It never was 20 days plus bank holidays, the 20 days were including the bank holidays.If you mean that you used to have 20 plus the bank holidays and your employer down graded them, then if you never agreed to this it would be a breach of contract. Hope this cleared it up for you.

From what you have posted, I can not see how they believe TUPE might apply. There might be more than is apparent from your post. Speak to your HR dept; ask them to be kept informed. At this time the best advice would be to wait and see. Regards

According to the Part-time Workers (Prevention of Less Favourable Treatment) Regulations, part-timers must be treated at least as well as equivalent full-time workers, unless the reason why not can be objectively justified. An 'equivalent' full-time worker is one doing a similar job on the same type of contract. The Working Time Regulations state that all workers have the right to a minimum amount of annual holiday. From 1 October 2007 the statutory minimum entitlement is 4.8 weeks holiday a year, based on your normal working week. Under the regulations part-timers should be treated no less favourably; this normally means that a part time worker will get a pro rata proportion of what the full-time workers get. Your employer can't round down the number of days given, because this would be unfavourable treatment, but fractions of a day might be given as hours. Your employer can control when you take your holiday so they can make you take bank holidays from this entitlement when they coincide with your working days. Raise a grievance and point out that they can not just stop Annual Leave pay for part time workers under the above act.You have a right to do this even if you are not a member of a union, do not let them tell you otherwise !!

It’s true that the individual is reasonable for his/her tax and the tax is recoverable from the individual not the employer. A very dear friend of mine found himself in this situation and HMRC made it clear that he is responsible; however they were very understanding and in fact perused the employer in the first case not the employee. They made clear that; if the employer fails to pay then the employee has to make up the short fall.

Pleased its been sorted out, well done ! Phil

Sorry to hear about the horrible time you had in your work place. As Paul has said, constructive dismissal is one of the hardest things to prove at tribunal but as you have told us, your own solicitor believes you have a strong case and you should follow his advice fully. Hope things work out for you and please keep us posted. Phil

I will help wherever I can. The ONLY procedures that the company have to follow by law are Statutory Disciplinary and Dismissal Procedures as laid down Employment Act 2002. Section 98A of the Employment Rights Act 1996 states that a dismissal is automatically unfair if the SDDP applies but has not been complied with by the employer. Furthermore, in such a case, the tribunal must increase any compensation awarded by 10% and may ‘if it considers it just and equitable in all the circumstances to do so’ increase the award by up to 50%. Also a procedural unfairness that does not fall within the SDDP may be totally excused and render the dismissal fair if it can be shown that, on balance, the employee would have been dismissed in any event. Your company might have its own policy concerning sickness Absence Policy and without seeing this I can not even begin to help there. The company Procedures can offer more scope than the SDDP`s but NOT less.

Totally agree with you on this, if a company can not pay their workforce on time then they should not employ anyone. Why should an employee help a company out in its cash flow problems, the employees have their own problems and not paying them on time increases them.

You have the right to be paid on time and any bank charges that you have incurred because of late payment, your employer have to cover. You have the right to written particulars of employment within 2 months and as the term "employment contract" is in common usage it’s accepted in law to mean particulars of employment. So if your employer refuses your request for a copy of your employment contract on the grounds that you never asked for written particulars of employment he will fail!! I believe HMRC have dealt with this sort of thing many times and would be very helpful Contact them ASAP. Do not just walk out, put your concerns in writing, make a copy and make sure your boss signs for the letter. In it say your are raising a formal grievance and wish for a meeting to discuss it.

Hi, Sorry to hear of your problems with your employer. First off, did they just call you into a meeting or were you given notice in writing of the meeting? In the meeting were you given a chance to bring a co worker as a witness, were you given a chance to speak? Did they inform you of your right of appeal? Have you/are you getting a letter of termination? What do you mean by "I was very concerned by the unexpected withdrawal of my contract of employment”? On the face of things, I would say you do have a case, however as I have stated many times, things are not always cut and dry. You need to put as letter into them appealing your dismissal, put in the letter that it’s your right under the Employment Act 2002 As of October 2004 all employers must have a disciplinary procedure in place which satisfies the requirements of the Dispute Resolution Regulations 2004.

