Result!!!

Did you report the accident in the Accident Book? Legally all employers have to have an accident book in order to report all accidents. Are you a member of a union? If you are, report the accident to them and they will assess any claim through the union solicitors. they can assist in a Personal Injury claim. If you are not, go to a No win No Fee solicitor in order for them to assess a claim.

Are you a member of a union?

I have known of disability discrimination of employees with less than 1 years employment. I know also of an example of someone being dismissed for whistle-blowing-automatically unfair dismissal by someone with 5 months employment.

The balance of proof to dismiss someone after 12 months is extremely low if not, non existant. An employer only needs reasonable belief and to follow the statutory 3 step procedure (pre april 6th; post april 6th the awards increase/decrease depending who is at fault) I think it will be a long time until employees have strong employment rights. Remember the UK is the easiest place in Europe to sack someone.

How long has she been employed?

Actually he is still looking for work but its really tough out there at the moment as we all know. I do agree though that the employer should have been much more reasonable and honest to your daughter. It is unfortunate that we cant get any form of redress through the tribunals in issues such as this. Price we pay for having a so-called 'flexible' economy I suppose.

Unfortunately due to the length of time your daughter has been employed she doesnt qualify for employment rights until she has had a years service. My understanding is that the company doesnt have to follow a fair procedure. The company legally have to give her notice unless in circumstance of gross misconduct. BTW my son worked for a very large retail company and was also dismissed due to not being needed after 2 months work. I know how you and your daughter must feel. He got a standard reference off the company.

Very good point. Could it also be discriminatory, returning from maternity leave?

My humble understanding is that if the changes the company proposes is so drastic it could count as a dismissal. So potentially you could be unfairly dismissed and/or be entitled to redundancy. I have known companies to change contracts by giving notice, usually one week for every year of employment. I totally agree that a lot of companies are using the recession as an excuse to attack terms and conditions and I am amazed more employees do not do something about it.

Roseofedge is right about the legal aspect. But that way could be problematic. Sean1978. You dont say how big the company is you work for. Of course an employer can come to an arrangement with its employees via meaningful consultation with you especially in order to avoid redundancies (which as we all know the statutory payments are pathetic.) In a manufacturing job like panel beating, I assume you are in the vehicle building trade, lay offs for temporary periods are common place during this recession. It may be in your better interest tocome to a temporary agreement with your employer instead of relying on the law which could take months to resolve things. my personal view, but thats just me.

Im in a union already, as I said, Unite.

Mortlake. In my view unions are pretty much in fashion again. I have heard 100s of people from IBM have joined Unite due to the pension changes and the aggresive performance management the company are engaged in. That is happening locally though so it might be different your way. I live in Southampton BTW. Not to sure about the insurance bit about unions. Yes we all get advertising from LV now and then but the people in my branch join because they want to feel stronger against the employer. TBH I dont think many people take up these services. thats just my view and experience mind, it might be different elswhere. Im a self taught union rep. I stopped moaning about work and then read a few books. Then I got on union courses and now my boss has to get advice before they deal with us. As a rep I make sure the members are prepared before disciplinaries and grievances and I go and support them. There is very little interference from the union full time officers because our branch get things sorted. No complaints so far(phew) Dont know about UDW though. Never heard from about them. Were they set up by two sacked TGWU officers? Or is that a different union?

Are RA's worth getting involved with? I am thinking of doing my bit for the local community but am unsure of the best way to go about things. Are RA's effective in dealing with local issues?

unite member. ex TGWU. Was a shop steward for many years. represented members at disciplinaries, grievances and pay negotiations First post on this forum so hello to everyone. Cant believe so many people here arent members of unions.