It was the union solicitor, for the GMB.

Thanks postggj. I will speak to my union rep and see about the next steps. I feel this will be an uphill battle as the solicitor didn't hold out any hope of challenging it. Thanks for your help. .J.

Hi honeybee. Yes, that makes a lot of sense. I had heard something like that a while ago, but the person who was doing the explaining didn't make much sense. You explained it a lot better. Thanks for your help.

Hi honeybee. Yes, that makes a lot of sense. I had heard something like that a while ago, but the person who was doing the explaining didn't make much sense. You explained it a lot better. Thanks for your help.

I didn't sign anything as I didn't agree with it. I was just left to do my 30 hours per week until he - the service manager- decided to cut them back to 12 to save money a couple of months ago. I asked the solicitor whether I could do anything about the contract, to which he said no.

Thanks for the replies. Sorry if I have repeated this reply. I did try and post it earlier but I think I deleted it, so had to type it again. Hi postggi - When I initially raised this with my line-manager he was shocked and got onto it straight away. This involved him asking the Business Support Manager – the man who had given out the false information years previous – why this had happened. This resulted in denials and attempts to ‘pass the buck’, but ended up getting the attention of some very senior managers. Although the senior managers had meetings and agreed that we should have been given contracts; they instructed the BSM to sort them out. This resulted in another 12 months of waiting, due to lost paper work, wrong information etc , until I finally received a contract which gave me ‘12’ hours. Although I questioned this, as the 12 hours did not correlate with the 30 hours which I was doing at that time, I was told that it would be best for me to just take it, as it gave me ’some’ rights whilst the government cuts were being examined. - With regards to their response about paying the holidays which I felt were owed, I was told me that this was not possible. - I have already put in a formal grievance, which highlights (among other things) my not being given the proper benefits and entitlements. As part of this process, I had to see a solicitor who was attached to my Union. When I asked him about whether I would able to claim back the holidays, he told me that I would not be able to because of the 3 month rule. Also that he felt I had been ‘shafted’ with my hours. - Do you think I would need to raise a specific grievance about the holidays? As I only used the holiday issue as part of the bigger picture of my complaint. Hi honeybee13 - I have continually asked for calculations when issues such as: late payments, withheld wages and apparent overpayments have been raised, but have yet to receive any. As this process involves the participation of the men who are generally obstructive and uncooperative (BSM and the Manager of the service), I do not hold out that I will receive any anytime soon. With this in mind, I am still to receive a breakdown of apparent overpayments which I requested from the manager of the service some time ago. - I am unsure about the pension entitlement, but would say that once we had received the information that we were entitled to holidays etc, I was given the opportunity to join the pension scheme. Hi Pootling - I have got the Union involved already and as far as I am aware the Head of HR is aware of the situation. As for the other people, I am not sure but think it wouldn’t be too hard to find it out. Another aspect which I am unsure about is that if this situation was not sorted out amicably, and if the County Court option was viable, would I bring a case about the Council or the men who are directly responsible? As to their credit, the senior managers did try to sort it out (not the holidays) quite promptly, but it was the other managers incompetence and dare I say it, vindictiveness, that has resulted in continued struggles whilst doing my job. This issue is just one in a long line of problems which I have had and am having whilst in this employment, so any advice would be gratefully received. Thanks for your help! .J.

Hi. I have been working for a local council for almost 7 years, and only recently (April 2010) received my first contract - which only arised through 'my' investigations. Up until this point, I was told by particular managers that I was not entitled to any form of benefit e.g. holidays, sickness and bereavement, even though I worked in excess of 50-60 hours pw. Since this realisation by the powers that be, I received a 'payment' (with no calculations) for the holidays accrued during the 2009-2010 period and have subsequently received (up until the last month at least, as further problems have arisen) holiday and sickness entitlement. One of my questions is: Have I got a claim for the other 4 years which i received nothing? I understand that there is a 3 month window in which to instigate a Tribunal, but I have since read that there may be a chance of bringing my case to the County Court. Because of this, my obvious addition questions are: Would this course of action incur substantial costs, and, would there be any chance of success?? With this in mind, I have payslips which prove this and the council would have records also. Thanks in advance.