nhs contracts? Hi all, i am now working in the nhs as part of the theatre department and in doing so signed the usual contract agreeing to working on calls, late shifts and weekends etc, the problem is that some staff are not taking part in this arrangement because of various reasons ( my cats scared of the dark or little johnny wets the bed) sanctioned by the managers and therefore the remaining staff are having to work extra shifts to compensate. My question is, are we all being treated equally and do we have any basis for taking action against the management. Any help would be great. Cheers.

I'm having some trouble with my manager at work. She has never been supportive about anything that I have requested, but today I felt, was the last straw. I requested permission to leave work an hour early and have the hour taken off as annual leave (because my partner has had to fly overseas to see her father who has been hospitalised and has been told could be terminal, thereby leaving me with no childcare at such short notice), to which she replied that she wouldn't normally support this, and that she will have to have chat with me about this. This is the same person who allowed one of my colleagues to leave four hours early on a saturday couple of weeks ago in order to attend the office party. I am seriously considering my options in terms of whom I can speak with regarding the behaviour of this person who seems to be constantly saying No to any of my requests, but an easy Yes to any of my colleagues who are much younger (yes, she has clearly shown herself to be ageist, but that's another issue). My question: Is taking time off to attend the office party considered fair whereas taking time off (annual leave) to care for young children who will be on their own due to unforeseen circs, unfair?

I have done a search. I have been off work for 6 weeks with work related stress with doctors note. Got a call today from a supervisor telling me that my manager wants to see me later this week at work. This is the only contact I have had from work since I have been off work. Do I have to attend this meeting? I have had no contact from HR or Occ health. I really do not want to go to the meeting as the manager is part of the reason for the stress, and I feel I could lose my temper. cheers

I work as a security guard on a site for £7.50 per hour and I have been there for just over five months. I work alone on a permanent night pattern of four on four off, twelve hour shifts. There is only me on the site and when I am off the other guard works. My elderly mother is going in to hospital for an operation, and I need a week off to look after her when she comes out. I emailed my manager to explain this, when he emailed me back he said he needed a copy of my mothers hospital operation letter, so that it can be kept on file. Is it right that he can ask for this as it is my mother private letter? I sent a photocopy of the letter by email, but I am now wondering if this was an intrusion on my mothers privacy? I got an email soon after saying that he has granted those days off for me, but because I asked for that time off, another guard will be doing my shifts on that site for a month, and they were sending me to another site for the month. This site was an hour from my home, where as my normal site is only 15 minutes from my home. It is for eight hours instead of twelve and the pay is still £7.50. When the other guard had a week off I had to work all eight of their shifts and they were not moved to another site. I rang the manager and said this he said the site I work on is not my site and I work where I am told. I then said I am sorry but I will not be working that other site for low pay. He said he will discuss this with his team and get back to me. I haven't heard off him and will ring him after the weekend. This company have not provided me a contract to sign, if I decided to leave, do I legally need to provide any notice to stop my pay getting deducted? Will I be entitled for any unpaid leave if I resign? Every time I get my monthly pay, they short change me by the pence. if it says on my payslip £1000.89, I will get paid £1000.00 and not the 89. Is there anything I can do about this? I worked over Christmas and new years and I got no bonus, just £7.50 per hour, they did provide a box of chocolates and a bottle of wine, but that was it. I am not in a union and any advice would be appreciated, thank you.

