They did and that's why hr became involved and an email was sent to me and ny management setting out what I'm entitled to and how it should be recorded. However they are stil going against what was laid out in this email and when time is agreed they withdraw it last minute and say business needs and they can't spare me. When I do get time they scrutinize every single minute that I put through. I don't use a lot of time, and do it only when it's necessary, I certainly haven't gone anywhere near the amount I'm entitled to. I'm the only rep on the branch who has any problems with recording and getting to use my time. My management are funny enough very anti union

Hi all I'm looking for some impartial advice as I'm currently really emotional about the situation. I work in the public sector and I'm a union rep but I deal with union learning so not really familiar with personal cases and such. I've worked in my current role for almost 3 years and for 18 months ot was fine, cue staff loses and increased workloads and I started making silly mistakes, at which point my new manager decided to make things difficult for me. I ended up off sick for over 3 months with work related stress due to bullying, however my management have always maintained that it's been due to my union work. I can 100% say that it's my union work that kept me sane and gave me abreak from tthe pressure of the office. Since I returned to work ive made no mistakes at all, however the new senior management has taken issue with my union duties. They have never taken into account my facility time when giving out work so I've always done the same amount as my colleagues despite the fact I'm out of the office at times or have other pieces of work to do do sometimes I have to play catch up. They took issue with how my union time was being recorded and were asking me to use special leave and click out of flexi for any emails or phone calls I took that were union related. This was against the union agreement with hr. Hr became involved and an email set out exactly what I should be doing and specifically stated I should not use special leave. I got a job in anothrr department and I'm due to move there in 4 weeks. However since I got the job things have gotten much worse. I've been forced to used special leave for attending our agm. They question any update I put into flexi for union time. On Friday things came to a head when I had emailed giving advanced notice that I had union work to do and would be out of the office for two hours in the afternoon to get it done. This was agreed. On Friday morning my manager phoned the branch chair to find out what worl I had to do and stated she was going to ask that I do it another time as she had given other staff time to do things and would be short staffed if I went. This was the final straw so I approached our full time rep and was extremely upset at this point an didn't tell anyone where's I was going. The rep told hr where I was and that as I was upset and uncomfortable with the situation I wouldn't be going back until it was sorted. Later I went to pick up my bags, got taken into the office and had strips torn off me and reduced to tears for not telling anyone where I was by my senior management. I explained hr knew where I was but that made no difference. Senior management are obviously backing my manager as I expected. I've now spent the whole weekend in tears and taking panic attacks when I think about having to go into work tomorrow.The rrelationship has broken down so much between management and myself that's it's not repairable and I genuinely think working with them over the next 4 weeks is going to be detrimental to my health. I've thought about raising a grievance but is there any point when I'm due to move on in 4.weeks and if I do will they just make life hell for me until I go? Any advice would be welcome

I'm in real need of some advice. I have returned to work today to find a letter delivered by a messenger at arms informing me that on the 24th of December a credit union has been to court and gotten a charge for payment of money for a loan I owe them and I have 14 days to pay otherwise they will look at wage or bank account arresstments. I got the original loan out in February 2012 and had to pay back a total of £1200, I paid back just over 59% of that and then fell into financial difficulties. I had arrears on my mortgage and council tax and as I couldn't afford to pay back those and the loan I made the choice to pay those off first. After that time I suffered from anxiety and depression and was signed off work for a period of time so my income was low. Upon returning to work on part tome medical grounds I finally managed to get my mortgage and council tax arrears paid off. I haven't heard anything in that period of time from the credit union about the loan until I started getting phone calls in November and then a letter in December saying I was in arrears and to make payments. As I was in a better financial position at the start of January I set up a direct debit online to pay back £50 starting on the 1st of February and received a letter last week confirmed the direct debt was set. Now obviously I have received this charge for payment of money I'm in a real panic and don't know what to do. I have buddies my head in the sand I know that but I did and do have every intention of paying back what I owe whi h is why I set up the direct debt before I knew they had applied to court. I'm terrified they will arrest my wages or bank account which would mean I couldn't afford my mortgage. I live on a very tight budget and every penny is accounted for so I can't offer anymore. Can someone please advise what I can and should do next as I have never been in this situation before and I'm very scared.

