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  1. I have just been told by Customer Services at Currys that they cannot discuss my claim with me, only my solicitor. Further, even though they admit that they have breached our contract and been negligent, they don't have to pay me anything in compensation. Apparently you only get damages in court if you're injured. After I informed them that I was recording the call, I have the poor girl saying that of course if she's wrong Currys will pay all my costs, including the solicitor. So for the sake of a claim for a few hundred pounds, Currys are willing to risk at least that much in costs? As the title says, their customer service staff either need some urgent training or Currys are idiots. It is so tempting to take them at their word ....
  2. My Friend has been on a 5 day driver training course. she was not to the required standard DSA level 5 so was not put forward for the test on day 5. This she understands. However the reason I query this for you wise comments are the following: The website does not explain at what level you need to be, or that if they cannot get you to DSA level 5 then you will not be put in for the test or return for the test. see 5day website On the website it states If you are unsuccessful on your Theory Test or Practical Test Get FREE, unlimited theory and practical correction lessons until you pass. The complete course is only £914.00. This not only includes all the driving tuition but also the fee for your theory test and practical test This is not true. Could I complain to trading standards or anyone about this? in T & C's which you get after you have paid, it does state that in the case of non achievement further lessons can be agreed between the pupil and the trainer. My query here is, it sate that it includes the hire of the car for the test and if you do not Pass there is a MENTORING RETEST PROGRAMME should the candidate fail on the first test or any successive retest the driver. blah Blah Blah. FREE remedial help will be offered from the training centre until you pass. the Question. Additional lesson required to bring her to the standard required is the reasonable for these to be charged Should they only be provided by the centre to validate the MENTORING RETEST PROGRAM You comment would be appreciated.
  3. hi gents after a bit of advice, my brother took a personal training course and passed he got his certification and took a job being self employed in a local gym under your personal training they made him sign up to a membership of £400 a month so he could take personal training sessions in the gym and it had a minimum contract of 6 months. around two months into this contract he moved away, he sent them documents with his updated address to prove he no longer lived in doncaster where the gym was and he now lived in manchester so was unable to complete the contract, they have since said he is still liable for the contract even though he cant use the facilities with the distance he now is, he also seems to have had an agreement with harlands yet they seem to have cancelled it fine with the bank statement of his new address. your personal training have now passed this onto a debt collection agency and they are hassling my brother for the money which we believe as he no longer lives near the gym he should not have to pay any outstanding amounts. can anyone please advise me the best way forward we have tried to explain this to them but they are having none of it. i have attahced a word document of the contract with them and have removed his personal details if anyone can help it would be much appreciated.
  4. Hi all, I have a problem with the UK Training Institute. I booked a course with them and it stated when booking that you had to provide them with a preferred date that you wished to attend and they would contact you regarding when your course will be and a time,venue and date by email. It stated at the time of booking that you may not get the date you want. The course was for my other half as he is self employed and requires some training for health and safety reasons. we didn't hear anything and £75 was taken from our account. We waited a few weeks and as we had still not heard from them logged back onto their website to check what was happening to find that their website was not working. I waited over a week until it came back online and contacted them through their website as they do not provide telephone numbers. The reply I received stated they had send me an email confirmation of a course date and as we had not turned up we were billed for it still. I explained he had not received any emails from them and to provide me with a contact telephone number to call them directly as I was not happy. I received an email reply a few days later stating that the email I provided was incorrect and it had bounced back to them therefore they were not liable and sent another copy of the email originally sent, they did not provide me with a telephone number as requested and did not even sign their name. Please can anyone let me know where I stand with this one? I am unsure if I did provide the correct email address as Im sure I did but even the one they say I gave still gets to us eventually .co.uk instead of .com. Hopefully you can help as to loose £75 when we don't have a lot of money anyway has been a big blow. Also when you visit their site there is a message to say they have been having technical difficulties Many thanks Sarah
  5. Hi, I work a 6 week rotating rota - contract is 37.5 hours a week . Every 15 weeks we are given a "training day" which is 11 hours ( our shifts are 12 hours) . So around 2 1/2 training days a year which we are paid for and are expected to use to cover various mandatory and voluntary courses related to our line of work . It is our responsibility to arrange this training and if you start to owe the company training days e.g. not using them , they can tell you when and what you are doing as you owe them these days as your paid for them ! Anyways i am a good boy and use my training days as soon as i get them and more to the point i do not owe any training days until 2019 ! (we can carry them over as "credit" ) Now we are getting a barrage of emails telling us that we have to do two MANDATORY training days in the next 2 months - i have highlighted to my managers i will obviously attend but only when i am roistered to work , i am being told this is not allowed and that i will have to attend and i can have it as ToiL Before i start getting into a big row with them (getting no replies from union reps ) , am i in the right here or could i be forced to attend these mandatory courses in my own time ?
