Hi everyone - I've had some good advice here in the past and wonder if anyone can help with this. I have been employed by a firm of solicitors for 11 years. I am 42 years of age and work 33 hours a week. I work with another co-worker who is 63 and has been there for 19 years and works 28 hours a week. We do basically the same duties, ie typing/filing/secretarial. Yesterday our boss came to the office and said that due to the current climate one of us had to take voluntary redundancy and that we had to decide between ourselves which one it was. He called me in to the office first and offered me a package of £6,000 to go immediately if there was no fuss. I asked him if the same had been offered to the other worker and he said that yes a deal would be offered to her. He said if the firm had to go down the road of point scoring ie attendance/timekeeping etc then the offer would be withdrawn and he would pick who to go himself. He then called my co-worker in and apparently told her the same. What I need to know is :- 1. Who would the firm legally be obliged to make redundant out of the two of us if neither was prepared to leave ? Can length of service be taken into account? 2. I originally was employed to work for the fee-earner we both work for doing conveyancing work. The other 63 years old worker came onto our Department four years after me. Would this affect anything? 3. I may be being paranoid but I think I am being singled out for the redundancy as I am unsure as to whether the same offer has been put to my co-worker. How do I deal with this? 4. What is the criteria used to make someone redundant? Any advice would be appreciated. Jayne.

Look into trying to get an interim payment to tide you over - if liability is not in dispute then its worth asking your union solicitor to approach the Company's solicitors - you've nothing to lose. If this claim is going to be ongoing for a while it seems unfair to expect you to wait months or even years before a settlement is reached.

Have you thought about putting in a claim against the Company for your injuries if they have admitted full liability?

Callum - that made me laugh - my thoughts exactly

Wow!! Sidewinder - you are amazing - thank you so much. I've got my appraisal in a week or so and I'll hand them a letter stating what you've quoted. I knew deep down this couldn't possibly be fair but I didn't know if there were any grounds for me to raise a grievance. I will let you know how this goes. Its caused me immense stress up to now and I feel so much better now.

Hi Sidewinder - thank you so much for your detailed reply. In answer to your question about my colleague - she is a 62 year old woman with no dependents and does not have to care for anyone. The reason she wants a Friday is because she wants a day off attached to a weekend. She cannot have the Monday because our main fee earner has that day off and hence she has requested the Friday because she says she "is not prepared to have a Thursday off and come in on a Friday". This to me is totally unjustified. What do you think?

Thank you very much - I appreciate it.

Thanks Andy.

I have worked for my employer for 11 years. About six years ago after I recovered from cancer I requested that my hours at work be reduced from 35 to 33. My hours at the time were Monday-Friday 9 -5 and I was allowed to reduce them by being able to leave at 3.00 pm on a Tuesday and a Thursday afternoon. At the time I requested two hours off on a Friday instead of a Thursday as I have a young son. This was refused on the grounds that I work for a solicitor doing conveyancing work and completions on properties mostly happened on this day, thus making it the busiest day of the week. I conceded to this and have been on my current hours ever since. I have recently discovered that my colleague who does the same work as me and works 35 hours a week has applied to reduce her days from a five day week to a four day week and she is taking the Friday off. I am amazed that she was allowed as when I requested a Friday I was refused. Also, if she takes the Friday off I will be left on my own with a fee earner to deal with masses of completions plus telephones/reception and queries from clients. Upon raising an objection to this I have not received a satisfactory answer and things remain the same. I'd like to know:- 1. Is my employer allowed to do this or does this amount to discrimination bearing in mind that I asked and was refused? 2. Am I entitled to now ask my employer to change one of my days to a Friday and can he refuse? 3. My workload will be bound to be heavier now as there is only myself on a Friday to deal with all the extra work. Is this allowed? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Oh my goodness PGH7447!! Thank you so much - it will give me the greatest of pleasure.

I have a credit card debt of £4500 with the Royal Bank of Scotland. This debt is now over six years old - it has been passed from debt collector to debt collector I don't know how many times. I served the last collection company about two months ago with a request for the original credit agreement who then wrote to me saying that they had passed the debt back to the Royal Bank of Scotland. I have now received a letter from the Royal Bank of Scotland saying that the debt has now been assigned to Equidebt followed by a letter a day later from Equidebt demanding full payment of the sum owed in the next seven days. Quite frankly I am sick of this going around in circles. They have even rang my workplace this morning pestering me. Do I serve a request for original Credit Agreement on them now or what do I do to get rid of this?

The thing is, he is on permanent incapacity benefit - he's never worked since 2003 so even if they went after him they wouldn't get anything off him - he has no assets. I've paid the mortgage all this time and never defaulted.

Yes, I've tried to get another mortgage in my sole name with another lender but I don't earn enough. My mortgage is £78,000 and I earn £12,500 per annum. Plus, my ex left me with most of the debts so I also have a bad credit record. I've just phoned FSA and they've told me to raise it with the Ombudsman if I think its unfair which I do. I've told Northern Rock I will go into arrears if I get put on the standard rate but they say he legally needs to sign the papers and they can't help:(

My ex and I divorced in 2003. The property was transferred into my sole name but Northern Rock with whom we have the mortgage will not take my ex's name off the Mortgage Deed. This has created problems in the past as every time I need to get on a fixed rate, change products, etc he has to also sign the papers and the Agreements. There has been no problem in the past as he has been living with his parents about two miles from me but about a year ago he upped and went and I do not have an address for him. Anyway, the Northern Rock have written saying that the fixed rate I am currently on is coming to an end and this will put my mortgage up by an extra £150.00 a month. They have offered me a range of other products to go on which will suitable but they are refusing to change me over as my ex needs to sign the papers as well as me and I cannot locate him!!! This means that I am stuck with a mortgage on the normal rate simply because of a signature. What are my rights with regard to this? I simply cannot afford to pay this extra £150.00 a month. This will almost certainly result in me going into arrears. Surely someone can help out with his, ie Ombudsman? Has anyone got any advice?

Thank you Kia - the support on here is amazing

Believe me Spirit they're horrendous - I've dealt with them lately but after sending letter asking for original Credit Agreement I've not heard from them for a few months. Don't worry - there's ways to fight back and the people here are fantastic and really supportive. Everyones in the same boat and its a great comfort.

Thank you Mariejader - I am intending to set my own timescale - I've really had enough of them now.

Thanks so much .

Yes I've got them ICY and I'm adding this £50.00 onto the figures. What gives them the right to just ignore correspondence though? For two pins I'd close the account down completely but I have an overdraft facility of £1,400 and can't afford to pay it off at the moment.

One thing there is no argument about is that if they cannot prove a CCA exists then you can stop paying. OK so it may not be the holiday to Oz that yo hoped for but at least you could use the money saved for a dirty weekend in Bognor, Blackpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh (sorry just thinking of memories):o LOL!!! - don't give me ideas

.....and there's me just about to book my next holiday Never mind - thanks for your replies.

What does all this mean then? Can I recover my monies or not and how do I go about it.

Hi ODC It was for a credit card debt of about £4500.00 with the Royal Bank of Scotland.

LOL!!!!!!!! What a great idea!!

Really?? :)OMG I'm all excited now!!! Can I do this and how do I do it?