Accident at work

[pt2537]

Well, its about time i posted again as this is still rumbling on


basically, my employers lifted the suspension on me and said come back to work alls forgiven, well, it didnt happen that way because as a result of the behaviour of my employers from the outset, i became ill and was diagnosed with depression

however im fighting it and have got over that side of things

however over the past 2 months while ive been off sick, my employers have managed to get my wages wrong.

in November they didnt pay me at all, so i had to chase payroll and get an emergency bacs transfer done, and again in December, no wages on payday, when i called payroll they claimed that they had not been notified by my local office that i was off sock, now i was signed off sick at the end of october so how can they say they didnt know i was sick, the issue i have is with my regional office as its the manager who in my opinion has caused this

now still on Decembers pay, because they failed to run it through the payroll system as normal, i ended up being stuffed with emergency tax too or what ever they call it

in addition, i asked them to provide an explanation to the council why my wage slips were so horribly wrong etc as these issues caused havoc with my housing benefits etc my employers ignored the council completely which lead to my benefits being stopped as well, and my rent went into 2 months arrears

now today i sent an email to the HR manager and the manager replied from my local office, now then heres the thing he sent me a reply to my email which was clearly destined for human resources and it was rather offensive to me

what can i do, advice please anyone Ell-enn perhaps? im not sure how to go about this? but i also dont wish to produce the email in an open forum either as im sure you can all understand

Thanks

paul

[pt2537]

well this saga is still rumbling on,

had a disciplinary hearing yesterday, which has again been adjourned as my employers didnt have all the info they need (again) so im back in limbo, one thing they did provide which is extremely helpful is a letter from my work colleague

my employers because they couldnt prove i tampered with the chair, surprise surprise (cos i didnt) have now moved the goal posts and accused me of not acting with due care so as not to injure myself, well the thing is, in their evidence which they claim proves i didnt act with due care was this letter from my colleague,

however the letter says " i can confirm that i was aware that the chair was faulty" (this was four days before my accident) so they have confirmed in writing for me that a colleague knew the chair was duff and i then argued that they had a duty of care to me to report the defective item. my solicitor was wetting herself when she saw the letter as it adds so much weight to my claim

im waiting for the next letter from these clowns telling me whats happening next


isnt it fun

[JonCris]

Clearly they are trying to limit their liability by claiming contributory negligence by you or by claiming you tampered with it so are the author of your own misfortune

Either that or they are going to claim as the fault was not reported they had no knowledge of it & therefore can't be held responsible

Eejits

Have they not read the Health & Safety at Work Act 1998. Even if they didn't know it was faulty it is still their duty to supply non faulty equipment, including a chair. Furthermore this duty is absolute in law.

[pt2537]

Originally Posted by JonCris

Clearly they are trying to limit their liability by claiming contributory negligence by you or by claiming you tampered with it so are the author of your own misfortune

Either that or they are going to claim as the fault was not reported they had no knowledge of it & therefore can't be held responsible

Eejits

Have they not read the Health & Safety at Work Act 1998. Even if they didn't know it was faulty it is still their duty to supply non faulty equipment, including a chair. Furthermore this duty is absolute in law.

Hi JC

you would not believe half the stuff that has gone on, it does seem they are trying to say that i am liable because i didnt check the chair correctly, the trouble for them is, they provided a email from my colleague saying the chair was defective, yet they failed to take any action on the email

still i am looking forward to the appology that im going to get at the end of this from them

[JonCris]

pt mention 'Galashiels Gas Company' - That should get their bums twitching

[JonCris]

or Stark v Post Office - plus many many more

[JonCris]

Also it would do no harm to mention those cases to your solicitor to see how well they are switched onto employment law

[JonCris]

Also it doesn't matter if they didn't know of the fault their duty is still absolute. Even if they do have an inspection regime but it still fails they are liable - period

[JonCris]

Before anyone claims "that ain't fair on the employer" if their duty wasn't absolute they could purchase any sort of crap & expect people to suffer the consequences of their refusal to pay for decent equipment thereby causing injury to their staff & refusing to pay compensation just by claiming "sorry guv didn't know it was faulty"

In other words the liability would fall upon the victim

[68904]

The HSWA is quite plain, the employer has to provide you with a safe working environment.
If you are claiming against the company do not discuss this claim with anyone other than your legal representative.
Let your company dance a jig and mess about, and at the end of the day they will payout, you just advise them that your case is going to court and I will see you there.
15 years HSWA Rep

[JonCris]

Correct 68904 but the duty of the employer to maintain equipment, ie one chair, is absolute

Also as a result of a recent HoC ruling further injury or stress to an injured employee can no longer be considered as too remote for the employer to be held liable

So if by their subsequent treatment of an injured employee they cause stress they can be held responsible for that too

[ScarletPimpernel]

Originally Posted by JonCris

Also as a result of a recent HoC ruling further injury or stress to an injured employee can no longer be considered as too remote for the employer to be held liable

So if by their subsequent treatment of an injured employee they cause stress they can be held responsible for that too

Do you have a link or reference to this?

[pt2537]

thanks guys,

well ive got the disciplinary hearing today and my employers continue to dig holes for themselves. they have forwarded me a telephone recording of me reporting my accident that they intend to rely upon in the hearing *DOH* havent they heard of RIPA 2000 as it is illegal for them to disclose the contents to third parties where the persons we not made aware they were being recorded and guess what, they never told me it exsisted

also they have sent me two so called witness statements, they are from the same person and no 1 contradicts no 2

great isnt it

[JonCris]

Originally Posted by ScarletPimpernel

Do you have a link or reference to this?

Here you go.....a very tragic story were had been treated better he would probably have survived

http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/2008/02/28/44626/employers-on-suicide-watch-after-lords-ruling-on-ex-employee-suicide.html