I am currently receiving ESA support group which i appealed over a year ago and won. I have recently moved back to my mortgaged home ( it was empty due to pending repossession process), I am currently pregnant but we are not together, we have never been in a long term relationship, he has his own property and doesnt live with me, he will pop in on occassions to check how the pregnancy is coming along, we dont get on and know that being in a long term relationship just for a child would not work. The DWP advised that an allegation has been made that he lives with me and i have to attend in two weeks. Can anyone shed any light on what they will ask me? Thanks in advance

Hi, just wanted some initial views please. My daughter works in a national chain restaurant. She didn't turn up to a training event recently and neither did she phone to give her apologies. At her next shift she apologised, explained why etc. As a result she was told that she was being disciplned. She was given the impression by her manager that her disciplinary letter was in the office for her to collect. So she went to the office to collect it (I understand this to be fairly routine for staff to collect payslips etc from the office). Sure enough on the desk was an enveloped addressed to her containing an invitiation to a disciplinary hearing in a few days time. The following day she was contacted by the employer to say that she was suspended and since then she has received a letter from them to say that they are now investigating a case of gross misconduct - "the unauthorised possession or removal of property belonging to the company", the property in this case being the disciplinary letter!! This to me sounds completely ridiculous, can an envelope addressed to her, for her attention be classed as company property, can she really be accused of unauthorised removal of this "property" when she was under the impression she was to collect it? Thanks in advance.

Hi there. I'm actually shacking as I type this as it is hard for me to admit/talk about. On Thursday I am to attend a Disciplinary hearing. Last October the 30th I was involved in some banter with two of my colleagues. The first subject we were talking about was equal opportunities. I had said 'If you were a coloured female ? in a wheelchair it would tick all the boxes employers seem to have to cover these days' I had then gone onto say 'I ticked I was bisexual on my application.' Both colleges then gave each other side ward looks. I panicked and said 'only to tick a box'. The conversation then went on to talking about the dating app Tinder. My colleague asked why I was on it as I had a partner. I told her I had downloaded it with a friend when we were having a glass of wine just to see who we knew on there. I told them that I had even ticked male and female and had put in the information just looking for friends. Colleague A then said 'I think you are bisexual' after the looks I had receive just minuets before I panicked at their reaction and tried to turn it into a joke. now here's the bit im totally ashamed of and even embarrassed to type. I replied why. she said she thought I was very tactile. I replied 'what its not like I go around doing this all the time' and placed my hand on colleague B's breast for literally a tap. Both colleagues laughed and colleague B went for her lunch. I did apologise to colleague B after twice and thought the matter to be resolved. I was then called into see the manager two days later to be told I had been suspended pending investigation. Here are my problems: A/ I thought honesty was the best policy. I put my hands up strait away and admitted I was wrong. But I didn't want to play the blame game so although they know about colleague A calling me out on being bisexual I hadn't spoken about the previous conversation. If I bring it up on Thursday will I look like I'm making up stories? B/I received their statements and both have wiped out the second part of the conversation making me look like I'm a complete liar for a. saying about my application and b.my statement being different. Can I really address this professionally without looking like a liar. There are no other witnesses. C/I am sorry for my actions and this is why I didn't bring up about the previous conversation or give empathies to how being questioned about my sexuality made me feel. I am so angry after reading their statements that the whole truth hasn't been told. Can I bring it up this late into things? D/I was told that the colleague had gone to management but after reading the statements it seems to have got there through word of mouth. Not only has this broken confidentiality but its made working for the company very awkward for me in the future. especially the points about my sexuality. I have been repositioned since the end of dec while the investigation went on but staff move around a lot and with rumours my anxiety is through the roof. Especially as this has gone on so long. There are other facts I have had to leave out that don't really affect the big picture or overview but I have admitted to save the reputation of the company I work for. I have never been accused of anything like this before. sorry its so long many thanks for reading

I have a dignity at work against me which is being investigated however the complaint is malicious and without merit and I have made a counter allegation about the malicious intent. The investigating officer is refusing to take any action or investigate until I have been investigated and attended a hearing, is this correct?

