We’re talking about bad bosses again! Before it was the absent manager and now it’s the unethical one.
We’ve been working with HR magazine and Crossland Employment Solicitors on a PR story to discuss what to do if your boss is behaving unreasonably? We thought this may be useful to share as sadly, I’m sure many employees can relate to such behaviour at some stage in their career.
A manager that asks you to do things that you don’t feel comfortable with. It could be requests from lying to your colleagues or clients, cutting corners on your product or service, covering up your boss’ wrongdoings or fudging the figures.
Consulting barrister, Kevin Charles, discusses in HR magazine, where an employee stands legally when faced with an uncomfortable request. The difficulty is when the request may not necessarily be deemed illegal but it still crosses the line of acceptability – it is not always clear what is ‘reasonable’ and this will often come down to a question of fact and degree. An employee could be faced with either following through on an unreasonable instruction or refusing and possibly face the prospect of dismissal. Alternatively, they could consider resigning and claim constructive dismissal, subject to the two-year service qualifying period, but they would have to demonstrate how the request was unreasonable.
You can read the article in full here