondence if any were you given when you went onto the CJRS furlough scheme? Is there any reason why your boss would have thought you would not be returning once furlough is concluded? NO CORRESPONDENCE AS SUCH, JUST A FURLOUGH CONTRACT (DOCUSIGN DOC) WHICH ARRIVED OUT OF THE BLUE AROUND 2.45PM ON THE FIRST DAY I WAS SUPPOSED TO BE FURLOUGHED, SO I HAD ALREADY DONE A DAYS WORK AND HAD TO CONTINUE NEXT DAY TO SORT OUT HANDOVER AND EXPENSES AS FURLOUGH WAS CONFIRMED WITHOUT ANY NOTICE.

ONE OF THE EMAILS I SAW SAYS "SHE IS ON FURLOUGH FOR ....MONTHS AND NOT EXPECTED TO RETURN TO THE COMPANY" THIS WAS FROM MY BOSS TO THE CEO'S EA. I HAVE NOT EVEN BEEN TOLD THAT I AM RISK AND THAT I AM NOT EXPECTED TO RETURN TO THE COMPANY AFTER FURLOUGH. SURELY I SHOULD BE TOLD AND GO THROUGH CONSULTATION PROCESS. I AM REALLY CONFUSED AND IS THIS NOT GOING AGAINST EQUALITY ACT DUE TO MY MS?

A response to the questions I have asked would be really helpful in me getting a better understanding of the situation and then to guide on the best way forward.

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Hi, Many thanks for your response. Please see my answers in CAPS above,hope I have done this correctly.

[ULA]

Thank you for your responses to my questions. I have deleted the duplicate thread.

Personal matters are confidential and should only be shared with others on a need-to-know basis. If your boss was sharing information about your own health with other members of staff that you were not made aware of, this may be considered a breach of confidentiality.

If as I suspect your boss left under a settlement agreement there is often a time lag between the leaving date and the date in which any settlement is finally paid. Therefore, if her termination date was 9 April then she is no longer an employee of the company. However, this does not preclude you from raising a grievance about your boss but be mindful of my earlier comment about what, if any, meaningful action they can take to investigate or come to a conclusion about your grievance.

Under the strict guidelines set out for the payment under the JRS and being put on furlough, employees obtaining the benefit of this scheme are not allowed to undertake any work for their employer.

Given the unprecedented situation there is a confusion around the implementation of furlough and the process to go through to obtain agreement to the variation in an individual’s contract. However I wanted to check that the arrangements were documented and you signed your agreement to them.

I have to say I find the company’s procedure of allowing EA access to their bosses’ emails without any restrictions as to confidential information an unusual one. Granted this does happen but normally with a secondary email for senior managers for which EA’s would not be able to access.

A redundancy consultation process should start as soon as reasonably practicable after the decision has been made, which seems not to be the case from the email correspondence you appear to have found> The process has been taken much further i.e. selection criteria have been decided upon and an assessment of the “at risk” staff made. This would give grounds for you to raise the issue that the redundancy process was not fair and reasonable and that is regardless of any disability discrimination issue.

In terms of redundancy then since you have less than two years’ service you cannot claim unfair dismissal unless you could prove your selection was discriminatory on the grounds of disability. In which case this limiting timescales would not apply.

[karma]

Many thanks for your response, it is really appreciated.

I agree boss should not have divulged medical information, there was no "need to know" basis, it seems she did it to blame me when she emailed the CEO's EAs for the delayed expenses being submitted even though the fault was her's, and I have many emails proving that I had contnuely chased her for receipts and information. The temp EA was also frustrated about having to chase my boss continually on matters especially expenses, and she said she would be a witness if I needed one. In fact the temp EA was kept on after I had returned from sickness to complete my boss' uber expenses so it doesn't make sense when my boss says she thought I had done them, if she thought that then why keep the temp EA on to do them? The CEO nor his EA would not know this unless she was told and the temp rate was very high at a time when the company was making drastic cuts elsewhere so that would not have gone down very well.

i totally understand that I will not get a meaninful outcome as boss has left, however, personally it would help me from a mental health standpoint as I have really suffered and left to think that I am incompetent, worthless and that it is all my fault. Furthermore since they have already made their minds up on making me redundant, I will lose my job in any case. maybe the best course is a settlement as I would no longer want to work for this company even though my boss has left, she has many of her allies still there who would make my life hell.

my question is do I wait until I end furlough or do I take action now? I heard that Rishi Sunak has extended furlough to June though it is company's discretion. If I take action now I lose out on a month's furlough pay I guess unless it is included in a settlement amount.

I was pressured in signing the furlough agreement but I have not done any work, merely gone into my bosses' emails that's all. The company is very lax about confidentiality and I too, was shocked, that a temp EA was given access to my boss's emails quite freely! My boss had obviously not meant for me to see these emails as before she sent the first one blaming my illness, I had received a standard Microsoft notification stating I had been given permission to read, edit her emails, however, I had always been given permission so I think she meant to take away my access and thought she had done so, but didn't check as I still access (obviously an Outlook glitch somewhere).

what should I do if I want to take action, do I raise grievance via HR or to the CEO who is my boss' boss, rather not contact CEO as I feel very intimated and still suffering panic/anxiety attacks.

[ULA]

If you want to raise a grievance about your boss then I am sorry but you cannot really wait. Grievances have to be raised "without unreasonable delay" and I would suggest that you send this to HR in the first instance.

[karma]

If you want to raise a grievance about your boss then I am sorry but you cannot really wait. Grievances have to be raised "without unreasonable delay" and I would suggest that you send this to HR in the first instance.

thank you, much appreciated.