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SweetLorraine

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Everything posted by SweetLorraine

  1. SweetLorraine
    Hi Dam1on, steampowered did the business there with that template. Remember I'm not a legal person at all - just an ex-employee that went through the early stages of the ET process. It would flow better if it was told as a kind of story (as the template suggests). Your ET1 should be more about you, a brief history of your career at the company (a few sentences) the events that happened, the subsequent actions by management which led to your loss of job, and why you believe this to be an unfair dismissal. That sort of thing...... as per steampowered advice.
  2. SweetLorraine
    Hi benTEN, I hope you get your money. Breach of contract id an interesting notion - I'd love to see the face of a job advisor if you ran that past them. But you'd be on a hiding to nothing.... and more sanctions. When I signed on again (after many years) I was wholly bemused by the system that is in place, especially the 30 minutes plus interview I get every time I sign on - a waste of time which always concludes with a depressing "let's have a look at the dir.gov.jobs website anyway" - and so another five minutes plodding through the worst jobsite on the web looking at jobs I had already viewed earlier in the week. Hopefully you'll get the money you are due. Signing on - what an eyeopener!
  3. SweetLorraine
    Good luck Dam1on, stay in touch with the forum and feel free to ask questions, they are plenty of others better equipped than myself who can help you along the way. I have only recently noticed the Search CAG box at the top of the screen (which shows you how switched on I am!) that might be pretty useful for picking up previous threads that deal with issues you might be interested in?
  4. SweetLorraine
    Hi benTen, it was a problem we all faced over Xmas - hitting your job application targets. Most people probably did - especially if they had Internet access. We all know that if you don't hit the agreed number of weekly job applications they will sanction you - so you made yourself a target I'm afraid - they won't let that go by without taking action. Appeal by all means, and good luck. PS - the misinformation around the 'universal job match site' is prevalent - I was told I had to register and I had to give access to my job advisor - both of which are untrue - but I did it to keep them from sanctioning me.
  5. SweetLorraine
    Hi, I am a trained first aider but (at my ex-employer's company) I couldn't have taken responsibility for making all the necessary adjustments for someone in your husband's condition when he was back in work - my first aid training (which was to be on hand to respond to falls, faints, cuts etc) doesn't qualify me to deal with such important ergonomic adjustments - I would have to referred that responsibility to my (old) company's occupational health section/provider. Also, you can deal directly with the employer if you want to be supplied with documents/policies etc; It might be more effective than going through their solicitors perhaps? (There are various suggestions in the book I mentioned earlier). Regards
  6. SweetLorraine
    OK, there are a number f contact details you have to fill in of course. The main input into the ET1 is your claim of course. (This claim can also be referred to as a 'pleading' on occasions). Anything not included in the ET1 is considered not to be part of the claim (though you can possibly amend an ET1 sometimes - but it doesn't always go down well with the Tribunal), so you will have to include all the legal issues relating to your claim. Therefore if you are going for unfair dismissal, that would be have to be clearly flagged up in the ET1. You are seeking at this (ET1) stage to lay out the main facts of your complaint (as you see it) and the legal basis of your claim, so you don't have to argue about evidence and all the legal issues in the ET1. If you can set out clearly the main facts of your case and what you are claiming it will help the Tribunal panel (at the main hearing) understand what you are getting at. Respondent's legal representatives may seek to muddy the waters at the hearing - so a clear concise ET1 statement can help nullify some of the respondent's tactics. I'm not a legal professional myself, and I trust that one ot two of those that are come along and add to this basic note. (As always) I will flag up the following site for you to take a loo at (etclaims.co.uk) and suggest you might try to get hold of a copy of the book mentioned on there. I didn't come across it until after my case management discussion meeting (CMD) and I wish I had had it from the beginning - it would have saved me a small fortune in solicitors fees at that time.
