I called the LL and they sent someone round. But I have a gas cooker that needs checking too and the last visit was only to repair the boiler

Exactly. Why wouldn't I want it done? It has had a repair done to it a month ago (not sure if that counts) but regardless, they're welcome to come and inspect it at anytime. Issuing an abatement notice makes it seem as if I have been obstructive but I've lived here for 11 years and I let them in every year so why wouldn't I now? That's what they need to answer, not me. I don't know why I've been served with this crap

Yes, circumstances as you describe, appealing on several grounds, 1st being the issuance of the notice isn't justified, 2nd being the time given for 'compliance' is insufficient/unreasonable and lastly the conditions which need to be satisfied to issue were never satisfied as they could not have been. I'm sending evidence too. The landlord has rushed to this course of action without checking their facts. I could just call them again now and make an appointment (apparently that will make the 'problem' go away) but I am annoyed at this threat of legal action against me when I haven't done anything wrong so I'm going to fight them and teach them a lesson so that in future they act responsibly and don't misuse the court system and waste taxpayers' money.

Ah I see, OK yes it says Magistrates, I have managed to find one at last so I'll send there. Thanks for your help. I would have thought this was a civil matter but actually I just noticed the letter is from the Crime Enforcement Division lol, (these people....who DO they think they are?) I'll send the appeal out next week and then wait for this silly notice to be quashed

It's civil yes. So the notice says I can appeal to a Magistrates Court, just wondering if the County Court was the same thing?

Hi all I have received an abatement notice, it isn't for noise but for access for a safety inspection. I'm going to appeal it but got a bit of a daft question first, I'm just wondering if a County Court is the same as a Magistrate Court? I'm looking for a Magistrate Court to deliver my appeal notice to but my internet searches keep throwing up Courts with the name 'County' in and not 'Magistrate', are they the same? Just want to be sure I'm not sending my appeal to the wrong place. Thanks

I don't know what grounds that's why I've asked for clarification from the OP who said that s/he is treated differently from other staff hence my request for more information on that.

Haha I like to ask for an admittance fee of £500, seeing as they only collect £20 if they sell you a licence on the door it's clear why they never want to pay it. Or say my name is Donald Duck, they never seem to want to write that one down. Sometimes they're running away as soon as you pull out the camera so there's no need to say anything.

Hi and welcome, in future PLEASE post here first before taking any action. If you want to claim constructive dismissal (which even if everything is done right is difficult enough to prove) you can't hand in your notice and work the notice period or even part of it, the circumstances usually must be so unbearable that you simply can no longer stand to work even another day there and so you resign immediately and in the letter you make clear what has caused you to resign (i.e. the employer breaching your contract). NOTE: Don't just go and do that now since you've already handed in your notice and we don't know the full details so continue working your notice for now unless something new has happened since in which case tell us about it. What reason did you give in your resignation letter? I'm not saying you couldn't still be successful for constructive dismissal but you put yourself at a disadvantage by demonstrating that you can tolerate another 4 weeks of that treatment. "The other issues include not given me the opportunity to do some of my role when I have a chance, treating me different to the other staff, calling me names and undermining me to my staff." Um, yeah sounds like DISCRIMINATION to me. Make sure you write everything down, dates, times, what happened, any witnesses and so forth. Important question for you, WHY do you think you're being discriminated against? I mean, why you in particular? And what kind of names have you been called? Anything sexist, racist, homophobic etc.? The employee handbook will almost certainly form part of your contract of employment but to be certain you should get a physical copy of your contract and check it. The employer is obliged to give you a copy if you request it so do so if you cannot lay hands on your own copy. You've asked also about whether they've breached the contract and the answer is maybe but you'll have to first check your contract. Just to confirm, SSP was paid right? Or did you get zero pay?

In future don't let them in, look through peephole or window and if you don't know who it is get start video recording upon opening the door. Don't answer any questions, don't sign anything and as soon as they've identified themselves close the door. Sorry to hear about this, unfortunately when you try to do the "right" thing this is what they do, they work on commission as I understand it and so no matter how genuine your story is they're gonna do you if given the chance so it's a waste of time talking. I agree with the advice already given, just plead guilty now but next time shut the door.