Basic CRB's are carried out at disclosure scotland, CRB don't have the capacity to carry out the checks although there was talk last year of them starting to do them again.Its been a topic of conversation for a long time amoung the people who carry out the checks that basic disclosures/crb checks are being abused by employers and that almost every job now requires one. I can't comment on the process at CRB but i do know that they have had many problems that Disclosure Scotland haven't mainly with the length of time it takes to get checks done and the certificate issued. I don't agree either that those sort of checks done at CRB should be done by a private organisation, it should be in the hands of the public sector. Disclosure Scotland once belonged to the Scottish Police Authority and is now part of the Scottish Government in order for the legislation to be put into place for the Protection of Vulnerable groups act. Having worked it before and after it was Scottish Government I can wholey say it operates much better and more efficent under the government

Old bill rehabilitation of offenders act isn't going to effect the employer here as the convictions will be unspent. Only unspent. Convictions on a basic are disclosed and only unspent convictions would be questioned in the manner that the op is. Scotland does indeed have its own criminal records office as does its have its own system of recording offences which is the criminal history system also known as chs. Both chs and pnc are checked at disclosure Scotland. Pnc also shows a lot more than you have stated above I know this because I used it when working at disclosure Scotland to check if people had a record. At which point of we found alias details or other names known by or linked records further checks would be carried out. Which is what has happened in this case.

The ops job offer is probably subject to a criminal back ground check being satisfactory which is why he has been asked to complete the basic disclosure so it is very possible that they could withdraw the offer if convictions come back on the check which is what would happen if the op refused to give fingerprints. I understand why the op is apprehensive however its not his employer asking for fingerprints, if it was I'd be the first to question why but disclosure Scotland do have a legitimate reason to ask. They are attempting to establish if unspent convictions belong to the op or to someone else

Op can you confirm if you are living in Scotland or England please? I ask as it makes a difference as to what system these convictions are held on as pnc and the criminal history system hold information differently

Old bill disclosure Scotland is legislated and is working well within the law so Changing their procedures won't happen. There is obviously alias details on the record hence when the need to eliminate the op from the record. If another method other than fingerprints van be used to eliminate someone then they would do it therefore fingerprints must be the only option available to them. Disclosure Scotland would also make the request for finger prints on the telephone and in writing. The op has two choices either he agrees to let the police fingerprint him and eliminate him as a match and then the fingerprints are destroyed and he gets a clean disclosure or he refusal to be fingerprintes in which case the convictions would be disclosed and if he didn't agree with them then he would have to dispute them. The easier option would be the first. As its a basic disclosure the convictions in question are obviously unspent.

Old bill, i understand what your saying regarding the fingerprints. Its not actually the OP's employer who is asking for the fingerprints is Disclosure Scotland asking for them in order to establish that it is not his convictions on the record. Asking for fingerprints is usually the last resort when all other options of elimination is exhausted. Normally just asking questions is enough to eliminate someone but in this case it hasnt been, the next step would be to compare a passort photo with any on the criminal record however if there are no photographs then the other alternative is fingersprints.Its not Disclosure Scotland who take the fingerprints, OP would be asked to go to his local police station to have them taken and then the police would then compare them to the fingerprints on the record and confirm to Disclosure Scotland if they match of not. Disclosure Scotland wouldnt see or hold the fingerprints at all. The fingerprints wouldnt be used for anything other than eliminating him from the convictions on the record.

I honestly don't think you will have much to worry about. It does sound more and more like someone has used your I'd when they have been arrested which is why the team at disclosure have had trouble eliminating you in questions alone. The fingerprints is standard protocol in this situation. I worked at disclosure Scotland for a few years until recently so I know their procedures. What you can do is have a data protection marker put into your pnc or chs record to say there is issue. The only good news I can offer you is that once you are eliminated disclosure and the police keep it all on record so you shouldn't need to go through the process again and you would simply be eliminated next time without even being contacted. I hope I've helped reassure you slightly. Out of interest is this a basic check it pvg?

Can you confirm if that is CRB or Disclosure Scotland asking for this information?The reason I ask is that when doing an check if its Enhanced or PVG check in Scotland or a Basic check and a PNC record with unspent convictions is found with similar details to yourself then they would call and ask back ground questions as you describe to try eliminate you. If they can't do it through the questions perhaps because there was identiy fraud then the next step they would take would be asking for fingerprints or if there is a photograph on file asking for a copy of your passport. Either way they are used to eliminate yourself from the record. Its not something you can get removed from PNC i'm afraid if someone has used your details which sounds very likley. With regards to your fingerprints when the police take yours to elminate you they would compare them to any on the PNC record and confirm or deny a match of them. Your prints from when your house was broken into would be on PNC and wouldnt be held on record the way you are concerned about.

