Hi everyone,

I applied for a Pricing Analyst job that was advertised at around £35k.

At the start of the interview, they told me that because I have a finance background, they were actually interviewing me for the Senior Pricing Analyst position instead. I wasn't expecting this at all. The Senior role is advertised at around £50k, but I didn't know that before the interview.

The awkward part is that later in the interview they asked what salary I was looking for. Since I thought we were still talking about the original £35k role, I said I'd be looking for around £38–40k.

I've only realised afterwards that the Senior role is advertised at around £50k.

So if they decide to offer me the Senior position, what do you think will happen?

Would they normally offer the salary attached to the Senior role, or could they just say "you told us you wanted £40k" and offer me around that?

I'm worried I've accidentally undersold myself without realising it.

If they offered me £40k for the Senior role, would it be reasonable to say something like:

"Just to clarify, when I gave my salary expectations, I understood we were discussing the original Pricing Analyst position. I wasn't aware at the time that I was being considered for the Senior position."

I don't want to come across as greedy or difficult, but obviously there's a pretty big difference between £40k and £50k.

What would you guys do in this situation? Any advice would be appreciated.

Hi all

As the title says - I’ve found myself in a bit of a pickle

I’ve recently had a couple of successful interviews with my absolute dream job, and have the final stage coming up soon. When they asked for my notice period, I told them it’d be 1 month, completely unaware that my current employee contract actually had 12 weeks written in it🤦‍♀️

Absolutely my fault for not checking and just assuming it would be the same as previous jobs but now I’m so stuck on what to do and what my options are.

I know I’m getting ahead of myself as I haven’t got the role yet - but I’m trying to now think ahead on what to do. Can I negotiate the notice period?

What do I do if they say no? What are my rights?

I work a marketing role - I can absolutely schedule and set anything up for months in advance with no issues.

I also worry about affecting my final stage interview if I tell them my recent revelation - especially if I’m now up against a candidate who may have a sooner start date.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Finding myself in a bit of a panic as I’ve put a lot into this ‘hopefully’ next role, it’s absolutely perfect and I’ve been desperate to get away from my current job - so I’m just hoping I haven’t messed it up for myself!

I’m a FTC employee and have had conversations with my boss about making my job permanent and taking on additional responsibility. But it feels like something is going on at work and it’s making me nervous.

I can see most of our floor (where the senior team members sit) from my desk and there have been a lot of serious faced closed door conversations and meetings between senior management which is very unusual. I’m fairly senior but not in the SLT.

Recently my boss has been postponing my regular 1-2-1s and she’s acting strangely towards me, more detached or something, when we’re usually quite friendly. I asked her if there’s a problem and she wouldn’t answer me directly, just made an excuse about being busy.

The SLT seem stressed most of the time and Head of HR is flitting between offices for closed door conversations which isn’t common.

We don’t have regular updates or meetings but I overheard a team-wide meeting will be happening on Tuesday.

I’ve been made redundant in the past and I’m on a contact so can just be let go without issue. I’m not in a great financial situation right now so I’ve been applying to loads of other jobs coz I have such a bad feeling.

Am I doing the right thing? Anyone got any advice?

I don't work in HR, but my company likes to assign appeals/grievances to non-HR officers so that they can provide a neutral opinion. I usually deal with objective matters and have never had to arbitrate something like this.

An employee claimed that another employee was staring at them, which made them feel intimidated and sexually harassed. While the Equality Act gives me some useful pointers regarding the sexual harassment aspect, I find the concept of “intimidation” much more vague and subjective. The company rulebook is also quite vague on the subject, which doesn’t really help.

Has anyone ever dealt with something similar? Thanks.

I'm having difficulties getting my workplace to take me seriously enough. I've been diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder, of which they are fully aware. It was diagnosed only recently but I've been suffering with it probably since about 2018. In 2020/21 I had a traumatic time that had nothing to do with COVID but which aggravated everything.

My workplace have been good to me generally, providing time off when I needed in the past, but I'm finding that the longer time goes on they less they seem to understand that I am not going to just be suddenly better. I used to have an office by myself, but when we relocated I was put in an open place space which I struggle to work in. I got the desk in the least bad place and it's mine, even though we are technically supposed to be hotdesking, but it isn't really enough. I've stuck it out for several months but am still struggling. When I made, what I thought, to be a quite reasonable suggestion in moving to a desk in a different room, I got a reply about getting better earphones which completely misunderstood my issue.