  7. SweetLorraine
    Hi Dam1on, you should get hold of any of your company's disciplinary policy documents to maybe highlight where they have not stuck to procedures. At this stage you should be looking to submit your claim (form ET1). You will have time to hone your case and prepare your witness statement ahead of the full hearing. You don't have to be wholly prepared ahead of getting an ET1 in. Do you want me to give you a brief note on what is required for the ET1?
  8. SweetLorraine
    Well done, glad it was OK for you both. Do get the book (from the library if need be - the 3rd edition is the most up-to-date), it will help you see what steps lie ahead. For example - you are entitled to ask for documents from the employer to support your claim. Chase up the sacked team leader as soon as you can. If he/she is further down the ET route than you there might be a lot of useful advice available to you. There may be further issues with the respondent/employer (the content of the bundle being a prime example) so keep in touch with this forum. There are many here that have gone before you that have won or lost, settled or withdrew that can help advise. There are also legal professionals with good souls that advise as well. All the best to you both.
  9. SweetLorraine
    Hi Dam1on, Good point about the time limit - it would appear from your first post that you only have until near the end of February - but give yourself a week/few days grace just to be sure (it also stops the respondent trying it on about deadlines and trying to get the claim struck out without a hearing taking place).
  10. SweetLorraine
    Hi damion, welcome; you have told us the unfortunate circumstances but you have not explained what help you want or indeed that you are going to submit a claim (I assume you are). What sort of guidance are you after?
  11. SweetLorraine
    It might be worth joining forces with the erstwhile team leader - an idea to look at. (Feeling stronger already?) a bit about CMDs might help. CMDs are held to talk about procedural and organsational aspects of the case. They are held by only one judge and deal with issues such as whether the claimant or the respondent can amend the ET1 or ET3, who is responsible for preparing the bundle of evidence, when documents should be exchanged, what are the issues, whether orders should be made for the disclosure of specific documents and/or written answers to questions, how many days may be needed for the full hearing and if there are any dates which either side cannot make. It is a discussion not a formal hearing. But the respondents can cut up rough about some things. Take along the ET1 and ET3 and any correspondence with the respondent and/or the Tribunal. Written submissions aren't usually required at this type of hearing I believe. (I'm not a legal person - hopefully those that are can teak/affirm this basic post?)
  12. SweetLorraine
    You can worry yourself out of a legitimate claim (I know all about that). The unfamiliarity of it all can be stressful. Could I recommend (as usual) the following website and the book that is mentioned there - it may help steady the nerves along the way to the final/full hearing. etclaims.co.uk It is money well spent.
  13. SweetLorraine
    Just an idea - might the sacked team leader be a possible witness? My enemy's enemy and all that. You can request documents from the employer including emails, company policies and procedures etc;
  14. SweetLorraine
    It is not unusual at all for claimants to have no witnesses - it is almost expected really. Don't worry about that. Yes, I would have expected the employer to sort out things with prior to your husband's return. Every 'return to work' meeting (after a period of illness) I had at my ex-employers included a question about possible need for any workplace adjustments. But that is a discussion for the full hearing perhaps, not so much the CMD. As a matter of interest is it a morning meeting or an afternoon meeting? I only ask so we have an idea as to how much time we have on here to reassure you before you head in. You'll be OK tomorrow y'know.
  15. SweetLorraine
    You could treat it as a 'sort of' 360 degree review of your performance perhaps? Especially if you need to keep this team together and performing. It may be construed as misuse of the company's equipment - you could serve up some verbal/written warnings? It might be worth chatting to your HR function rather than your manager - you may get more support from that direction it would seem.
  16. SweetLorraine
    Ah well, that's OK. Essentially it will be a meeting to discuss dates for the hearing, dates for the exchange of documents including witness statements, the legal points that you wish the Tribunal to consider, what sort of compensation/redress you are looking for (your schedule of loss). I take it you don't have legal representation?
  17. SweetLorraine
    Hi Joanne. would this be a case management discussion (CMD) or a pre-hearing review (PHR) meeting you have tomorrow?
