Hi there, I have been on employment and support allowance (depression and anxiety) at the assessment rate for 6 months and sent back my medical assessment form to ATOS 4 months ago, i haven't been called for an assessment yet, have they forgotten about me or is this normal? My boyfriend has only been on it for 3 months and has been called for his assessment though we live in different boroughs. I keep sending my medical certificates to DWP and keep getting paid, not too keen to go to the assessment as it seems as long as you are breathing you are failed and i don't need the added stress all that will bring. I am on medication and am awaiting therapy, does that make any difference? Any advice would be very welcome, Many thanks

Hi Guys, Ive been employed by the same company for 5 years now and out of the blue everyone has been given a new contract to sign. Myself and others have a few concerns and would be greatfull for any advice before signing. There are 2 additions in the new contract which are not in the old contract: 1: Right of search "The business reserves the right to carry out personal searches of employees in the workplace. They may be carried out at any time whilst an employee is in the workplace". I have nothing to hide and have no problem for my bag to be searched and pockets to be emptied out but do have a couple of questions. How far is a personal search allowed to go? Are they allowed to touch you? Am i allowed to have anyone with me? 2: Job Title/Duties "You are employed as a Housekeeper" "However there may be times when you will be asked to either temorarily or permanently change to an alternative job within the company". In times of holiday and sickness i dont mind helping out at work if they are short staffed in certain areas but can they permanently change my job title within the company and make me do something i did not apply to do in the first place? Any help at all would be greatfully received. I have not signed contract yet but they are pushing me to return it!

I have a slightly complicated situation and I am trying to find out if I have the same rights as the other people I basically work alongside - both agency and directly employed workers - whilst I am employed by a 3rd party company who have a contract to supply someone in my position. The company we all ostensibly work for, I shall call K. My Direct employers are N. We work in a warehouse environment handling K's products and I follow out requests by K's staff to move trailers around the warehouse and yard (there is only only person there at any time to do this job, 1 day shift, 1 night shift) and I also operate K's forklift trucks carrying out the same job as K's directly employed staff and also agency employees. K even put me and another colleague through a forklift refresher course at their expense, just as they do with their own staff. K's direct staff and agency staff have kitchen facilities and a canteen, whilst N's staff (myself or whoever else is on duty) are now banned from these premises and relegated to the drivers room. I fail to see why K have the right to discriminate against people who are paid by N when we are essentially the same as agency workers. There are also delivery drivers employed by N, but as they are not classed working at the warehouse, and I know the rules governing delivery drivers are different and separate so I can see why there is a case to be made that they may not be allowed into certain areas, but when there is only 6-10 people working there on a night shift, all working together , sometimes doing the same job.... Opinions are always good, but some case law would be excellent Thanks for any help.

Edit because someone at work has seen it but thankfully on good terms

I have obtained a new job, the recruitment agent says they are only looking for bankruptcy and CCJ's. I have 3 defaults from 2008/2009. I remember in my current job I had to go through the same thing, this was in 2010 and it was fine. Has things changed, do they now look for defaults? I am panicing about this and cant sleep, the great credit crunch cost my my job and I didnt have enough in savings to keep on top of accounts and now its came back to bite me The banks of course that got bailed out are fine and dandy.

Hi, I have my tribunal for unfair dismissal on the grounds of TUPE for a three day hearing on 8th 9th 10th April.On Thursday the respondent (the company that brought the old company I worked for) solicitor got in touch with ACAS who in turn got in touch with me (im un-represented) and asked if I want to settle on 3k that is their best offer and wont be offering again! My schedule of loss was done by a solicitor who I paid for and has my los at just over 33k. I KNOW i wont get awarded this much. But I feel its worth a shot at going to court if anything for the experience. Catch- I receive HB, CTB and DLA lowest rate. Will all of this be taken off me if I win? Thank you:|

My husband has been engaged in an ET case with a former employer for several years. The hearing has been rescheduled many times and now ACAS has contacted us saying that the employer is interested in settling. What is the best way to negotiate a fair settlement and is it best to document the amount we are seeking using the original schedule of loss? Can we include the costs we incurred for traveling to the original hearing which was rescheduled the morning of by ET? This has been an incredibly trying situation and we want to make sure we get what we are owed, but don't want to come across as greedy or ridiculous. Any advise is appreciated.