If only you had it in writing....................however all you can really do is put a grievance letter in, state in it that you accepted the job on the basis of a salary on 17k per year etc etc. With any luck this will appeal to their better nature and they will come to an arrangement. Do not hold your breath tho, my bet is on they will say that you got it wrong and the job offer was always on 13k. This is all true unless you had a witness???

I agree Paul; you have to show that you have tried to resolve the problem before resorting to a tribunal.

Hi Michelle, The first thing you did wrong was resigning in the first place. Never ever do this; always go through the disciplinary procedures to the full. Now you have resigned you need to do two things. First asking (in writing) for them to reconsider, next put in writing a formal grievance letter. The company will more than likely refuse to hear a grievance off you quoting that you no longer work for them. However that is fine for your purpose. Next see an employment lawyer, tell/show him all you have done so far, be 100% honest with him, if you have done something wrong them tell him. I say this because we do not know the reasons or nature of the original conplaint and I know I’ve said always see through the disciplinary procedures as an official line but lets face it, there are times where it might be best to cut and run. Not saying this in the case here but it’s very important that your lawyer knows fully all the details.

1.Does an e-mail count as a written invitation? Yes it would, provided it set was clear about the purpose of the meeting and the potential outcome, and it included the other information that it needed to. Sorry to disagree but this has come up in an ET and was ruled NOT to be writing notice. On point 4, i would say that no the notes do not count. The companies own policy states that 'a letter will be sent within 5 days of the meeting to advise of the outcome and any action to be taken' This forms a contract that must be kept too.

Trafford park shopping centre.I`m sure public transport would go there and its well sign posted off the M60.

They can not refuse to pay expenses that you incue doing you job.If they did you can take them to task for it.

Yes you do have a leg to stand on, there is no way a company can force you (policy or not) to sign a credit agreement. Tell them you are happy to use a company card, so long as they are responsible for the card. If they try and take you to task over it, raise a grievance and see the meeting through. Let them know you will seek legal advice and if necessary take the matter up at an ET.

Ok main thing is, did they refuse in writing? If not ask them to do so and then start the legal process. On the information in your first post, you have a very good case; however you will need to seek legal advice on a one to one basis ASAP. Best advice is to ask the company in writing to reconsider their position (if not done in writing before) send this recorded delivery and keep a copy. This gives you a record of your attempts to resolve the matter informally and will help your case. Please do not worry about asking question, we are here to help as much as possible.

Short answer no they can not force you to sign anything never mind a credit agreement.

No not now you have left the company. However it’s always best to try and resolve these issues without going to an ET. My advice is to speak to the company and ask them to reconsider their position before you take legal action for a possible ET claim of consecutive dismissal. When you see a lawyer, be honest; tell him as much detail as you can. If you are guilty of any wrong doing, tell him, this is vitally important.

You can not start a claim in a ET until you have exhausted the grievance procedure. Put the letter in and in the meeting point out their contractual Obligations. I’m sure they will see sense.

Unless you have in writing ( or the union does ) stating that you have been awarded X amount pay rise back dated till april, then you can not force the company to pay you. Does it state in you T & C`s that you will get a pay rise each year and if its in line with the NHS pay rise? if so then that gives you a case. As stated, you work for a contracted company within the NHS, it might be that the NHS funds the company but its up to the private company to pay you rate of pay.

No protection at all. Do not sign anything that gives up your rights. This has to be negotiated and they can not force you to sign these sorts of things. Are you a member of a trade union? If not then may i suggest you join one and ask them to look into this. In the mean time, tell your employer that you will sign after and only after you have consulted a legal adviser.

I think all employers in this day and age should be understanding where ill children are concerned. Its easy for them to say get a relative/childminder to care for them. Many people are on nation minimum wage and can not afford a childminder ( if you can get one at short notice ) or might have no relatives/friends able to care for the child. I believe that most forward thinking companies recognise this and are helpful where they can be.

Very true, just to clarify a point. Despite it being stated in the Employment Act 2002 on Dismissal and Disciplinary Procedures that failed to follow them automatically makes the dismissal unfair, it’s not necessarily the case. If for arguments sake you hit a co worker in work and the company held a meeting etc, say they never put the reasons you are being disciplined in writing to you and you are subsequently dismissed. Now an ET could well agree that the company never followed the DDP but in this case, following them would not of changed the outcome and they could find that you are 90% to blame or even 100 %. In most cases, not following the DDP gives great grounds for appeal in the companies own DDP`s and in most cases win that appeal for you.