Leading law firm, Irwin Mitchell, has recently conducted a survey into the ‘trend’ of quiet firing.

It’s defined as an employer’s behaviour or actions that make employees feel like they’re no longer wanted, forcing them to quit.

This gas-lighting behaviour, however subtle in its nature, can have concerning consequences for an employee’s confidence, performance and livelihood.

This is different to ‘quiet quitting’, a ‘phenomenon’ which came in response to pandemic burnout that saw employees only doing the work they’re paid to do – shunning extra work and going the extra mile.

As part of a nationwide survey, Irwin Mitchell found:

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86% of Londoners don’t know what quiet firing is.

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However, London has the highest awareness of quiet firing compared with the rest of England.

This poses serious concerns for whether employees in the capital can identify potentially harmful behaviours in the workplace. Irwin Mitchell wants to raise awareness of the impact such bad behaviour can have on employees and the important measures managers should be putting in place to avoid ‘quiet firing’.

By asking respondents to detail whether they’ve experienced a number of work-place situations, Irwin Mitchell can reveal that:

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29% of employees in Greater London say that they’ve experienced unexpected role or responsibility changes

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25% of people in Greater London regularly have had information purposely withheld from them

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25% of people in Greater London have experienced someone making their life uncomfortable, encouraging them to leave

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25% of people in Greater London have experienced a lack of feedback in their role

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22% of people in Greater London have been actively passed over for promotion

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18% of employees in Greater London have been undermined in a meeting

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14% of employees in Greater London have been left out of social aspects of their role making them want to leave

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13% of employees in Greater London have experienced communication stopping entirely forcing them to leave their role

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20% of people in Greater London believe that they’re more likely to be quietly fired by male leaders

A sudden change in role or responsibilities, without explanation, can create an unnerving and uncertain working environment. Being excluded, looked over or ignored can result in a decision to leave a job. As a result, this could make employees with two years of service eligible to raise a constructive dismissal claim.

On the whole there are a lot of excellent examples of great London businesses looking after employees but sadly there are some examples where this isn’t the case.

This worrying lack of communication from managers is impacting large groups of the workforce and is seemingly happening more from male managers Deborah Casale at Irwin Mitchell explains.

“The widespread knowledge gap by London employees around quiet firing is concerning. We see many instances of quiet firing by employers in practice– from sudden role changes to being
excluded and made to feel uncomfortable – this behaviour can form grounds for constructive dismissal if it breaches the implied term of trust and confidence in the employment relationship and the employee has more than two years of service.

Employees should be aware of their legal rights in these situations and should take advice at an early stage to protect their position. If the employee is being discriminated against
or is being treated badly because they have blown the whistle, there is no requirement for two years of service. There are strict time limits of three months less one day to bring claims in the Employment Tribunal, so employees need to understand their rights
at the outset. Employees may also wish to submit grievances or negotiate a settlement to leave.”

The data has been sourced through a nationally representative survey with Find Out Now, additional findings include;

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23% of women in work have been actively ignored by their manager

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25% of women have been in roles where they’ve not received feedback

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23% of women in the workplace have purposely had information withheld from them making them want to leave their roles

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34% of the UK have experienced workplace bullying disguised as banter