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Hand in notice or wait to be fired?

Sorry its a long post I have tried to give some background...

If anyone can advise would be really appreciated. We don't want to go to tribunal or anything like that and are not looking for that sort of advice... we just want to know where we stand.

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

Can anyone advise…

My partner who had been in her job for 15 years was headhunted by two separate companies. She took one of the jobs because it was a bigger department and soon realised she had made the wrong decision. In essence the job she took was actually too big a step and she soon realised it was too much for her to manage. She stayed in the job and was re-headhunted by the other company who she had declined and she took that job. She was specifically headhunted for her creative expertise. The new company wanted to bring her creative qualities into the somewhat conservative company.

For seven or eight months she thought everything was going really well but was then pulled up by her director who informed her that another department had made a variety of complaints about her. She says she would have expected the other department to come to her first but that wasn’t the case. They went above her.

Over the following year she was brought into meetings (by her superior) many times to be told that the way she was working was not in line with the company. These were often management and admin errors that she admits making. Sometimes she says she made the errors because she was simply never told how to do such stuff. In other cases they were errors made because she was so nervous by complaints being made against her that she simply messed up. In other cases they were judgments that she made to help the company but that the company seemingly didn’t want “It’s not how we do things” and yet that’s what she was brought in to bring to the company.

In many cases she has said to me “How can I know the system if no one has taught me the system?” In other cases she feels she has become a scape goat. From what I can gather there is a core of maybe 60% of the company who have been there for over 10 years. About 40% of the company are brought in and many of these come and go within a year or two. In most cases it is people within the core who have had issues with my partner.

Our concern has always been that she was taken on board because of her skills and then they have tried to mould her into something that she never claimed she could do and certainly donj’t match her skillset. There has been some training but from my outside (and probably biased) point of view many of the stories she has told me over the time she has been there has pointed at her management. They seem very quick to blame her for things she didn’t know she had to do or was doing wrong. We have many examples where my partner thought she showed initiative and adaptability and was really pleased with what she did only to be told she had completely missed the point or purpose so to speak.

Over the past year my partner has spent many hours in the evening, weekends, really putting extra effort into her work. Really thinking she was doing OK and really taking on board all of what they were saying to her. Then out of the blue she gets hauled up on something she didn’t even know she was doing or had done wrong.

Last Friday she was taken out of a meeting and told that a formal process was being started against her. In essence they were getting ready to fire her. At that my partner handed her notice in on the spot. She then contacted the company and asked them to hold off on accepting her notice. However, we all know that there is nothing she can do.

For well over a year we have felt that she will always get the blame for whatever goes wrong. For well over a year we have felt that she is being bypassed. She has been shifted from departments around the company where she has absolutely no expertise or knowledge and has very quickly tried to adapt and learn and whilst she thought she was doing relaly well her superiors have told her she has completely failed.

For months I have been saying that it sounds as if they are moving her out of the company. That her position seems completely untenable. Sure enough, they inform her on Friday the wheels are now in motion.

Anyway, the reason I am posting is….

We want to know where she stands. She is devastated. She feels humiliated and has felt humiliated for well over a year but she stood strong and tried her best and many many times when I personally would have just told them to shove their job.

I can’t imagine how rubbish she must have felt at some of the stories she has told me. Her confidence has been destroyed.

She is, for the first time ever, totally dreading Monday morning. She knows she doesn’t have a role their anymore and basically doesn’t want to go back. She has no idea what work she will do if she goes back now. Her contract is in her desk.

She has to give six months notice and we are hoping that if she does then she will just get some gardening leave and it will buy her three or four weeks off (which is long overdue) and then a few months to get her confidence back and a new job in place.

She is also petrified that those who have caused her problems and gone above her will also spread word around the industry. Is there any way this gossip can be stopped?

In essence she has been for a long time a sitting duck but I believe she should accept it’s over and now get what is best for her and the family. Can anyone please advise where she stands?

