How long have you been employed with the Company? I take it you ahve made them aweare of your condition? Its not only discriminatory, but it also sounds like jealousy from the male counterparts as you will be entitled to legal paid time off work, whereas they are not. Are you a Union member? If not, I would get in touch with HR to let them know of the situation before it gets any worse, as you should not be subjescted to such treatment, it can be negative on your health and your baby, and if HR are worth their salt, they will nip this in the bud! Do not attend any meetins without someone attending with you.

Hiya - yes you can complain but in all honesty, if its dealt with internally you dont really get much action - so I would recommend seeking legal advice from specialists if you can. I am currently suing my Union for negligence, but there are very few specialist solicitors for this sort of thing to be honest. do you have legal cover on your house insurance or are you entitled to legal aid? The only solicitors I am aware of who deal with this sort of thing are based in Wales, but you could contact them and just ask for initial advice to see if you have a case etc, they are called Hugh James. can't hurt to sound them out.

Which just goes to show - they are all the same!

Hiya - I will have to let you know about getting my subs back as I am currently taking legal advice on the matter (and not through the Union!!). I am now a Steward myself, but only becuase I would not want anyone to go through what I have been through with them - my issue is similar to Allwood - failure to make reasonable adjustments and bullying/harrassment. Everything has been recorded and documented, but I just could not get hold of the Regional Rep to assist me - I asked for anotehr Rep to be allocated to no avail, so when I took the reins myself and acted, they withdrew support! Its laughable - I even asked them what support and lodged a complaint but nothing has ever been responded to, hence the legal advice. Funnily enough though, the Union have taken on my Personal Injury Claim through a Solicitor that they advertise and recommend. In all honesty, people, members of the Union, are only interested in the Union when they need its support and thats why many are only mediocre, as the Reps have limited interest too and some to take on the positions to help their own career, especially where training is concerned, not right I feel, but you can understand why some people do it.

Basically becuase there is no legal requirement for them to record them as anything else - some companies/reg bods refer to 'disability leave' - but even this does not mean paid leave due to a disability. There is no case proven to say that paid leave be given for disability over and above the paid sick leave entitlements. Employers can choose to record the absences in a different way on their own systems to differentiate between 'sick leave' and 'abscence related to disability' but that is all and this is not a legal requirement.

Moonfairy - there is a process for redundancy, a consultation period, which they have obviously failed to adhere to, and this in itself is illegal. Do you have a company handbook? In the first instance you need to contact ACAS as they are very hot on this sort of thing. In relation to the meeting, again, they should have explained the situation to you truthfully, and put the request for your attendance in writing, allowing you notice time to organise a representative to go with you if you so wished. IMO they are acting illegal and you would have a good case against them - at least with the redundancy issue.

Hi - they cannot do this without speaking to you first. You need to get in touch with ACAS who will advise you of the correct procedure (do you have a handbook in relation to your employment?). Grievance would be my first action, as by rights, you have to have a minimum 28 days notification of contractural change, though I don't know if this covers job title. Has it made any difference to your salary? if you do not let them know you are unhappy with the change, over a certain time period, you are deemed to accept the changes anyway.

Actually, I have been stronger, I have more control and I can get things done quicker!! I complained to the local and regional offices but have heard absolutely nothing back at all, but tis becuase they know they are in the wrong and they have cost me in this situation. I am looking at suing them for negligence - I can't even find a complaitns process on their website or in their book.

Paulgmb - I had been waiting for a meeting with my Regional Rep for 6 months! and I am not exaggerating that. he ignored letters, emails and phonecalls and when I did manage to get hold of him on the one occasion, he was extremely rude and told me he was too busy! I reported it to the branch AND lodged a complaint and what have I had back? Nothing at all. they just dont want to know. I am at the point now where I have asked for legal advice on where I stand with them becuase his and their actions have caused me a lot of stress and even more problems at work instead of assisting me. So would your Union take me and my case if I were to switch? I doubt it very much.

So surely even if a builder or whatever is 'registered' with these so-called 'bodies', they could even be more of a cowboy? they just use the ditsy little logo to hide behind! I can't believe its allowed to go, it allows them to make illegal acceptable.. as ever, it ain't rocket science, they have to be answerable to someone surely?

Allwood - if I were you, I would drop the Rep and get in touch with ACAS, he is doing you no favours at all. If they are assessing your capabilities, it could be they are looking at reasons to get rid of you, but its a dodgy path what with the grievances in place. Seriously, you need proper advice - ACAS without delay.

There have been cases where someone has been employed in favour of another person, and it has been found to be 'illegal' shall we say, either unfair or discriminatory - and if it is found to be such, some people have 'won' compensation -many are out of court settlements if the truth be known, but it is not unknown.