Hi Today I got a letter from RLP stating that I had been involved in a wrongful act and my actions caused significant loss to their client Tesco. They are demanding 147.50. What really happened - I bought a lot of electrical items, totalling 110 pounds. The cashier must have not scanned one item without me knowing (honestly!) which was a 12 pound set of headphones. I was stopped at the door as it beeped, I apologised and paid straight away at the customer services desk. The security guard said no further action would be taken, he had to take my details for his records, along with a copy of the receipt for 12 pounds. I phoned them up to tell them this and they said they would investigate and check the cctv and that they had 2 witness statements from tescos which "didn't seem very clear". Which is odd because there was only one person present, the security guard!. Can you advise me how to proceed, I was going to send the following email to them, but after reading this forum I thought I would check with you guys first, do I need to be contacting Tesco directly first or taking other action? ============= This is in follow up to our telephone conversation with you today, 14th February 2013 at 14.08 with your colleague Ellie King as your terms require a written response. The allegations made are false. One item out of a large purchase was not scanned by a Tesco cashier. This was unknown to us until a bag check at the exit to the store. We had already purchased and paid for several other items of the value of £110 in this transaction. The item in question (a £12 headphone) had not scanned properly. On discovery of this we immediately made payment at the customer service till. There was at no point any "significant disruption" to your client. The item also did not scan on the customer service till and 2 attempts had to be made to get the item to register on the till. On both purchases a Tesco clubcard was scanned and the security guard also took a copy receipt for his records so there are several proofs of purchase available to them and no losses to your client were made. The security guard informed us that no further action would be taken and that our name and address were only for him to complete his normal paperwork. At no point did we attempt to take goods, and all goods were paid for in full. Reviewing the CCTV will show us queuing in the upstairs section of the store with all items. You informed us that Tesco had 2 witnesses. This is false. We were stopped by 1 security guard, there were no other Tesco or security staff present at this time, other than the cashier we used to pay for the item who had no knowledge of the incident. Again the CCTV footage will confirm this. We politely request that this claim is cancelled. I believe this can be put down to an honest mistake caused by your clients checkout operator, and as no loss was caused to your client there should be no further action. ==============

I am currently suspended from my place of working facing allegations of being drunk whilst at work. My employers suspects this as I made a telephone call to the health and safety department 40 mins before I was actually due to start work. It was recorded. The call involved a lot of mumbling and a conversation asking for permission to work, there was no slurring or shouting or any abuse to the person on the other end. As far as I am concerned I was in bed asleep at the time and do not remember making the call, I have had previous episodes of sleeptalking/walking and phoned friends before. This is entirely what the allegation was based on. The events leading up to this were as follows: I had 4 pints of lager the previous evening and had a late night due to meeting a friend in town, and came back to the hotel late and was accompanied by a work colleague. He has provided a statement stating i was not drunk that night or in the morning once work started at 8.30 am. I also have a statement from the friend i was out with, that I was sober and not drinking alcoholic drinks in town. My employer has contacted the hotel and requested CCTV footage to check our whereabouts and what state we were in, are they legally allowed to request this and use this against us? It also states in the employment handbook, that the rules on drinking at work are not intended for a "one off instance". Could anyone please advise on my options and whether or not my employer has a case for dismissal? Thanks

Hello! Just looking for some advice; professional or just from someone who has been in the same situation as myself. I've been suspended from my work place for 8 months after a student nursed on a 2 week placement made a false allegation about myself. She has accused myself of throwing water over a patient whilst laughing. The other two people who have also been suspended are respected members of staff who have worked with th trust for 20 years. On the day in question she had made an allegation that I threw water, laughed and turned around and did a curtsy (as a man, this is something I'd never do). It has been a hard 8 months, I've been interviews under caution by the police as they could of charged me with common assault, but they didn't take it any further as there was lack of evidence. I have worked with the trust for 3 years, I have a clean disciplinary record and also no issues about my work practice from my previous employer. The third year student nurse didn't report the allegation for two weeks as she was afraid of reprisal and felt she couldn't approach anyone. I continued to work on the ward for 2 weeks and she was fully aware I was working with this patient and didn't say anything. Surely reporting an allegation becomes before how you would feel. There are no truth in the allegations what so ever and utterly appalled that someone would question the way myself and the other two members of staff work. They have the best relationship with the patient and would never see any harm come to him. The investigating officer has decided to take the case to a disciplinary hearing, the three of us involved have denied the allegations. My ward manager has also commended my work attitude and has never had any concerns about the way I work. Is there anyone out there who could give me their opinion on the situation and when it comes to the hearing, what questions can I ask the person who had made the allegations. Thanks in advanced!

