Hi there, does anyone know if the DWP can refuse to allow you to audio record meetings with a work coach at a Job Centre Plus? I have contacted my local Job Centre Plus office to ask for permission to audio record all future appointments but they have refused . Is there anything i can do about this?

The staff at my place of work (local government - care work) have been told our hours (not the amount but the days and start - finish times) are going to be changed. We currently have a 4 week rota and our place is open 7 days a week. The new rota is going to have ALL staff in for 2 hours on a Friday for a staff meeting - every week. I currently work full-time but don't work Friday as that's my day off. My question is can you rota staff to come in for two hours on a day that is supposed to be their day off? Asking staff to come in for two hours stops them from picking up hours with other employers (so of the staff work for 2 or 3 different companies). Thanks for your help.

I wanted to know what the new rules are with regards to withdrawing consent for the WP to share your info/contact people on your behalf/claim their fat payment for my hard work when I get a job .. as I am sure I read it had changed since last year, also coincidentally each time I attend a review meeting I get loads of spammy job/credit emails in the weeks after which seems a little timely!! Am getting increasingly fed up with the WP provider, by and large I have had a year of having to attend weekly job clubs with slow computers and the like but since I hit the year mark it seems to have ramped up big time, I have a good work history with good companies and a degree and the minute my latest advisor saw it his eyes lit up and I have been pestered left right and centre. I was upped to two job clubs a week and also appointments/training sessions/interview techniques etc on one or more additional days a week and it was getting silly and made me ill so I had two weeks off with stress symptoms. I then had more blinking appointments and changes to my job clubs and was told a few weeks back at 1pm on a Monday that I was to stay after job club that day for extra sessions looking into agencies and applying for more jobs for 2 hours each day that week (mysteriously my letter had 'got lost in the post' telling me this), I kicked up a bit of a stink as I am a single parent and said I had to pick my son up from school at 3 so those times were unsuitable, so with a bit of looking at bus timetables he relented to sessions from 1-2.30 each afternoon that week which was still pushing it as am reliant on public transport which is never the best, I attended the first and then had enough, got upset (I am on antidepressants and suffering severe anxiety at the moment relating to a thyroid condition I have just been diagnosed with) and I decided to get another doctors note for 2 weeks. During this two weeks I had a letter from them saying I had to come in during that time and I politely told him NO, the day my sick period ended there arrived a letter saying I had to attend a review appointment in 2 days time and I just knew he was going to mess me about, sure enough on the Friday afternoon at the appt he says I need to up my attendance to daily sessions of 4 hours, which means dropping my son at school, a 45 min bus journey there, then getting back in just enough time to pick him up, I protested that I had a PC at home and why did I need to do all this on their premises and he said I might 'get distracted' at home (as opposed to their noisy office of course!!), that I had appts to arrange and so on which were being neglected due to them calling me in all the time willy nilly saying they are mandatory and have to attend, and he said as I was a jobseeker I should jobseek during those hours, I have no prob doing this, my JSA agreement says 5 jobs a week and they say 10 which I do easily and have never not done, he is also pressurising me to do full time work/get a better off calculation for FT work, which my JSA flexibilities say I don't have to pursue due to being a lone parent, there is no mention of any beneficial training, and any suggestions for that or clothing for interviews have been shot down in flames, its just flaming jobsearching in their offices every day, presumably so I can't attend any interviews without them knowing and that I get fed up with the arrangement. Its not as if I am not trying to get a job, I have had about 6 interviews in the last few months but none successful, am really fed up with the situation with the WP and its making me feel worse, we are reviewing the situation tomorrow after my session and I know he is prob going to suggest the same again next week when I have 2 inset days at my sons school, I really just resent the fact that they think they can pressure me like this and assume I have no plans for the week or anything else to do, and then get a nice big payment for MY efforts at the end of it all so want to know what my rights are, unfortunately at the beginning I signed all their docs as I was being too blinking nice!! PS. Sorry this is a bit of a rant having looked at it, but felt good to vent!!

Hi there Quick question, one which would be helpful for many others as well. 1. Can someone have a friend with them when they go to the Job center to sign on? EG to act as a witness? 2. What part of the regulations allow this? I am pretty sure the answer is yes, just need the regs to back me up when I go with my friend next. Today he opened his claim and I was refused permission to go up with him.

