I am posting for some advice. I have been off sick since 9th August 2012 and I have requested to my employer whether they agree or not for me to work from home for 2.5 days a week instead of working full-time. I am worked for my employer now for just over 10 years. My sickness is due to depression but I also suffer from crohns disease and diabetes which are covered by the Equallity Act. The question I am asking is that my employers have requested an informal meeting to discuss ending my employment through a compromise agreement and I was just wondering what kind of payment I can request. Is there any recommendations or is it just a matter of what they offer me. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Regards Sandra

I have been employed since 07/07/2012 (5 months). I have 10-years work experience as a dementia carer; nurse's and nutritionist's qualifications; spotless track record. I work as a live-in carer on 2 weeks on/2 weeks off rota basis: 2 x Wed -Wed; paid breaks 7h on Wed (11am-6pm) and 4h on Sat (11am-3pm). Sleep in nights on call. Client (and a dog) has advanced dementia and is very mobile. I think this is more like a shift work, where the shift pattern is: 4 live in shifts (315 hrs) are worked in 14 days: Wednesday 6 pm – Saturday 11 am; 65 h; 4 h break Saturday 3 pm - Wednesday 11 am; 92 h; 6 h break Wednesday 6 pm – Saturday 11 am; 65 h; 4 h break Saturday 3 pm - Wednesday 12 am; 93 h; handover 315 h worked in 14 days. I believe my employer has committed a serious breach of my EC by: 1. Failing to pay NMW Required to work 315 h in 14 days, being paid £ 80 per day = £ 3.55 p/h. 2. Failing to provide minimum daily and weekly rest periods The breaks I get at the placement are: 7 h break (11 am – 6 pm) on Wednesdays; 4 h break (11 am – 3 pm) on Saturdays. 3. Serious breach of the 'duty of mutual trust and confidence' a) by accusing me of gross misconduct (on 29/11), Unprofessional conduct: raising concerns about the Company and carer colleagues with the client representative (client's son). I replied to Client Son's personal text message to me about his Mum, making a comment about the Company and relief carers. I felt this was my duty of care to let the son know how his mother is being treated by relief carers the company is providing. They are accusing me of Crossing professional boundaries (Company's Policy 93) and Failure to follow their policies and procedures.When I asked what policies and procedures do they mean, manager said Policy No 93. Said I haven't seen it, he said it was available on the website and was included in my employment contract (not true). Was given the copy of Policy No 93: Professional Boundaries on 06/12. b) by imposing a suspension with pay (on 29/11), Suspension Grievance on 30/11. c) giving a warning of possible summary dismissal (on 06/12) before the disciplinary hearing ( 13/12) (adding to unnecessary stress) Suspension was a “final straw”. Other perhaps relevant breaches and actions: 1. Failing to sign off my Common Induction Standards (Care Academy), which I have completed/passed in 09/12 and it is pending sign off since I passed my probational period (07/10/12). 2. Failing to acknowledge my name. I changed my surname in October and notified the employer – they are still referring to me by my old name (incl all the disciplinary documents). 3. Not treated equally and fairly (was lied to) when applied for Senior Carer's position within the company twice (21/09 and 14/11). 4. Elements of bullying from senior manager (who is in charge of senior carers) - destructive irrelevant criticism and irrelevant remarks undermining my abilities. I'm in the situation where I have suffered a psychiatric injury, I am not able to work or defend myself at the hearings in English, because my mental health has suffered: I have panic attacks and constant anxiety and tearfulness, difficulties to concentrate. I have no money for a lawyer, I have no money to pay my rent, I have no money to buy food. I have no money to go home for Christmas .. Could you please advice what should I do. Do I resign asap to be able to claim constructive dismissal? The disciplinary hearing is scheduled for 13/12 and I'm pretty sure they will dismiss me as they have warned be doing so in the hearing letter. I have documented everything and kept placement diary. Please help. Thank you.

Good Morning! I'm trying to help a friend of mine who is experiencing some issues at work and he has asked me to draft a letter to his employer regarding this. Basically my friend is a Sales Manager, Director and Company Secretary of quite a large firm. The firm has been struggling and as a result the MD has been blaming my friend for a downturn in available work for the firm. On 2 occasions the MD has insisted my friend come into the office for a Performance Review - this is not conducted formally but arranged verbally over the phone often with the review being held on the same day. He is not allowed details of the reasons for the discussion or the right to representation - At the end of which he has to sign a form saying a review has taken place. On Friday the MD called my Friend for details of his activity for the day, it was recorded and rather disturbing – the MD interrupts my friend and start swearing at him and calling him names and then hangs up! 30/11/2012 at 20:59pm “had enough of this you have two company cars bring them into the office with your phone and all company stuff laptops etc, Accounts stop his credit card and fuel card NOW” My friend has responded via text asking for the opportunity to discuss the matter, and has also attempted to call the MD; the only response from the MD was again via text 30/11/2012 at 21:11 “all money outstanding must be held back till firms stuff is returned in FULL! Keys and uniform tools everything!” The MD has also stopped my friends Salary payment due for November My friend has a wife and 5 Children to support. And will not communicate with my friend other than in text form, my friend has also received no written communication. 01/12/2012 at 15:28 From MD “I am all done with your talking! You have had warning after warning the time for talking is long over” Also on Monday 03/12/12 at 6pm the MD sent two Engineers from the company out to my friends house to collect company laptop, phone and car etc – no prior warning was giving and this was extremely distressing to my friend and his family – so much so that he declined to let them enter his home and contacted the police. So basically I’m asking for any tips / templates of what I should write? My friend has worked at this company for over 7 years.

