Garden Leave - retaliation?
Hello, I’m a HR Advisor at a law firm in the UK.
I was a HR Assistant for 2 years before being promoted in April. In October last year, I informally raised an issue with my boss (it’s just me and the HR Director in the department at this point) about how I feel I’m not being developed or progressed appropriately, and I’m essentially treated like a PA despite being told I would be fast tracked in my development when I took the job. I only wanted to have an honest conversation about my future, but it turned into an hour of her putting me down, and even saying I took too much time out of the business to be promoted - I had 1 day off for surgery in January 2025, and 10 days off for recovery (should have been 4 weeks but I was made to feel guilty leaving her on her own). During my recovery, she was emailing me telling me how unwell she was and how she’d been signed off, making me feel even more guilty.
I was told to forget about being a HR Advisor, but then in April I got promoted. I’ve had no support since then, when I’ve asked for help I’ve been told to read the policy instead, and excluded from conversations in the office. I’ve been given project to work on 1 day before annual leave, and then no support when I return to get things completed, making me feel like I’m set up to fail.
My final straw was when I was pulled into a meeting last month and told that in April, she went through my emails and found that I’d been talking about her? I wasn’t shown the email she was referring to, but I doubted it existed and when I searched for it using a phrase she insisted I used, there were no results. She spent about 20 minutes accusing me of bullying her, making her feel uncomfortable, how she’s disappointed in me as she’s given me so much, my work isn’t where it should be, etc. That night, I applied for other jobs and have since managed to secure one and hand my notice in. I made it clear when I handed my notice in that if things had been different over the last 12 months I wouldn’t be leaving, but I feel like I have no choice.
On Friday, she was extremely rude to me in front of two colleagues who were shocked at how she spoke, and I politely said that I am happy to help her, but to please not patronise me. She left the room and went to the MD for about 30 mins. Today (Sunday) I received an email and text at 4.30pm, informing me I was placed on garden leave for the next two weeks, and I can’t contact any employee etc. To me, it’s clear this is as a result of me asking her not to patronise me, and I’m so angry that I let things get this bad without standing up to her for two years anyway to the point now that I’ve been pushed out of the company, from a job I genuinely love and employees I really care about.
What should I do in this situation? Should I contact the managing director to let him know of my treatment over the last year or so? I just feel lost and so angry.
Sorry for the long post, but I appreciate any support.