Just as a enquiry can anyone tell me can an employee record meetings between ourselves and him, and pass them on to third parties??? or indeed communicate meetings over phones. either the above without consent

Hi, last week I went down with a friend to the local ET centre, she is considering an ET (but I don't think it is a strong claim) and she wanted to see a case in action. We dropped in on what seemed to be a PHR, and which appeared to be somewhat fractious. The claimant was unrepresented and, during the course of the time that we were there, complained more than once to the lone judge that (a) he, the claimant, had no idea that he was going to be attending such a formal hearing that day - he had come along with some notes/bullet-points and no bundle, rather than formalised legal arguments etc; backed up with examples (which the other side's solicitors had done!). The Tribunal had not informed him it was to be such a formal hearing, which left him wholly unprepared - especially lacking in supporting documentation for his notes. The judge had no sympathy for him. We left after half an hour or so, it was a bit of an eye-opener for my friend (not a bad thing I suppose!) Can anyone tell me if there is an onus on Tribunals to clearly inform unrepresented claimants what sort of meeting they are letting themselves in for before they turn up? It is not an unreasonable assumption for a new claimant to make - that all meetings, prior to the main hearing, will be somewhat more 'relaxed' (especially if they have already gone through a 'harmless' CMD). The guy we saw was clearly left floundering due to his ignorance. Should the judge have postponed the meeting perhaps?

Hi all I am contracted to work 40 hours per week and only get paid 40 hours regardless how many hours I work. I did not have an issue with this until the new boss started. It has always been give and take, we work long days usually without a break but we also got shorter days which made up for it. Since the new boss started everyday is getting longer and the shorter days are few and far between. My issue is that once a month my boss is holding compulsory meetings which last for a minimum of 3 hours they are always held late afternoon after my shift. Due to the nature of the business I start work between 5 and 6 in a morning and get paid for 8 hours a day. At the last meeting one of the managers made a very derogatory remark about us which we all took exception to and I was singled out and shouted at in front of about 30 people. He was bang out of order and I told him so in front of everybody. He later apologized but it was very insincere and totally not meant. Since then every time I see him I he gives me filthy looks. I get knots in my stomach and dread going back to the yard in case hes there. They have now called another compulsory meeting but have stated that all work has got to be pulled in before we attend which would put most of us over our hours and they do not pay us for it. I do not feel comfortable attending after how I was treated at the last one so what would happen if I didn't attend.

Hi, Just need some advice and I know someone on here will be able to help....... My partner has epilepsy has been completely controlled for approx 20yrs. Medication has recently stopped agreeing with him and neurologist has changed medication. This has resulted in seizures - both full seizures and absence seizures. He did self cert from work for first 5 days then GP signed him off of work for 4 weeks. Informed employer and posted in sick cert - kept copy for records. End of 4 weeks, GP issued another sick cert for 4 weeks. I spoke to his manager, his speech is very slurred and he is confused and muddled at all times, and explained. She said that 1st cert not received, I said I had a copy and should i send that with the new one. She said yes. I sent this a couple of days ago He is now on half pay which is same as SSP. Manager has been phoning every couple of days for updates. He isnt improving and being referred to UCLH Neurolgy hosp as urgent case with a view to admitting as epilepsy so unstable. Manager calls today and says no certs received. I said new one and copy only sent a couple of days ago and sent 2nd class - money is v.tight. She said that copy is now no good as shes checked with hr, and they also needed it by today for next months pay!!!! I said I can request copy from GP but earliest i can request that is next weds!! She then said she wants a meeting with my partner as hes been off 4 weeks. I explained that he cant, hes completely out of it most of the time, having absences and wouldnt be abe to speak for himself in the meeting. She then asked if her and hr can come to home address errr no. Can they suddenly hold ssp/half pay without the cert? Have called GP and no gps there now. Earliest it would be ready to collect is next thurs afternoon..... Can they request meetings when he is in this state and signed off work???? Any help would be great as with 2 small children, and a very poorly partner I cant even think straight! xxxx oh and when i get the next cert i have to take it into the employer in person and hand it to her......