Hi all I work for a small Limited Company, I have worked there for 2 years 1 month. On the 7/11/12 my boss threatened to not pay me over the telephone, he said I am not getting paid so you are not. He is very much a Jekyll and Hyde character nice one minute nasty the next. I raised a grievance with him on the 8/11/12 sent him a letter saying you must pay me as my contract states on the last day of every month and I must receive pay slips which I have not received since he took over the business in August this year. He refused to discuss the issues with me and said there is no problem I will pay you. Come 30th Nov I had not been paid as per my contract date, so myself any my only other colleague contacted him and he said there was a bank error and we would be paid any day. On the 4th December he paid my colleague but not myself. To cut a long story short he sent me a threatening text message yesterday saying "I told you before I am not getting paid so you are not". I feel I have no other option as to leave and concentrate my efforts on finding another job as he simply will not communicate with me. I have submitted a money claim on line and paid the fee for my late wages. Acas have advised me to fill in the ET1 form for my late pay but I also wondering if it is worth claiming for Constructive Dismissal as I have been told this is very hard to prove? Edited post to add ever since he started, he has belittled my colleague in front of me and customers. Told us to make up prices as we go along, i.e. on a quiet day charge people more. Told me to lie to people to say the visa machine has broken so people can pay cash. Shouted at me over the phone I sit on my backside all day yet two days later told me I was doing a really good job, there are more things as well, he really is a nasty person. Thanks

On wednesday I lost my job basically i worked at a waterpark and we were allowed swimming after our shift, which we do alot and we had permission. They saw us messing about we always do, and two people did get minor injuries but nothing a plaster can't fix anyway someone filmed us and i put the videos online. And everyone who went swimming got a written warning about it, seeing as they saw us and allowed us to do this at the time a but unfair in itself Then i get the sack, my manager said 'i'd had enough chances' which just isn't true i've never had any verbal or written warning, i've never been suspended. I always came in on time, never went AWOL, did all the overtime I could manage. Another case to mention a now manager has a video online of him and 2 lifeguards taking a trolley down a slide, which is online. why aren't any of them sacked? Loads of people have told me to appeal and I do want to but I don't know how to go about it, can any of you give me advise on where I stand and how I can go about appealing?

Dear All Last Month I was dismissed. I knew since a year this this will happen. I joined this big company more than 4 years ago, my role is quite technical as i am dealing with regulatory compliance... before going on maternity leave i complained against my manager. when i came back, the person who covered my maternity leave became my boss. quite rapidly i had to go through a performance improvement project...the phase I lasted 2 weeks and i received a warning. the second phase lasted 8 weeks...and i have been fired...i had to wrote 3 reports on 3 objectives for which i knew 8 weeks were far away from sufficient... I was not allowed to go on holidays, noone questionned my expertise even they dare say that my knowledge on legislation was impresssive but as i did not engage with key people (.this based mainly on feedback.) and as my reports were below expectations, i was fired. I put grievance against my managers: the first one I complained about some behaviours: i have been excluded from eetings discussions since I am back from maternity leave, my manager had distord facts to put me down. I had also proof that my new manager was not that expert and had made a lot of mistakes... so i asked them how he was able to assess my work and decides that 8 weeks were enought if he was not that clear about what to do?? I had problem with a team which refused to follow the legislation...and after a year nothing happened. It was said that it was my fault even, my manager asked me to do nothing...i escalated problems and a grievance was raised ...but no psotive outcome...my manager was perfect, he made mistakes but improved his skills etc.. I asked in my grievance the proof that my managers were very good in communication so that I can learn, and if it was the case they should have influenced the team i struggled with!! I complained about the lack of support, and also the fact that HR were not including my comments in the minutes meeting, these minutes meeting were used for the dismissal... in my work i told them that 2 weeks were too short to engage with senior managers...discuss what needs to be done and take actions...with my day to day activity, plus it was impossible to engage with key people when they receive opposite recommendation from my manager...or when these colleagues were waiting for the green light from my manager and this one kept silent.. at the end it was impossible to progress for these reasons plus the company is going trough a restructuration, so nobody knows yet what their team will do...therefore noone wants to move before we have a clear view on the new organisation... i did complain about the constant critics, and if he was os bad in communication why i received no training? i have been off sick for stress ( i have heart problem too) and they did not allow me to go on holidays during the summer and my family is abroad, I am on my own here. I am waiting for the dismissal appeal meeting before sending my ET1 i have been dismissed a month ago!! they wanted me to attend the grievance appeal meeting even i was convinced it was a waste of time. .. this is so stressfull... i am convinced now that the tribunal will be on their side...