  6. Hello everybody I would be grateful if anybody could give me some serious advice... I signed up with ATL Practical Training a year ago to train to be a gas engineer, found the help from the 'tutors' very minimal so I stopped doing the course. I am now interested in training again to become a gas engineer, but when I researched ATL I found they are also known as many other company names such as 'Metropolitan International Schools Ltd' and now 'ERR' (according to City and Guilds)?? I was also told I could cancel the course at any time, which I have found is not the case and would have to pay £3000 to cancel it through Career Finance 4 Trade Skills Ltd!! It seems a lot of people have had problems with them, and are in the same boat. This sounds very much like a [problem] and I was wondering whether anyone has done any training with ATL? If so, did you have any problems? Also, did you get your qualifications in the end and were they up to date? I would also be grateful if anyone can recommend any gas engineering courses? Thanks everyone Tony
  7. If i normally get to work in 3 minutes but i am told to go to training that is 1 hour 20 minutes away should i be getting paid travel time? I am being paid petrol (bar the two miles i travel daily) for the trip. I've been told i will get the 4 hours for the course but that's it! I look forward to your replies.
  8. Hi Similar problem with ATL pt. ..paid almost £7000 for 3 books and 2 cd...no tutor support and no communication. Now, after I paid in full and 3 years past they refuse to refund my money saying that we finished our contract and they completed their obligations... My argument is that they never provide the service they promised so the course was a big lie as I found out that they can not provide the qualification (Renewable Engineer) I have sent two complain letters and they replied to one patronizing me, saying that numerous student completed their qualification... obviously they will not provide name and contact numbers to check that. I want to complain about them and their practices and get my money back. Any suggestions, please! Thank you
  9. Good Afternoon All I have been trying to reach the pitmantrainingaudio.com website to practice my shorthand and have been unable to. I was advised that this would be open to me as it did not require login credentials. I was discouraged by my centre manager at Holborn from buying the shorthand extensions and was told to do the reinforced audio from Pitmantrainingaudio.com Pitmantrainingaudio.com has not been working since 30.11.2016 and I was advised that it had gone on to pitman campus the same platform I was discouraged by the centre from using. I was informed I would have to pay £50 for 2 weeks of service double what they charge their other students! So it’s like I’m being forced to make payments I can’t afford! Other issues I have had with them recently are listed below: • Writing me emails to confirm I had a distinction only to confirm "they made a mistake" it was just a pass • Writing sarcastic educational reference letters in hope to deter potential employers from offering me employment • Trying to charge me more money per month than they do their other students. For the same distance learning although I only have ONE module left to complete! I asked if I could purchase one week for £25 as I had worked hard and did not really need anymore than a week anyway. I was then told "although we appreciate your circumstances we are not prepared to accommodate you on this occasion". Im surprised that for a student that study two qualifications with Pitman they would try to discourage me in my goal of achieving a better education. especially being so close to getting them all completed once and for all. I have spoken to the Skills Funding Agency, Department for Education and the Educational Ombudsmen all were very sympathetic but have assured me to raise the complaint Via Pitman Headquarters which I have done. Unfortunately I dont have much faith that they will come to any form of a sensible agreement with me so I am getting all my paperwork ready for the next steps of action has anyone any suggestions where I can practice some shorthand outline audios without the aid of pitman I need to set the Exam by the 10.12.2016?