At this point I'm not sure what to do. If I ask my workplace for an occupational health review are they obliged to do it? I'm at a point where I feel like I need someone to mediate on my behalf. There is no formal internal HR and staff have no direct access to the external HR company.

I know faking bereavement leave isn't right, but I'm considering telling my manager that my grandmother passed away so I can take a few days off next week. She actually passed away about 20 years ago. If I'm going to do this anyway, how should I handle the situation with my manager without creating unnecessary problems?

Hi all

I’ve been in my middle management position for just over a year, back in April hired for a new junior executive to replace the previous who left in Feb after 4 years with the business.

Our company has a pretty flexible hybrid working model, we do 2 days in office and one from home. Our team usually does Mondays and Tuesday, with Mondays being mandatory and then Tuesdays being the suggested 2nd day but if you wanted to swap to another day for whatever reason then that’s fine.

Since my junior executive joined in April her performance has been good and I’ve recently passed her 3 month probation. However there is a consistent pattern emerging of her taking liberties with the office days and it’s becoming very noticeable to myself and the wider team.

I’m 28 and she is 27, being Gen Z I’m super relaxed about office days as long as the work gets done (particularly as I’ve had some real micro managers myself in the past I’m keen to never become one) but I would say pretty much every other week or more she has an excuse to avoid one or both of her office days. Most of the time she is vague and says she feels under the weather, of course we all feel a bit rubbish once in a while but it’s becoming so often that the wider team has started to notice although no one at a much higher level.

A big part of me feels like just leaving it because she is getting the work done to a decent standard, not amazing but well enough and usually no mistakes. However it’s getting to the point where it feels a little bit disrespectful the rest of us who are coming in consistently, she has also only ever made an effort to do a different office day once (e.g she called in to wfh on the Monday and Tuesday but came in on Wednesday)

Everytime it gets to the point where I feel it’s time to pull her up on it - she has a run of 2 weeks of coming in as she should which makes me think it’s all good and then it happens again.

What should I do? I hate the idea of grassing her up to my manager - especially as we’re very friendly but I also don’t want it to get a point where my manager or possibly even higher up notices this and it reflects poorly on my management skills.

I've accepted a new job and am in the process of handing in my notice, I have a three month notice period and the new job are keen for me to join relatively soon as my new head of team will be going on parental leave just after I begin. To provide me a draft contract the HR team asked for a start date, and I explained it would be 3 months from when I hand in my notice, so as preliminary date I gave them three months though s from today. But they've informed me that the signed contract will only come in a few weeks time when their head of HR returns from leave and can sign the contract there end. My question is, should I go ahead and hand in my notice having received a draft contract, or do I wait for the signed copy and hand it in then?

Ive been tasked with rewritingour companies policies. I am really looking to push the boundaries here. The previous policies followed the letter of the law but I want to challenge the executive with something more supportive for employees.

THEy do have to be within the realms of the law and they cant be so outrageous they dont take them seriously. Im looking suggestions. Please suggest what you would most like to change about your own employment policies

I’m a little confused as my understanding was that legally, in the UK, an employer can only reject a statutory flexible working request if they have one or more of eight specific business reasons. General preferences or managerial convenience are not lawful grounds for refusal.

The 8 Statutory Business Reasons for Rejection are:

1. The burden of additional costs: The change will cost extra money that will hurt the business.
2. Detrimental effect on customer demand: The business will not be able to meet the needs of clients or customers.
3. Inability to reorganise work among existing staff: Current employees cannot pick up or share the remaining tasks.
4. Inability to recruit additional staff: The company cannot hire more people to cover the gap.
5. Detrimental impact on quality: The standard of work will go down.
6. Detrimental impact on performance: Individual or team output will drop.
7. Insufficient work during proposed times: There is not enough work for the employee to do during the specific hours they want to shift to.
8. Planned structural changes: The business is planning a reorganization or workforce change that will not fit with the requested patter

If your employer rejects your request without using one of the eight statutory reasons, they are breaking the law. In the UK, failing to ground a refusal in a statutory reason means they have not handled the request in a "reasonable manner."

So with that in mind, let’s say you already successfully wfh 3-4 days a week and have been doing so for a while with no issues on your wfh days, and you want to put in a request to be fully remote, is there anything they could do legally to reject this request?

Edit: The way some people are interpreting my responses is very interesting. I am AuDHD and from my perspective I’m not suggesting companies can’t reject these requests, I’m purely trying to understand why they would and how it’s legal.