Hello to everyone. A friend of mine directed me the consumer action group website and from what I have seen so far it is an excellent site. What brings me here is that I have been directed to attend a disciplinary on the 04-12-12 in the morning. I was advised of the disciplinary on the 30-12-12 at around 1600 and was given two copies of a letter advising that a disciplinary has been arranged. As per letter the purpose of the hearing is as follows: "will be to discuss an allegation that I have been by-passing the proxy server in order to access websites which have been banned and watching non work related material on the internet during work hours". I have also been handed a document by the name of "disciplinary procedures" in which under the title "rules covering gross misconduct" comes the following: "unauthorised use of the email and internet" Also in the employee handbook which I and the majority of colleagues I have asked have never received a copy of but potentially have signed a form claiming that we have viewed it, is contained the following statement under gross misconduct: "unauthorised use of the email and internet" To the story is itself. I am going to be honest. I have been going on the internet mainly to listen to songs from youtube, also go on a few other websites. But never no adult sites or any other "dodgy" sites. The internet itself has been locked by the company however another device which was already installed on my computer allows access to the internet. The issues are the following. I don't have a clue if the correct procedure is being followed by my manager in terms of the disciplinary. I was told on the 30-11-12 in the afternoon that I would be having the disciplinary hearing on the 04-12-12. My first question is should there not be any meetings held prior to the final hearing disciplinary? Also,I have not been provided details of the specific allegation itself or any other evidence that they have against me. I requested this evidence however was told this would be made available on the hearing itself? To me this doesn't seem correct as in a court of law all charges and evidence is made available to the defendant before entering court. The only information that I have been given so far is that another employee has caught me going on the net. They are going all out to ensure I get sacked by not providing me with information that I feel I am entitled to so as to disarm me and put me in a weaker position. Another point I have is that many of my colleagues browse the net or listen to music on you tube or even watch video's whilst working however I am the one that has been singled out. I am not sure if records of my internet usage will be put forward by my manager who is conducting the hearing however if this is the case evidence showing usage of my colleagues will also be available. A bit about myself and my situation at work. My manager does not like me. To a former colleague of mine on a night out she described me as a d***head and backwards. I'm a reserved character, quiet at work and this is one of the reasons I feel she is coming after me. On the office floor she has told me to shut up and threatened me with a p 45. In addition anytime overtime is offered as my situation makes it very difficult to take this offer up I have had to decline it on the majority of occasions which has not pleased her. I have also in a polite manner questioned genuinely policies/changes/cases of favoritism which again have not please her. Apart from the factors above which I feel are genuine I have not had a single day off work, am punctual, work hard and have high productivity. My point is I feel my manager has been searching for something to sack me on and this has put the fear of God into me. I fear If I am sacked I will struggle to ever find work again. I am not married yet and fear no one would want to marry me as I would not be able to support them financially never mind myself. Since being told about the disciplinary hearing on the 30-11-12 I have not been able to sleep or eat properly. I am under a lot of stress and am extremely worried. The tag of being sacked is something I didn't ever think that I would have to worry about. This is a terrible situation to be in. I have been at the company for a year and three months and not a single day off sick. My final question is that if i give my notice before the hearing, like tomorrow (03-12-12) would they still proceed with the hearing and potential dismissing? If so what If I called in sick and gave my months notice. IS this possible? I am sorry for all the questions. I have attempted to complete my own research but there is so much conflicting information out there. All of your help is greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance. Chris

My situation is as follows: Somebody rang the works whistleblowing hotline and made 2 allegations about me. Allegation 1: That when i had the opportunity to re-hire an old employee in January 2010 to a new position that i did not follow procedures in order to receive the companies referral fee, i have been accussed of stating that I would give 50% of the fee to the re-hire, that I would not advertise the job for the given period that i would interview him. Allegation 2: The whistleblower has stated that my current employer has overpaid me by £800 in June 2009 and I deliberately did not tell them. I was interviewed as part of a fact finding exercise to allow me to hear the allegations. What the investigator did not know was that in September 2011 my line manager was asked by somebody to investigate the referral fee i received - not sure who this was all i was told was that an internal audit had flagged up i had been paid this referral fee and i may not have been entitled to it, i produced all my documentation that clearly showed that at all points of the recuritment process that HR and recruitment were aware of the fact of me putting forward the old hire for the new job. In addition to this i had no control over the advertisement i was not involved, I was present at the interview but did not interview him i was there to talk to him about how the role had changed HR interviewed him and they made the offer of employment. I was then told verbally that this matter had been closed in September 2011 and i was told that maybe there was a conflict of interest as I was going to be the line manager but as HR were presented and all parties knew i was asking as referral then it should have been picked up before the payment was made which was incidently 5 months after he was offered the job. I was told at that point no further action would be taken. I have at no point offered the old hire 50% of the referral fee. Allegation 2: The whistleblower has claimed that I have been overpaid and have deliberatly kept the £800 over payment in June 2009. I have been through all my payments for the year of 2009 and no overpayment was made, however what i have uncovered is this, Feburary 2008 I was UNDERPAID by £800 then mid march i was paid the underpayment (800) as a one off payment however in my monthly March salary i was in fact paid the £800 so yes i have only just uncovered this due the allegations made, up until this point i had no idea and nor did my employer. Concerns: I am so worried that I am going to be sacked for gross misconduct and accused of theft, however their are circumstances that should be taken into consideration, in January 2008 my father who lived overseas died very suddenly and the underpayment occurred because i should have been paid berevement leave but my employer did not charge my time correctly hence the underpayment, and I do remember this because the reason i noticed i was underpaid was because i need to pay my mum for my ticket to go overseas to bury my dad but couldn't withdraw the funds, I contacted my best friend who also works at the same company but now we have fallen out and told her i didn't have enough money for my ticket she offered to give me the money if payroll couldn't pay me, so i contacted payroll who said that they would ammend this and would pay the underpaid amount into my account within the few days, which they did. As my employer had corrected the error before the next pay date I had no reason to assume that the following month my salary would have been overpaid as up until Febuary i had never had an inconsistent pay packet. So i carried on with my daily business without thinking anything of it, i was obviously completely distressed about my father and in addition to this i was going through a breakup with a partner who also shared my account so going through my bank details on regular basis is not something i do. Money was going in and out of my account i was trying to sort out berevement and a breakup payslips were paper and not given to us all the time. What i am worried about is that my employer is going to say to me how did the whistle blower know it was £800 if you didn't tell them, I honestly don't know other than the fact that it appears my ex friend has a grugde and it is conincence that the amount is the same she knew about the underpayment because she offered to buy my ticket also how come my employer cannot identify the error ? and we have both had to wait for a whistle blowing allegation to be made before this error has been uncovered. Please could somebody give me some advice here, I have been with employer for 7 years and i love my job but I feel totally devested. I have not been suspended yet I am told this is just fact finding.