Does she hand her notice in and hope that they let her go early?

Her notice period is six months. If they dismiss her does the company have to work to the same notice period as the employee’s contract?

Or does she wait for the dismissal process?

Thanks
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Comments

  • sangie595
    sangie595 Posts: 6,092 Forumite
    In her position and given the circumstances, I'd recommend she resign and ask to leave immediately or sooner than the six months. Hanging on isn't doing her professional status any good. She can salvage some of that by saying that she resigned because the culture of the company was not what she expected and her change skills that she was recruited for are not wanted.

    You can't stop people gossiping. But people don't have to listen, and if she is respected in the industry, which it appears is the case, then it will not be listened to by anyone sensible. Companies have reputations too, and her company no doubt has one!
  • .j.e.j
    .j.e.j Posts: 161 Forumite
    Seriously if she's that much of a bother to them they'll be glad to get rid of her. I can't see them making her work for a further 6 months doing nothing.

    Are people still 'headhunted' these days?
    I'm back.. :D:D

    (lost my password/email to my old account!)
  • Thanks...

    We're going to do a letter of reaognation. Shall we say we don't want to do the work anymore and believe this will be ist beneficial for both parties or do we just hand the notice in and hope they say that she can just go?

    Thanks
  • xapprenticex
    xapprenticex Posts: 1,760 Forumite
    Sorry to hear this, she is a scapegoat it seems, I really hope I dont end up in a company like this one day.
  • Detroit
    Detroit Posts: 790 Forumite
    Is she hoping to resign and be paid for her 6 months notice without being required to work it?

    I'd say if she resigns and requests not to work the notice, this may be accommodated in as far as not being held to 6 months, but I would think it highly unlikely she'd be paid, she'd just be permitted to terminate her employment with immediate effect.

    If however she is dismissed and is due 6 months notice, should the employer prefer her not to be there, they could let her go immediately with 6 months pay in lieu of notice. This assumes that the notice they are obliged to give her is the same as she is obliged to give them of course.


    Put your hands up.
  • sangie595
    sangie595 Posts: 6,092 Forumite
    Thanks...

    We're going to do a letter of reaognation. Shall we say we don't want to do the work anymore and believe this will be ist beneficial for both parties or do we just hand the notice in and hope they say that she can just go?

    Thanks

    I would suggest least said soonest mended. "On reflection, I feel that there is a mismatch between myself and the company which is unlikely to be resolved. In the best interests of us both, I wish to resign. I am aware that my notice period is six months, but feel that this would not be in either of our interests, so I would suggest that I leave...." and fill in what you think reasonable. Then add you will work the six months if required to.
  • TBagpuss
    TBagpuss Posts: 11,236 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    It is possible (legally) to agree a shorter notice period - six months is a long time and the company may be happy not to have to pay her for that long if they feel she is not a good fit.

    I'd suggest that you and she think about how long you can manage without her wage, and how long she thinks it is likely to take her to find a new job, and she can then take those factors into account when opening any conversation with her employer about agreeing a shorter notice period.

    She should also think about discussing what will be provided by way of reference. is the person / people who actually recruited her and wanted her specific skills still at the company?
    All posts are my personal opinion, not formal advice Always get proper, professional advice (particularly about anything legal!)
  • Thanks everyone for this feedback. Really most appreciated.

    Unfortunately we don't have her contract at hand and therefore she believes that her notice period is six months and the companies period is the same if they want to fire her but until I can see the contract I don't have much to work on.
  • ohreally
    ohreally Posts: 7,525 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    In the circumstances I suspect a mutually agreeable exit strategy can be accommodated and I would be inclined to put a toe in the water to see what way the wind blows before submitting anything written.
    Don’t be a can’t, be a can.
  • What happens if they offer her three months pay to leave now but she is happy to work the six months of her notice?

    To loose her job and have just three months to find a new job is a nightmare.
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