Interesting though as typically in places of work, it’s assumed people questioning things are being combative/undermining/problematic, when actually the way my brain works is just “I need to fully understand this thing and if this doesn’t make sense based on what I know right now, I need to ask more questions to get full context”. Asking questions is not being argumentative.

It’s very typical of how people are treated at work….

I was doing well in my job and everyone was happy but around 4 months into it I began to grow fatigued and became more easily stressed. My doctor signed me off as a precaution to avoid autistic burnout.

What are the odd of being let go because of my issues? I've been off for 3 weeks.

Before I got signed off, I was working on reducing my hours, and they were good with me.

I wont dispute them if they did get rid of me and dont want to play a victim card. I just want to be pragmatic and know what to expect so I can plan my future.

I do actually want to go back if it matters

I’m posting because I’m going in circles in my head and I think I need some outside perspectives from people who understand UK HR/employment processes.

I’m (24M) and this is my first professional job. I’ve been with my company for a couple of years, have generally had good performance (recently winning an award), and this job is extremely important to me as I’m in the UK on a Skilled Worker visa, so losing my employment would have significant consequences for me beyond simply losing my income.

I was unexpectedly contacted by Employee Relations today and put into an impromptu meeting regarding an incident that happened around end of April at a non-work-related social event, with colleagues from work.

The allegation is that I kissed a colleague from another team without consent. I have been told that I inserted my tongue during the kiss, and that this happened in front of his girlfriend.

I genuinely don’t remember doing this. I was intoxicated that night and blacked out. I remember drinking, but I don’t remember the incident itself. I am not saying that means it didn’t happen or that being drunk excuses it. If I did it, I understand that it was completely inappropriate and that the other person’s consent matters regardless of how intoxicated I was.

ER told me that they are currently fact-finding and will be speaking to people who were present. My VP has also been made aware. I was told I could go home after the meeting if I wanted to.

I’m absolutely terrified about what this means. I’ve never had a disciplinary or PIP issue before, and my mind immediately went to “I’m going to be fired.” So I’ve been spiraling out of control over the last 4 hours.

There are several things I’m particularly worried about:

**1. What are the realistic possible outcomes?**

I understand that nobody on Reddit can tell me what my employer will decide. I’m specifically interested in how UK employers generally approach something like this. Does an allegation of an unwanted kiss automatically make dismissal likely, or are there circumstances where warnings/training/other sanctions are more common?

**2. What should I do during the investigation?**

I want to cooperate and be truthful, but I’m worried about accidentally saying something that makes things worse. In the initial ER meeting, I answered their questions honestly and explained what I remember and what I don’t remember. Should I now simply keep going as normal and wait for the process?

**3. Should I speak to an employment solicitor?**

Someone suggested speaking to ACAS and potentially getting legal advice. Is that sensible at this stage, or should I wait until I’m told whether this is becoming a formal disciplinary process?

**4. What happens with references if I am dismissed?**

Would a dismissal for misconduct normally be disclosed to future employers, or can an employer simply provide dates of employment/job title? Is there some kind of UK-wide record or “flag” for this sort of thing that follows you to future jobs?

**5. Should I start looking for another job now?**

Because I’m on a Skilled Worker visa, losing my job is much more serious for me than simply finding another employer. I’m considering quietly updating my CV and looking at sponsored roles as a contingency, but I don’t know whether doing that now is sensible.

**6. Can I resign while an investigation is ongoing?**

I’m absolutely not saying I’m planning to resign. I’m trying to understand my options. If someone resigns while under investigation, can the employer continue the disciplinary process, and does resigning make references or future employment more complicated?

I realise this is serious and I’m not looking for people to tell me that being drunk makes it okay. It doesn’t. I’m trying to understand what happens from here and how I should protect myself professionally while taking responsibility for what happened.

I’m also aware that Reddit isn’t a substitute for legal advice, particularly regarding immigration. I’m mainly looking for perspectives from people with UK HR/employment experience about what I should realistically expect and what mistakes I should avoid making while the investigation is ongoing.

I would appreciate any help with this. Thank you.

I’ve got a feeling it’s more possible than most people think, but the details are hard to find.

If you’ve ever managed to get extended time off and still keep your job, I’d really like to hear how it actually went.

A few things I’m curious about:

• Who did you ask, and what did you say?
• Was there an official policy you could point to, or did you basically have to invent the request?
• How long did it take from the first conversation to getting a clear answer?
• Did they try to negotiate you down to something shorter?
• Did you keep your benefits and seniority? Was any of it put in writing?
• Did you time the ask carefully, or did you just ask when you’d had enough?
• Did you offer them anything in return?