Hi, I have recently been dismissed by my employers. I have appealed but have had not date given to me (this was over a month ago). I have recently put in a claim for a tribunal to hear my case as I have no faith in my company following procedures (they didn't follow procedures during the disciplinary hearing). I have recently been to my GP as my wife has told me I am showing signs of depression. My doctor has prescribed me medication to cope with anxiety and the lack of sleep I am getting at the moment. My question is, has anybody else been in this scenario? If so, how did they get though it and also how should I move forward regarding claiming for depression in monetary terms? Thanks for reading

Hello, I recently left my job. At the time I was being hassled by management and I felt that could no longer work there. I had had time off work because of the stress I was under and I had been receiving counseling as well. I returned to work just prior to a restructure and they were looking for people to leave. I was all over the place mentally, and I explained to management that I couldn't continue to work there anymore, there was a breakdown of trust/confidence and I took a redundancy payment and left. Do I have any grounds for a claim for unfair or constructive dismissal? Is there much difference between the two terms?

:!:Hi everyone! My name is Paul, aged 41, I live in Norwich and recently, after 6 years of working for an organisation full-time, I was dismissed with Gross Misconduct. I have since managed to get my self sorted out, in terms of getting all the inevitable benefits sorted out, informing the relevant authorities of my changes of circumstances. The days following the Disciplinary Hearing were very hard for me - I felt shocked, very depressed, worried and very alone. Now I have got over the worse, I am now feeling happier as the overwhelming emotional support I received from friends and family helped keep me optimistic. To cut a long story short, I am now concerned as I recently received a letter from the Jobseekers Allowance department at my local jobcentre, stating that "there is a doubt over why my job ended" - I immediately got back in contact with my former employers, who informed me that they received a standard form to fill in, asking for details such as my job, salary and my hours worked - this form clearly led on to having received this "doubt" letter. I saw my Personal Adviser recently and I showed him this letter - he explained that they will continue paying my JSA whilst further investigations are carried out, and that my employers will have to state why my job ended, and if the response is unfavourable, I could inevitably lose up to 26 weeks worth of benefit and that I would need to claim under the hardship provision. I will also be sent a copy of this, with the employers' comments so I can have an opportunity to put my argument across. I have begun applying for new employment but am now concerned, as my employer has agreed to provide references but they will need to be honest about this. Could this be detrimental towards acquiring any future employment? If I do get an interview, do I declare this, and if so, how would I go about this? This is all very new and daunting for me as I have Adult Learning Disabilities as well - I will be very grateful for any advice/suggestions regarding this.

Basically, my work has a new supervisor and site manager now and the previous one moved onto bigger things. Anyways; she sees me as competition or a threat and has ever since been trying to get rid of me. She's given me numerous disciplinaries for the most ridiculous things. I was given a final written warning due to not signing out the sign in book. I admit I missed a few BUT I wasn't the only one; there were many yet I was the only one who got a disciplinary; the ****ed up thing is that I have proof that SHE herself wasn't signing the book and when it was time for it to be sent off; she AMENDED all hers and filled them in but left mine. That alone is clear victimization against me and bullying AND falsifying company documents? Yesterday I received ANOTHER disciplinary for not clocking the book again yet I looked through it and I missed one; just ONE. she's claiming that somebody else has been signing me out as well. Also in my company handbook there is a minor offence that is for minor missing clockins that I should of got before a gross misconduct right? I don't know about that one. There is a guy who is registered as blind and my manager allows him to use heavy moving machinery that cleans the floors with water and chemicals which puts himself and the rest of the workplace in danger; I told her these claims and she's said that its discrimination to not let him? Health and safety is a higher severity in my opinion, so who's right? There is a women who now sadly has cancer in my workplace and is off due to this but before she was off; my site manager thought it was funny to pop her tires on her pedal bike so she had to walk home. That is disgusting and vile if you ask me. My supervisor is always coming in under the influence of alcohol; he absolutely stinks of it but yet she doesn't open her mouth and tell him to go home or take any action against him. What is my best course of action? I have a disciplinary hearing with my divisional manager on Friday and I can't go in alone; they'll both rip me apart and stick up for each other. I'm going to lose my job and I shouldn't be; yet I have no money to help me. If anybody is in the Blackpool area and is a legal Representative I'd really appreciate the help with this one. Thank you in advance to anybody who posts.

This is my first post so please be gentle with me. Dh was- we believe- unfairly dismissed from his job. It's a long story which I will post tomorrow, however as we now have just over 1 week to submit the ET1 form and the CAB-who said they would check the form through for us- haven't returned our e-mails for 2 weeks I am now feeling very much on our own. The union so far have been rubbish but we are hoping for help in the future when the national rep gets the paperwork. The thing that is bothering me at the moment is- As Dh is rubbish when dealing with this sort of thing, so far his company have walked all over him(kind of, give them enough rope.....). If he puts me on his ET1 as his representative and the union say they will help him after they have read his paperwork following a second appeal(I know) can we change this later? Help please.

