Dayna Rodrigues, Blandy & Blandy

Challenging working environments can be detrimental to your health and wellbeing, and your career. Below is helpful information on some of the issues that can arise and how the firm can support you.

Whilst some employees may be fortunate enough to work for employers who are supportive of their personal needs and facilitate a flourishing career, not everyone is so lucky. In fact, many employees find their working environment to be fraught with challenges which can be difficult to overcome or improve. Common day-to-day examples include:

• managers who are unwilling to resolve concerns that you have raised;
• illegitimate accusations of poor performance often resulting in a formal performance improvement plan (in an environment of looming dismissal);
• employers who are inflexible about their workplace policies or practices; or
• an unmanageable workload or working arrangements.

These are just a handful of the challenges we hear about from employees on a day-to-day basis, who are also often struggling with a health condition which has been caused or exacerbated by the difficulties faced at work.

But not all is lost and there are options available that may be appropriate to try to improve your situation, such as the following examples.

Formal grievance

If your concerns raised at work are not resolved through informal discussions, you may wish to consider raising a formal grievance. Your employer’s grievance policy and procedure should outline how you are expected to do this. Your employer would need to investigate your formal grievance and reach an outcome. If you are unhappy with the outcome, then you may have the opportunity to appeal.

Our Employment Law solicitors can advise and assist you with preparing your formal grievance and grievance appeal and navigating the grievance process.

Often it is also sensible to utilise and exhaust the formal grievance process to try and protect your legal position should you ever need to bring a claim in the employment tribunals related to the same complaint. This is because the tribunal can reduce any compensation you are awarded, should you be successful at a final hearing (e.g. for Unfair Dismissal), for unreasonable failure to comply with the Acas Code of Practice relating to the raising/handling of Grievances at Work. -.

Our Employment Law team can advise you on a strategy to best protect your employment position and regarding the strengths and weaknesses of any potential employment law claim you might have.

Apply for reasonable adjustments

You may consider that you are able and willing to work but due to a medical condition (be it a physical condition or a mental condition (such as anxiety/depression, you would like to agree some adjustments with your employer to your working arrangements to help you to work to the best of your ability.

The Equality Act 2010 (EQA 2010) imposes a duty on employers to make reasonable adjustments in certain scenarios where the Employee has a ‘disability’ (as defined in that Act).

Our Employment Law team can advise you on your employment situation including whether your physical/mental condition is likely to amount to a ‘disability’, and if so, to assist you with preparing a reasonable adjustments request and/or advise on situations where your employer refuses to make reasonable adjustments.

Flexible working request

Perhaps you are required to work strictly to your contracted hours or to work in the office every day but you wish to change this requirement.  

Under the Employment Rights Act, employees are entitled to request changes to their working arrangements to work flexibly – for example to change working hours, where the work is done and the days worked. Your employer should reasonably consider your request and let you know their decision. Should you disagree with the outcome, you may have the opportunity to appeal.

The gov.uk website contains useful guidance on making a flexible working request.

At Blandy & Blandy, we can advise you on your flexible working request and any negative outcome including assisting you with your appeal. An employer’s failure to agree to a flexible working request can, in certain circumstances, lead to other potential employment claims arising e.g. claims for sex discrimination, and it is often sensible to take specialist legal advice in relation to such potentially complex claims.

Signed off from work

If your working environment is taking a negative toll on your physical or mental health, you may consider it necessary to speak to your GP. Your GP may consider you are fit for work subject to some adjustments, or alternatively they may decide to sign you off as unfit for work for a period of time.

Hopefully during this time, your employer will comply with their statutory and contractual obligations. However, should your employer refuse to pay you for any sick pay to which you are contractually or statutorily entitled, our Employment Law team can advise you on your sick pay rights and any unlawful deductions from your wages including your options in pursuing any payments still owed to you.

Capability/conduct process

If your employer has concerns about your capability to do your job, be it as a result of health concerns, or otherwise your performance generally, they may commence a capability process.

Similarly, if your employer has concerns about your conduct at work, such as potential gross misconduct, then they may follow their disciplinary procedure.

In either scenario, your employer should investigate their concerns, carrying out a thorough and fair process in accordance with their own policy and procedure and with due regard to the Acas Code of Practice in relation to handling performance/disciplinary matters, and decide upon an appropriate outcome. Should you disagree with the outcome, you may have the opportunity to appeal.

Often employees dispute the legitimacy of their employer’s alleged concerns and consider it a ruse to ‘get rid of you’ or have concerns about how the process has been handled.

We can advise you on what to expect, how to best navigate these processes and what your legal position and options are.

Negotiations to facilitate your exit and Settlement Agreements

You may have come to the point where you feel you just want to leave the business. Ordinarily, you could simply give notice of resignation as required and leave once your notice period has come to an end. In this situation, you will not however recover any compensation for Wrongful or Unfair Dismissal as you will not (typically) be able to prove that you were ‘dismissed’.

Alternatively, you may instead prefer to try and negotiate (on a ‘without prejudice’/’protected conversation’ basis) your exit on terms acceptable to you.

Our Employment Law team can advise you on your legal position and assist you with trying to negotiate your exit from the business.

Sometimes your employer will instead be the one to commence these discussions and they may offer you a Settlement Agreement, including terms on which they want you to agree to exit the business.

Our Employment Law solicitors are very experienced in advising individuals or groups of employees on settlement agreements. Please see further information about settlement agreements.

Potential legal claims

If you are particularly unhappy at work and feel that you have been treated poorly you may be considering whether you can bring a claim against your employer and/or any particular individuals.

Some typical scenarios include:

• You feel that you have been forced to resign from the business due to an irreparable breakdown in trust and confidence caused by the action of your employer/its staff, and wish to claim compensation for Unfair Dismissal and/or Wrongful Dismissal;
• Your employer has unreasonably refused to make reasonable adjustments that you have requested notwithstanding the fact that you are suffering from a ‘disability’ under EQA 2010 – potentially giving rise to a claim for compensation including a sum for ‘Injury to Feelings’;
• Your employer has unreasonably refused your flexible working request without any valid reason for refusal;
• Your employer is refusing to pay you for the time you were off sick;
• Your employer has decided to dismiss you for reasons you think are unfair and/or following a process you feel was carried out unfairly; and
• Your line manager or others at work have been treating you poorly because of, or in relation to, your disability (or due to another ‘Protected Characteristic’ such as age; race; sexual orientation; gender reassignment; marriage and civil partnership; pregnancy and maternity; religion or belief; sex and/or sexual orientation).

Our Employment Law team can advise you on your position, including what potential legal claims you may have, if any, and what your options are, which may include pursuing a claim in the employment tribunals and what the possible prospects, risks and value of such claims might be. We can also represent you throughout employment tribunal proceedings including at preliminary hearings.