Constructive Unfair Dismissal Claim

[RompinDonkey]

Good evening,

I'll start with an apology for the forthcoming wall of text. I'll try to keep it as brief as possible.

Ok so Background. I work for a large gov department and have done since 2001. Due to the closure of my local office where I worked, I had an option of redundancy or to remain in the department and transfer to another office approx. 50 miles away. For those opting to remain in the department, 5 years Daily Travel Assistance (DTA) was provided. This was 2017 when I decided to stay with them. At the point when Covid happened, I was in my 3rd year of travel assistance and once it became clear that this wasn't going away anytime soon I requested my DTA be suspended. This was a bit of a hoo-ha but eventually this was suspended and I was advised to contact them when I return to office for it to be reinstated,

For the past few months the department has been working hard to get people back to office. 12 weeks ago I submitted my claim to reinstate daily travel assistance. I requested the same travel passes as before the pandemic. An annual train pass and a bus pass (to get me to and from the train station from home.) - this costs approximately £3700 (this was far cheaper in the first few years but obviously prices rise hard and fast) -HR have dithered about this whole time and when my manager who is eager to see my return to work contacted HR she was advised that, I have had my 5 years DTA.

Prior to all of this as a compromise and whilst I was of the belief that my DTA would soon come through, I agreed to do a day a week instead of the newly hybrid hours of 3 days in 2 from home as part of our recent pay and contract reform. After 1 month I had to stop doing that as it was costing me £100 a month, a relatively small cost but one that I had not expected nor budgeted for and well, cost of living crisis, energy cap rise etc. That and, as far as I was concerned the cost should have been covered by DTA. On Friday (27/05/2022) - I advised my manager I just couldn't afford it any longer and HR were taking their sweet time. My manager agreed I could continue to work from home until it was sorted.

So now, to add to the problem, HR have now advised that because I have said I cant afford to travel to work in the meantime, then this now also falls under "Financial Conduct" - I think this is something to do with the Civil Service Code of Conduct or something like that. As a civil servant I must "manage my finances responsibly" - I do tend to manage my finances responsibly, I just can't afford to pay £3700 costs I did not expect to pay. - Due to the financial conduct issue I have already had services and security clearance removed that are vital to my job.

Haven't been able to reach a union rep yet (PCS) yet probably due to the upcoming bank holidays etc. It feels like i'm being pushed out and I feel they are wrong whichever way you look at it. 1. I was due 5 years of DTA and received 3. Nobody told me the clock kept ticking. And 2. even if it is ok for them to say the 5 years is up, surely they could/should have made me aware of this 12-18 months ago, and then I could have planned a new job or saved for the cost of my travel.

I'd love to hear any advice you can give as I am worried what will happen. I hear employment tribunals are expensive? Is there any hope at all?

[atticus]

Wait to speak to your union.

Constructive dismissal arises when you leave your job as a result of the employer's serious breach of contract. You make yourself unemployed. Your employer will contest a tribunal claim on the basis that you chose to resign and there was no serious breach on its part. All sorts of sh!t will be thrown at you. The tribunal case will take many months to come to a hearing.

So, this is not something to be lightly undertaken. Take time to discuss with your union.

[ULA]

Firstly, was there any confirmation in writing that you can refer to stating that there would be a break in the DTA and that time on the 5 years was “frozen” until a return to work following the pandemic was required? If not, then this could be an issue for you in terms of proving your case.

Unfortunately, civil servants are bound by a comprehensive code of conduct and although I do not regularly review this document there is reference to financial conduct in section 4.3 but I understood that to be in more serious situations e.g. bankruptcy and insolvency. However, there may be issues related to more minor issues of financial hardship because of your potential vulnerability.

In regard to constructive unfair dismissal claims (the legal term) these are diffcult to prove and the onus would be on you to set out that you had no option but to resign due to the conduct of your employer. You would also be expected to have exhausted all internal processes to try and resolve the issue before resorting to resigning.

Tribunal claims, if you want to have legal representation throughout the process, would mean that you are looking at upward of circa £5k depending on the complexity of the claim. You could be what is a called a litigant in person (LIP) and conduct the claim yourself, which can be quite stressful particularly as your employer would no doubt engage a solicitor. Alernatively you can be a LIT up until the hearing and then instruct what is called a Direct Access Barrister to respresent you. In regard to timescale you are looking at least 12 plus months before this would come to a hearing.

I would strongly agree with atticus that if you can get advice from your union that you do so and as always you can come back to this thread for any further questions.

[theberenger]

One further complication that occurs to me, and will surely occur to your employer, is how you propose to handle your travelling expenses once your DTA genuinely expires, be that now, or in three years time?

With the current state of the economy, nobody is guaranteed a salary increment year-on-year these days, so I doubt you could rely your pay in 2 years' time being raised enough to cover the cost.

I only mention it because it seems like a fairly obvious question your employer might put to you.

[Guest]

One further complication that occurs to me, and will surely occur to your employer, is how you propose to handle your travelling expenses once your DTA genuinely expires, be that now, or in three years time?

With the current state of the economy, nobody is guaranteed a salary increment year-on-year these days, so I doubt you could rely your pay in 2 years' time being raised enough to cover the cost.

I only mention it because it seems like a fairly obvious question your employer might put to you.

He wrote "...then I could have planned a new job or saved for the cost of my travel."

[RompinDonkey]

Thank you all for your comments so far.

Things haven't really moved along any so far. I have replied to an email asking me for a more in depth look at costings for different options. The email didn't seem to suggest that they would not approve my claim which I thought was odd. If they aren't going to pay why ask how much different tickets cost.
It is likely I will have to wait several week to get a response based on how long it took to respond to previous contacts.

My manager has spoken to HR since who advised that "The maximum period allowed for daily travel assistance is 5 years and it cannot be extended beyond that point. The dates originally agreed were 31/05/2017 to 31/05/2022"

My point is that the DTA was, as advised by HR, "Suspended" and I was advised to contact HR when I return to office to have it "Reinstated" and also, I am not asking for more than was agreed, just that they honour the agreement and give 5 years assistance.

We shall see what happens I guess. Thanks again.

[ULA]

Thanks for the update.

You know where we have if you have further questions once you get a response back. Just come back to this thread rather than start a new one.