Hello Just looking for advice on whether or not I have a case for breach of contract / constructive dismissal. I have worked for my current employer for 8 years who is a well known healthcare provider. I recently completed training with my employer so that I can pursue a career for which professional registration is mandatory. I received a new contract for my training and it recognizes my continuous employment. One of the terms in my contract states that my continued employment after the training finishes is dependent upon successful registration with the professional body. It goes on to state that successful registration will enable the company to retain me in a professional capacity subject to available opportunities. I have been registered now for a few months now and it has become quite clear my manager does not want to employ me in a professional capacity. Whilst there is a general shortage of positions in my area, there have been vacancies for which I have been overlooked. The reasons my manager gave where that my interview performance was not good enough during the training period. During the interview the manager declined to consider my relevant, considerable work experience gained in another country within the same profession that I am now qualified for in the UK. I had a "run-in" with the manager when it came to arranging my training as I was initially offered the training contract by a stand-in manager. That was subsequently nullified when the current manager returned, and I was interviewed again and refused a training position. I took it to Head Office and they reversed the decision and awarded me the training contract. It’s no surprise that I now find myself unable to secure a position in a professional capacity as I have had to be interviewed by the same manager. I again complained to Head Office and submitted a grievance, the result of which I haven’t received, but they appear to be backing the manager. The only positions so far that Head Office said I can apply for have been presented to me as “relocation” positions, even though there have been more local positions advertised. They know I have children settled at school, so relocation isn’t really an option. After I became registered they issued me with a letter mentioning redundancy although nothing else has been heard. I am currently working in the same position as I had before the training. It seems as though I will have to leave the company and try for employment in a professional capacity elsewhere. Thanks in advance

I am employed as a front of house team member in a busy public house. We have recently employed a new chef who has increased sales and brought a lot of extra custom, he has come from a rival company in the town. There are 2 main front of house waiting staff myself and someone else the new chef has told us both on many occasions that were no good at what we do, hes going to get his old staff over here who know how to do the job properly. I can assure you there is no fault with what we do The final straw was when i walked in on him calling me a useless c*** i have raised a grievance but was told to grow a pair. Where do i go from here??

hi, i have an interview soon and i am in two minds about giving the reasons for my recent departure.... i know i will need to come clean at some point as the references go back 5 years so will need to give details but if i admit during the interview then i dont think i would even be considered anyway... anybody know of the HR policys for such things for a certain big blue chip holiday company?

Hi Everyone, I have not posted on here before but came across the site whilst googling for help! Please excuse the lengthy post but there is so much to explain. My main question is whether to go through the 'grievence' procedure or the 'Harrassment & Bullying in the Workplace' procedure. I have been told by HR that I have to choose which path I want to go down but in documenting my issues, it seems that there is a bit of both. I handed in my notice on 27th August so have a matter of days to raise my complaint. I have been in my job for 4yrs and 6months. In the last 3 years I have suffered greatly with Depression/Anxiety/Panic Attacks since my baby died 21 weeks into my pregnancy and suffered a very traumatic birth. This was the trigger for my anxiety etc. I have been on medication and received psychotherapy. Occupation Health have deemed me 'likely' to be within the Disability Equalites Act. In one Occupation Health report the Dr deemed me fit for work with reasonable adjustments and in a recent one I was deemed unfit for work. Ok, so.. I reported to the OH Dr that my worklaod was heavy and that I was finding it difficult to keep up due to my condition. His report to my manager states that the reasonable adjustments should be made with regard to my workload. My manager never discussed this report with me. Over time I had made my feelings clear with regard to my workload and nothing was done. When I first started experiencing the anxiety/depression in July 2009 my then manager was very empathetic to my situation and I made the effort to go into work despite feeling unwell as I knew that if I were to tell her that I was feeling bad that I could go home so in the first few months I had no anxiety/depression related sickness. In the August of 2010 my manager retired and 2 new managers came into post and the whole service changed. There was no discretion or understanding which in turn resulted in me having a high level of sickness absence. I felt that due to this, I was seen as a troublesome member of staff and was 'under the radar' of management so to speak. I felt that they were just waiting for me to do something wrong. They even singled me out to move my desk next to a Senior member of staff and I felt that this was so that they could keep an eye on me. I got very upset about this and explained to them that I wasn't happy in my job and that the main thing that kept me going at work was the people in my office. So they didn't move me in the end. Then a couple of months later they reshuffled the whole office and I was put next to the senior member of staff who was my direct line manager. I felt that the whole reshuffle was for my benefit and it made me feel horrible. I feel that this was an indirect blow. There have been many other 'incidents' that have made me feel incredibly stressed and anxious such as being told by my Line Manager that her manager was checking up on my whereabouts (I worked in the community so there were times when I would need to be out of the office) - I have never lied about where I was going so this made me feel very singled out. Other members of staff had gone for hair appts whilst supposedly going out fo the office for work purposes! I was also told on numerous occassion by my Line Manager that 'People Talk' - god knows what they were talking about because I hadn't done anything apart from falling behind with my work. In May of this year, the result of my heavy workload was 'discovered' when the Management Team 'found' a box of work that I hadn't done under my desk. It wasn't hidden, I knew it was there to do I just had not had the time due to my already heavy workload. There was a massive fuss about this and I was called for a conduct meeting. Let me also add at this time I had been experiencing extreme dizziness (non anxiety related) and had been to the Dr many times because I was so worried. I had blood tests/ECG/MRI/ENT appts - This illness had made my anxiety go on overdrive and the team were very aware of this. So, in the conduct meeting I was asked about the box and I was honest with them and said it was stuff that I hadn't had time to do etc etc - I got very emotional as I was feeling so very unwell. In the conduct meeting it was agreed that I had to sort out the 'backlog' within 4 weeks and then we would meet again. For 2 weeks I worked very hard to sort as much out as I could as quickly as I could and in this time, my dizziness got worse and I ended up taking sick leave 2 weeks into the 4 weeks. The anxiety kicked in even more so the more I became unwell. ANYWAY, so after being unwell for such a long time and realising that if I were to return to work that nothing would change and it would still be as stressful as ever, I decided to hand in my notice and leave. Obviously this was a massive decision to take considering I have no job to go to but my mental health and wellbeing has to come first. My resignation letter (1months notice) was dated and sent on 27th August 2012 which means that my last day of service should be 26th Sept. After sending this letter I got no acknowledgement that it had been received. That same week, I received a letter from the manager who took the conduct meeting inviting me to a Formal Investigatory Meeting regarding the box incident! I couldn't believe it! It came by special delivery which in a service that doesnt even use 1st class was very extravagant! I am dumbfounded as to why the situation had been escalated to a Formal Investigation when I had been off sick - how could I recitfy the rest of the backlog it I was sick?! I didn't receive any communication from my manager until I received a letter on 13th Sept delivered by a cab this time stating that If she did not receive my medical certificate by 17th Sept then my pay would be suspended in line with trust policies. I got my medical certificate and compiled a letter stating many of my concerns and asked a work colleague to hand deliver it to her on 17th Sept. In the letter I stated that I had not received any communication from her reagarding my resignation. I then received a letter on 19th Sept which was dated 12th Sept yet franked on 17th Sept acknowledging my resignation and asking to meet with me to discuss my concerns either with her at the office or at my home. Now I find this very shady that I would receive this letter dated 12th Sept yet franked 17th Sept. I am convinced that she wrote this letter in response to my letter which she received on 17th Sept yet backdated it to cover herself. I then received another letter from her dated 19th sept stating that she hadn't received a response to her letter! In my letter on 17th I requested that my exit interview take place with HR and in the letter dated 19th she also stated that as my last day of service was 21st Sept that I should contact HR urgently to arrange this. I had the Exit Interview on 21st Sept and compiled 4 pages of notes of things that I was not happy about - HR said that if I wanted to take this up formally then I would have to either raise a 'Greivence' or a 'Bullying and Harrassment' but I feel that there are elements of both so I am not sure what to do. To add insult to injury, I received my final payslip & p45 on Saturday and the manager had indeed stated that my last day of service was 21st Sept so I only got paid up until then. Also, they took £450 out of my pay for annual leave overpayment (the post was Term Time Only so annual leave payments are averaged over each months salary) I was not advised that this would happen and received no breakdown of this. Upon contacting payroll today I was told that this was due to them receiving the termination form so late (20th Sept) Payroll explained that in usual circumstances they would contact the manager to inform them of any over payment and that the manager would in turn inform the employee. There is so much more than this to say but this is the general gist of it. The failings and incompetence are astounding, I cannot believe that some who gets paid what she does can be so incompetent! If you are still reading this then thank you for not falling asleep! Any advice, comments or guidance would be greatly appreciated

