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Found 16 results

  1. Concerning the issue of whether we are a casual worker or a an employee there is many criteria to consider for example the time we work for the employer, our skills, whether he employs us only in case of shortage or during peak time or he uses us in the normal running of our business...etc. However I would like to know if the conclusive evidence is not when the P45 has been issued because if it has been issued one year after the start of employment this means that we are now an employee. It is up to the employer to decide if he need us anymore or nor and as a consequence if he send us our P45 or not. If the employer decides because it is not convenient for him not to issue a P45 at the end of each project we could be consider as an employee There is also the issue of HMRC and in order the employer not to pay tax maybe a worker has to work only for a small period of time and not come back for a long time There is also the issue of the difference between temporary employee and a casual worker
  2. Hi, First of all, I hope I am posting within the right area of this forum, apologies if not - I've tried! A while back I filed an Employment Tribunal claim against my employer mainly for disability discrimination. They offered a settlement of (just over £2000) via ACAS, which I had not accepted. My medical records were not issued by my hospital in time for the hearing so I applied for a postponement of the hearing. Two days before the hearing, the extension was not yet granted and ACAS (on behalf of respondent) phoned to tell me that I have to accept the offer by 5pm of the same day, otherwise the offer will be withdrawn and if the extension was not granted the respondent will order to 'strike out' the case. The build up by ACAS was such that they made me worried that the extension will not get granted. ACAS then told me that I had to get back to them by 5pm. 1) I was given only a few hours to make this decision, without any legal advice or time to research as I was at work (and in my new job!) - this also goes against what ACAS state on their site, "If you don't have a representative, you should try to get advice on the terms of the settlement before you agree to it." - I wasn't given this opportunity. 2) By 4.45pm my conciliator was not picking up calls or returning my voicemails, making the situation worse. Not knowing what to do, totally panicking about having to pay costs if the respondent orders to strike out the case or whatever (i don't know how that works, but it's scary!), I have responded directly to the respondent by email and said that I agree. The following day I got to know the hearing was postponed, but ACAS would no longer let me go back on the email, as they were saying the agreement was made. ACAS informed the tribunal that the settlement has been reached. The file has been closed. However, I haven't signed the COT3 form yet, and the form explains that the hearing will proceed unless I sign and return the form. I haven't received the settlement payment either, as I have not signed the COT3 yet. I mean, given the situation I have outlined above, is this fare? It doesn't even make real sense to me. ACAS themselves on their website state that claimants should seek independent legal advice, so how can they deliberately set out to create a situation where I am not able to seek out legal advice (who would be within 3 hours while in a new full time job, right?). At the same time the email 'agreement' doesn't seem to qualify me to get my settlement (I have to sign the COT3 first, which I hadn't), but it qualifies ACAS and the respondent to settle the case. How so? You should see the COT3 as well - the settlement is meant to be appropriate for covering months of lost earnings, personal injury, missing wages, harassment, as well as direct disability. What a set up... and they call it 'law'...