Ah I see, I saw this http://civilmediation.justice.gov.uk/ and didn't consider there were other options. I suppose not using the online service it's free right? Could ACAS do it in this instance just out of interest?

Surprised to see so many answers upon logging in this afternoon, good call!

Big company who have been trading for yonks and are in no threat of winding up

Super, thanks everyone for above for answering, to save time I'll just respond in one post. I'm glad to hear the ADR is optional since you have to pay a fee to do it and I'm pretty sure that bill can't be added to the claim later so I don't see why I should pay for a mediation service when my original complaint is that I'm owed money. It wasn't clear on the CAB website as they include the ADR option in their template letter so that's that cleared up (that's why I come here). I see ADR as an obstacle to me getting my hands on a judgement quickly lol perfect, I'll just edit that bit out of the letter and fire it off! Since I'm here (and I hope I won't be smacked for not starting a new thread) just wondering where the small claim is for back wages can I claim statutory interest on it?

Ah I see, this is what I was concerned about since ADR is merely an irritant but I don't wish to avoid it so much that I'd be prepared to suffer a costs order no matter how minimal. I'm after a clean victory so I guess I'll suggest in my LBA that I'd be willing to do ADR. Why has my question been moved away from Employment?

And would that be without penalty if it ends up before the judge? i.e. I won't win the case but have to pay costs out?

Hi everyone Just a quick check on something. Does a LBA have to include an offer or show of willingness to attend ADR? I'm owed money from a previous employer, I'm still in time for the CC but not the ET and I just want my money asap so I don't really want to be messing around talking, if the LBA is unsuccessful I want to go immediately to the CC and not to any third party that I have to pay a fee to with the chance I'd still have to go to the CC in the end anyway. It's a small track case, owed under £1000, evidence is in my favour so I don't need to negotiate I want the full amount either voluntarily or by force. Thanks

Hello So, what's this breakdown in relationship then? What happened? I'm in a similar situation actually but I have lawyers on the case so just wondering if I can see anything in your situation that matches my own, that way I can give you my lawyers advice to me and you can use it for yourself. In my case the former employer tried to disguise my dismissal under the 'capability' category but we all know that's BS, everyone concerned knows why I was sacked so I'm very much looking forward to my day in court so I can stick it to these b*stards. Good on you for going it alone, I've gone it alone before, if you have the time then it's a breeze. The respondent's lawyers try to direct you thinking you're wet behind the ears, never follow their direction also in future if the ET gives a deadline for the exchange of documents make sure you exchange with the respondent at the same time, call the respondent's lawyers and agree a time and date and exchange method and if it's to be electronic then make sure they're on the phone with you at the time and you're both hitting send at the same time, especially if witness statements are involved. Don't worry about seeming to be petty or anything, they're trying to turn you over and wear you out, don't let them do it. Now they're having a good look through your list and seeking out the hard copies etc. and then you'll get some last minute response whereby you'll be rushing around trying to put your case together. Since the ET have accepted the ET3 they must be satisfied that there's a potentially reasonable legal defence to the claim but if the ET3 doesn't spell out what their defence is other than "redundancy" then that's all you need to disprove. So, just prepare your case focusing on disproving that you were not made redundant and since your termination letter doesn't make any mention of any other reason for your dismissal you don't need to spend time on trying to disprove every other potential reason, focus only on redundancy and show that you were fired because the former employer didn't want to deal with the underlying issues. If at any time the respondent tries to give another reason for your dismissal (other than redundancy) then inform the ET that there's no mention of that in the ET3 or termination letter and invite them to ignore such last minute representations. I hired a lawyer because I'm certain of victory and his fees will be miniscule compared to my award. I think you may find also that if you get a lawyer on board even now, the respondent may stop ****ing about and start taking it more seriously which might result in an offer of settlement way earlier than otherwise might be (depending on the strength of your case of course). But I understand if it's a cost thing since most lawyers don't work no win no fee for ET's because of the risk and so you'll have to pay upfront and are unlikely to get costs back in a normal scenario where you haven't been messed about etc. so sure, if you decide to continue without then keep coming here and we'll try to see you through it ourselves! I'll be rooting for you. All the best