Thank you all for the replies, I spoke to my friend last night and got a bit more info. She does still have her old contract. The new employer is stating that the transfer was never a TUPE transfer and even if it was the one year mark has now been passed therefore if she doesn’t sign the new contract she will be invited for consultation meetings and then if she still hasn’t signed in 3 months time that those who haven’t signed will be asked to leave the company. The company makes billions of pounds of profit each year so its not an argument that they can't afford to pay them, most of the staff are paid min wage and are only given a rise if the min wage goes up, the only exception are assistant managers and managers who are paid slightly more but not an awful lot more. I get the impression that a grievance isn’t going to make a blind bit of difference in this situation and the employers attitude is if you don’t sign we don’t care your out and we have plenty people looking for jobs who can replace you

See that is what I thought and told her not to sign it until I did some digging. she has worked or the company for a few years and is very upset as you can imagine its a big hit for anyone to take. I'll mention to her about the grievance and tell her to get something in writting. I've heard bits before about the new employer and I dont think they treat their staff well at all so this latest stunt doesnt surprise me in the slightest. Its not just my friend who this affects there are around 50-60 deputy managers who are in the same position and thats just the start of it, they have only rolled the new contracts out up north as a test area and then down south will follow apparently. Its astounds me that a big company like this wouldnt check to see if this was legal before they tried it

I'm posting on behlaf of my friend who is having a problem at work.She worked as an assistant manager for a well known chain of shops in the betting industry, they were bought out last year by another large company and until now everything has stayed the same.Yesterday she was called into a meeting with the area manager and told that all staff were to be issued with new contracts to bring them in line with the staff of the new company whp bought them over. Upon looking at this new contract she is losing all sick pay whereas before she had 6 months full pay 6 months half, she is losing 2 days holiday and most of all she will be paid £3 an hour less which works out to over £300 a month loss. The company have made out that she has no choice but to sign the new contract and they are not offering a buy out for the changes either.Can someone confirm if this is correct that she has to sign or is there anyway she can contest this? I'm not up on my rules on TUPE so dont know what to advise. Also she isnt part of a union and there isnt a recognised union within the company

So just got off the phone to the bank who are refusing point blank to issue a chargeback, they have said that because my mum set up the arrangment of £50 a month then she has agreed to it and its not an unauthorised payment even though they have take out £320 instead of just £50.So i'm going to be issuing complaints to them as well as wonga. My mums tried to speak to the mortgage company who have basically said that the money must be in their account by the 28th otherwise they are going to be issuing proceedings again. All because on bloody Wonga.Wonga are still refusing to give the money back basically they say that although she had agreed a repayment plan of £50 a month with them that they are owed the money and so are entitled to take it and now they have it they consider the account settled and down issue it back.Makes my blood boil. does anyone have the email address of the CEO at wonga to forward on the complaint to them?

i'm not 100% sure but i believe they took the payment from her visa debit card. I've told her to go and cancel her debit card or report it lost/stolen and also do that charge back.she isnt very good at being forceful on the phone so i've said that I will speak to the bank and wonga when I get home from work if she isnt getting anywhere. No doubt the bank will object to the chargeback but as they werent supposed to take that amount I'll not be taking no for an answer. Wonga's another story, they are still refusing to return the money so once i've either gotten it from them or the bank then I will be telling her to get a repayment arrangement going with them for what she owe's and not give them a penny more, they can wait for their money since they are lowlifes.I learned the hard way with payday loans and i'm still paying mines off after it getting out of contrrol hopefully this experience will be enough to teach my mum the lesson of not touching them again

Guys looking for advice on behalf of my mum. She hasnt learned from my mess and got herself into problems with Wonga.They were due to take £50 out of her account today and then rest of what she owed on the 30th however it seems that they have taken the whole amount out today leaving her with nothing to pay the mortgage. I helped her clear her mortgage arrears two months ago as she had a calling up notice.Now Wonga had admitted that they have taken too much, however they have said they can't/won't pay the money back dispite informing them that she will not be able to afford the mortgae this month without the money and the mortage company will not accept a late payment given the past issues.Do I have a leg to stand on with getting the money back from Wonga? Its going to leave my mum in a serious financial position if she can't and i'm not in a position to help her out with money.

Hi RebelMy Interest rates have always stayed the same as I got a fixed rate deal for the full term of the loan.