  3. HI, I wish I had found this site about 6 moths ago. Here goes - I will try to make it as short as possible. My OH has ( had!) over 30 unblemished years service with a local authority as a craft tradesman. Approximately 18 months the management ( 3rd party run local authority services) made veiled comments about losing staff, but also had their favourites they wanted to keep. However all staff would have to go through competitive interviews, sickness records etc and their favourites would not make it. So they had a problem. There has been a succession of brought in line managers do not have the necessary qualifications, experience to run / understand the department. Staff of 8 in department. All work vans are fitted with a GPS tracker system About 8 months ago, 2 employees found using a GPS jammer device, suspended on spot, subsequently investigated and dismissed without paid notice. Couple of weeks after jammer discovered all 6 other employees received a letter asking them to attend an interview re: "an incident" that had occurred in dept. Obviously all took this to be about the GPS jammer. However when OH goes in for interview, by investigating manager ( who doesn't understand OH job/role) and HR he is presented with 4 months worth of his tracker information), and is questioned about his lunch time activities. OH accused of having too long for lunch. Lots of mitigating factors - no computer access at work, planning work, planning reports etc etc. Union were very ineffective in meeting and HR seemed to be more vocal and leading investigation. All 6 employees interviewed - one none driver therefore no tracker info - but regularly seen leaving work 30 -45 mins early by senior management. The remaining 5 were deemed to have been having too long for lunch Couple of weeks later 4 of the 6 suspended - the non driver and a worker who "makes" the management house a lot of money were not suspended. - He was however investigated and given a 2nd written warning - but not charged with falsifying time sheets yet allegedly owed 4 hours. The 4 who were suspended have been through disciplinary hearing and an appeal hearing - both of which did not take mitigating factors into consideration. All were dismissed under gross misconduct with paid notice. ACAS are now issuing certificate as management won't budge , but did acknowledge that the paid notice was due to "managerial shortcomings" and union have refused to support members as they have been charged with 'falsifying time sheets". HR are aware that union are not supporting ( mole?!). My OH has repeatedly asked the union why only 4 of the 8 have been accused of falsifying time sheets when all 8 employees were allegedly taking too long for lunch or leaving work early. The employee leaving early was simply taken in for a quiet chat!! OH also asked union why in a separate incident ( based on tracker information ) an employee was at home for a full 8 hours during the day - but he wasn't investigated, suspended and only given another final written warning, why is there a lack of parity? The 4 are now meeting with a view to proceed privately to an ET. Union are supporting the employee who was dismissed for jammer use? Your comments and advice would be gratefully appreciated.
  4. Hi Guys I'm after a quick bit of advice regarding time scales for ET application after going through early conciliation. An incident happened at working on the 10th August 2016 for which I raised a grievance then appealed the grievance. I had the results of the appeal on 7th November 2016 for which I still do not agree. On the 8th of November I then submitted a request to ACAS for early concilliation which I'm told put a hold on the time given to apply for employment tribunal, which I believe is 3 months minus 1 day of the incident. Now as far as I understand ACAS will not try and resolve this with my employer but if they fail they will issue me with a certificate which will enable me then to apply for employment tribunal and the clock starts again. Does this then mean I've only got 2 days after ACAS issue the ceritificate to apply for employment tribunal? Hope the above makes sense. Gnarl
  5. Hi All, Just a quick question. My partner recently went through a disciplinary at work. (Large retailer) During the process, my partner was not allowed to see any of the evidence at any point. Partner is a union member and the rep said that he could view witness statements, interview notes, etc, but that he could not reveal anything to my partner. Consequently, at the final disciplinary hearing, my partner just had selected "snippets" read out by the store manager and asked to comment on them. There was no indication how many statements there were, or whether evidence from all statements was used. Partner was not dismissed thankfully, but it appears that this is company policy, as other colleagues have experienced exactly the same thing. After reading up on ACAS, there were a number of other questionable things going on during the investigation/disciplinary process, but this seems to me to be a biggie. Just how big is it? Thanks.
  6. I have a matter of automatically unfair dismissal pending. Could not take it to an ET without speaking with an ACAS Conciliator. Conciliator advised me my claim was worth very little even if I won it, which I can prove (One and a half weeks wages which I now understand is a Basic Award) and which I have now found out is not remotely reflective of the amount I may be entitled to claim. A COT3 has been generated with an offer from my former employer which has offered the pittance I was led to believe I was entitled to claim by the ACAS officer. Is the agreement binding when it was formed upon the misadvice I was given by the ACAS officer? I have not yet signed the agreement. Thank you for your help.
