Friend being disciplined for poor performance after a parent died

Friend being disciplined for poor performance after a parent died

A friend is being treated very poorly by their boss and has been put on a performance review because (understandably) their performance dropped off when their parent was diagnosed with terminal illness and subsequently died (all during the pandemic so they were not able to have a normal end of life care with family surrounding them).

My friend admits their performance was indeed poorer than usual but surely it’s extenuating circumstances! We are not robots! The HR dept are being useless and not supportive at all. I’m fuming on their behalf.

I think the real reason their being targeted rather than nurtured is the business needs have changed and the boss (who is a notoriously bad line manager btw) no longer wants to be bothered with managing my friend but instead of making them redundant or finding a new role elsewhere in the business, they are putting them through an arduous and arbitrary performance process where it seems success is as mythical as a unicorn. They’ve been given no tangible or measurable KPIs and therefore easy for the boss to say they have failed. They’ve now been issued with a final written warning - and have given up, sadly but understandably. But I can’t help thinking there must be a legal element they can lean into. This is so arbitrary and unfair. UK based btw. If anyone is familiar with situations like this, any advice gratefully received. (In the meantime I am helping them do up their resumé!) thanks!