I’ve been wondering whether the people who get a yes are the ones who frame it as a retention issue rather than a personal favour.

Also especially interested if you asked and got turned down. What reason did they give? And did you end up leaving anyway?

Would love any real details.

Hey everyone, I am looking for some outside perspective and advice on a very stressful situation at my corporate design job. I am currently in the middle of deciding to write a formal grievance, and the toll it is taking is massive.

I have been working at a large corporate firm for three years. Over the past few months, things have escalated drastically to the point where I feel I am being managed out.

The core issue started when I had a conversation with my manager in a meeting about a goals review and I asked her if she thinks there is anything in my performance that could cause me to not get promoted soon as she knows this is my intention and I am working towards it as hard as I can. She flat out told me that I will not be promoted due to my sickness absences, which are directly tied to a documented physical health condition in my lower back.

Right after that, I decided to ask HR for an occupational health assessment so that my sickness absence can be reviewed differently and not block a possible promotion since ive been working as a grad for 3 years which is too long even in my managers view. When I talked to HR, the HR lady seemed very eager to know who told me I wont be promoted due to my sickleave and I felt if I told her that my manager did, my manager would get in trouble. So I said that im being proactive and letting the company know formally of my disability even though they know from 2024 when I initially got diagnosed. Only less than two weeks after this, my manager became increasingly hostile and initiated a formal Performance Improvement Plan entirely unannounced. The PIP was not even for actual performance issues; it was justified by minor mistakes that later happened after she even introduced the PIP itself.

There were zero prior warnings or constructive feedback leading up to it. The environment with her became so toxic that I formally requested a change in management, with her agreement but which was denied.

Due to all this happening and the affect on my MH I had to take sick leave for 6 weeks due to an extreme stress and flare up of my disability- I was unable to breath, had panic attacks and was very unwell I had to go to A&E.

During my sickleave, I have raised the issue of the PIP failing to account for my medical condition, and the way the PIP was initiated without prior notice and that the objectives were vague and undiscussed with me prior to the meeting where my manager ambushed me with saying the PIP starts today and I requested adequate workplace adjustments, and complained about the whole situation and my managers behavior. the response from HR was shockingly dismissive. They completely trivialized my need for accommodations. Instead of engaging with the specific issues I raised about my manager or my health needs, HR flipped the script. They failed to respond to my core concerns and actually threatened formal action against me regarding my absences.

Where I am at now:
Between my manager weaponizing my health and HR closing ranks to protect her rather than implementing any proper reasonable adjustments, or even changing my manager, the environment is untenable.

I am currently navigating a formal grievance process.

Outside of this job, I have been trying to building my own creative photography path and applying for other roles to transition out, but fighting this dispute while trying to do my everyday work is draining.

I am trying to figure out my next best steps:

1. Should I continue fighting the PIP and escalation process through formal HR and grievance channels?
2. Should I be speaking to an employment solicitor regarding failure to provide reasonable adjustments and disability discrimination?
3. Or should I resign and focus on like a new job or freelance work, and let the dispute go to protect my peace

I am worried that if I resign that I lose my rights because I genuinely feel like all of this has been unfair towards me. I have been working my ass of for this job, from working over time unpaid (from 9am - 10pm) and that my managers behavior towards me was unjustified. My only explanation is that she found out

Has anyone dealt with a similar corporate HR situation, a hostile manager, or a formal dispute regarding accommodations and PIPs? How did you navigate the exit, and was fighting it worth it?

I’d like some advice on my employer’s handling of my IVF treatment.

I recently asked for a temporary flexible work arrangement to work remotely for 2-3 weeks during IVF. My treatment is at a hospital near my home, 3 hours from my office in London.

I titled my email request “temporary flexible work”, and referred to the fact I was making such a request in the body of the email. Unknown to me, there is an official form to fill out which neither my manager nor HR directed me to.

Instead, I was informed I could use my annual 2 week “remote work” allowance. This is a benefit sold as being to extend holidays or spend time with family, not for medical procedures. When I pointed this out and asked whether the same policy applies if someone had a bad cold or broken limb, HR simply informed me that IVF is an elective procedure. Whilst technically true, I was astounded at their insensitivity.

I again challenged why it was acceptable for me to work remotely using my remote work allowance, but this arrangement couldn’t be accommodated as a temporary flexible work request. I was then told by the Head of HR there wasn’t enough time to approve the request, and that a temporary flexible work arrangement requires changes to my employment contract.