I started a new job back in 2010 and i was on probation with the company for 9 months and i realised i was working more hours thank i was contracted for. This with it being a highly competitive sales environment I was very reluctant and nervous to bring this issue up with my line manager. In fact, during my probationary time, two other employees had failed their probation and were dismissed which made me apprehensive to question this issue. When I had successfully completed my probation and promoted, I raised this issue with my line manager. I was told; that these were the working hours required by me, I was not allowed to start after the required starting time or finish before the required finish time; she was not open to discussion on this matter or was prepared to speak to the Senior Manager. I was worried and scared that I would be seen as a troublemaker if I approached senior management directly. The only other option was to voice my concern with the HR team, but unfortunately there was an incident where a Senior HR Representative was visiting our office for a day and was discussing; in detail, a highly sensitive issue concerning another member of staff from another office. This was information that neither I nor my colleagues should have had any knowledge about and I felt extremely uncomfortable being told this information. I was concerned that if I approached HR with my concerns, my confidentiality might not be maintained and the treatment of this individual also made me question the professionalism of the HR Department and gave me cause to feel threatened by HR’s lack of confidentiality and professionalism. I felt isolated and unsupported about my problem and was unsure with whom this issue could be raised without reflecting badly on my career. I raised my issue via a confidential survey asking; why we were the only division ithat were working longer hours than other staff I hoped that the Chairman’s office would read and possibly investigate these surveys, a phone call did come from the Chairman’s office but nothing else happened with relation to these surveys. There was an option in the satisfaction survey to be named, yet I chose no remain anonymous as I felt the consequences would be too great. I felt the repercussions, if named in the survey i could have been that; I would not have been passed positions to fill and this would have affected my bonus and take home pay. There would be times; when I would go into work early, work through lunch and often stay later than my official working hours. When I calculated the number of hours I had worked unpaid it was quite substantial, this is when I decided that to end my employment and seek a new role with another company I approached my employer by e-mail asking for payment of the additional hours. There response was that; staffs were only required to work 40 hours per week and if I chose to do more hours, then that was up to myself and that I would not be refunded for the additional hours which I had worked. I also contacted the company again to advise them that these were my working hours as stated in my contract, that I did not have the luxury of choosing a 40 hour shift pattern hours as there was no shift pattern in the office, I was working from 8.30am to 6pm Monday to Thursday and 8.30am to 5.30pm on a Friday, so I was actually working an additional 2 hours every week which was not reflected in my wages. I am now at the stage where i am taking them to a tribunal. I have completed my ET1 form and received a date for next week. I offered them a settlement which they have rejected. We have been going back and forth for weeks and the judge has asked me to outline my situation. Does this mean what i am claiming for? My initial claim was for unlawful deductions from pay, can i claim for breach of contract? Acas told me I should have done that 3 months after i started but citizens advice advised its 3 months less 1 day from the date i left my employment. Can someone clarify and give me some advice please? Thanks for taking the time to read this and any help is appreciated.

Good Afternoon, I wonder if anyone can help, my partner is the claimant in a tribunal claim for unfair dismissal that I have been preparing and mediating for the last year, after one hearing that was postponed (respondents neglect) we are finally back to court next week. I would like to know if I am able to represent my partner in the claim? Also, the respondent has been struck out for not adhering to many court orders. Is it as simple as he cannot speak/input at the hearing? He has sent through a bundle of documents 9 months to late and I am now panicking he knows something I dont (When in actual fact I think he is just scare mongering) I am under the impression that we will be presenting our case and that the judge will then rule? Any advice will be greatly received! Thank you in advance! S =)

Hello there, I'm hoping that someone can advise, or has maybe been in my situation. I was made redundant whilst I was preganant and took the company that I worked for to tribunal in August 2012. The case was due to be heard next month, but my solicitor has recently advised me that the main witnesses of the company have gone off work long term sick. This is following me submitting all of my evidence, which is quite strong evidence, a few weeks ago. They intend to ask the tribunal for a postponement on this basis, which I have agreed to so it doesn't prejudice my case. So it;s now down to a judge to decide whether they are granted a postponement. But my question is, how many times can they do this? I feel that they're being crafty because I've got good evidence. I've left the company over 9 months now..

Hi all, I have just received a letter from work and pensions stating that the re-looking at my case has failed and that I need to go to a tribunal. My question is when you first appeal, do they ask your doctor for information or just go back and look at the information that the 'medical professional' stated in the first place. My problem is that I was told that I got 0 points and I asked for the information that she had written, but never received it so I did a general appeal and told them that i did not get the report. With that I received the letter, as I stated earlier (sorry if I am going around in circles) that she agreed with the original report. I am on DLA (which i had no problem getting), I also have carers allowance I cannot cook for myself, the local council have just put in a disabled shower for me as well as two bannisters for helping met get up and down the stairs. I am on three painkillers during the day which are morphine patches, paracetamol and nefopam (i am allergic to NSAID's) and at night I have Amitriptyline (for pain not depression). Even Open University have helped so I could continue to study. I phoned my doctors today and they had received at letter from them telling my doctor that i was fit to work, but they never asked him for any information. Is that normal? Shouldn't they be asking a medical professional who can touch you and examine you properly. I have also had one lateral release done on one knee and know awaiting the other. The 'medical professional' who saw me, put incorrect info in some and missed out others. I had taken up my disability letter but she said they don't require that. I mean even if I do have to look for work who the hell is going to hire me (I have arthritis and degenerative knee disease in both knees) when on some days I can't even move out of bed. If anyone has any info please let me know. Thanks Lea

