Meeting with boss. Tips on asking for payoff to leave.

[Ahhhhhhhh]

Hi all.

I was assaulted at work little over a month ago, this was entirely the fault of my employer as they didn't take the required steps to ensure staff safety. Despite many complaints from the team. I haven't been to work since and have been signed off with work related stress. My employers haven't contacted me at all during this time and the meeting is at my request follow contact that I made with HR. I don't want to return to work. I want them to to pay me off to leave, obviously signing away any rights to a claim for PI or anything else. How likely is this?

[Ahhhhhhhh]

I meant to say 'employer' in the part saying who's fault it was.

[fkofilee]

Hi, Can we have more information about this?

[Ahhhhhhhh]

What do you need to know?

[renegadeimp]

everything? Youve given almost no information.

[Ahhhhhhhh]

everything? Youve given almost no information.

I don't know what' is relevant.

 

I don't want to go back to work. I am attending a meeting tonight with my area manager to discuss my absence, and I just wanted some advice on the likelihood of them paying me off to leave quietly. I am already out of pocket from this due to not being paid whilst off sick but cannot continue to be off Indefinitely but cannot see a way in which I can return.

[caro]

Impossible to say without knowing what happened, why you think your employer was at fault. Were the police involved? Are you getting SSP? Why would your employer want to pay you instead of just letting you stay in your job or leave in the normal way?

 

If I got a paper cut and wanted compensation off my employer they'd laugh in my face, but if I lost a limb due to their negligence I'd expect a big payout.

[ericsbrother]

You need to speak to an employment injury lawyer. One of those that advertise will most likely take up your case but beware, settle early with employer and you will have to pay out a hefty whack to the solicitors. What have your employers said about the matter, have they indicated any acceptance of liability? Perhaps you should invite a meeting somewhere so you can have informal discussions but if it is a small company or organisation they are going to have to rely on their insurers to foot the bill for a settlement so it wont be quick. For a large organisation the payout can be quicker and with a non-disclosure agreement, a more acceptable sum without having to battle.

[Sidewinder]

What the outcome will be will depend on the level to which the employer was negligent. You say that they failed to take steps to ensure your safety? In what way?

 

You say that you were assaulted whilst at work? Who by? What was the history behind this and what led to the assault? Was it something which you predicted would happen and did you make the employer aware of your fear? What was their response?

 

What has happened to the person that assaulted you? Surely he or she has been dealt with via the disciplinary procedure - and one would suspect dismissal to be in order, but again, we cannot tell this from your OP? Were the Police involved?

 

If the employer could not reasonably have predicted that an assault was likely, then there would be little in the way of culpability. Conversely, if they did see it as a possibility but did not manage the threat, then you may have a case. If they have dismissed the person responsible, then there would be little reason to not return to work, however if they have not, then you have a potential bargaining point.

 

The employer - and you - will need to balance the degree of blame, whether a threat remains, and the degree of injury suffered in this incident against the potential cost of a PI claim or legal action.

[Ahhhhhhhh]

A customer bit his lip and spat a mouthful of blood in my face. He was arrested and the police informed me the following day that he has HIV. The company ignored the advice of police and put money over the safety of staff by refusing to install the correct safeguards. Namely protective screens and a magnetic lock. Other shops in the area have this, and the one two doors down does also.

[Atlas01]

You have 2 options

 

engage a personal injury solicitor or go in work and say "i want you to offer me some money as i'm leaving because of the incident"

 

To be honest using the terms of this guessing game i'd lean on most solicitors considering it so they can make 10k while you make 1k but in the eyes of negligence law the employer may argue it was not foreseeable and if a judge agrees, you get zip.

[numbers666]

Hi Ahhhhh

 

I had a hiv customer bit me a few yrs back. The waiting for result is stressful for sure. However the good news is it is very unlikely to catch via this method of transmission.

 

As for the employer liability, I would ensure the event is recorded and ask for details of the employers insurance company

 

N

[stu007]

I would hope after the incident the employer carried out a risk assessment.

 

Also has the employer kept records of the incident as they may need to follow Riddor: http://www.hse.gov.uk/biosafety/blood-borne-viruses/incident-reporting.htm

[altobelli]

Hi, sorry to hear about your experience, it must have been very traumatic.

 

 

What is your situation at the moment - are you waiting for the results of the test? Are you off work, and if so, are you receiving full wages or SSP?

[Ahhhhhhhh]

Hi, sorry to hear about your experience, it must have been very traumatic.

 

 

What is your situation at the moment - are you waiting for the results of the test? Are you off work, and if so, are you receiving full wages or SSP?

 

I am currently of work. Awaiting the results of the test and am receiving SSP.

[SabreSheep]

When the incident occurred, did you go to A+E and ask for PEP?

 

PEP if started within 72 hours further reduces the risk of contracting the virus.

 

As stated above the risk of transmission is minute in this instance mainly due to the fact the virus cannot survive in the open air.

 

As for personal injury

 

Here it gets murky.

 

Other than the issues regarding blame etc, there is also the "Injury" What injury occurred to yourself? What degree was this injury down to the negligence of the employer? If the injury is a psychological one, how much was it down to this incident, or were there other stressors in your life.

As for costs? m You would need to factor in any tangible losses. So difference between ssp and proper wage would be a cost.