  10. My daughter is 14 and has been a poolside assistant since May. She works 1 hour per week and is paid £5. She is basically in the pool with young children and assists them during their swimming lesson. She ensures they don't get into difficulty and supports them if they become scared or upset. She has been told that she needs mandatory lifesaver training to continue with the job but it will cost her £90 to do the 7 hour course and won't get paid for her time either. This means that it would take her 18 weeks to pay for the course. We were told she would need training but not at our own cost. I thought that mandatory training for a specific job should be paid for by the employer and possibly paid the hours? Surely their request isn't legal and it's an employers responsibility to provide the training? Please advise
  11. Afternoon all. First time poster here looking for advice. I am leaving my current employer to take up a post with another company. I am currently undertaking a distance learning course (half of which has been deferred to 2017 due to personal circumstances), which has not yet finished, so under a signed training agreement I am liable for the full balance of the outstanding costs. I held a meeting with my current employer to attempt to set up a repayment plan, as the balance outstanding is over £3,000 and I am not in a position to pay this immediately, but I have informed that my current employer intends to issue me with an invoice for the full amount upon my last day, with an expectation for the full balance to be repaid within 30 days. I have offered to re-pay the balance with 12 monthly payments, but they will not accept this. I have also attempted to explain that I do not have this money available, and that I am more than willing to repay as per a repayment plan. The HR manager also questioned me regarding my lifestyle, and advised that I should take a bank loan to repay the sum owed, which I found rather unprofessional. What are options around this?
  12. Hi New member here, i am hoping i get some advice here. My Wife had started a job at a medical spa which does botox , skin facials. She worked there in May 2016, my wife started work but they were paying her such a low wage , she was reluctant to take the position, but she took it. The woman in charge had no idea how to run a medical spa at all and started to use the 12plus years knowledge my wife has . Before my wife had started work the woman had said to my wife that if my wife leaves within two years she would have to pay back any training costs. My wife started work but never signed any contract stating that she would have pay anything back , even the offer letter had no reference to this. My wife went on two half days of training for laser training but never got a certificate of any sort. This woman boss would contradict any ideas my wife brought up, my wife after a month wanted to discuss her wage as it was just not satisfactory of the work and experience she has. So my wife called a meeting with the woman boss and presented this to her, the woman boss did not even entertain the prospect of raising her salary at all. So my wife decided to leave before all her ideas were going to be used, the woman boss has now sent a letter asking my wife to pay back training costs for the two days, but nothing was signed and not even a job description was given to my wife. I think personally this woman is bitter that my wife had the guts to leave and she is now asking for money to feed her own ego. Any advice would be helpful, thanks
  13. Hi, Random question, My union rep who has been representing me on and off for years has just told me he has never been on any training courses and has just picked it up as he has gone along. I thought that there was initial training which they should go on before they should represent a member. Anybody any experience with this? Cheers Dex
  14. Evening all, I was hoping for some opinions on a recent complaint to HSBC over mistakes they have made with reporting incorrect information to the CRA's. I took out this loan (£60,000) in 2008 to pursue my dream job as a commercial pilot and despite passing all the training, the economic downturn in 2009-2010 led to my redundancy in 2013. The loan was set up based on my expected salary with the company I was sponsored by and the monthly repayments were £939/mnth. Since the redundancy it has been difficult to keep up with payments and i've tried my best to communicate with the bank and request help but to no avail. In August 2014 the balance of the loan was just over £30,000 and after trying to grow our business for some time, payments were getting tight. My resolution was to finish the refurbishment of a property we had bought and refinance it to release enough equity to clear the loan. The figures made sense and there was no reason we wouldn't be able to do it. I contacted HSBC and explained the situation and that I need some assistance to get through the few months it would take to refinance the property. After several heated conversations they finally agreed to put in place a reduced payment plan but I was advised that I would have to let the loan fall into arrears by 2 payments in order to implement it. The agreement was for 12 months and providing I made the reduced payment, my credit file would be frozen at 2 missed payments throughout. I discussed this with our mortgage broker and he in turn approached the lender to explain my circumstances. They advised