My wife is having her employment terminated by her employer due to incapability. She has severe rheumatism and dizzy spells and has been off work for over a year. She was working part time for 15 hours per week. If her firm terminates her contract will she be able to claim JSA?

Hi, been offered 1 hours work a week self employed at a rate of £20. I need to know a few things - how will this affect my JSA when I declare the work? and how do I declare this? I've never been self employed before so need to know what to do regards taxes/NI too. I know I'm asking a lot here but I want to work and in the current climate self employed may be a way to go. Thanks in advance omskus

I work as a security officer and was employed by Company A in May 2006 I was on zero hours contract with no permanent place of work but five years ago they put me in one of the site permanently from where I was Tupe'd over to Company B in January 2010. In April 2011, I was again Tupe'd over to Company C which honoured all the terms I had in the contract with Company A but added a permanent place of work. Just yesterday when I turned up at work, I found myself (and others) with new contracts to sign with contract start date on Monday 18th of Feb. There has been no prior consultation between any of us and the company with regards to this and it all came up as a surprised to us. No cover letter or anything either but we've been informally told that since some of us were tupe'd over from Company A and some from Company B, they want all of us to now have one contract with same terms. Difference between new and the current contract: *New one does not have any permanent place of work *It has a probationary period of 6 moths *It's again a zero hours contract (even though our current one have no mention of min number of hours, I have been working 56h/w for last 5 years at same place with same shift pattern, does it help me?) *No mention of double pay or treble pay for working bank holidays. (according to our current one, we get double pay for working bank holidays and treble for working Christmas, Boxing and new years day). *Contrary to current one, new one also has a clause saying that employer reserves the right to change the terms at any time I know they can't force us to sign the new contract and it has to be agreed but I'm more worried about zero hours. Can they stop giving me any work because of that or does working at fixed roster for last 5 years gives me any rights? Also, my manager agreed to have a meeting with all of us on Wednesday but this contract starts from Monday. Should we carry on working from Monday or refuse to work and contract in writing? Stuck here... Also, can they reduce or at worst, stop giving me work since I effectively have a zero hours contract? Needless to say that I do not agree with any new terms in this new contract. Any reply would be much appreciated. Thanks Irf

Hi there, I have recently relocated to the UK and I just signed a contract to join a company that was not my first option (I had several interviews) I am due to start the role within one Week, even the working hours were more than I expected and the salary is not that good. The thing is that last week I just got confirmation from the role that I was waiting where the conditions and salary are way better. The question is what the implications would be of not starting the role that I signed (ie, breaking the contract and besides the moral implications), and whether there is any other way to limit the consequences (eg, I understand that not starting a job leaves me in better stead than turning up on day one and telling them that I'm leaving.) The contract states that I have to give them 2 month notices before quitting but since the contract has not started yet I wanted to know what are the implications. My contract states that I will be on a "probationary" period for 3 months. Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks Luke

Hi, I have recently received a written offer of employment with a start date of 04/03/13, i am already in employment and would need to hand in my notice asap, but the company offering me the new position has also arranged a medical on the 13/02/2013 for me to take, i believe the medical is a general medical looking at skin complaints, drugs, alcohol etc....so my question is can they retract the offer if i fail the medical? Please advise.

Hello, this is my first visit to the CAG and I am hoping for some advice. To cut a very long story short I injured my back at work in April 2006. Government employer would not support it was an injury at work even though went through all the right channels. Carried on working, taking sick when I was in so much pain I couldn't walk. Placed on sickness monitoring twice, had occupational health referrals, placed on final written warning in November last year. Had to take 2 days off in March and was told by line manager she had sent report to big cheese moving for dismissal on capability grounds (due to sickness not the quality of my work when at work) and I would hear in a couple of weeks..... then nothing. Basically referred to Occ Health again in August who say my back condition falls under scope of DDA. Wont bored you with the ensuing situation but would like experiences/advice/thoughts on the fact that the DDA effectively kicks in after 12 months (am paraphrasing, I know there is more to it). As it was clear from my sick absences that this was an ongoing condition should my employer have recognised this earlier, should the occ health advisers have known/mentioned it? It is vaguely alluded to as a 'grey area' but nothing really explicit is asked for or mentioned in the reports. Sorry, that was waffly - basically should my employer have been considering it applying once my condition had gone past 12 months. Phewww, hope that makes sense! Hx

