Terminology needed for official complaint

[slimceagirl]

I have been employed by the LA who pay my wages for a school for 23 years.

I have held 3 posts at the school at different times, with one post merging into a 4th.

This last one, I have paid pension into for 12 years, until I deferred about 10 years ago and found the payments difficult.

 

When I looked at my pensions the other day there were some dates in my employment history missing. I spoke to the Pension we ran through the dates for each one and the reason for them stopping. A couple added up but the most recent one, which I previously mentioned said it had stopped and the 'contract had ended'.

 

I'm pretty certain this is the pension I can opt back into and had carried on paying. I asked for a record of my work history from HR which also does not match up and lists a job I never did. 

 

Should I be concerned about these discrepancies? I am. 

[honeybee13]

Hi.

 

Did you keep your payslips by any chance? Or paperwork when you left the school? It's important to keep your own records.

 

Probably the way to go is an SAR, but what other records do you have?

 

ETA: How long ago did you leave?

 

HB

[slimceagirl]

I still work there, I have continuous employment with the one post but deferred the pension about 11 years ago. The other two posts were within the same school at different times but left them as they were ancillary. I have asked for wage slips but may resort to an SAR if they cannot/will not comply.

[dx100uk]

LGPS usually sort things out OK.

 

you seem like a good friend of mine, he had 7 posts over 32 yrs but had to retire early at 50 as he could as he had overriding grandad rights from my 1st contract in 1982 stating so.

 

you might find HMRC and NI contributions useful evidence too, though i believe once you give your county LGPS authority too, they can view all those.  he had 2 periods (around 1992 the time thatcher made FE go private and ruined it!!) whereby the works records claimed he paid no pension but HMRC proved he did because its 6% before PAYE tax is taken.

 

hope this helps

 

dx

 

[slimceagirl]

I am in the process of making a formal grievance against my business manager.

 

They did not return a form to payroll in time which resulted in 3 months pension deductions from my wages, I cannot claim a refund on these.

 

My pension is deferred and I am £180 short.

I have evidence that they were untruthful about passing on my form to the payroll department. As well as disrespecting my personal information 

 

I need to know the terminology I can use for being unable to access funds.  

[BankFodder]

Draft a letter of complaint and post it here and then we'll have a look.

I should add, that if you are about to go head-to-head with your employer, it could have some long-term negative effects. Have you taken this into consideration?

[Ethel Street]

I wouldn't worry about the 'right terminiology' because 

 

(a) there probably isn't any, and

 

(b) your grievance can be more more powerfully expressed if you just use your own words to explain what happened and the consequences for you. 

 

As a bit of general advice, always say in your grievance letter exactly what you want to happen next to resolve your grievance. 

 

Post up your draft (removing any personal information which would identify you) 

[slimceagirl]

Dear ************

I am writing to raise a formal grievance.

 

I have a complaint about **** *****; Failure to treat personal documents with respect resulting in financial disadvantage.

 

*********** Did not return my pension opt-out form within the timeframe they specified. In return a refund of one months deduction will be made in the next pay cycle and the opt-out will commence.

 

This form was not returned Payroll and Pensions by *********** until two months later and as a result, 3 months deductions of approximately £180 in total were paid into my deferred pension which are non-refundable.

 

I have evidence in the form of a timeline of events, emails between myself and ******** and transcripts of telephone calls between myself and Payroll and Pensions staff and the LGPS.

 

I would be grateful if you could let me know when I can meet you to talk about my grievance. I would like to be accompanied at the meeting by ********.

Yours sincerely,

 

Thanks I'll add in that I would like feedback. I know I can't get  a refund as it's the rules . I've been brushed off twice by SLT saying 'leave it with them' .

[honeybee13]

Who is SLT please?

 

HB

[Ethel Street]

6 minutes ago, slimceagirl said:

 I've been brushed off twice by SLT saying 'leave it with them' .

 

SLT indicates to me that it's a school. (SLT = Senior Leadership Team @honeybee13). Is it?

 

Most school staff are in a union. Are you? If so have you consulted them? Is the person you want to accompany you a union rep?

[slimceagirl]

Yes this is correct.

 

I will be consulting with the union aswell.

I am just formulating the letter in case this is the advice they give me. 

 

Would it be prudent to mention that the Business Manager is being unprofessional in uploading selfies to Facebook in works time or would that sound like sour grapes? its obvious they are not paying attention to their work. 

[Ethel Street]

I'm tagging @Emmzziwho is  very knowledgeable about employment related matters.

 

I would say definitely do not include anything about the BM posting selfies. It won't help. It's irrelvant to your grievance and you probably don't have solid evidence to prove it anyway. Including it will just make SLT more defensive and it'll be harder to get what you want. Concentrate on the outcome you want, not on trying to show the BM in a bad light.

 

I'm Chair of the Governing Body at a school and have heard many grievances against SLT over the years. I can tell you that you will be more successful if you stick to the relevant facts and don't make personal aspersions against the staff concerned, even if they are true. Something has gone wrong and, as far as it is possible to achieve it, you want to be put back in the financial position you should have been in. Keep focused on that.

[BankFodder]

I suggest that you don't include the information about you having evidence etc.

 

You don't need to disclose this at the moment And in any event it is conflict- oriented and this is probably not the way to start .

 

 

 

[Emmzzi]

I'd strip out any emotion. Just say what went wrong and what you want to happen. for example,

 

Dear ************

I am writing to raise a formal grievance.

 

As required by your letter of (date) re: pensions, I submitted my pension opt out form on (date) to Mr/s xxxx

 

This was well within the time period specified for return, which was xxx

 

This form was not returned to Payroll and Pensions by (name) until two months later and as a result, 3 months deductions of approximately £180 in total were paid into my deferred pension which I have ben advised by (name) are non-refundable.

 

Given the cost of living crisis, I can ill afford these deductions.

 

If payroll are able to recover these funds and return them to me, as a genuine error has been made, I would consider the matter closed.

 

Alternatively if this is not possible I would ask you to consider an ex gratia one off payment of £180 after tax, to put me in the position now that I would have been in, had the forms been returned in time.

 

I look forward to receiving your response as soon as possible.

 

Kind regards,

 

 

Edited November 28, 2022 by Emmzzi

[slimceagirl]

Thankyou, I got it all sorted. Did the letter and they took it to the Chair of Governors. I got a cheque the next day. 

Edited January 5, 2023 by dx100uk
unnecessary previous post quote removed

[dx100uk]

simply for the sake of history with the LGPS and this employer, i've merged and old thread.

 

dx