Being asked to resign?

Hi

My sister has been asked to resign because her performance has fallen and she was going to but she's now found out that if she does she won't get universal credit as they sanction you if you resign so is now being told to wait until she's been fired instead?

Should she wait to be dismissed instead of resigning she's worried how it'll look to future employers but she also has no savings and she'll only have her last pay check which won't cover 91 days of bills if she's sanctioned and she'll need universal credit till she finds another job?

What should she do really need help

Given that she'll likely need to rely on Universal Credit for a bit, then she should not resign. She should make them fire her instead.
A future employer is unlikely to be aware that she was fired (if that's what ultimately happens) as previous employers tend to give references which simply confirm that you worked there from date A to date B - for data protection reasons.

Just to add to this that you can also be sanctioned by the DWP for getting dismissed for misconduct as well as resigning, so hanging on to get sacked would likely not 'solve' their problem.
If it was me I'd likely stall for time till I found another job to jump to and try and avoid the DWP issue all together.

Personally I would take the disciplinary and look for another job....it's always easier to get a new job when employed.

Just an update

She has spoken with ACAS and she's decided not to go through the disciplinary procedure because she does want to leave and she knows her performance won't improve.

They did suggest she could talk to her employer and a settlement agreement instead to mutually end her employment. But she's unsure.

What would be better taking a settlement agreement if allowed or resigning?

She's had some people say to her that future employers won't like that's she's resigned and she'll struggle to find another job?

Would resigning make it difficult to find another job? Her reason she'd give would be that the job was never right for her and she knew it isn't what she wanted to do.

She's also thinking of trying to get an apprenticeship instead of a normal job so she can restrain in something she really wants to do

Well, people tend to leave a job because they want to (i.e. they resign) or because they're made to (i.e. they're fired or made redundant). So the people who say "future employers won't like that's she's resigned" are suggesting that it'd be a better look if she was fired. Really? In what world does it look better that your employer asked you to leave than it does to have decided to leave yourself. That makes no sense.
As for negotiating a settlement, that would be lovely but it'd be tricky to do without help. Are ACAS saying that's something they'd help with? I suspect they the employer wouldn't be interested, as they could simply fire her instead (assuming they followed the right process).

Hi , she asked about a settlement agreement yesterday when she had a chance to speak to her employer and she said no she wouldn't consider a settlement agreement.

She's decided to resign and she is going to look for an apprenticeship so she can retrain in an area she wants to work in.

I know apprenticeships are hard to get though.

They are indeed. Good luck to her.

Thanks , would just getting another job be easier than an apprenticeship?

Just to add to this that you can also be sanctioned by the DWP for getting dismissed for misconduct as well as resigning, so hanging on to get sacked would likely not 'solve' their problem.
If it was me I'd likely stall for time till I found another job to jump to and try and avoid the DWP issue all together.

Surely they just didn't pass probation 😀

I didn't see any mention of a probation period, if that was the case surely they'd just end the contract rather than ask for a resignation?
You certainly wouldn't have any issues with the DWP if it was down to a probation/temp contract issue, whether you could fob them off with this without them checking is another matter. (tbh anytime I told them a seasonal gardening contract had ended they didn't press me much, on the other hand they have once called an employer right in front of me to check the truth)

This is all a bit late now but anyone in a similar situation:
Don’t go to meetings like this alone. Bare minimum have someone you trust to accompany you, even better - join the union and take a union rep along.
Someone who knows employment law is far more likely to be able to help you negotiate a settlement or redeployment into a more suitable role instead of agreeing to constructive dismissal.

yes your correct there was no probation mentioned because she's way past that she has now finished anyway she handed her notice in 4 weeks ago now and has finished working there. She's saved 3 months of bill money as she would have been sanctioned so she's waiting till the 3 months she would be sanctioned for are up before applying UC but her main focus is on getting another job so she won't need UC hopefully.
But she passed her probation over 2 years ago she was there for 2 and half years

that's provided you know what the meeting is about what was told in the meeting came out the blue it was supposed to be just a normal supervision meeting but it wasn't because as soon as she went in another staff member who is the deputy manager was in there and that's when she knew something was off because it's normally just her and employer. She had no prior warning of what was going to happen.