Not sure how this can be right, UC will mean every self employed person has to earn minimum wage for 35 hours per week, or not be self employed!? So why would they be pushing people into self employment knowing they wont earn any money??? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-21260331

Hello all, Its been a long time since I have posted on CAG, but it was the first place I thought of in relation to a nagging issue which has arisen and I thought perhaps someone might be able to definitively answer an employment related question here. I have been employed full time by a private company for the last six months. A month or so ago each employee was asked to sign an updated version of our contract of employment. We were told by our manager that there were a few minor changes. I signed the contract, and despite what I am about to post below, do not regret doing so, because prior to joining this company I had been out of work for a while, and I am happy where I work. That said, there are a number of other private companies which do similar/the same type of work in the area, and the company I work for notoriously pays lower salaries than the industry average. The vast majority of colleagues who leave the business go to work for another similar company for more money, and turnover of staff is unusually high, I would say, because of this pay gap. A colleague mentioned to me recently that the new contracts we all signed contained an updated 'non-compete' clause in our contracts, which reads as follows: The Company I work for provides services to a government department. In my role I come into contact with customers and their details, but I do not have any detailed specialised knowledge other than that which I brought to the role through my background and skills. I do not build or maintain business relationships or operate at a senior level. Is my employer just fed up with people leaving to go to work for similar businesses? What would happen if, in the future, I resigned and joined a similar business within the same Area within a 12 month period? Would my current employer have any legal recourse? How can it be reasonable to prevent a person from going to work for another company? I would not share confidential or sensitive information or undermine the business interests of my current employer, but I am very good at my job and could probably earn 30-40% more elsewhere. Just to be clear I have no intention of leaving my current employer at this moment in time, but might well do in a year or so. Thanks.

Hi all, I hope this is in the correct place if not i apologise in advance. ive just started work at a job as a web designer and have (after 3 days ) had what was supposed to be an induction, however it was very vaguely laid out but there where a couple of points i though i should seek advice on. the first and most important i feel is my employment contract or lack there of, i have been told that i will only receive an employment contract after completing my 3 month probationary period. At the time i didnt ask any questions but on thinking about this surly by not receiving a contract there is no paper evidence of the fact i am working and what im required to do. although this may be legit i was hoping someone may no whether or not this would effect any of my employment rights? the second issue i have is the holiday days allocated to me. ive been told that becuase im classed as part time i will only receive 12 days annual leave. the reason i feel this is unfair is that although yes i only work 25 hours a week i do so over 5 days mon-fri (5hrs a day) and given that the holiday rate is the same as normal pay surly i should receive the same 20 days that everyone else receives? by my workings out even though i work less hours than a full time person i work the same number of days over the year and given that holiday pay is the same rate as regular surly i should receive the same amount of days but only with 5 hours worth of salary for each day? Any info would be greatly appreciated and i hope you understand my question about the holiday entitlement because at this rate with my mandatory week off at christmas (which im not happy about) im only left with 1 full week i can take of in the summer to spend time with my son and to be honest if this is the case then this company is getting one hell of a deal for what there paying! Thanks for reading

Hi Res = Respondents Case = DDA 1995 not the Equality Act 2010 as my case was before 2010. To keep this short initially I have an ongoing ET case for over 3 years and the Respondents have dragged things with a Medical Expert, which has caused delays. Since this particular Judge was involved around 2 and half years ago, they have seemed to be biased to everything the Respondents say and do. The Res have claimed they sent me forms which clearly I never got and didn't make sense if they did, they also didn't make it clear to previous Medical experts, that they were not representing me, and the Medical Experts ( 2 in total) thought their Solicitor was mine, due to wording of the joint instruction. This stopped the case progressing for 2 years and watch time I asked questions and asked for Res to explain things, the Judge ignored what I had to say and also my questions on , if they had sent me forms, how could they have if they claimed they sent me the forms to fill say 2nd August , then sent a reminder to me say 5th August to say, we have not had the forms sent to us. I did try argue at a CMD once to say, I don't believe they had sent me the forms, but the Judge basically said, I don;t believe a Professional person wouldn't have sent them, and I can argue till i am blue in the face. The Res have now been claiming that, they can not get a fair hearing as Staff have left/ memory of events would have gone to me not actively pursuing the case? I have tried to goto the Regional Judge but they said nothing to look into, yet they not even read through my file to see where I have been trying to chase matters, and since I have Disability's and am on heavy medication, I am not up and about a lot. This is also something else they claiming, is to say, I not fit to do the Hearing. It looks like again, this Judge will hear the Res case of having my case stuck out and I am at a loss. Anyone give me some input on this? Thanks