Thank you everyone for the advice. I've spent my lunch break at work today and my free time reading all the information I can find. I've looked out all of the letters and documents I have recieved from Halifax and I dont believe they have ever sent me a default notice for the loan. I dont know if this is relevant or not. I tend to keep everything I recieve from Halifax or Blair, Oliver and Scott in the one folder in order of when I recieve it and I most certainly can't find the default notice. Its also confirmed what I thought, Blair, Oliver and Scott from the start have ignored the agreement that Halifax made with me and have demanded the full amount to be paid. I will be spending tonight drafting a strongly worded letter to Halifax now that I feel more confident to take them on.

also I dont think its probably relevant but I took the loan out in early 2010

Thanks for the advice, I have been reading up alot on HBOS, its certainly been an eye opener for me. Its an unsecured personal loan, I double checked and there isnt any PPI on the loan. I do remeber telling them at the time I didnt want it and they haven't aplied it. Do I write to Blair, Oliver and Scott or to Halifax? I will SAR them and try get the 40 days breathing space. I think a letter along the lines of what you have written BankFodder to Halifax or Blair, Oliver and Scott. I'm willing to play hardball with them if I need to. Talking to my partner at the moment isnt really an option, his mother passed away suddenly two weeks ago yesterday and i'm doing all I can to hold him together at the moment, I fear telling him this now might be the thing to break him at the moment. I've got alot of reading to do over the next few days. I honestly never thought I would be in this situation, I managed my credit and life well until I took a wage drop last year and since then although my income has gotten better its not the level it was and trying to pay off arrears has been near impossible

The value of the debt is £9,528. I have a letter from halifax which they sent to the CAB saying Having considered the information provided we are prepared, strictly without prejudice to our rights under the agreement listed below, to accept payment as set out in the schedule below which will be reviewed in 3 months time Account number ....... monthly payment £1.00 Due date .... This arrangement does not alter the contractual repayments due uner the terms ans conditions of the exsisting agreement and we must strees that payments must be made in the strict accordance with the above schdule. Failure to adhere to this will result in the arrangment being terminated and action being taken to recover the full balance. Your account has now been passed to Blair, Oliver and Scott. They never contacted me in the 3 months to review it and I kept on making the £1 a month payments. Before the due date of the first £1 payment came Blair, Oliver and Scott were sending threating letters demanding the full amount and threating to take me to court. If I cut back on food or something I might be able to muddle together £30 to give them but I don't believe they will accept that. Dont get me wrong I know I owe it and I am not trying to get out of paying what I owe when I am in the financial position to do so but i'm not at the moment and paying off my council tax and mortgage arrears is taking up all my surplus income

I am looking for some advice. I have been trying to get myself out of my Debt situation for a while now by myself using the information on here and by using the CAB. Now i'm doing it on my own. My CAB are worse than useless and have given me some really bad advice which if i hadn't checked on here I would have assumed was good advice. I got into financial trouble last year and went to CAB who wrote to my creditors offering them £1 a month which was all I could afford. One of them was for a loan to Halifax. They agreed to this amount however when I paid the £1 in Septemeber instead of my contract payment they passed the account to Blair, Oliver and Scott who has sent letter after letter threating me with court dispite showing them my Income and Expenditure. They want my contacted payment and then some to pay off the arrears but I just cant afford it. I'm paying off my mortgage and council tax arrears until July and then I would have free cash to pay Halifax but they wont accept this and have now sent me a letter stating they are commencing court action against me. I don't want to lose my home, my partner would never forgive me if I lost the house because of this. He doesnt even know about the Debt as its all my own fault and have been trying to pay it off. Does anyone have any advice on what to do next. I can't afford what they are asking and I really dont want to have to go to court and face being made bankrupt or lose my home. Is there anything I can do to make them see it from my side?

I agree, I can't think of a single Government Agency with access to all of those things.I think they may be bluffing, however I would call their bluff and take the email to the police and make a complaint.If they have access to the police national computer and have checked your records on it then it would be very easy for the police to check. Everyone who has access to it has their own user id and password and you need to enter a code into each time to record the reason why you are looking at a record or conducting a name search.Its a criminal offence to look at data on the police national computer without permission. I know this because I worked in a government agency which used it and a member of staff was caught checking his neighbours on it, the only reason we found out about it was because the police marched into the office and marched the man out in cuffs.Even if she hasnt accessed your records the police and her employer would give her a good ticking off for making the threat that she did I would also imagine her employer would take action against her.

They charged me a penalty fee the month I missed my payment back in May but agreed they wouldn't charge anything for being in arrears whilst I stuck to the payment plan but I dont know if they have charged me anything this apparent missed payment for January if they have then its another thing which I will need to dispute it also, as far as i am concerned I have paid January allbeit ealry, its them who haven't stuck to the agreed payment plan