Getting cleared of serious allegations should feel like closure, not the beginning of a slower, even more painful exit.

One employee returned to work after a 3-month suspension with the gross misconduct charges dropped, though the company still tacked on an official warning just to save face.

A month later, he got called into a meeting room with HR and the very manager who’d originally signed off on those charges, now conveniently bumped into a new role above him.

What started as vague redundancy talk quickly turned into an off-the-record offer: either a redundancy package worth nothing thanks to his short tenure with the parent company, or a settlement sweetened with an extra month’s pay.

Keep reading for the full story.

You couldn’t make it up – here we go again

So, I returned to work after my 3-month suspension, all charges of gross misconduct dropped, but with an official warning on my record due to my perceived misconduct at slagging the company off (they couldn’t drop it completely, they’re trying to save face).

But the drama was far from over.

A month later, last Monday afternoon, my new line manager (the old one who decided that these charges were valid and determined which were gross misconduct had been promoted sideways) asks me to join him upstairs.

I knew straight away that something was up, as a few hours earlier the parent company HR lady had walked through the office and greeted us all.

The same HR lady soon told him just how dire his employment situation really was.

Sure enough, she was waiting for us in the meeting room and informed me that I was on the “at risk of redundancy” list, and that there may be options for me and my ongoing employment.

No, that was all bull, and within moments all “options” had vanished, and she wanted to talk to me “without prejudice,” i.e., off the record, and offered me either redundancy (of which I’d get nothing, as we’ve only been with the parent company 11 months) or a settlement agreement, basically another month’s salary on top of the one they’d owe me in lieu of notice (I’m currently home on gardening leave).

So the employee finds representation, but still feels pretty hopeless about the whole thing.

After much pressure last week, I found a solicitor (which they insisted I needed by law), and now I’m waiting to actually receive the agreement. Pretty sure it will have all sorts of bull clauses in it, especially about keeping my mouth shut, but that won’t come cheap.

I guess they really do want shot of me.

This sounds like retaliation with a capital R.

What did Reddit have to say?

This company seems to be forgetting something very important.

It’s time to speak to someone who knows the ins and outs of employment law.

Why would a new company care about an employees alleged record at another country?

It’s time to lawyer up!

The clear timeline gives the employer’s whole scheme away: cleared one month, subtly targeted for exit the next.

Offering fake choices before revealing there was never a real one shows exactly how engineered this whole process was.

Companies can get away with just about anything nowadays.