I have been in the ESA Support Group for a 1 year for a Chronic, intermittent condition which causes me severe pain and other issues. It can be very debilitating but it is not life limiting. I was previously on JSA and have been assessed for ESA twice this year, last time my claim was disallowed after I failed the WCA with zero points but it was reinstated after it was looked at again by a dwp DM. I fully expect to be reassesed again early in the new year and to fail again. Last time they said to me that after 6 months I should be better and so they were removing me from ESA, without taking into account he fact that I was actually worse that before! Anyway I feel certain that I will be removed from ESA soon and that if I need to apply for JSA I will end up being sanctioned as my health problems will prevent me from meeting the "conditionality" of my claim. I have been looking at (part time) self employment as a possible solution to my problem. I do have some skills I could use but I would need to work at home and have a good degree of flexibility which would allow me to manage my illness. I doubt at anything I would do would make a large amount of money at least for the first year or so. I would probably be able to work 16 hours broken up over the week but I don't know if I could earn a regular 16 hours at minimum wage, more likely to make money in fits and bursts. Looking at the current rules for going self employed (with disability) and getting a government top up I think I would qualify but I have no idea if I would be able to get this under Universal Credit, and if I did what conditionality I would be subject to. This is problematic as self employment is at the moment my only way of working with a health problem that makes it impossible for me to work normally so to have to work as I could over a week and still have to attend job centre courses and workfare would defeat the whole point, I would have to fight to stay on ESA SG. Also I don't know how my living arrangements would affect entitlement to any in work benefits under the current system and the UC? I currently live with my family but I would like to move in with my long term boyfriend who gets a decent wage but not enough to support two people. I would need to bring something to the table, even if it were only £100 or so per week. Perhaps if I am living with a partner (or family for that matter) they will take into account all his income and any savings he has which would render me ineligable for any help. If this is the case I would not be able to move in with him which would be yet another normal life factor that my illness robs me of. Is there anywhere I can go to get decent impartial advice about all these things? I no longer trust the DWP and worry about asking them about things until I am sure or about trying permitted work as it would just be a red flag for them to reassess me and chuck me off benefits when I am still in treatment. If anyone can shed any light on this or point me in the write direction I would be very grateful! Note: My condition is very unpredicable sometimes I am ill for a whole week, sometimes several days at at time and sometimes a get a little run of good days. If I had a 100% flexiable boss the doing on avaerage two days a week on minimum wage would be fine but it doesn't work that way "flexibility" is for your employer not you and I was told by a Work Programme advisor that I was unemployable due to the frequency and severity of my illness.

Not sure if I'm putting this in the correct forum or not so mods feel free to move. As it's now illegal for employers to discriminate on the grounds of age (ha-ha), having been registered for work, both temporary and permanent with a few of the agencies, I have come to the conclusion that the agencies filter out people over the age of 50 for jobs. Time and time again I have seen the agencies I am registered with advertising jobs that I am more than capable of doing yet never get put forward for them. When I do, like the other week got a starting date then the day before I was due to start got a phone call from the agency saying that the employer had taken on someone permanent. Last week, they phoned about the same job, saying the company needed temporary cover, sent me the details of the times and days I would work...then the day before phoned up with exactly the same excuse - the employer has taken on someone permanent (what again? - if you're going to lie, please don't use the same excuse twice). What I'd like to know is has anyone else had a similar experience(s) and who, if anyone, regulates these employment agencies.

Hi there fellow CAGgers, Some really quick advice would be appreciated from any of you that have knowledge or experience of the following. I am going through an ET regarding disability discrimination that I was subjected to from my line manager(who now, strangely, has been made redundant :o?). We are past the deadline from bundle collation as I've asked my employers on numerous occasions for a document that is crucial to the case - I've been told that the Companies archive system is difficult to use and they can't find it! I've persisted regardless as I am suspicious why they couldn't recover this. Anyway, as far as I was concerned, everything was in order apart from this BUT this morning their legal eagle has sent through an amended bundle with new evidence that they have added which I do not agree they should use at this late stage. What can I do as I feel they are being very trixy?

I've had a period of sickness over 2 years but GP has now signed me off to return to work...(got to find a job first)....on his fit note he has written a phased return and ideally 2 half days to begin with. How do I broach this with future employers?