  7. Hi everyone, Can someone help me on compensatory awards which arise from unfair dismissal? I was a member of a final salary pension scheme. Would the loss of my pension rights be included in the 12 month cap? I understand that it could limit my claim to just 12 months salary. My claim as it stands would be for 12 months loss of earnings on its own. There is also the matter of an ACAS uplift applicable because of the actions of my ex employer. Would such an uplift be included in the 12 month cap or is it additional to? Thank you in advance for any advice
  8. Hello, I'm hoping someone can advise me. I started tribunal proceedings against my former employer who was refusing to give me redundancy pay. Before the hearing date, they offered to settle out of court, and although the sum was less than I was owed, I agreed. ACAS issued a COT3, which I signed and sent to the Respondent, who signed it and sent it back to me. This was a week ago, and I have been checking my bank balance daily to see if the money's been paid. As yet, it hasn't. Today, my ACAS rep has asked me to print off and sign another COT3. He says the Respondent has requested that the names of the Respondent's Representatives be added to the COT3 (not a usual addition, apparently) as per the draft agreement, and he has agreed to reissue it. Can ACAS insist that I print off, sign and send out another COT3 (at extra cost to me) when the Respondent has already signed one? My instinct is to tell ACAS that the Respondent should have checked the agreement properly before signing it, and that I'm not signing another. After all, they've caused me months of stress and still got away with paying me less than the full amount, so why should I do them any favours? But am I just being petty? Hoping someone can help. Many thanks.
  9. Hi all, Hoping someone can help me here.. .unsure if I can claim against unfair or constructive dismissal due to the timeframe etc and am seeking advice on what to do and where to go so here goes.... I dismissed from an employed back in August for what they have described as gross misconduct. We worked in a sales environment and from their side they believe myself triggered a commission payment to a junior member of staff deliberately. I did not accept this claim and they dismissed myself but was however offered a lower ranking position where the salary was 5K less and due to the commission I had from my role would total 15K less per year if accepted. There was other incidents in the office where people had done the same and never been penalised and feel this was mainly due to the fact I had 3 weeks off. Senior members of staff including my line manager often let us change "files" into other members of staffs names to ensure they hit target so to me this was quite the norm. We worked in a heavily commissioned sales environment and quite often were tasked with doing junior members of staff roles, telesales etc and this impacted heavily on our commission also. In the May/June I was signed off sick by my doctor for stress and anxiety due to work and a marital split and was continually told by my friends who I worked with/colleagues that if I did not return to work after being signed off I would be demoted on my return. I decided to return after sick leave and was then confronted with the fact my targets were now increased (along with 2 other members of staff) over and above everybody else in the office and having 3 weeks off I was never going to hit these targets and miss out on significant commission payments. I was offered a lower salaried position but declined for financial reasons and the fact I had time off sick and was now even more worried about my job and home etc and felt due to this claim being brought against me I had no choice but to decline their offer of employment and to leave. I worked for the company for 3 years but had 2 breaks from the employer, once in year 1 after 6 months and after 20 months for various reasons including the company threatening to withold commission payments. Any more Q's please feel free to ask - I know I may have missed the deadline to claim but this is now impacting me on future job applications Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
  10. Hi, Last week, I was diagnosed with a serious medical condition which is affecting my brain and ability to walk, it also causes severe pain which comes and goes. I am currently awaiting further tests. The doctor signed me off until Friday 21st March 2014 seeing as I had annual leave booked this week anyway and have had this booked for months. I haven't gone on holiday anywhere, just stayed at home to relax as much as possible and recover as much as I can before returning. Yesterday, my employer rang me to see how I was getting on and if I will be returning after my annual leave. I explained that the pain was still quite bad and the brain and mobility issues remain, and will remain until my condition is treated if it can be at all. I will be seeing my doctor today. My employer then said that if I am signed off after my annual leave, this will leave me "in a sticky situation" as it will go down as 2 periods of absence. I understand completely that this would be counted as 2 periods of absence, which I have no issues with. However, my employer said that if I am signed off again then the doctors letter must be dated from the 21/3/14 so it runs as one absence and my holidays will be cancelled and returned to me. I did not agree to this. The employers reason behind this is that they have a 2 absences and then it's a disciplinary procedure. I called ACAS right away and they said that the employer cannot cancel my annual leave unless I agree to it. They added that they can certainly not call me while I am on my annual leave to tell me that it will be cancelled, as the employer has to give notice of double the time of the leave to cancel it without my authorisation. ACAS have also said that my condition could be classed as a disability and, if they chose to invite me to a disciplinary, it could leave my employer with a few problems if they fail to take anything to do with my illness into account. This is leaving me worried sick. I am not ready to go back to work and I do not want to cancel the leave I have taken, nor do I want to be "invited" to a disciplinary procedure! What else can I do here?