I work for a company that provides civil enforcement to local authorities (parking wardens). Last week I was suspended pending an investigation into an allegation of gross misconduct on my behalf, I have yet to hear the outcome or any further action but am obviously concerned that I may lose my job and I'm looking for some advice should that happen. The situation is: I drive to work and I often park in bays which cannot be enforced due to problems with bay markings or signage - so I'm parking without paying because I know I can't be given a parking fine. I'm a supervisor and the wardens that work for me have, on 4 separate occasions since last October, given my car a parking fine when I've been parked in one of these unenforceable bays, essentially making an error on their part. On one of these occasions I appealed against the ticket through the normal process and finally heard back after 4 months to confirm it would be cancelled. On two other occasions I was informed by one warden that another warden had given a fine to my car I advised them to remove the ticket and cancel it, as it was invalid. On the final occasion I discovered a ticket on my car at the end of my day the following morning I spoke to the warden that had issued it and arranged for it to be cancelled also. The allegation is that I have cancelled these fines to avoid paying them, which is untrue as they were all unenforceable bays and they would have been cancelled on appeal, but as I mentioned it takes 4 months to get an answer on an appeal. Aside from the time period involved, we as a company are penalised if we issue too many invalid tickets and can incur a financial penalty from the council if we don't meet our KPI in this area. This is the reason why I arranged for them to be cancelled. They are saying that my actions could bring the company into disrepute and although I don't believe I've done anything wrong I am concerned that they may still decide to dismiss me and I wondered if anyone might be able to advise me if I would have grounds to go to an employment tribunal or how I should go about it? Many thanks in advance for any advice.

I'm writing on behalf of a colleague who was recently falsely accused of hitting a pedestrian when they were leaving their place of work. The initial incident happened on day 1. The pedestrian walked in front of another person's car, while not paying attention to where they were going (using MP3 player) the person braked, however they did impact with the bumber. They got up, spoke to the driver, who identified themselves as working here, said they were ok and continued on their way. The folloowing day they returned with a loose description of the person that hit them, asking for names and car registration details. The person was wrongly identified. The pedestrian then went to effectively blackmail my colleague, demanding £400 or they would lose their no claims bonus. Having no knowledge of the incident, they refused. The pedestrian took her registration details, and solicited the help of one of the no win no fee accident claim companies in order to lodge a claim for damages. This is despite the car being a different make, model and colour to that which was involved in the accident. My colleague's insurance company, The AA, called her to find out more details. After suffering stress because of the claims against her, the member of staff who had been involved in the incident came forward, saying that they were unaware of any proceedings and considered it to have been a near miss. They have since handed the investigation details to their own insurance company who are investigating the claim as they believe the damages for injury are false. this investigation is currently ongoing. The AA have since wiped my colleague's previous 5+ year no claims bonus, regardless of the fact that the allegations were both false, and the correct person had come forward. Information that has been supplied to them. Her insurance is due to be renewed at the end of this month, and is currently at an amount she cannot afford, of £3000. Is there any recourse that my colleague can take against her insurance company, both because of the stress caused and to secure her no claims bonus? Many thanks, Kev

Hi, I have been arrested while at work because my previous employer made an allegation to the police claiming I stole £ 8k from their safe. Taken to the police station interviewed and released on bail, I then been dismissed by my new employer (fair enough). I have now been informed by the police that no further actions will be taken because there are no evidences. Because of this, I have lost two months of earnings (I still could not find a new job), I am in arrears with my rent, and I have been under a lot of stress. Further more the arrest happened during trading hour in a busy department store, so it was witnessed by many people. Now that the case is closed, can I claim compensation for these damages to my previous employer who made the allegation? And if so, how much could I claim?