Jessica had discovered her level of pay was not the same as the other male partners of her firm and asked her employer for an explanation: The employer confirmed that it was because she had not worked with the larger clients abroad and didn’t have the same qualifications. Furthermore she had not been with the company as long as the other directors. Sarah has eight years’ service and although her role was not made redundant she has encountered a number of di

Jessica had discovered her level of pay was not the same as the other male partners of her firm and asked her employer for an explanation: The employer confirmed that it was because she had not worked with the larger clients abroad and didn’t have the same qualifications. Furthermore she had not been with the company as long as the other directors. Sarah has eight years’ service and although her role was not made redundant she has encountered a number of difficulties as a result of the job losses in her department. Sarah feels she has been treated unfairly. Over the last few months she has seen her workload double. She is given conflicting deadlines, has been provided with no additional resources and is now required both to learn and train staff to use a new IT package.  Sarah has raised her concerns a few times and been told that if she wants to break into senior management she needs to put in the hours. Last week Sarah was told to cancel her leave as an important deadline had to be met, but she is reluctant to do so as she has not had any leave for months. Management hears that Sarah has now joined the union and hints to her that she needs to ensure she is clear about ‘where her loyalties lie’. Leslie is one of the freelance writers within the creative team and although she is not employed she has felt the impact of the changes. Her employer is increasingly demanding to know whether she will be working on key projects and are also tightening deadlines.  They also want to know when she is on leave and hence unable to commit to them as the employer. Leslie feels increasingly obliged to account for her whereabouts and as a result in her last appraisal has asked to be part of the companies bonus scheme but this has been dismissed as she does not have a contract of employment. After making 22 employees redundant, should the impact on Jessica, Sarah and Leslie as mentioned above present any concerns for the employer?