Apologies for starting another thread but I think this is different enough from the previous one I started I was due to be paid Monday (I am paid twice a month on 1st and 15th of the month) and my wages did not go into the bank. This is not uncommon, out of the last 20 times I was due to be paid, 10 of them were at least a day late. When I asked the director who deals with the wages I was told there is no money in the bank and a cheque would not clear until Wednesday at the earliest and there was nothing they could do. I stated I had direct debts coming out that would bounce but again was told nothing could be done. I was told they would see what they could sort out but nothing more was said about it. I also mentioned to the other 2 directors (I work for a small firm with 3 directors and 4 members of staff including myself) about my wages not being in the bank but again nothing was done. I have only mentioned once in the other 9 times about my wage being late and that was paid in the day after it should have been. In the past when others have had late wages my employer has made efforts to get some cash to see them though until their wage went in. I was not even offered this. This morning after checking the bank to confirm they still had not gone in I emailed the Managing Director and said I would not be in today as I needed to go to the bank to try and sort out some emergency overdraft until my wages came in. Also in the email I highlighted a few other discrepancies in working conditions where I do not feel I have been treated fairly or equally (every member of staff got a Christmas bonus except me, last year all employees got an extra days holiday except me). Now I know these are at the discretion of the management but I felt I deserved some sort of explanation as to why I was excluded. I have now been summoned to a Grievance Meeting tomorrow to discuss this with the MD and the director who deals with wages. To complicate things further (and I *think* this strengthens my hand a little) I have never been given a contract of employment and there is no company handbook where I can read what the companies grievance procedures are. I had in the past attempted to have an informal meeting with the MD to discuss the points above along with working conditions in my "office" (which is a store room filled with equipment and a piece of wood screwed to the wall as a desk, with no windows or ventilation) but he was constantly answering the phone throughout the meeting and then left before I could make all my points. Therefore I feel I followed correct procedure as per the ACAS guidelines. I have been offered the chance to have a witness (their words not mine) to attend with me but as I do not want to drag anyone else from my workplace into it I will decline. Would I legally be allowed to record the meeting as my witness? Where else do I stand legally given the fact there is no contract (so therefore everything is implied by conduct I believe) and no staff handbook for me to follow or even know what the grievance procedures are? Could this meeting be used as a cheaper way of getting rid of me than making me redundant? Would I have grounds for constructive dismissal if they did? Sorry for the essay, I just wanted to cover as much of my case as possible as time is short before my meeting tomorrow

Following on from my other posts..... I've had three previous meetings with my employers over a grievance I raised almost a year ago. After the last meeting (I recorded it) and especially with the run up to it, enough was enough and I have now escalated it to an ET. Since starting my ET and on the same day they would have recieved a copy of ET1, I've had three different requests to attend three meetings, with three different people including capability and gross misconduct. I've already told them I hold no trust and confidence in them and I believe they are clearly incapable of following the rules and procedures and are making it up as they go along. With regards to the third meeting. I have already confirmed that I wanted to make a formal complaint when I had the last meeting that I recorded - I've told them numerous times I want to go ahead with it and have put it in writing at least 4 times, but they keep saying I need to do agree that I do want to go ahead and keeps going around in circles The question is, do I have to attend these meetings or even allow them to amend things now I have started an ET claim? I hold absolute no trust or confidence in them and IMO they have shown they are incapable of holding fair and honest meetings without malice and discrimination. On a last note. When I had previously requested a copy of policy and procedure on grievances, I was told that no such thing existed. I now have a copy of what they say did not exist in my posession

Hi all, My partner works as a nursery nurse in a private childrens nursery. She works 25 hours per week Monday to Friday and finishes at 2pm each day. It states in her contract that she must attend all staff meetings/training sessions, despite all of these being held out of hours after the nursery has closed at 6pm once a month, normally on a Wednesday. None of the staff are paid for these meetings, and people who are not at work at 6pm when the nursery closes are expected to return to work to attend. This is despite some of them living 20 miles away, however it is only a 10 minute drive across town for her, yet this still costs about 3 quids worth of fuel. We have 2 children of primary school age, therefore unless I am home from work at that time (which is rarely) she cannot attend because there is nobody to look after them. Due to her many absenses from these meetings, her boss is now saying that she must attend due to her contract and failure to do so would result in disiplinary action being taken against her. Is this true when she is only contracted to work until 2pm each day? Any advice please? Cheers, MP.