If you feel that things aren't right at work you're probably right, even if you can't put things into words. Trust your intuition, or gut feeling. 

Often changes in attitude towards employees happen after the appointment of a new manager. The attitude changes can be subtle at first, leaving you doubting whether or not what you are sensing is right. If you are in this situation we encourage you to make diary notes of things that are happening and keep these safe off site. You can also contact us by email or telephone for a free, no obligation, discussion to talk about what's happening and your options. If you do this at an early stage you can avoid the damage to your health, and work relationships, which often arises if things have been deteriorating for a while.

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Sometimes we have clients who are accused of doing bad things: stealing, threatening to kill another employee, harassment, ongoing serious performance issues, or any number of things. Sometimes the employee has done what they are accused of, other times they vehemently deny it but the evidence, or the employer’s attitude, is against them. The employee will have been called to a disciplinary meeting and there is a  very real possibility that they will be dismissed at that meeting. You may wonder if there is any point in being represented if you are in this kind of situation. The answer is a clear yes.

We have never (so far) been to such an employment meeting where an employer has refused to allow the employee to resign instead of being dismissed. Nor have we ever (so far) been to such an employment meeting and the employer has refused to make a payout of some kind (in some cases this has been modest, in other cases it has been surprisingly generous).

The key is that we must be with you at the meeting (or that we are instructed in time so that we can communicate with the employer before the meeting starts). Because we know what to look for, and because we offer a professional and businesslike way to resolve the differences between the parties, the employer will almost always offer more than they are legally obliged to. If you go to the meeting by yourself and then decide to try to do something after the meeting your situation is likely to be much more difficult. At that stage the employer has no incentive to convert a dismissal into a resignation or to offer you a payout. It is critical that you have representation at (or before) the meeting if you have a weak case. Of course, it is also important to be represented if you have a medium to strong case, but it is more important the weaker your case is.