  18. SweetLorraine
    Hi jdavis6809, ah, the dir.gov job website.... (I sign on and I have to say it is the worst job website I have to look at on a weekly basis!). However, if you sign on/draw benefits you may have redress through your local Jobcentre. For the most part they are a shower of dulled, apathetic civil servants (I think I can generalise) but if you seek their support, and frame your complaint in terms of getting off benefits - they should light up like Christmas trees at the prospect of reducing their claim numbers. As a non-legal person I can't see how you can successfully claim age discrimination if they already knew your age from your CV before they invited you to an interview? The arrangements for the first interview seem fluffed by both sides. You didn't get an interview, let alone a job offer, so what is your loss/detriment? As regards your application for the re-advertised role; I imagine that if I was an employer, I would find it somewhat off-putting (to say the least) if I received a job application from someone one day. who followed it up with an equalities act questionnaire one week later. That may have put an end to your chances of an interview don't you think?
  19. SweetLorraine
    Hi jdavis6809, sorry, just reading through your points, as a non-legal person, I'm struggling to understand how you might have a case. Could you clarify a few points? The role had been advertised since June yet you could still apply for it in November. Was it an open/generic, ongoing advert rather than for a specific role? I'd imagine they would have had 100s (if not 1,000s) of applicants in the current economic climate. You were fortunate to get an interview offer. Googling, I see that there was a lot of new employment legislation which came in in late 2012 relating to minimum wage, pension costs and retirement age legislation, so the company's explanation about taking time out to consider these employment changes has a ring of authenticity, after all the original job advert was at least 4 months old (June - Nov). Couldn't the employer have guessed your approximate age from the CV you submitted - the CV was the basis on which they offered you an interview in the first place. From what I understand from above, following the phone call the company emailed you to ask you to arrange an interview time with Mrs B. From the company's perspective you didn't - you turned up on the day (12th Nov) without a pre-arranged time-slot for the interview. The company have now refreshed the job offer (in the light of new legislation?) and readvertised. You only (re)applied for this new role on the 7th (and 9th) of Jan. - have they got back to you with a yes/no yet? Only a week later you followed up your application with an equality act questionnaire! Why? That may have scuppered your chances of a new interview. Where does age discrimination come into all of this? I'm guessing, from what you say, that Tamara Lewis's book is for legal advisors - not for us non-professionals. As a result, I'm sorry to say, you may have already made false assumptions about your case as a result of working from such a book. The central London law centre website has a downloadable copy of Tamara's 'claimant's companion' which gives some general guidance on tribunal cases, perhaps that might be worth looking at. Sorry to sound so negative, but, speaking from personal experience, when you are trying to do this on your own without legal advice, you can easily beguile yourself into believing you have a strong case without really testing out it's legal strengths and weaknesses. the law is a contrary thing, logic-defying at times to the likes of you and me. Before you know it, you are down at the Tribunal in a case management discussion (CMD) or a pre-hearing review (PHR) wondering what the hell is going on! You may be wasting an awful lot of time and energy and worry for nothing y'know. so be careful. I see we are the only two current users at this late hour on a Saturday - so, I'm off for a drink down the local now. All the best jdavis6809. SL.
  20. SweetLorraine
    Hi YTS, there is good advice on here already. Caro's idea above is really neat (you may be owed a tax rebate anyway, having only worked part of the tax year). indeed, as per Sidewinder, if your ex-employer got their sums wrong once they may have got them wrong again - it can't hurt to ask them for a breakdown of their calculations. I can offer an actual example of a repayment plan: - At my last job one of the manual workers was overpaid by £3k for a week (they paid him 616 hours overtime for working a bank holiday rather than 16 hours). They realised their error some months later, got the (terrified) guy in (he had spent it!) and agreed a repayment plan of £5 a week. The outstanding amount was recovered when the chap took a large redundancy payment about a year later. £400 is a lot to find when you are skint. But the solution can be quite manageable. It might be worth contacting your ex-employer and explaining your present circumstances - you never know they may even write off the debt. Casting my mind back to my (distant) student past - if all else fails there was always mum and nan to run too. Maybe there is a relative or friend that can help you. Good luck, let us know how you get on.