  11. Hi guys, I am currently negotiating a settlement agreement through ACAS whilst the tribunal is pending. I need to know under what circumstances my previous employer can attempt to recover the money from me once the agreement is signed. I ask because they have stated they will not sign away their rights (but I have to). This makes me highly suspicious about their intentions and although the ACAS conciliator assures me this is normal, I'm sure he doesn't know how often people get screwed over later once his part is done! Basically, I wasn't very senior in the company so the only thing I'm worried about is that I will settle, sign away my rights and then my employer will make up some 'gross misconduct' which wouldn't be difficult to do and they've lied a lot in the past (and in the very recent!). I'm worried they will make a claim to a county court saying they wouldn't have had to pay out for my claims if they had found this earlier as they would have fired me. 1. Can they do this after I have signed an agreement through ACAS even though I no longer work for them? (would it have to be specified in the agreement or is it just assumed that they can / can't) 2. Other than what is explicitly stated in the agreement, is there anything they can recover the money for by default? Basically, I don't want to settle 'quietly' then have them turn around and claim the money back knowing that I won't be able to then make my claims public. Please can you provide sources for any advice offered (if possible) so that I know it's not just opinion and also so that I can study up on this more. Thank you very much,
  12. ongoing et case- if I am looking for an agreed reason for leaving (rather than dismissal for alleged GM) alongside a favourable reference (comp. policy is to give std one with role and dates) is this usually possible alongside any payment? Have had much trouble securing new role due to the way last role was left and even asked for previous role back on et1. Any ideas appreciated...
  13. Does it mean anything when the acas conciliator changes? Received notification of this.
  14. My husband has been engaged in an ET case with a former employer for several years. The hearing has been rescheduled many times and now ACAS has contacted us saying that the employer is interested in settling. What is the best way to negotiate a fair settlement and is it best to document the amount we are seeking using the original schedule of loss? Can we include the costs we incurred for traveling to the original hearing which was rescheduled the morning of by ET? This has been an incredibly trying situation and we want to make sure we get what we are owed, but don't want to come across as greedy or ridiculous. Any advise is appreciated.
  15. Apologies if you are reading this twice but my first post hasn't shown up ... I work as a Customer Servcies Advisor on a job share basis 40 hour week (we both work 20 hours). On Wednesday the company owner said that as of Monday 1st October our hours are to be cut to 12 per week. This makes our job untenable and as we have had not notice of this change we have paid childcare fees in advance. My contract says that my hours of work 8.30am-5.00pm can be varied but it doesn't mention that they can be cut. I have not agreed to this and I asked the owner for a meeting to discuss this and asked for the proposal in writing. Other than being told that our performance was good but that the company needed to cut costs there was no explanation and we were not allowed to discuss options. Then on friday we received a letter to say that the cut becomes effective 1st october and that our job role has been changed to 'sales'. We have until 31st december or before to increase company profits and excel in the role or our employment will be terminated. Is this enforced cut a breach of contract? We have not agreed to it or even been consulted on it? Or can the company owner do as he pleases as ACAS advised me?? Any advice would be GREATLY received thanks
  16. Hi all, I received my reply from the ICO saying that my previous employer was "unlikely to have complied with the DPA due to them not supplying the information requested within the 40 day statutory period." also that the amount of time they took to request the fee, was excessive. When I requested my details, they had no clue what I was requesting. They sent me my "personnel file" when I queried this (I had worked there for 16 years so it was quite substantial!) and told them it was everything that they had on me, I received another package with some other bits. But I am still convinced that there are other documents that I do not have. With the ICO coming down on my side I am contemplating my next steps. Is it: I send my ex employer a letter again requesting the information and requesting compensation? Or Go straight to the small claims court seeking damages and distress caused? There is conflicting information to do one or the other and just looking for some advice Thanks
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