that because there was a history to the situation and I was in this position due to the economic downturn and not through irresponsible spending, they would consider an application with the 2 missed payments on my file and didn't see that this would prevent a mortgage being agreed especially since the property was very comfortably covering the expected mortgage payments. We applied in December 2014 and early into January 2015 I was advised that it had been declined at the initial stag due to credit. I queried this with the broker but the underwriting department would not clarify why the sudden U-turn. Now under time pressures to refinance the property (we had a private investor to pay back too) we were told that our only hope was for me to gift my equity to my father and for him and my partner to apply for the mortgage whilst I resolved whatever was happening with my credit file. We did this but due to my fathers limited experience as a landlord, we were only offered a sub-prime product which we had no option but to take. This allowed us to repay the investor but didn't leave anything to pay off my loan. I downloaded a copy of my credit file to make sure everything was as agreed and to my surprise, I found that HSBC had not honoured their end of the agreement. My credit it file had continued to accrue arrears and was now showing as borderline default. No wonder the mortgage company wouldn't even look at my application, it made me look an idiot after explaining that it wouldn't get any worse than 2 missed payments. I complained to the bank and explained that not only was I now unable to pay off the loan but it had cost me around £15,000. This was made up from a capital gains bill from transferring equity to my father, increased fees and interest on the sub-prime mortgage and astronomical early redemption penalties to get out of the mortgage down the line. After many weeks they eventually agreed they were at fault but then tried to wriggle out of it by saying that I didn't give them adequate time to resolve the issue before going ahead with the equity transfer and sub-prime mortgage. They offered £3,000 in compensation to be taken from the arrears that had accrued. I politely declined and explained that I would refer to the Ombudsman, which I did. Whilst this was happening, they again reported incorrect information to the CRA's and this was picked up when we were declined a bank account for our Ltd company. I immediately notified HSBC and they apologised, promising to fix it. This has meant we cannot begin trading as a ltd company and we are therefore at increased personal risk until this is resolved. Added to all of this, the payment plan which was agreed for a period of 12 months was removed early and with no warning or communication. I received a call on 18th September advising that it the bank had decided to remove it at the end of August (conveniently as I had taken my complaint to the Ombudsman). I was advised that as of that date I was 2.7 payments in arrears. I never received any letters or warning that this was going to happen. I frantically tried to raise enough to make a full payment before it jumped to 3.7 missed on the 24th Sep. I couldn't manage a full payment so managed to keep it at 2.9 by paying 0.8 of a payment and in October as things became tighter still, I only managed 0.2 of a payment leaving me at 3.7.... or so I thought. I then received a default notice stating that I was over 4.5 payments in arrears. I immediately contacted the bank who explained that it had been sent in error and they would look into the arrears and let me know. They then reported that 4.5 was correct which means that the payment plan had to have been removed earlier than they told me it was. To keep this as short as I can, I today received a letter from the Ombudsman explaining that they have found the bank at fault on several things over the period of the loan. They have suggested a further £200 to compensate me for the inconvenience, financial loss and stress over the past 12 months!! I find this a joke considering that I am now over £15,000 out of pocket and it's almost certainly down to the string of mistakes made by HSBC. I have thought about small claims court but i'm aware of the risk if I don't win. Is there any other avenue I could go down? Thanks in advance if anyone reads this far, your advice or thoughts are much appreciated. Best wishes Richard
  15. Just after a bit of feedback please. I work nights 4 nights on 4 nights off, the company requires me to attend a 3 day First Aid course, I have no problem with this but these would be on my rest days which are sacred to me due to family ill health at the moment. I work 12 hour shifts on nights but the course is daytime as already stated, I would be attending the course on 3 days that I would be on nights, however, I would start my 4 nights the day previously, the assistant manager has suggested that I come off nights and work 4 12 hour days in order to do the course, I haven't worked days EVER here and have been here for almost 11 years. What I am prepared to do is be removed from nights but not work 4 day shifts which would mean starting at 07:30, leave for the course starting at 9am then returning daily after the course finishes working on till 19:30, would I be right in thinking that I wouldn't have to start the day shift or complete it as the training would be a duty commitment? Sorry its a bit long winded but any advice would be appreciated.
