Story 110

I was asked to sign a settlement agreement by my employer after raising issues of gender discrimination and harassment. They suspended me while an investigation was done and then on my first day back they told me my role was at risk of redundancy. I was made redundant at the end of the consultation period 30 days later. I didn't sign because I had read stories about the impact NDAs have on mental health and I didn't want to sign a legal agreement with a company that was treating me so aggressively. They were also only offering 6 weeks pay so I didn't feel I was forgoing too much and I had managed to find a new role. The process was unpleasant. I asked them to remove the NDA and they refused and denied it was an NDA despite my lawyer, a partner at a law firm saying it was. I even sent them the Treasury Committee report recommending the banning of NDAs in sexual harassment cases but they refused to remove it from the agreement. As a result I got no compensation for losing my job. The process felt like a conversation between my lawyer and the company. They had never offered me the detailed explanations that they offered her. I felt like she just wanted me to sign and get the process over with. She didn't understand my concerns around confidentiality. She seemed to think it was something I ought to want. After we made a counter offer, my employer took a week to reply. They restated the original offer and brought forward the deadline for me to reply to a couple of days. When I didn't reply they chased me over the weekend. It was very stressful and I was amazed that a listed and regulated company could behave this way. I'm glad I didn't sign but the impact of being managed out of an organisation for raising concerns over culture was terrible. My periods stopped and I had cold sores all over my mouth. I was unable to sleep. They knew I wasn't well. They said the investigator would be in touch in 2 weeks. It was actually 2 days and I only spoke to him once. I was a mess. It felt like everything was falling apart. I wasn't given the report. I was only told there was a lack of factual and corroborating evidence so it wouldn't be taken to a grievance hearing. HR wouldn't allow me to speak to one of the men to gain his perspective which meant I couldn't get closure. I really don't think it's worth reporting these issues to employers unless it's a criminal matter, in which case you should go to the police. The UK just doesn't have a framework in place to protect employees. The organisation sees you as a threat and treats you like an enemy. They lie and manipulate to throw you off balance. They discredit you so colleagues turn against you and you start to lose self belief. For me, the hardest thing was never knowing for sure what I did to cause them to treat me this way. Confidentiality clauses in employment contracts have the same chilling effect on culture I believe. I'm still finding it hard to move on emotionally 4 months later. Why do we tolerate such abusive behaviour from companies?