Business Secretary Vince Cable has proposed a cut in how much workers can claim for unfair dismissal at employment tribunals. He will consult on plans to cut the limit on compensation payouts to a maximum of 12 months' salary. He also wants to bring in settlement agreements, in which staff agree to leave without being able to go to a tribunal, but get a pay-off in return. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19594879

I was recently dismissed for "gross misconduct" by my ex-employer, without any notice. I have since saught advice from the union, and also from acas, and both seem to think that i've got a very good case in my appeal. I don't want my old job back, as i'd never consider working for the company again, all I want to do is get the dismissal off my record (if possible). The job was a reasonably well paid one, and to find another job in the same industry i'm looking at about a £7k a year loss, would I be able to claim any money back to take into account this loss? I was only at the company for 11 months, so I don't think I can claim for unfair dismissal, I just want to get "gross misconduct" off my record.

Afternoon Everyone It's been a while since I posted, I have been working very hard to secure work after being dismissed late last year, somebody did accept I needed a 2nd chance which was great however I am very keen on getting back into the corporate areana.... Has any body been successful gaining employment in places like banks, or big retail head offices for example? After being dismissed I mean for "gross misconduct"!! I have settled out of court so have been gagged in terms of what I can talk about should they ask also.... I wonder if I should stop trying to get jobs in these places and settle for what I have, I am very greatful for the job I have now.

Hi All I will give short version. My son worked (2.5yrs) with 3 ladies on his own in a lab and 1 of the ladies put in a complaint about him not talking, reading her notes, not opening the door and turning off the AC when she leaves the lab. By the time we got to the investigation meeting the other 2 ladies also put in a complaint about unwanted gifts, compliments that they said were inappropriate such as if they changed hair style he said they looked gorgeous etc. We did not hear of these 2 other complaints until James attend the meeting and the 1st lady added the same complaints to her first complaint. The investigator decided these complaints warrented a discipliniary hearing. We found out once we were give the statements that the investigator had submitted a witness statement for 1 of the ladies against James. The disciplinary went ahead and James took some evidence as proof these ladies were not telling the whole truth. The lady heading the disciplinary was shocked by the eveidence that we took in and what James was telling her as it clearly showed these ladies were lying. Anyway James was given a verbal warning for not talking to the 1st lady complaint but all other complaints were dropped. James was to start back at work in 2days time but he got a phone call from the boss telling him to stay away as a situation had come up. The situation we found out was that the ladies threatened to resign if James was to come back to work. James then had to attend another meeting to discuss the situation which he went to. James was told that his options were to work nights on his own or he will be dismissed and he was told to reply in writting to the proposed nightshift hours. We gave them several good reasons why James could not except the job offer and CAB said this was a good letter. James was then summond to another meeting where he was dismissed. His dismissal letter said that they offered mediation but the statements show his boss refused, it also said they offered redeployment but again his boss said that was not an option, therefore the reasons stated in the letter to dismiss James are not valid. We have lots of written statements from all the meetings where it show's the boss has favoured these ladies over James. The boss also told James he was the rotten apple in his perfect basket of fruit. We have a statement where 1 of the ladies show's threatning behaviour towards James. Before James had even had his meeting to discuss the options the boss had gaurenteed and ensured on a statement that these ladies would never have to work with James again. We have discovered that James might have aspergers and we are getting him tested. James feels that he might also have a hearing problem which we are having checked out and he did have a problem when he was a child. James has learning difficulties i.e reading, spelling and his boss got him special tinted reading glasses. We have appealled against the dismissal as we were told we had to but have since found out that we didn't have to, anyway we are still waiting for a reply which is now coming into it's third week. James might have a job offer so how do we stand if he takes the new job and then they reinstate him from the appeal? We would like this to go to the ET. Kind regards Daisymayjessy

