Can they even do this?

[GlasweJen]

I wrote a paragraph summarising each of the meetings, the phone call was literally 2 minutes.

"Hi Jenschnifer it's assistant general manager here I'm just back from holiday and didn't realise you were leaving, it was nice of you to offer to work your notice but you don't have to. Thank you for your time at the company and good luck with university."

I swear it could have been an answer machine message!

[Conniff]

So he is claiming he didn't know what was going on, not much of a manager then is he. Perhaps you should let him in on this obviously well kept secret.

[GlasweJen]

It was the assistant manager who has been on holiday but not for the last 6 weeks, just a fortnight or so but she was in on Saturday and so was I, the managers meetings are on Monday so she would have found out then, head office recieved my letter on the 11th, perhaps that's how long it took to fax it as I was told not to come in on the 12th??

Now here's a question, can someone point me to a good lawyer for legal advice in Edinburgh please? PM me if you don't want to name names??

[Conniff]

Is this of any assistance Jen?

Legalservicesshop: Employment law

[tiglet]

Can't for Edinburgh, but can give you the BEST in Glasgow (seriously, the BEST).

PM me if you want details (and no, I'm not on commission or anything, just know 2 people who have used him and got fantastic results - his name alone apparently puts the fear of god into employers).

[GlasweJen]

my tribunal form went in today, the lawyer who i saw for advice said that it's really complicated and might take ages but chances are the work will settle when they realise that they'll get hammered for not following their own grievance procedure, they've still not written anything back to me!

[callumsgran]

Jen, have pm'd you
Even if you only have contents policy you should be covered, i was!
Have a look

[GlasweJen]

When I was back home at my parents this week this letter came to my house

Dear Jenschnifer,

I refer to your letter dated 7th September 2007 regarding your dissatisfaction with your treatment within the ***** venue.

"If a mutually agreed solution cannot be reached, the issue will be referred to the Oerations Manager on the basis of written statements prepared by all parties. The Operations Manager's decision will be final." copied from the company handbook, what decision can the operations manager make when I don't work there any more??

As per the company handbook I would like to invite you to a formal Grievance Hearing with **** *****, Operations Manager within our Head Office on date at time. Head office is almost 40 miles away from my home and from the place I worked.

You have the right to be accompanied by a witness other than a solicitor if you so desire. If you would like to submit a written statement for consideration in advance of the hearing you may do so. This should be forwarded for my attention. ??? how can they discuss statements if i've not written one.

Please let me know if the above date and time is suitable and if not then we can reschedule another date.

Yours sincerely,

Human Resources Officer

[GlasweJen]

and this is what I wrote back.

Dear Human Resources,
Further to your letter dated *** I write to unform you that I shall not attend the meeting with **** **** on *****.

This is an inadequate respinse to my letters dated ***** and *****. I specifically requested a written response within 28 days. When you refused to respond within a reasonable time frame, as a gesture of goodwill, I extended the time frame by 14 days.
Your most recent letter dated ***** is outside the allocated timeframe and as a result, based on the severe nature of the grievance filed and that it was not dealt with promptly, I referred the matter to the Employment Tribunal Service on ***** and you will recieve notice of this in due course.

As I am no longer an employee of *** any decision made inthe proposed meeting would have no effect, not is any decision made by the operations manager binding and as such the meeting is no longer necessary.

I expect a written response within 14 days as to how *****intend to proceed on the matter. The only response I will consider satisfactory is a statement of liability admitting to the following:
-denial of statutory right to a break away from the workstation
-unauthorised deduction of wages without express written consent
- inaccurate dates on payslips
-no health questionnaire offered and no assessment by a healthcare professional to assess suitability for the nature of work as required under the working time directive
and an offer of compensation for all of the above.

Additionally I anticipate your comments of the following matters that were raised verbally with my line managers and the trainee assistant manager:
-refusal to provide written particulars of employment
-refusal to provide adequate facility for the safe disposal of hazardous biological substances including blood
-refusal to allow a co-worker to witness discussions regarding the supposedly confidential written communication with Head Office regarding the matters already discussed.

I expect to be paid for my weeks notice, 17.5 hours at my hourly rate plus all holiday hours due.

I consider the following constructive dismissal and I expect an offer of compensation as regards the matter.
-alteration of my shifts from 6.5 hours to 5.5 hours, removing the statutory requirement for a break and to my financial detriment as a direct result of discussions regarding the right to breaks
-refusal to notify me of meetings with managers on the matter
-discussion of my personal medical information in a publid area during my working hours
-breach of confidentiality as regards my written complaint to head office

Yours sincerely,

Jenschnifer

I wonder how that will go down.

[GlasweJen]

Got a letter this morning rescheduling my hearing til Thursday, I thought I made it clear I wouldn't be going???

[GlasweJen]

I got paid! Holiday entitlement and notice period was all there as far as I can tell but I still don't have a payslip for the last 3 months.

What with the postal strike will it look better for me if i extend the deadline or should I stick to 14 days?

[Yorki]

I'd say extend it because it's not their fault Royal Mail are striking.

And good for you, they probably were expecting you to walk away and forget about it.

[GlasweJen]

see the nice person in me says extend it but I went from the end of July til the end of September for a letter so part of me thinks I should just tell them to feck off.

[cal37]

Yes Extend it, it will show a willingness on your part to be fair.

[GlasweJen]

It's a lovely autumn day here in Edinburgh despite the fact that hell just froze over. Got a nice smile from my postie today and in his hands was a 4 page letter from my old employer. Of course it's the exact opposite of what I wanted, lots of We deny, this isn't what happened etc etc but it's a non-computer generated reply.

The last line is the clincher
"The company denies that you have a claim for constructive dismissal and will vigorously defend the claim given the lack of evident that you have to support this claim"

So does that mean that if I produce evidence (which I have) then they'll change their tune? We shall see but they'll be seeing none of my evidence til I'm asked to fork it over by the court, there are statements from people who still work there and are scared for their jobs.

Also they're trying to deny that I'm disabled because I ticked the wrong box. I ticked no where it asks if i have a medical condition but then went on to explain my medical condition. I also talked to the managers about it, mentioned it at my interview and well it's bloody obvious that there's something not right with me.

[gemspan]

Hey Yorki!! Is that a picture of you in your avatar or is it Jon Bon Jovi? If its you, I'm coming to live in Yorkshire!!!!

Sorry, a bit off topic there!!! Stick to your guns Jen. They are trying to scare you. Of course they are going to deny it but if you have evidence then they will be found out!!!

Take care
Gemspan

[GlasweJen]

I got a letter from the tribunal, my claim has been upheld and passed to the tribunal here in Edinburgh, they have 28 days to defend.