I rang the GP surgery due to having problems with the online booking system, this particular bad mannered receptionist talked down to me in a demeaming manner, telling me to use the online booking system at 7.45am in the morning. I tell her the online booking system is showing the next 3 weeks as not available to book an appointment and question her why? Her response to use it 7.45am in the morning or ring for an appointment at 8am. I tell her I can't because I'm travelling to work that time, she responds thats the only option and she gets more and more agressive during the call, like she's on a power trip. I tell her I'm making a complaint. I ring back after a few days, its the same receptionist, she takes my details (d.o.b), I ask to speak to the Practice Manager, she tells me 'We don't escalate calls to the practice manager. you have to put it into writing'. She keeps on repeating this over and over. I feel I'm getting no where and she's looking for a verbal confrotation after realising its me who and she asks "is it about the complaint against me?" I say no, but she asks "so whats the complaint about about you want to tell the practice manager or is it about not getting your appopintment within the 3 day time limit (I was given it 3 weeks later!!!) She asks "is it about the complaint against me? or about your appointment in 3 weeks time" I tell her its neither, but she keeps interrogating me over and over. Her tone of voice is aggressive, she talking loudly and I can hear her colleagues in the background. She tells me "I can't give you the practice manangers details, put the complaint in writing" and she's questioning me time and time about what issue is about (she's trying to find out why I want to speak to the practice manager, so she can pre-empt and try to cover her tracks before the practice manager receives the complaint. I can hear her colleagues in the background and tell her, she's breaking confidentiality/privacy by talking loud about my matter in from of her colleagues (she's buzzing of the power trip in front of her colleagues". She tells me I'm breaking confidentiality by talking to her in the presence of my family because she can hear them in the background!!! She tells me the call is recorded and we are not getting anywhere and she will end the call. I say her attitude towards me is bad, she's not professional and she's now talking over me, interrupting me constantly, then she slams the phone down. My health is not good at the moment and this effected my health....what can I do now to put her strong complaint in and get this receptionist dismissed because of above and she's openly discussed my issue with her colleagues and she went through my notes when she took the call, trying to find out if she could find out why I wanted to speak to the practice manager. Please help.

Hello, I have a question and I was wondering if someone could help me. My manager has some health issues ( depression among other stuff) and during the past 3 years he has been off for a total of 9 months. 5 and 4 months continuously during 2 years and has now been off for over a week. I have a feeling he will get another long term leave which of course as it is health related I totally understand he might need it. But the issue is that every time during his long absence , I end up doing his job and it involves allot of stuff. For the 9 months I did his job I received absolutely nothing from the company and only a thank you after i complained about getting a pay rise ( which of course i did not get). So i would like to know if I can demand or is my company obligated to pay me more if my manager goes on another long term absense. If I do not receive anything can I refuse to do his job even though I am the 2nd in command? I am happy to the job if he is on a short term sick leave ( 1 -2 weeks) or if he goes on holidays , but for more than that , I have had enough Thank you in advance

I have been bullied at work by a colleague and raised a grievance. The meeting is next week which is making me very anxious and panicky. I signed off for anxiety and stress at work, informing my line manager that I will stay out of work until the meeting, because the stress is affecting my mental health. The absence will be less than five days. My manager's manager insists that I have to call in every day. I checked the Sick Leave Policy and there is only mention of keeping in touch, nothing about a sick employee calling the office every day. Is this allowed?

Hi guys, happy new year to you all! I hope someone could give some advice/their point of view on a situation that has arisen with a previous employer and staff member of my previous employer. Around July last year I started working for a new employer, following on with a career path in IT repair which I had worked in for three years previous. I successfully passed my probationary period of three months and subsequently was given a full-time contract. After reading through the contract, it became apparent that my job title was incorrect or was not for the position I applied for. So I had a word with my manager and explained the situation, only to be told that it was a generic contract, that all employees were given the same role and that because my duties were the same regardless, it didn't matter. I explained to my manager that the reason I had taken the position was for career progression and from a potential new employers perspective, my official job title would have made a significant impact in any potential new positions that I apply for in the future. I made it clear that I was in no way implying I was looking for work elsewhere, but that should I apply for a new position in future, I would either have to lie on a job application/CV to get any chance of getting an interview or use their proposed job title and risk not getting any second look for interview stage. My manager then proceeded to tell me that "I can change it for you, but what you will have to realise is that should business take a turn for the worse in the future, we would look at making ~surplus~ staff members redundant first." I was adamant with him yet polite, and said that I would appreciate him for having this amended and reissued so I could sign and return to him. An hour later, my new contract was emailed through to me with the correct job title showing. Nothing more was mentioned regarding redundancies and the business seemed to be doing reasonably well and was busy as always. Two-three weeks later as I was leaving work, the sales rep they had working for them asks me to wait for two minutes as the manager in question needed to speak to me but was on the phone. A couple of minutes later my manager walks into the canteen where I was waiting and hands me a letter of redundancy explaining that they had thought about any way around this decision but could not find an alternative. I collected my belongings and left not saying a word. After getting home and reading through the letter, they had stated that I was only getting paid up until the day I had worked (i.e. no notice payment in lieu) and also that I would have a couple of days holiday pay taken from my final wage (which was accountable for.) I contacted my manager and also the HR secretary to ask them to confirm the details of the letter and explaining why I wasn't receiving and notice pay. Within a few hours the HR secretary contacted me back apologising for the mistake and confirming that I would receive one week's pay in lieu of notice and also they would waiver the two days holiday pay they were going to deduct. I have quickly found another position, and am now one month before the end of my probationary period. A couple of days ago I was out shopping at B&Q. I had just parked and was locking my car when I spotted my ex-manager in the car park a few vehicles away from me. So I approached him to ask him how he was and wish him a happy new year, only for him to square up to me two inches from my face asking if I had a problem with him or wanted to say something to him. A little taken aback, I said I had no idea what he was talking about. He then continued ranting on about a joke meme I had shared on Facebook mid-November regarding vegans. I asked him if he was serious, and before walking away to meet his missus and child, points to me and says "you better watch what you say you." I have since sent him a polite message on Facebook, saying that I didn't appreciate being spoke to or threatened in the way that he did, that I have contacted the store who say they possibly have CCTV of the incident should I wish to report him to the Police and apologising if the post I shared offended him. I have had no reply from him, no apology and he has now blocked me on Facebook. I'd just like to hear other people's spin on this. In this situation would you take action and report him to the Police and/or his employer? Would it also raise question as to the validity of the reasoning behind my redundancy with the company? Any ideas/suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