  16. Finally managed to find a ES567SJP form online that I have printed off and started to complete. As I have MWA hanging over me, not sure how to answer some of the questions as not sure whether MWA counts as a job opportunity. Question 6 in part one asks - Are you willing and able to change the hours of your course so that they do not overlap with the hours you said you are available for work in your Jobseeker’s Agreement? Now if I answer yes to that will it be claimed I can do MWA and fit college around it? I have attached the form and the guidance they use. If anyone can shed any light then please help. I have a feeling that because I was referred to MWA the same day I found out I had an interview for college then they will use this to say the MWA takes priority and will have to give up the college course Thanks
  17. Hi Folks - Have been entered for an advanced tree felling course at my place of work , but my employer says if I leave in a certain period - I have to pay back the course . And wants me to sign a document to this effect . Provision and Use of Work Equipments Regs says otherwise I believe and there is nothing about this in my Works contract - yr thoughts ........ Q
  18. Hi All, I was wondering if someone would be able to help me in this situation. I am having issues with the Pitman Training Course that I’m currently enrolled on. I enrolled on my Advanced ECDL/Executive PA Course in September 2014. So you can Imagine how shocked I was when in February 2015 the Pitman finance department in Croydon contacted me to say my account was in default. They stated that it had been so for 6 WHOLE MONTHS! When asked why they had not contacted me earlier to bring the matter to my attention. The response I recieved was “we had a backlog…we were poorly and unwell” etc. I felt very angry and upset as a result of this I left the centre and went home. I kept trying to call the accounts department as I thought of some suggestions on how I can resolve the account and continue my studies but it goes straight to Voicemail, I have left emails, called the office and when asking Head Quarters about the next procedures they simply distanced themselves from the situation going on to state Pitman Accounts in Croydon were a separate company and just advised me to keep trying. I emailed Patricia Porter at Croydon and had left my details, but no attempt whatsoever had been made to contact me. After attempting to call Pitman again today I was placed on hold to wait for someone in the accounts department. I was then informed “Sorry they’re all in meetings”. Then very coincidently the financial controller Patricia Porter at the Pitman Croydon Centre messages me less than a minute after the call with the one line email response below: “Dear Alesha I am away from the office today. Regards Patricia Porter” Immediately I messaged Patricia back and asked “Who can I speak to regarding my account in your absence?” I received no response at all. Exactly how do you treat a student with an attitude like that? I’m so disappointed by this lack professionalism and can’t believe I have to resort to an online post to try and reach out for advice. It is so off putting when you have an organisation with an attitude of “We won’t accept or return your calls when there is a problem…But we will be glad to accept your money anytime!” I have made every effort to reach out to them to no avail and I would really like to get further advice on what I can do about this situation as I find the accounts department in the Pitman Croydon very uncooperative,unreasonable and utterly irresponsible! Regards, Alesha
  19. I am hoping I can pick some peoples brains here about contracts and employment law etc.I have worked for a company for 4years now and have a contract that I signed when I started I work 12 hour shifts on a pattern of 2 days and then 2 nights followed by 4 days off. This is one block of 7, then after block 7, I have 18days off. This is also a job that is at sea, but within coastal waters no more than 12miles offshore.New staff have been taken on over the last 2 years on a new type of contract deeming the same job to be a Multi Skilled role, meaning they company will train these people for other roles within the company. (Roles that I am not allowed to do, because I am not being trained. Jobs I would like to be able to train for. However also as part of this new contract, they have to do 16 shifts in a year extra at flate rate, not at an overtime rate. These hours can also be used for training purposes. So say for instance I have to do a first aid course, for me, that is a days overtime, they get the hours taken off of the prepaid shifts they have to do. So in effect they are being paid upfront to do the overtime, but on a flat rate. I realise this is swings and roundabouts, but the difference is, I cannot do the training except anything that I require to keep my certification in date. Also I am being denied a financial difference and the reason being, many people on this contract aren't actually doing the extra shifts. But by them not doing them, I am. But they are being paid the same at the end of the year as me, but I am having to actually do the work to earn the extra money.Also some of my colleagues on contracts before I started, when the company was owned by some other bank or business is on almost 10k pa more than me. Also it is recognised that he is lazy etc. HR and my manager will not look at my salary or discuss my contract although it is completely immoral that in effect you have 3 different contracts and rates of pay for the same job. Suggestions? Laws? All suggestions and advice welcome.