Hi Everyone Im a new member and Ive never posted on CAG before but Ive read lots of threads and the advice that everyone gives and I would really appreciate some myself. I will provide a brief synopsis of my current work situation. I work for a large public body (800 employers) in a small team of five. We had a new manager start in 2010 who was, without providing too many details, not suitable for the job. In January 2011 myself and two colleagues raised serious concerns with HR about our manager (targeting us as employers, being aggressive, being inconsitent and so on). HR met with our manager and we all agreed an Action Plan going forward which was essentially a list of behaviours our manager had to follow. We were promised a three and six month review of this however the HR person left before the three month review was due so this never happened. Between January and September my situation with the manger deteriorated significantly as she appeared to target me in response to involving HR. In August 2011 the Head of our team and the team Director approached me asking for a quiet word. I said ok and we went off to a room. They said that due to lack of work my role no longer existed. I was aware of the lack of work recently and said does that mean redundancy, they replied 'no', they had found an alternative job for me, basiacally a lower grade admin role (I currently do policy work). I disputed the suitability of this and said I would raise it with HR. Basically this went back and forth for two months debating the suitability and how it was not redundancy. At one point the HR person said 'why dont you just leave', which she later disputed. This whole incident really took its toll on me but when a colleague who had earlier raised the issues about our manager with HR along with me was seconded to another team, I was told my role did still exist and that it had all been a 'miscommunication'. Then I received my appraissal score in September 2011 which was a '4', being the second lowest. Prior to this I had only ever recived '2's, the second highest. I sent an email that day disputing this score as I had never been given any concerns about my behaviour, nothing on record, and we still had the ongoing issues with our manager which had never been resolved as the original HR person had left. I also said in this email that I was very stressed by the environment and that it was very hostile and I couldnt cope. The head of my team, HR and my mnager were cc'd into this - none replied to this email. I then was signed off by my doctor with stress leave for two weeks. I returned in October and spoke to my head of the team. I stated that I was very stressed, what was causing it (my manager) and that I couldnt work in that environemnt. He agreed and promised he was taking it seriously. To cut a long story short, between October and February 1012 I asked the Head five times for mediation to be set up bewteen my manger and I so I could continue in my role. This was via email and verbally - he agreed to set it up but bever actually did. On 13 Feb when the situation wa sat an all time low and the environment was very hostile, I emailed him and spoke to him to say thatI was going on annual leave bewteen 16 feb -05 March and that I needed mediation set up for when I return as I could no longer cope. He assured me he was taking it seriuosly and that mediation would be set up when I return (this was via email). I returne don 05 March and the Head said him and I had a meeting with HR which i assumed would be about setting mediation up. Instead I was informed that I was to be put on the formal stage of a performance Improvement Plan as he had serious concerns about my 'attitude and behaviour' ( ive never had a discilpinary,a warning, an informal performance improvement plan, nor has he or anyone else raised concerns about my behaviour apart form the '4' in my earlier appraisal, which i dusputed), that he would be my line manager for the following week and I would be moving into the admin role. I was shocked and disputed this. To cut a long story short, I notified HR that I would be putting agrievance in regarding my Heads failure to set up mediation despite requesting it, him putting me on a PIP without any previous concerns raised , and moving roles with out any consultaion. I submitted grievance this on a friday and was signed off by my doctor on the monday with stress depression and anxiety and started medication/counselling. I was eventually signed off until the end of May. In April HR sent a letter to say that they wanted to do occupational therapy to return me to work. I agreed and was told it would be set up before the end of April. I spoke to my doctor and we agreed it would be a good way to enable me to return to work. I returned on 28 May and was asked if i was still going ahead with my grievance. I said yes, and I was told to stay off on 'gardening leave' until it had been investigated (it hadnt whilst I had been off on sick leave). HR also said they wouldnt actually be going ahead with Occupational Therapy as it wouldnt be suitable for mental health issues, despite them suggesting it and my doctor agreeing it would enable me to return. I was exasperated. I was also given my full year appraisal scoreof a '5' , the lowest possible. I remained dout of the office until my grievance investigation. My two team colleagues who raised issues with me in Jan 2011 about our manager agreed to be witnesses to provided background as to the enviornment we were working under. The griebavce was not upheld at the end of July for the reasons - that putting me on a PIP are vaild if a manger has serious concerns about an employees behaviour (despite never raising concerns before), that my contract allows a job move ( the clause must be flexible and undertake work i have experienc eoff....etc despite it being a 'demotion') and that mediation wouldnt be appropriate as I was to move teams anyway(despite the fact I was only awre of this when returning from annual leave and had email evidence asking for it and my Head promising it would be set up). I told HR i didnt agree with this, but HR said I was to return back to work now. I said I could no longer work in that team for significant trust reasons and I no longer had confidence in the managment structure of that team. I also said I was still stressed and anxious and depressed by it all. She said that unless I had a doctors note, I was to return to the team. I went back to the doctors who gave me a fit note saying i may be fit for work with 'proper management support'. I emailed HR who said to stay off work whilst they set something up. They then contacted to say that they would do occupational therapy. I had my consulattion two weeks later, and the outcome of which was that I would benefit from a phased return to work and I would also benefite from not working in my current team, or group or with the existing managenment group due to trust/stress/anxiety reasons. Basically HR are saying they can do a phased return to work to the admin role but that there are no other roles available and that I am expected to return to that rol despit emy GP/ OT advice. Its not a good environemnt for me to return too. I have my trade Union involved, and they've been great, really helpful. They've said that this is probably the worst case theyve dealt with, and they deal with a lot in this organistaion, and that management and HR have probably concocted this to get rid of me as swiftly as possible. They are really fighting my corner. Im still off work and will be until next week, when the regional teade union rep has a meeting with the HR Director, about alternative employment within th eorganisation, although I expect she is to say I am too return to that role. I obviously cant, for health and trust reasons. Too much has happened now to mean I can return to that team. Ive informed the trade Union that if the HR director does insist I return to that role, then I will resign and claim constructive dismissal, which he has said the would support. This whole episode (ongoing since Jan 2011) has had a massive impact upon my confidence, my esteem, my health, my wellbeing and I never ever expected to be in this situation. I actually feel happy at the thought of resigning as it means Im drawing a line underneath it all. My trade Union says they are piling the pressure on as they want me to resign.

