Witholding Pay, P45 and Computer equipment

[kmm01]

Hi i was wondering if anyone could offer me some advice.

 

In November my employer turned up at my home at 8pm in the evening to hand me my notice this stated that i was not to return to work for this period. This was a huge shock as i had been at work all day as usual with no problems. They had given the reason that it just was not working out. At this point i was six months pregnant and they had just employed a foreign national to help out with my workload at a cheaper rate who i had trained for the last four weeks of my employment. So i feel that i was pushed out of my job for someone they could pay half my wage and before i took maternity leave. Since then i visited my employer to collect my property and was given some all items except a Hard Drive which i had lent to them whilst working there. I was told that they were unable to give this at the time i visited as they were still using it. they agreed to return this the following day. This never happened and now four months down the line i am still awaiting its return. Along with a months pay a couple of weeks holiday pay and my P45. Is there anything i can do to get my equipment back and my pay? I have tried contacting the police who have told me that it is a civil matter and am in a situation now where i am out of pocket thousands of pounds. Please if any one can give me some advice it would be much appreciated.

 

:?

[godpikachu]

ok, how long had you ben working there for a start.

 

secondly, what is the exact reason for sacking you?, simply stating "its not working out" means nothing, there must be specific problems.

 

Id wager that their problem is your pregnancy, and they are trying to get out of paying maternity pay.

 

Have they given specific reasons for witholding your wages and P45?, as they are bound by law to provide these to you as soon as possible, and 4 months is not a reasonable amount of time for processing.

 

with holding your wgaes is also classed as an unlawful deduction as per section 13 of the employment rights act.

 

send them a formal grievance letter giving them 7 days to provide you with the following:-

 

A full, clear and consise account of why you were dismissed

Your outstanding wages

Your P45

Your hard drive.

 

State that if you do not hear back from them within this time, you will lodge for an employment tribunal and/or civil action to recover what they have.

[kmm01]

i had been there for 27 weeks, and the letter of notice they gave me said that they didn't think that i was fitting in with the company. I wrote a letter of grieviance in november to which they never replied. then i contacted ACAS and told them about the situation. wrote to them explaining what had happened and have not heard anything since.

[godpikachu]

id chase it up then with ACAS because probably the reason why they didnt respond was because they know theyve ****ed up by sacking you when youre pregnant.

Call ACAS tomorrow and lodge a form ET1 at the CAB.

[vjohn82]

I have a bit of experience with employment matters having been a trade union rep in a previous job...

 

Firstly, you have been sacked. No question. This means you cannot use the normal grievance method. There is something called the "modified procedure" which is what you can use if your employment has ended. This gives your "employer" the opportunity to use the modified procedure:

 

Grievance procedures: the standard three-step procedure : Directgov - Employment

 

The two steps are:

 

1. you send a written statement of grievance to your former employer
   
2. your former employer writes back to you, answering the points you have raised
   

If you are not happy with the reply then you can seek redress via an employment tribunal which is, from my recent knowledge, a free process to undertake.

 

You only have 3 months from the date you were fired* to bring about this grievance letter so the quicker the better... you have to wait 28 days for a reply too.

 

You can, as an alternative to the stress you might face dealing directly with your old employer, speak to ACAS who use a mediation service which attempts to resolve your complaint. Find them here:

 

Acas - How can we help?

If you need any more help let me know... and keep us updated too!

 

*unless there is a genuine reason for not doing so

Edited March 13, 2009 by vjohn82
clarification on 3 month deadline

[kmm01]

thanks for that i have already written a letter of greviance on 25th November including all these points. I will however call ACAS again on monday. Thanks for the tip about the form will go to local CAB on monday too.

 

Am i too late? it has been just over three months since the event happened?

[vjohn82]

Well you got in touch within 3 months so it should be ok... best to get in touch with ACAS... there are special rules governing pregancy!!!