I have to start at 9am and end at 5pm, but the bus doesn't arrive near the shop til 9..46am and last bus is around 4pm. I have never been to this town before, and don't know the bus routes. I have been suffering from travel sickness and have been to the doctor about my diareah(sorry, but the doctor said that was normal to go to the bathroom every few minutes). I have an appointment on Monday to pick up travel money and have to be there by 2pm. From March to June of this year I was volunteering at a charity in my home town. I am wondering if I should apply to a charity shop in town? But this woman (who was dressed like she was going out to a party) said that SEETEC only ran a few shops. Can I refuse this placement due to it being in a part of the county where I've never been? There is no way I am able to get to the placement in time, I'll be late. And according to the letter if I am late it can effect my benefits.

Hello. I have been working in company for 4.5 years. All that time I was working threw the agency and I get a contract 1st of January this year. 22nd of september I decided to quit because of personal circumstances. I wasn't happy about my life. I text my manager, I have informed him that I quit. I wrote that it was nice to work with him, but it's time to move on for me and that I'm sorry if that will cause any problems. And I have switched off my phone, I didn't wanted to talk with anyone. After that I get a lot of messages from him, he wrote that I must explane why did I quit. I didn't replyed, because I think that I don't have to explane my personal problems. After few days he texted me again, he wrote that someone is pregnant from me at my workplace... I have ignored that message. Yesterday 2nd of october I get another 2 messages from him and they were even worse than previuos. He wrote : '' U little piece of sh**.. I know where u live.. I still need to know why you left... so I will be coming.." 2nd message "You haven't balls and guts too reply, you 50kg boy" I'm trying to change my life, trying to quit smoking, I have started running in the mornings, but after messages like that I feel uncomfortable and a bit stressed. Didn't wanted to take any actions against him, but I'm not sure how far this can go. What should I do?

I've got some issues at work, for months now i've been experiencing problems with various other employees causing hassle for me, spreading lies, giving me the cold shoulder and encouraging others to do the same, as well as certain individuals sabotaging work and generally trying to make me and 3 others look like we're not doing our jobs. I'm not one to stand by and let someone do that to me or my colleagues, so I took a stand, I made some noise, nobody wanted to know, nobody wanted to upset the apple cart. On several occasions i've told my direct supervisor about how this is affecting me in a negative way and undoubtedly affecting my work too. The last time I spoke to my supervisor (on a Monday), the very same day my manager went digging into weeks/months worth of my work and picking out faults, resulting in a disciplinary action made up of dozens of small errors. He claims he found a single fault on that Monday, BUT instead of bringing this fault to my attention, having a quiet word and sorting it out, he let me make the same mistake again several times over the course of 3 days, before putting together a huge report and taking it straight into a disciplinary action. All the time knowing full well that I'd already made it clear that I was under a lot of stress. Then we get a pre-disciplinary where i'm told what to expect, i'm told to bring supporting evidence, I questioned that I can't get any evidence because i'm not allowed to access that area of the database, he explicitly tells me that "you know you can, we all know you can and you could if you wanted to". Disciplinary day, I get a whole load of stupid little issues thrown at me, I discount more than half of them with my evidence, but it's clear the whole thing is biased and that whatever I say wasn't going to make a difference. He then starts questioning me on how I got my evidence, the meeting ends and now i'm being investigated for misusing the database.......... This is utterly ridiculous, it's clearly a personal matter, he's mad that I was making noise and standing up for myself, etc. He knows i've been under a lot of stress and he's wasted company time and resources by turning this into a witch hunt when he could have resolved it on day one. It's really p!ssing me off, this guy was investigated for bullying another colleague before he was promoted years ago, i'm sure everyone can see what he's doing, HR, his own manager, etc. I don't know how these people can sleep at night and I don't understand how they can think someone like that is good for the business! So now im in a situation where I know he's watching every move, I can afford to make a mistake, but i'm so stressed by all this that I can barely think straight and it's taking me nearly twice as long to do anything!

