I have a supplementary question please. If Ms J sends in this excellent letter, how will she stand with a future employer if the grievance is ongoing with the old firm? And would it impact on her reference? Ms J, I think you mentioned continuing in the same business at some point. I think you should set up in competition and take all the business. If he's like that with staff, I wonder how he is with customers or clients?

Hi. I just looked at HMRC's website and it says that a BR tax code means that the whole of your income is taxed at the basic rate. They say it's mostly used for second jobs and people who are in receipt of a pension plus other income. If you're saying you don't have any income or savings, I don't see why they should apply this tax code to you. You really need to speak to them and see what they think your financial position is. Please keep us posted.

Hi. Have you spoken to the ACAS helpline about this? You could check their website for guidance on rules for ladies who have babies. I hope you're enjoying the baby.

FBC, re-reading your first post, you say you've been off for some weeks now? And you don't have a date for a meeting yet? It sounds quite long to me, although others on this forum know more than I do. Does the firm have a disciplinary procedure and do you have a copy?

Hello there. The first thing is not to panic. Tax codes are calculated wrong all the time. OH's payroll people are on the phone to HMRC every day, sorting out this stuff. My own code usually takes a few attempts for them to get right each year. There is an amount of income everyone is entitled to tax-free, currently £6475, I believe. They call it a Personal Allowance. If your income is below that, then normally no tax should be taken off. BR reads to me like Basic Rate [20%], but I would check this on the HMRC website, or on your statement that might explain it. Does it say what your Personal Allowance is anywhere on their letter? I assume it's from HMRC, or is the the Jobseekers people. There could easily be a misunderstanding over your financial position, or wrong information was fed into the computer. The best thing would be for you to ring them and discuss this. Stay calm and just say you don't understand and can they explain it please? If you do overpay, then you're entitled to have the money back, but you want the money now, don't you? Let us know how it goes, or if you need more info. My best.

Is there a timetable available, online maybe, that shows when the buses run, if they're not cancelled, and what the routes and connection times are?

How far do you have to travel to work and is it always to the same office?

Forgive me if I'm being obtuse and I don't mean I disagree with your case, but how did the transport problems mean you were 4 hours late please? And did you ring in on the day to say things were going badly? Just trying to understand. My best.

Forgive me if you've said this before, but is there a written grievance procedure for the company?

Hi there. Does the transport company have a website that might have kept a record of what happened on the day. Or maybe you could try to talk to them?

Ms J. From reading other threads on this forum, I thought that harrassing someone who's on sick leave was a no no? Trying to start a grievance by the employer doesn't seem logical to me. Nail him if you can!

Hello again. I hope this is an OK website with the CAG team. It could be relevant to you soon, it's iresign.com. Good luck.

Hi. There's a thread on this fourm by Ms J and the last 2 replies, yesterday and today could apply to you. Pippadee suggested incorporating a grievance into the resignation letter. Could that help you?

Hi. I wouldn't like to answer that, hopefully someone on the forum will know. There is a directgov website that deals with the DDA and people's rights and that could have some info that would help you. I didn't notice a number for a helpline, but think I rang it a few years back for a friend.

Hi upnorthal. I really wouldn't beat yourself up too much over this. I suspect you might have been swept along by the euphoria of buying a new car [hope I got that right] and the salesperson made the most of it to persuade you their GAP insurance would be a good idea. I guess they weren't obliged to tell you if the policy was competitive or not. I've done it myself in the past over extended guarantees, for instance and now leave them alone. I don't mean to hijack your thread here. You might have been able to cancel the GAP insurance within the 'cooling off' period, but I'm out of touch with all this, so don't take my word for it. You have learned a valuable lesson though, and hopefully next time you will be a bit more wary.

Hi shifty. I'm not sure what sort of evidence you have in mind and whether there's any hearsay involved, but it could well support any document you submit later and give plenty of detail which you may not have already.

Hello. Your situation certainly sounds complex. Is there by any chance a charity or organisation that helps people with your condition? Often, they are in a good position to advise you. You may well be covered by the DDA if your condition comes under the criteria for disablement. A bit of googling could get you some more information and hopefully someone else with more knowledge will be along.

Hi there. I've been in this situation and would definitely agree that people coming to your daughter's house is a complete nono. I think there's another thread about interview whilst off sick from today or tomorrow, on this forum. I don't think [subject to confirmation] that they're allowed to do this. And of course it will make your daughter's condition worse. I don't know if asking them to deal by letter, say, would work, but I would be trying to keep them at arm's length for my own sanity, whatever their intentions are.

I can't tell you the full story at the moment, Uncertain. I agree with you about using a local employment solicitor. An attraction for some people of being redundant is that it looks better when applying for the next job. Pippadee, that's a very interesting comment, thank you.

A quick thought Elpulpo. If you're really up against it with the firm [the rats], shouldn't they have declared your income to HMRC. I don't know if they would provided the information, never asked them myself, but as a last resort it would be worth a go. My best.

You're welcome. I'm here to help if I can. I agree with Mikey's advice about 'fight'. One of my mottoes is 'Don't get mad, get even'. It worked with Atos .

Marie, thank you very much. I will have a read. HB

Hello there. Has this letter detailed why you allegedly owe the money? Speaking for myself, I would be very suspicious of someone asking me for money without full information. Do you have any paperwork showing what you repaid and when?

Thank you Uncertain, that's useful. HB

Hi there. Did they send you 2 receipts for your 'orders', or 2 confirmation numbers?