Sueing an employer?

[Monday]

I know employment problems are generally dealt with by a Tribunal but is an alternative to independently instruct a solicitor?

The background is that, following a ''job reshuffle', employees could either accept the job they were mapped to or could apply for another of the same grade. which

[PallasAthena]

Your post seems to have stopped half way through a sentence Monday so I don't know what the issue is.

[Monday]

Sorry, I didn't realise it had been posted.

Following a job 'reshuffle' last July which affected about 20 staff, employees were told they could either accept the job they were mapped to or apply for one other job of the same grade. One person took the second option and was the preferred applicant, agreeing that her new job would start on 2 January, after she had fully trained the person who was taking her previous job.

Six weeks in, it is obvious that the new job seems not to exist and she is being fobbed off with bits and pieces of work that others do not want to do. A new work schedule has been compiled that is totally different to the job description that she was offered. No relevant training has been offered or planned for and she is being treated as the "office lackey".To add insult to injury, it has now come to light that the person she trained to take over her previous role has had seven months additional training, home study leave, professional fees and exams paid for by the employer while her line manager(who has been employed by the company for all of six weeks) has told her 3or4 times "if you don't like it, you can leave".

It is beginning look like she is being forced out of a job, after more than six years as a loyal employee.

Considered financial options?

Redundancy, minimal given her age (51) and length of service (6)

Constructive dismissal, minimal, same reasons

Hence my question which is "as a last resort, would it be possible to sue the employer for breach of contract instead of going down the tribunal route?"

Obviously she doesn't want to leave. She wants/needs the job and training but the situation which is not of her making is making her ill.

Thank you for any advice

[ULA]

Have any of the contractual terms of her employment changed?

Salary?
Location?
Grade (if applicable)?
Holiday entitlement?
Hours of work?
Benefit?
Changes in any other terms?

[Monday]

Location - still in the same building but moved from an office in the ground floor with six employees to a large office on the 6th floor containing 16 'hot desks' for employees of different departments. Now Finance, previously Science and Project Support. Job title changed from Project Support Officer to Project Planning. No change to original contract of employment.

Other changes- Flexitime. It has always been recognised that she can work Flexi time but is apparently not in any one's
contract. The Finance dept will not recognise Flexi time (apparently the only part of the same company that will not.

A number of employees in the Finance dept are on different contracts (some, not this employee) sold out their pension rights in exchange for higher salaries. Her Line Manager has expressed the view that they must all be put on the same contracts but this has not been implemented yet.

Hours of work - previously flexible, between 7am and 7pm but Finance is trying to insist on set hours, 9am to 5pm

[ULA]

So no real change to contractual terms. I cannot therefore see that there is a breach of contract claim as this would hinge on the person proving that terms of the contract had been breached.

You say this person has been "fobbed off" when raising the issues but have they raised a formal grievance. If not then that may be the next step they need to take.

[Monday]

Thank you. They have meetings tomorrow re raising a grievance.

[ULA]

Let us know how they get on and if they have any further questions as they go through the process just come back to this thread.

[Monday]

Okay, thank you.

To clarify, when I naively wondered about the possibility of breach of contract, I wasnt thinking about the original contract of employment; I was thinking more about the employer's failure to provide the Project Planner job that she was offered and accepted and their substitution of work other than that described on the Project Planner job description.

[ULA]

That of itself would not be a breach of contract.

The person does need to question, via the grievance process, why the job as offered and accepted is not actually what they are doing and why so soon into the role there has been a substitution of work from what was anticipated.

[Monday]

Thank you, it does help to have an opinion from a professional person who is unconnected

[Monday]

Just for info- at the union meeting it was suggested that she"asks for a training plan"....not helpful when all the issues together go a long way to meeting the definition of bullying in the workplace

[ULA]

Do I understand correctly that the meetings you referred to in your post #7 were with a union rep? Is the person looking to be accompanied at any potential grievance by the union?

If so other than a training plan what else do they suggest in regards to the issue and the raising of a grievance?

[Monday]

The person was emailed several times by someone who says he is their new line manager and saying he wants to meet ASAP to discuss the situation. She replied that she was consulting the union. The union rep advised that she should be accompanied to the meeting by a union rep so no such meeting has yet taken place.

At a meeting this afternoon with a union rep, the union rep said their plan was for her to ask for a training plan. There has been no further suggestion from the union rep who also commented that the employer likes employees to be flexible. The suggestion of a grievance came from you.

Helping her with notes in preparation for the aforementioned union meeting, it looks like the situation is far more complex than can be resolved by a training plan. All things considered - lack of training, failure to implement the job description, the way she is being treated by her previous line manager, that another person who transferred into that dept at the same time has had seven months training and exam fees and professional memberships paid for by the firm to mention a few - seem to meet a number of aspects of bullying in the workplace.

[ULA]

The union may have advised that the person is accompanied at the meeting but unless it is a disciplinary or grievance hearing there is no legal obligation on the company to agree to this.

In respect of your view about bullying this is defined as behaviour that makes someone feel intimidated or offended and some examples of bullying behaviour include:

* spreading malicious rumours
* unfair treatment
* picking on or regularly undermining someone
* denying someone’s training or promotion opportunities

Bullying itself is not against the law, but harassment is and this is unwanted behaviour related to one of the 9 protected characteristics.