  20. Hi all, This is my first post here so I apologise in advance if I miss any key points out. I'm looking for some advice with regards to numerous problems I've had with my Professional Training loan I took out with Natwest about five years ago. Bit of Background This has become something of a long story so please bear with me. I took the loan out for £20k, around £30k by the time interest went on (can't remember exact amounts, it was a long time ago) to put me through Law School. About 3 - 4 months after I took the loan out, I found out that NatWest were not going to offer the loan any more and as such the 'graduate specialist' that I had been assigned to help with problems I had was reassigned to another area of the bank, and I was told she could no longer help me, I had to deal with the graduate area of the call centre. Problems 1. As far as I (and my parents, who were in the initial loan meeting with me) can remember, I was told my repayments would be around £150 - £190, and they would confirm this with me in writing nearer the time of my payments commencing, towards the end of my year's loan deferral while I was studying. I put in a call to the call centre around October (loan payments due to start in January) to check the amount as I hadn't heard anything, and was told again £150 or so. I wrote this on the back of a notepad I had as I hadn't had anything in writing from them. First payment for £299 goes out in January. Obviously this is almost double their lower estimate of £150. When I queried this, I was told it was an 'administrative error' and that the lady who had given me the £150 figure had not factored in the interest. When I put in a complaint, I was told that unless I could produce it in writing they would not take my complaint any further. Funnily enough, both times, these figures were given to me verbally, and the only recourse the bank would offer was to increase my overdraft. I have been struggling along but making the £299 payments for the last 4 or so years having decided that I would just get on and manage. 2. This product came with a year's payment holiday while I was studying, with the option of an extra 3 months if I went to a particular Law School (which I did). I initially turned down the extra 3 months on the basis that it would be an incentive to get a job. I got a job straight out of college, but unfortunately had to move out of my rental accommodation on incredibly short notice (landlord sold the house out from under me) which floored my finances around November time (again, repayments officially due to start in January). I went into my local branch and put in the request for the extra 3 months payment holiday I was told I could have. Nobody knew about this, and after lots of to-ing and fro-ing we finally established that, yes, I could apply for it. I went through the paperwork with a lady in the branch and she told me she would submit it and I didn't need to do anything further. I heard nothing further from them, and as stated above my first loan payment went out unexpectedly in January, instead of April as I was expecting. Calling back into the branch, the lady I spoke to there could remember me filling in the paperwork and she said she sent it off, but the admin centre denied all knowledge, claiming to have never received it. Another complaint made and I was told there was nothing they could do, once they had started the loan payments they couldn't delay them again. Again, they offered to increase my overdraft rather than solve the problem. 3. When I took the loan out, I was told it wouldn't affect my ability to get a mortgage as it was classed as a 'Student Debt'. Now my partner and I are trying to buy our first property together, and following a meeting with a mortgage adviser, was told that this loan does indeed count against me and most banks will not touch me as long as that loan is outstanding. I have about six years of repayments left - and we simply cannot wait that long to get a house. Yet another complaint to the bank and I was told this was obviously another 'admin error' from someone who didn't understand the loan fully, and again, if I can produce written evidence they will consider my complaint. Yet again, no written evidence. I am absolutely at the end of my rope with the bank and the 'admin errors' I keep encountering, they don't seem to appreciate that their 'silly mistakes' are causing me huge stress with my finances. Can anyone give me any advice as to where I go from here? Thanks in advance and sorry for the rant
  21. Hi Son is 16, on approved training course. Returned completed form to Child Benefit before the cut off date in August, child benefit stopped. Wrote to Child Tax credits to inform them of approved training course. Tax credits also stopped. Would you advise what to do next? Thanks