 

PI is a nightmare.

 

Good luck with your test result. Hopefully you should be ok. And if the WORST should happen, no need to worry either. I know some individuals that are HIV+ and it is not as scarey as it was 10 years ago. With treatment you can live almost normal life expectancy now and live a normal life.

 

Personally

 

I would be asking them to support you and work with you to get back to work. Your life is not over no matter the result and you will need to move on. This will be easier to do if you are employed! Getting a new job whilst off work sick is a dam site harder to do than moving form one job to another as you would be "Seeking a new challenge" and the plus side is that you would not have to explain the incident to a new employer. If you were moving from sickness to a new job that question gets a little harder to dodge.

[Ahhhhhhhh]

I was already suffering the affects of work related stress and was on the edge before this happened. I have been treated terribly at work and things are not being done correctly. For example, I attended a welfare meeting yesterday. The invite said it would be only the District manager present, instead he showed up with another person. Thus making me feel attacked before the meeting had began! That coupled with the discovery that morning that my sicknote had been forwarded to others (who I have raised a grievance about) for no explainable reason... I don't want to go back. I couldn't imagine anything worse at the moment.

[altobelli]

I would suggest waiting at the moment until the results of the test come through. Hopefully you'll get the all clear, but you'll be able to quantify any losses better at that point. Psychological injuries are harder to quantify (in general, damages for work related stress are pretty woeful in relation to the injury suffered) and damages for potential psychological harm from returning to your work more difficult still. But damages for the difference between SSP and your normal pay are easier to calculate, although foreseeability and causation need to be looked at too.

 

 

When are you due to get the results?

 

 

Once you get them, you could speak to a lawyer (or CAB or a volunteer legal centre) regarding help with making an approach on settlement, you'll be better able to come up with a figure then.

 

 

It might be worth waiting too, in order to have a think about whether it is best to leave or go back, I would imagine that your feelings are running high just now, you might be better advised to decide after receiving the results.

[Ahhhhhhhh]

Hi all,

I am currently off work with work related stress. Things are just horrendous at work with management just making up their own rules. I was invited to a welfare meeting by my area manager (following him ignoring my emails asking to return to work for 3 weeks). In the invite it didn't mention that anyone else would be present. I arrived at the location, was blanked by the 3 employees present, DM included. Then was called to the meeting by a staff member who I have had issues with. I asked my DM if she would be present and why I wasn't informed, he said that it was standard procedure to have a note taker (so why not write it in the email?!) I left the room in tears, couldn't breath and didn't want to go back in. In the end I did, and the 'note taker' didn't write down half of what I said, and I wasn't asked to sign the 'notes'.

I've called HR and they spoken to the DM and they say that there's nothing I can do, that she will be present in the next meeting as this is his choice not mine. I don't want her there! Or anyone else for that matter. There is no confidentiality and I don't want anyone knowing my private business.

[honeybee13]

Hi. I've merged your threads as they're about an ongoing problem. It's better to keep the information together so it helps the advisers here, rather than to start a new thread every time you have a question.

 

HB

[Emmzzi]

I'm confused. You don't want to go but you've asked to go back several times? I am not sure your posts match, can you clarify please?

[Ahhhhhhhh]

I'm confused. You don't want to go but you've asked to go back several times? I am not sure your posts match, can you clarify please?

 

I wanted a to, and tried to return to work following 2 weeks off. Then after the treatment since, and things that have come to light, the last thing I want is to go back. I've relocated my family for this job, it will cost me dearly to leave and I love my job. I feel so pushed out, but I can't return.

[Emmzzi]

Ask your doctor about counselling. Ask your workplace also. There are usually more options than stay or go.

 

 

It is reasonable for people in your maagement structure to talk to you while you are off ill.

 

If you are throwing about greivances and talk of suing, then of course they will want a note taker present

 

What was the outcome of your meeting?

[altobelli]

Ask your doctor about counselling. Ask your workplace also. There are usually more options than stay or go.

 

 

It is reasonable for people in your maagement structure to talk to you while you are off ill.

 

If you are throwing about greivances and talk of suing, then of course they will want a note taker present

 

What was the outcome of your meeting?

 

 

On talking to staff who are off ill, its reasonable to contact them, as long as the employer does so in a reasonable way. Top concern is the employee's health.

 

 

On the note taker, I didn't think the issue was having a note taker present, more that the OP was unhappy with the choice of note taker given their history.

[Ahhhhhhhh]

Just to clarify. I was specifically told that there would be only me and The area manager present at the meeting, then he brings someone that I have history with and whom is a shameless gossip.

 

Also, regarding the contact. I was off for 2 weeks following the assault. Then I spent a further 2 weeks trying to contact my area manager to arrange a return, I could have of course just returned, but that would be to a very dangerous working environment and I was trying to get a temp move. I emailed, called and contacted others trying to get him to reply to me. To no avail. I then contacted HR to ask them to help me sort it, they sent me the invite. The first time I spoken to him was at the meeting. He ignored me when I walked into the shop, made me feel awful. Then I went up for the meeting, and he had her there. I asked if I had a choice in her attendance, he said no. I ended up in tears and leaving the room before composing myself and returning.

 

I have another meeting on 1st August in which he has now officially said that she will be attending. I have asked for a companion also. No reply as yet.