Hi everyone. I'm new to these forums and I'm not sure if I am posting in the correct place. Please feel free to point me in the right direction if it's better suited somewhere else. Although this story is fairly long, I will try and explain it the best I can. I am speaking on behalf of my Father because he has dyslexia and finds it difficult to read and write well. Back in 2005 my Father owned a fairly successful business but he was having trouble with the bookkeeping and accounts. Around this time, he was approached by a company called Barrington Finance, who told him that they were able to help him sort his difficulties out and get his books and accounts in order. Shortly after, the director of Barrington finance decided he wanted to leave his job and be in partnership with my Father, as he was bored of his job and wanted to take a new direction. The director then introduced my Father to a bank manager who worked at Natwest. My Fathers new business partner, and the manager of Natwest advised my Father to remortgage his home for £100'000 and to put the money in to an account for a new business venture my Father set up. The bank manager opened up 3 separate business accounts for different business's for my father and his new business partner, with an overdraft facility on 2 accounts. A mandate was set in place for the accounts, which stated that money could only be withdrawn/transferred with two signatures. That of my Fathers, and his new business partner. Around 8 months after these accounts were set up, my Father noticed some suspicious activity within his business, he then went in branch to check one of the accounts (the one he had put the £100'000 in), to find that the account had been closed and all the money had been taken out. He was at a complete loss for words as he had only authorised one transaction over that period. He knew straight away that his new business partner was involved in the disappearance of the money and the account closure. Upon viewing the bank statements of these accounts, there had been withdrawals of large sums of money which were not authorised by my Father. He immediately reported the matter to the police to which they said they could not do anything until they received confirmation from the bank that these fraudulent actions had taken place. He then approached the bank and reported the theft to the bank assistant to which they passed onto the managers. The manager did agree that fraudulent activity had been taking place and asked him to put it in writing so they can investigate further into the matter. The case was then passed onto the fraud investigation department. Whilst this investigation was happening (it took almost two years) the bank itself made a claim against my Father for the £10000 overdraft facility. He tried to inform the bank that their bank manager had authorised the overdraft and is involved in the theft and the unauthorised transactions taken out of the accounts. In the end, the claim that my Father was trying to make was not taken to court because Natwest said that the £10’000 overdraft he apparently owed and the disappearance of the £100’000 were not related. Before Natwest took my Father to court, he had payed around £7000 in legal costs trying to take them to court. After all of this happened, my Father lost his business, our family home… everything he had ever worked hard for. In 2008, my dad had to pay back the £10’000. He has suffered a tremendous amount of stress and depression from this ordeal, and we are all suffering to this very day. that is the general background to the story. I hope it wasn’t too difficult to follow for those of you that are still reading this. Of course there are further points to make but it would take way too long to explain on this forum. I have a few important questions to ask and some key points to elaborate on When my Father saw the account transactions, it showed that money was been transferred to his business partners account, his business partners WIFES account and then to the other two business accounts that were set up. When he asked Natwest to show him WHO authorised these transactions (there were 21 account transfers) they said that this is only kept on file in a note system for a very short period of time and then destroyed. Is this true? So if you have a large sum of money in an account that is only allowed withdrawal/transactions with two signatures, they have NO evidence to show who allowed this to happen? 2) Before the mandate was set in place and signed by my father and his business partner, £10’000 was withdrawn out of the account in cash, with only 1 signature, the signature of his business partner! This was BEFORE the mandate was even set in place! Surely this is enough evidence? And surely this is completely in breach of the contract??? 3) The bank manager of natwest was over-riding my fathers authority and allowing my fathers business partner to transfer the money without his permission. What is even more astounding is that the bank manager of Natwest was SACKED in 2008 due to gross misconduct. But they did not mention this at court?! Fastforward to 2015, we have now taken this case to the Financial Ombudsman. I sent off a case file that has all evidence and documents pertaining to the investigation back in 2007/8. The court had ordered Natwest to release all their documents of their investigation so EVERYTHING they did/said is all here with me in a file. before the case was passed on to the adjudicator, another person who was dealing with it beforehand said that Natwest have not issued my Father with a deadlock letter . can the ombudsman make a decision without the deadlock letter? We have asked the Ombudsman time and time again to get the deadlock letter from the bank but he has ignored these requests. He said that because it happened so long ago , Natwest have told him they haven't kept the case on file. BUT we have everything here on file because as I said earlier, the court ordered Natwest to release everything they were doing on the investigation back in 2007/08. What are the chances of my Father getting anywhere with this case since it has been more than six years? I would greatly appreciate everyones thoughts, comments and suggestions . If you have any questions that you would like to ask then please feel free to do so. Thank you for reading.