  22. A friend of mine worked as a delivery driver. During his employment, the company arranged for him to undertake driver training and a test to enable him to drive larger vehicles. He signed an agreement requiring him to repay the training costs if he left within two years. On that document was the phrase "total training costs £2000" below the signatures. Three days after the agreement was signed (and before the training actually took place) he had an assessment session with the external driver training provider who said his ability was such that only a few training sessions were needed, and the total cost of the training and examination (which he passed) came to c £950. He left the company seven months after the agreement was signed and expected to have to repay the £950. However, the company is claiming £2000 "because that was what he signed for". He has refused to pay more than the actual cost incurred and now has received a solicitor's letter demanding the £2000. I have read about re-claim of training costs and understand any reclaim must be based on "a genuine pre-estimate of costs", and that anything above that may be deemed a penalty and thus not legally enforceable. In this instance the actual costs were less than half of that estimate and were known before the training was undertaken. Paying anything more than £950 would mean not only does the company contribute nothing to training, but they also make a profit from it! Where do you think he stands legally on this? Secondly, I understand that such repayment agreements should include a sliding scale, so the amount reclaimed reduces over time to reflect the value the company gets from the training. This agreement had a sliding scale but it was very back-skewed - 100% repayable up to 18 months, 75% up to 21 months, 50% up to 24 months. they had just over six months of value from his ability to drive their larger vehicles but the sliding scale makes no reflection of that. Again, does that stand up legally?
  23. i have been employed by a company for 3 years and was recently put on a zero hours contract. i found out today that to continue working for the company i must pay for a 300 pound training course, if i do not gain this qualification by early next year i will not be able to work for the company anymore. my job will not change with this qualification, i teach fitness classes, and i do not work for any other companies so i will not gain anything from this qualification. Is this legal? I really cant afford the training course and its only purpose is to improve the image of the company by saying we are trained to a higher level. Any help would be realy appreciated
  24. Hi there. My son and his partner are joint claiming Jobseeker's Allowance. I hope someone who has Jobcentre experience can help me out. We have a two part question - first part is relating to appointment scheduling, and the second is about funding for training. I'll stick to the question about scheduling in this post. Their normal signing day is on a Tuesday in the a.m. However, at their last appointment 2 weeks ago, their Jobcentre adviser told them that he was going to be absent from their next scheduled fortnightly appointment due to a training course he had to attend. So, he said the next appointment would be scheduled for the following Friday. He wrote in both of their "My Work Plan" booklets, on the appointment timetable, that their appointment was set for Friday 25/07/2014 at 09:00 and signed his name. Fast forward to today 23/07/2014 and my son telephoned their adviser directly to speak about funding for a training course. Adviser said he was "just about to call" himself as my son and his partner had missed their Tuesday signing appointment. Son explained what he had told them, and also what he wrote in their work booklets, at their last Jobcentre appointment. First of all, the adviser did not comment on this. He simply stated "You should have come in on Tuesday. You need to sign every 2 weeks." My son kept his cool and repeated why they had not attended. The JC adviser then sounded a bit flustered and gave two "sorry"s in the middle of a garbled sentence about their being some confusion. He then asked if my Son & partner could attend later today - they confirmed this was convenient and attended. At the appointment, adviser said "they have some paperwork to do. But not to worry - it's for me, not you!". He clicked onto a screen on his monitor and then posed the question to them "Why did you fail to attend your last Jobcentre appointment?" then paused for a verbal response from son. Again, son repeated what he had just explained on the telephone. He also directed the adviser to the page in their booklet with Friday's date/time and his signature. Adviser then typed a paragraph or two summing up what had happened. The title of the screen on his computer was something akin to "Give the reason why you failed to attend your last appointment". At this point, son asked adviser if this could negatively impact their claim for JSA? Adviser said (cheerfully) "Very possibly!" and that after he had typed this up, it would be sent to a decision maker and it was now out of his hands! Son then asked, given that the Jobcentre now informs them that they should have attended on Tuesday, should they also attend Friday's scheduled appointment? Adviser laughed and said no, "we wouldn't make you come twice in a week!". What should we think about this? Adviser said the decision should be made soon and we would hear back reasonably quickly. It's totally unfair and it seems like constructive dismissal to me. Any advise would be very gratefully received as we would like to get a head-start in case of a sanction.
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