This is a good link to follow up on for more information, I use it to refer to frequently, but it is case law...Landmark judgments for disabled workers | OUT-LAW.COM

Allwood - you should make sure you get a copy of the OHA report - forget the Union, they will make it longer and more long winded - just do your own homework and get independent advice as you are doing here. If you are not happy with the outcomes - appeal, and keep on appealing til you get some action. The DDA will cover discrimination in different ways see this link: Landmark judgments for disabled workers | OUT-LAW.COM

I would say yes, you have a good case for CS and possibly discrimination under the DDA - first port of call would be ACAS or EHRC, they will give you the low down on the laws etc. Did you ever actually put in a grievance? they are always very difficult to deal with, especially the initial step of actually putting one in, but without the grievance being followed first, other paths are often closed to you, which is why its always a good idea to get one lodged as soon as possible. if you are in receipt of benefits etc., you should contactn CLS and they will advise if you are entitled to free legal advice, which you can get over the phone. ATB

I have to agree with JonCris on this one, for an interview to be fair all round, each and every candidate has to go through the same process and the same interview content, otherwise, it IS unfair. Regardless of a points system, which is easily fiddled anyway, if any interviewer is worth their salt, they have acted very unprofessionally, and been very stupid in doing right in front of you! I would want a full investigation into the matter, I would expect some form of compensation - which could be calculated on the basis of earnings missed out on etc.

Hi there - they are supposed to advise you of any contractural changes, and they should give you at least 28 days notice I believe. Firstly, as ever, I would seek advice from ACAS, as it looks as if they are utilising the Working Time Regulations, but they are using it to their own advantage. Under this, you have to have a minimum 30 minute break after working 6 hours: The basic rights and protections that the Regulations provide are:a limit of an average of 48 hours a week which a worker can be required to work (though workers can choose to work more if they want to).a limit of an average of 8 hours work in 24 which nightworkers can be required to work.a right for night workers to receive free health assessments.a right to 11 hours rest a day.a right to a day off each week.a right to an in-work rest break if the working day is longer than 6 hours.a right to 4 weeks paid leave per year.The thing is, if you do not put in a grievance about it, you are deemed to accept it after a period of time anyway, so put something in writing to them. The same with your holiday pay. You do have rights in this area, and their lack of correct procedure and admin practices is not your fault. Do you have anything documented in relation to your requests and their responses etc? It is always best to put things in writing so that everything is documented and they cannot go back on things that have been said.

Allwood - have you requested a work place assessment and or occupational health referral?

Any chance you could PM me the link at all please?

point taken, no problem, but frustration is not the word! ;-)

has anyone had dealings with this company/one man band? He has (EDITED), and I have since found out he has (EDITED) quite a few others off too and I am interested in finding out more info on the set up so that I can pass the details onto the OFT sharpish. thanks in advance.

Has anyone had dealings with glazing/window/conservatory companies who are registered with FENSA, only to find out that they cover nothing? I am passing this on to the OFT but apparently the company I dealt with, Choices Windows of Tipton, are notorious for fitting windows that do not meet the fire regs, and nothing can be done about it, becuase they don't register the window fitting with FENSA anyway, becuase it is illegal, they only register the windows that ARE legal. I mean, how stupid, whats the point of FENSA?

Allwood - there are other avenues available to you besides the Union, especially in DDA cases. What was the breach if you don't mind me asking? As for the Union, I now have a solicitor looking into the matter for me, as the Union are pointless. I was waiting for a meeting with a rep from Nov until last month, during which time, the limits for an ET were exceeded, hence I have had to go through a solicitor, and I still haven't heard anything about my complaint against the union rep, but I do intend to follow this up throught the solicitor as well, as I class this as misrepresentation and negligence on their part. Just becuase they are a union, they are also not above the law!

Lyn. Firstly, get in touch with ACAS, they will provide you with the legalities, then he needs to lodge a grievance before it goes any further. If he has already had time signed off with stress at work, then he should have a good case. What the so-called colleague did was totally out of order, and he should not be able to be under disciplinary as the information has been received third party, especially if it was told in confidence, again, ACAS should give you the low down on this. I have been in the same situation and 12 months on the grievance is still on going, I have an ET claim progressing and the manager has been 'seconded' somewhere else. The grievance is a hard step, but it needs to be done, put himself back in control instead of the bully being in control.

Firstly, you have a right to time off, and in this situation I would get in touch with ACAS as soon as possible.You also have '[caring responsibilities' which they are supposed to take into account.I would put in a written grievance about this as well, so that it is documented and it will force them into looking at the process itself.