I was days from beginning IVF (the NHS gives pretty short notice), and decided it wasn’t worth the stress of pursuing the argument. So I’ve now used my 2 weeks remote work allowance for IVF treatment.

This still sits badly with me, and I think HR has skirted very close to direct or indirect sex discrimination.

Grateful for any advice on whether I can retrospectively challenge this decision, and how to best go about doing so.

They’re good at what they do, get their work done, and there’s no obvious performance issue, but they can be a real handful for their manager. They might push back on everything, ignore the usual way of doing things, or just be difficult to work with. Feels like one of those situations where HR has to find a balance between keeping a strong employee and dealing with the impact their behaviour has on the team.

Hi everyone, seeking some advice on my options and legal leverage following a sudden probation termination.

Context & Timeline:

• Role: Recently joined at a major UK tech company, after clearing a extensive interview process.
• The Project Setup: I was hired to form and lead a new team. The project had been running for over a year by a different offshore team. Shortly after I took over, executive leadership cancelled the entire initiative due to misalignment that existed long before I joined.
• Scope change: I was asked to take over a different project/domain, for which there was already a lead. Within just 2–3 weeks on this scope change, during which I successfully aligned multiple cross-functional teams and created the roadmap for delivery, I was given feedback that my performance was not satisfactory. All this while my manager had been unsupportive and gaslighting me.
• Medical Leave : This work-related stress triggered severe mental health conditions, leading to certified medical leave from my GP. Upon my return last week, I held a check-in with HR and formally requested reasonable adjustments, specifically transferring to a stable team/role. HR agreed to look into it internally.
• The Outcome: A few days later, I was notified of probation termination without HR ever concluding the reasonable adjustments discussion.
• I am just 5 months away from qualifying for Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR) in the UK, so an abrupt termination directly threatens my family's residency status.

Appreciate any insights from anyone who has navigated a similar situation.

I unfortunately have an incurable form of cancer that has spread to many of my bones. I am still employed but have no realistic prospect (or intention) of returning to work unless I am miraculously cured against all the odds.
I was in receipt of pay for a good while when my sick leave commenced and I have almost no complaints with how the company have handled it.

Ideally, I would like to be let go with a settlement agreement, but I don’t think this can come from me, I need to wait for them to initiate it.

My one gripe is that when they reduced my pay for. 100% to 50%, I received an email advising me that this was in line with their policy to pay employees on long term sick 50% for 5 years. However, after a few months I was advised they would be reducing my pay to 0.

Because of dealing with cancer and everything that goes with it, I have not had the energy to point this inconsistency out to them. I just thought I would keep it in my back pocket.

Any thoughts/advice please? I know I could resign of my own volition but if I pass away whilst I am employed the life insurance payout would be sizeable to my family. Ideally though I would like some portion of that paid to me now as part of a settlement agreement and be let go. I appreciate I may be hoping for too much.

Edit- please could I know why I'm getting downvoted? I am seeking genuine advice.

I worked the whole of July 2026 and thought I would tell them my concern when they sent a feedback form after the work had concluded.

I was receiving all the bullying you hear about apart from physical.

I said I was bullied, discriminated against and disrespected by coworkers in that form because I was.

As it was many against one, I beleive my coworkers have complained a lot about me and possibly sabotaged my prospects of ever working here again even though i was the bullied one who did more work than was required of me.

I now wonder if no one believes me because even when I was in that workplace and telling my concerns to the higher ups, they dismissed me and it felt like they gaslighted me.

It is still effecting me.

Surely they should have responded to my feedback? They are a British Council accredited employer.

Ofcourse, for me it was only temporary employment so i dont know what to do.

Going to keep this vague and change some of the details.

I’ve been back from maternity leave for nearly a year. I took OML only so was guaranteed to come back to my same role.

My boss is not a fan of mine, but his boss is and other senior figures are. Our roles are separate enough that while it is not ideal, it has been palatable.

My boss would rather have my maternity cover (team member doing a different role) in my role. Maternity cover would also rather have my role as it is juicier and higher profile. They are friends and the cover is entirely deferential to him.

Despite being back for a year, I am still finding documents where the cover has been officially added to my accounts. The first time I mentioned it, it was walked back as being temporary while I was on leave (despite one example being done a month before I was due back) and an oversight that he hadn’t been removed.

I worked for a large organisation before moving to this smaller one and this simply would not have been allowed to happen.

What do I do here?