My line manager made the accusation after listening to voice communications with a member of the public.

Please can I have help in instigating a judical review where the JCP Manager colludes with staff to threaten, verabl aabuse and spread lies about a person who is just trying their best. Their chip on the shoulder being the person is black well educated. Have heard from a reputable source that particular JCP does not like experienced graduates with 30+ years work history. Thwe online instructions on Justice.gov are very confusing.

Hello Everyone, My friend has her first work programme appointment on the 24th June 2013 and was unable to attend due to being very anxious, being sick and had panic attacks! I rang Ingeus and spoke to her Employment Advisor, he was busy when I rang so I left a message that is was important he call back because it was to do with my friend's appointment and that she was unable to attend that day! He did call back and I duly answered the phone call, I told him why my friend was unable to attend and if she can have another appointment date and that I will come with her, I've explained about her anxiety and panic attacks and also told him her advisor at the Job Centre knows of her circumstances as I've had to cancel an appointment she had with her job centre advisor before, I requested that my friend will need a private room as she will not cope being in a room full of people! All what we asked was granted and I also told Ingeus advisor to send me a letter to confirm my telephone conversation with him! Today a letter arrived there was no mention of speaking to me nor mentioned about requesting for a private room all the letter says! 'We have attempted to contact you by telephone but was unable to reach you. We have therefore arranged an appointment for you on such a date etc, etc. I couldn't believe what I was reading' Good job I wrote a letter confirming my telephone conversation with him on the 24th June and mentioned everything we spoke about, I've kept a copy of course and sent the letter to him! I need to write a letter to him about the letter I've received today not mentioning anything of our telephone conversations, my brain has gone pickled at the moment and I want to be careful how I write the letter! He has lied and also not stating the fact of out conversations has anyone come across this sort of problem with Ingeus it will be good to know about them a bit! Thanks helen

Hello knowledgeable folk, I've been in the same role for the same company for 15 years, the last 8.5 of these years have been worked from home. Home is a minimum of 2 1/2 hours drive from the office location. My work is completed online, I've never had any issues raised with the quality of my work, or my location until now. A new manager has come in and stated that I should be in the office two to three days a month. There is a statement on my contract that I can be required to work from other locations within reasonable travel distance from my home. I've stated clearly that I am unable to fulfil this request, but I'm still being pursued to comply, it's as if I am speaking to myself. What I would like to gauge is whether this statement on my contract is enforceable? I have never had to work from anywhere other than my home in the past 8 1/2 years since I moved to my current location (my company could not replace my position when I moved away from the area, lucky me). My gut feeling is that the new manager wants the role moved back in house, I understand and just wish to be treated fairly. Do you think if I asked for redundancy I would have grounds? To be honest the relationship between the new manager and myself is not great, he lied about me to our overall boss (who thankfully knows me well enough to check the facts), so leaving wouldn't be too much of a disappointment at this point! Thanks in advance!