I had to go to a meeting with a manager due to me exceeding the permitted level of sickness. I have already been given a written warning for this and now I have been told my case has been referred to a decision maker (senior manager) to see if my sickness level can be supported. I have passed the mandatory period of 6 montghs without any sickness, but my employer has what it calls a ''backsliding period'' of 12 months. During this time if I exceed the permitted period of sickness, the next stage comes into play. Which is what has happened to me. I have suffered with depression for the last 7 years and have had several periods of sickleave from work, the most being 6 months. I recently returned to work after 9 weeks off again. I had been told by my line manager that if I didn't return, my case would be referred to a panel, to see if my absence can be supported. This is something I would not be allowed to take part in. The outcome of this would be either demotion or dismissal. Following continuous pressure from my line manager I felt compelled to return to work, even though I wasn't ready to return and against my GP's opinion as well. I have been taking part in regular stress risk assessment meetings to try and help me stay in work, which have worked to a point. I have to be honest and say I find it very difficult to do my job and be in the building. I have told management I put on a mask for the sake of getting through the day, but I am finding it increasingly difficult to go in each day. I have told management I am looking for another job. I have a letter from GP to help me fight my corner but feel work won't take much notice of it. When I explained things to my GP he offered to sign me off again, but I had to refuse it because it would have resulted in me being dismissed. What I want to ask is can I be dismissed due to my level of sickness, even though I have returned to work? If so, what rights do I have? I am finding this whole situation very stressful and it is not helping my depression at all.

All, I have read this thread with interest as it seems very relevant to me. One big difference is that the respondent has asked for me to consider JM and the CMD (by telephone) is scheduled to last 15 minutes. I have already said that I am in agreement (really good things to do with my life, still, but very annoyed with the company who sacked me). I will ask for a statement of position and expectations from the other side and also for them to meet the cost of legal representation on the day to approve any eventual agreement. Or the cost of it afterwards, to sign it off but I am wary of them changing their mind after the event. I have a question about the accuracy of the ET3 put forward by the respondent - if it is false in any way does this disadvantage them? Two items particularly:- They have changed wording in a letter (correct copy is in the bundle) I wrote to them that presents me in a poor light. Also, during the disciplinary process and appeal the company referred to a letter notifying me of the grievance appeal outcome, which was unsigned and wrongly dated, that I did not receive. I did receive a signed letter a day later that overrode much of what was in the letter that they refer to, which was signed and is in my possession. The actual letter I received was satisfactory to me whereas the one quoted was not. Are these things important to an ET? Following my grievance appeal and the letter issued the company went straight into an (inadequate) investigation of points I had raised and subsequently held a disciplinary meeting. I was then dismissed, pay in lieu of notice, from a responsible job and after 11 years with the company. An appeal was unsuccessful. Any comments would be very well received - I haven't started a new thread as I think there are similarities here. In addition, a compromise agreement is seen by employers as covering things up. This may disadvantage a job seeker, particularly where CRB checks are required. What is anyone's view? Loquitur achieved a good result - well done.

Hello there, just looking for some advice on the situation I've been placed in, My apprenticeship was recently terminated due to not completing my coursework, for a Level 3 course which I should never of been on, as my contract states intermediate apprenticeship meaning Level 2, I had no warnings prior to the termination, and was literally put into a meeting with a HR manager and she made reference to the apprenticeship agreement I had signed, which she only made reference to the a agreement I did not comply with, which was not completing the college work, I told her this must be irrelevant because it's not the course I should be on anyway. I have appealed against the decision, I've been researching on the web at current legislation's and it states that, the apprenticeship agreement should include the relevant apprenticeship framework, which in my case should be Level 2, the reason for me failing level 3 was generally lack of knowledge, I don't think I even qualified to be on the course, yet was still placed on it. My question is this apprenticeship agreement must be illegitimate if it does not state the RELEVANT apprenticeship framework? If anyone has any advice, please post.