  21. SweetLorraine
    Hi bialoman, good luck with this. From my limited experience of signing on (after a number of years in employment) it would seem that you may just be unlucky with your 'job advisor' as well. I have signed on with one or two different advisors - one or two are reasonable enough - but there is also my 'regular' advisor who seems super keen just to get me off claiming the JSA benefit..... full stop. Like I am happy to be on £71 a week (no HB payments) rather than a full time wage! I also got a redundancy payment which will tide me over for a few months. I feel really sorry for those who are up against it financially and have to contend with the 'attitude' of some advisors, which could cost them weeks/months in lost benefits due to the new sanctions that are now in place. I can't wait to get back to full-time work. Let us know how it went!
  22. SweetLorraine
    Hi Missycato, and so it begins.... hopefully we can save you weeks of worry and possibly heading up dead-ends. I'm not a legal eagle at all, more a sparrow with a broken wing if you view my old thread charting my errors. Get a copy of that book I mentioned. It explains a lot about the processes/steps involved and you will see when you will be required to do what, and where you need to do it. (It will help you immensely) You need to understand, right now, that you are well behind the learning curve of where you need to be if you are trying to get to the hearing; let alone representing yourself once you are in there. I guess this site can help you with some advice - but a visit to a legal adviser once you are a little more au fait with the processes would be most helpful I would imagine. Right now all the Tribunal knows about your claim is the ET1 and the ET3. Both sides may have to attend a meeting with an Employment judge prior to the hearing. You need to be aware of the significance of a Case Management Discussion (CMD) hearing and what it entails. (I wasn't represented and thought it was just about setting dates for the exchange of documents and setting a date for the hearing - at my CMD hearing the respondent sent a QC - I was completely bambozzled by what went on at that meeting!). [Get the book - I hadn't by that point]. The Employment judge may ask you to submit additional information (to supplement your ET1) at that hearing. so that might be an opportunity to challenge some of the assertions that the respondent made in their ET3. You will submit a witness statement (do you have any witnesses on your side?) and so will the respondent and their witnesses. Both sides should submit their combined supporting documentary evidence in an agreed bundle (ahem!). There is an opportunity there, within your side's statement(s), to undermine/challenge assertions made by the respondent in their ET3. Though I would concentrate on putting forth your own case - not undermining theirs. And of course some of your documentary evidence could completely undermine some of the respondent's claims as well. But that is in the future, the Tribunal will not want an email discourse on this at this stage. If you think the ET3 has some shaky facts, you may have to be sitting down before you read their witness statements! But if you have a good case and supporting evidence that plays into your hands if you can reasonably demonstrate their factual inaccuracies. Have you considered judicial mediation? That is a service offered by the Tribunal and might be worth considering as a more straightforward route to resolution.
  23. SweetLorraine
    Hi Missycato, if you look back through the posts on this forum you may begin to get a feel for how the respondent may behave against you. Hopefully it won't be so bad for you. Each claim (by definition) must have its own individual storyline. I guess once you get the ET3 and you draw nearer the hearing date then your concerns may arise and you can seek advice here. Good luck.
  24. SweetLorraine
    Hi, welcome Missycato, I would recommend you get yourself onto the etclaims.co.uk for some general advice and perhaps get hold of the book mentioned on there (third edition - some libraries carry copies if it appears pricey - but you will learn more from that that a many pricey hours with a solicitor). What the book doesn't cover is the sharp practices that may be deployed against you by the other side. A solicitor could help there - as indeed this site (as best we can). Any general questions at the moment?
  25. SweetLorraine
    Well, if you want a job that is stress free and doesn't hold anyone to performance targets, then the civil service might be the place to go. All the best.

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