Hi All, I'm new to the forum and desperately need some advice. Basically I was dismissed from my job for not being a good "culture fit" - no warning, no disciplinary etc but was told that they were going to help me find a new job I came into the office on a Sunday and the manager was supposed to help me go through my CV for the employment agency. He called me in the morning and asked if I still had the company owners Ipad (which I brought with me to give back). I was then interrogated as if I had tried to steal the Ipad, and download apps (neither of which are true - and the police were never involved) So they never gave me any assistance and I had to find another job, which I now have. I then receive this text from the manager a week after starting my new job [ATTACH=CONFIG]53337[/ATTACH] Basically the review was from an unhappy customer who had their goods damaged, and I agreed and "liked" the review What legal position do I have? blackmail/extortion etc? I'm not sure how they found the details of my new employer, but no references were requested, and never will be - but obviously he's saying that he will call them and basically tell them untrue information Please help

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2713784/Unmasked-City-high-flier-Jonathan-Burrows-dodged-43-000-rail-fares-paid-3-days.html

hi today my manager told me that someone that we both know has told her that i called her a b*****d. as much as i dont get on with this person, as do none of the staff that work under her, b*****d is not a word i use and not one i would use to describe her. i had stood up to her previously and i feel that she has made up this story to try to create a negative situation that might cost me my place at work...or to force my resignation. she has been working at our place of employment 1 week and already 2 people have left due to her pushy superior corporate attitude. when she told me what had been said to her i denied it of course and having felt bullied by her previously i walked out of my job. my head office have already said that they are happy to transfer me to another branch but i will miss my workmates and would resent myself for leaving with this person. we all feel we are being pressured and bullied and forced to meet unrealistic expectations so that she may please her superiors and climb the career ladder. i really would love my job back but i dont know what my rights are or how i might go about approaching this person again.

The other day myself and 2 colleagues were shopping and as we left the store one of us got stopped and it transpires she had stolen a packet of sweets. She claims she wasn't taken into an office and was dealt with in the shop floor. The police were not called but the store manager said he would inform our employer as he had a duty of care due to the hysterical state she was in. The security guard also allegedly stated that he knew all 3 of us had been taking things. The next day we were all summons to head office as the sore manager had phoned our employer and all 3 of us are now been investigated for gross misconduct as we gave brought the companies name into disrepute. I think this is slanderous and possibly a breech of data protection as myself and another college I did not get caught stealing. They got our names after bulling my colleague who was caught by saying they had an a tip off from another colleague that we were always talking things. Obviously this is not true. Can anyone advise please on why the shop had the right to inform our employer without any proof

Hi I have recently asked to leave work two hours early for a forthcoming hospital appointment. I have agreed to make the time up and explained when I will be doing this. However, my line manager has asked for a copy of the hospital letter. I have worked there for two years and I have never requested time off for a hospital appointment before. I have had the occasional Doctor's appointment and I have always made the time up for these. While I understand the employer needs to manage absences, I do feel there is a lack of trust and, due to the personal nature of the appointment, I do not wish to disclose this information. One option would be to provide a copy of the letter with the personal details blanked out, but my line manager says she needs to know the nature of the appointment in case it is a recurring issue. I feel this is an invasion of privacy. I have checked the company handbook and all it says is that where possible appointments must be made outside of work time, and if they are in work time the company reserves the right to deduct the time from sick leave. I should add that if I do disclose this personal information, I don't have any confidence in my manager keeping it confidential. When people call in sick she tells the team why they were sick rather than just saying that person won't be in that day due to illness. Any thoughts on where I stand? Any advice gratefully appreciated. R

Hi I'm trying to find details of the area manager for a Curry's store I have a complaint against. A young girl said she emailed my complaint off to Head Office on the 8th September but so far no response so I emailed them myself on the 15th September but no response. I called Knowhow as this is who she said she emailed but they have no record of the complaint but was told as my complaint was with the store I should contact them. I emailed them on the 26th September but once again no reply. I have rang the store on several occasions and asked for the name of the area manager but they refuse to give out the information and the amount of times they say I will receive a call back but don't is just a joke. So if anyone can help find out how I can get the information I would be grateful.