The offer of tinted non-prescription goggles which you can place over your prescription frames is a reasonable compromise by the employer. The only way you could take the matter further is if you know of someone else who has been given a pair of tinted prescription spectacles or goggles by the employer. Sorry about that.

Was the PILON their idea of a "settlement"? Did they advise you that you should have a lawyer look over the terms of the settlement proposal and that they would pay for it? Also, I didn't think one could work their notice and then claim constructive dismissal, I'm pretty sure you need to resign immediately after suffering the detriment, without notice. Since you haven't done that and have started working the notice you might have more trouble than before trying to prove constructive dismissal. I'm not sure why you think they would offer you six months pay to go one month early? They'd rather just wait until the end of the month and then it won't cost them anything. What needs to be done is you need to document your grievances in chronological order and then go through each event and see which ones are potentially caused by unlawful acts on behalf of your employer. Tick off the ones that meet the criteria and then see which ones can still be heard by the ET. Depending on the look of that list at the end you'll be able to see whether or not you have any strength to negotiate with the employer and can then approach them with an 'without prejudice' offer to settle but you'll need to first let them know that you have cause for seeking legal redress in the event settlement cannot be agreed upon. If you want you can list the grievances here and then we can have a look or you could ask the CAB or your TU if you belong to one and prefer to keep the details of the grievance private at this stage. Remember, the ET give you less than 3 months to make contact with it so don't hang around.

Okey dokey, will do, thanks.

Oh, hang on! Well, that sounds good to me. Would I have to ask for that in person at the hearing (I assume I couldn't put it on the SoL since I need to submit that to the Respondent prior to the hearing) or perhaps I could prepare an amended SoL the day before the hearing if a settlement is not agreed beforehand? I ask because you said the ET don't usually award it so I guess they won't offer it up and I'll have to ask for it myself and demonstrate that I have this knowledge? But I will make it clear that the Respondent has wasted everyone's time by not conceding the claim beforehand, I am absolutely certain of victory here

I sympathise. Employers do this deliberately (say they won't pay for extra labour but then create conditions that require extra labour) to get more out of you for less. The problem with proving discrimination is you need to first tie it to a protected characteristic and then show that compared to a colleague (or a hypothetical colleague) you are being singled out for ill treatment. A breach of contract case seems out of the question here given your earlier comments and so it would be imperative to find out if any of the others who were paid the overtime had that same clause before even considering further action. However, you said "over the summer" you did this work, so when would you have expected to receive that payment? There are strict time limits for bringing a case in the ET. Are you claiming constructive dismissal too or just seeking the wages?

Not AT LEAST until you can ascertain that the other employees had the same contract clause with respects of overtime payments? Do their contracts also say that overtime will be paid at the discretion of the Company? Just for my own information why did you work the extra hours? Was it in the hope that you would be paid? Was there anything or anyone preventing you from downing tools at the contracted book off time?

OK no problem. It's disappointing but I'm glad I asked so I don't end up looking foolish and having my Schedule overlooked by the panel. It is impossible to find the answer to my questions through an internet search, even CAB don't want to advise so I hope this thread will survive for years and years so that others may see it in future. Since the deduction wasn't an admin error but was deliberate and unlawful (I'm sure I will prove this quite easily) it's a bit unsatisfactory that the ET don't have any scope to compensate me for having suffered such malicious action and for time spent having to seek external redress. This would be a good way to deter employers from acting this way I feel. I'll keep it out of my Schedule but I think I'll make the point verbally if I'm forced to waste my time going to the ET! Thanks again for responding with your knowledge it has been very useful.