I'm in a really weird situation where my grievance is for my director and sales manager. I am currently going through a hell of a time and work life is very awkward. I'm using our hr. department to get resolution to this and im just hoping that it is sorted soon. I would have no idea of what to do if it was hr who was the person you had a grievance with. I think perhaps there is always a non byes' third party somewhere even if it has to come from a separate organisation. People should be protected in the work place. Even against the highest level of management. Also if anything comes of this im pretty tip top on my companies procedures. Knowledge really is power I guess. lol ive just seen how old this thread is. oops

The developer has issued a claim against me. The developer is also the manager and owner of the private road on which we live. I intend to fully dispute the claim. The date of service is today, 3rd May so I have a little time to get things together. He is claiming £265 for what he states in the POC as "charges incurred by our company on behalf of the residents of XXX which is a private road owned by our company. There are clauses in the sales contract for each property which allows us to pass on the charges and make a charge for management costs. The 10 other residents have settled their accounts in full." The charges are for a Pumping station and the Electricity that runs the pumping station. But he's charging us nearly £700 a year to "administer" these bills that come in annually. Right, so let me just say that the accounting system he uses is a mess, so I need to show that in court. He has been charging VAT at 20% on the electricity even though he only gets charged 5%. I have paid all the bills that he has incurred but I will not pay his extortionate management charge. But what I am looking for is a bit of help to really nail this once and for all. I can show the court that I have paid all charges in full EXCEPT his management charges. I am not paying any management charges because, 1) He has raised the management fee for the 11 properties from £395 to £695. Now obviously I only pay one eleventh of that, but our clause in our sales contract he talks about states that all charges should be reasonable. The reason he raised the charge by £300 was to recuperate money he lost taking another resident to court for a similar matter. He has been talking about my personal situation with other residents. Is he in breach of Data Protection Laws? He has deliberately mixed up the payments I have made and apportioned them to the wrong bills, making it look like I haven't paid one of the at all. The accounts that he has submitted in his POC are different to the ones he has given me. How do I get back the money I am going to lose in defending this? Do I just ask the Judge to award costs, or do I have to counter-claim? In short, I have paid my share of pumping station charges and electricity, but owing to the 40% rise in management charges and no justification or reasonable excuse for it, I haven't paid any management fees. I just want to pay what is fair and reasonable, I am not his personal cash cow. If anyone could help me, I'd be very grateful.

I bought a laptop from PC World in June last year, all has been fine with until yesterday it just stopped working during normal use. When I tried to boot it failed and gave a recovery message which I followed which then also failed and gave a message to refer to your supplier. I took it back to PC World today and in the middle of explaining what happened I was told by the 'Know How Expert' that software faults are not covered by the standard 1 year guarantee. I asked a few questions such as 'how do you know it's software, you haven't looked at it yet' and was then asked by the techie for a recovery disc - my reply was 'Everything that came with it is in the box' the techie then told me that as I hadn't made a recovery disc I would be charged around £70 for one to which I replied 'But it's under warranty and it has failed' cue long debate with techie where I quote the sale of goods act etc, goods unfit for purpose and so on. Of she goes to get the manager who seemingly didn't want to know as she came back and told me the same thing so I asked her to get the manager and bring him to me. I was then told he was busy but would try to get to me when he could. It turned out he was just on the shop floor as when (after the second time of asking) she went and got him he was a chap who had been wandering around the shop floor all the time I was there. From the moment he arrived his attitude was appalling, he huffed and puffed, asked why I hadn't made a back up disc and when I pointed out that nowhere did it tell me that if I didn't make a back up disc would that invalidate the warranty he said that I should know I had to do that and there was nothing he could do. I quoted sale of goods and he started raising his voice asking what I expected him to do - quite simply I replied fix it, replace it or refund my money - he then got even louder and said I was being ridiculous and that he would then be stuck with a broken laptop that he couldn't sell. The exchange went on a bit longer and few more repeated arguments from myself were not going to make this manager take any action so I asked for his full name and the store number, he asked why and I said that I would be raising it with the Consumers Association and taking advice and I would be complaining to PC World about the fact that he was refusing to deal with my faulty goods. He then started shouting and told him to calm down at which point he walked off saying 'you have a nice day sir' and emphasising the words so it was particularly nasty and sarcastic. My advice would be never to buy anything from PC World Lakeside as they clearly don't care at all about Customer service So what I need to know is who do I complain about this bloke to and who do I complain to about the service and how I was treated and how can I get my laptop sorted?