Employment tribunal (mutual termination settlement)

[Riddy95]

Hi guys,

I have my hearing in a few weeks. My employer whom I still work for, has offered me a settlement on the basis that I part ways with the company. This is not something I want, so I have refused this offer. However it has made me extremely paranoid that they want rid of me, so I'm worried that when I do go tribunal and win, is their anyway they can get sack me for any reason? I work for one of the big 6 supermarkets.

Thanks!

[Riddy95]

Hi all,
I am new here and had no idea this forum existed!

Is a lack of completing a stress risk assessment a failure to make reasonable adjustments? My employer was reccomended 5 times by occ health to do a risk assessment, but failed to do so. They only completed the assessment with me after I lodged a grievance, and won on appeal. Their it was concluded that a risk assessment should have been done

A risk assessment is a key document as it shows stressors, and can assist with making adjustments. Since they didn't complete one for over a year, it meant no adjustments were made apart from a phased return when I was off sick so whilst I was working for this period they didn't do a risk assessment or make adjustments, instead doing performance management. I have tribunal for this reason end of this month.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks

[Law Student 6]

Thank you for your enquiry.

Your employer cannot just fire you for no reason. It is vital that there is a valid reason for letting you. The employer must follow:

1. disciplinary procedure
2. Take notes and gather evidence
3. Ensure they have a valid reason for the dismissal
4. Take care not to discriminate
5. Invite the employee to a disciplinary meeting
6. Adjourn the meeting to make your decision
7. Communicate the outcome to the employee
8. Remind the employee of their right to appeal
9. Follow up the meeting in writing
10. Consider the rest of the business
11. Stay consistent

However if there is no valid reason for dismissal then fear not.

How long have you worked for the company?

If worse comes to worse and you are let go unfairly, depending on your length of service, if under two years, you can claim an automatically unfair dismissal or over two years claim unfair dismissal. However, it is unlikely to come to that. Here is a link just in case - https://www.gov.uk/dismiss-staff/unfair-dismissals

Hope this helps.

[ULA]

I appreciate you are new to our forum and

Can i just ask whether this issue has a bearing on your other thread. If so then I will merge these otherwise it could lead to those of us providing the advice not be aware of all the facts,which would impact the advice we give.

[Riddy95]

Yes please merge, i thought separate questions need separate thread! Thanks

[Riddy95]

Hi, I have been working for my employer for 4 years now, thanks for your response! Very reassuring and has put my mind at ease.

[Riddy95]

Could you also help on above please, regarding a stress risk assessment.

Thanks

[ULA]

Law Student 6 I have merged two threads from this poster as they had a relevant thread to this one however well done on the thread you answered.

Riddy95 thank you for confirming that you have 4 years service.

In regard to the second thread merged in to this one, you say that the stress risk assessment (SRA) was recommended on 5 occassion by OH to be carried out, was this because of a report they had done on your situation at work/medical condition?

Did this report only recommend an SRA initially before any recommendations on reasonable adjustments could be given, or where there reasonsable adjustments recommended as well?

[Riddy95]

Many thanks for your reply. The refferals to OH were made as a result of my depression.

Here is a summary of the reports.

Oct 2019 I am diagnosed with depression, as a result I am off sick.

referred to OH Oct 2019, they reccomend phased rtw and adjustment to duties. When I returned to work, I was given a phased return to work and duties, but no amendment to duties after the phased return.

2nd January, follow up referral. They identify work and home stressor and reccomend a SRA, and adjustment to shift pattern (manager refused adjustment to shift as I was late on few occasions, due to commitments and health) I put in flex working request, again they refused, instead offered me a more difficult role, less flexible, which I refused.

Off sick again, after line manager begun performance management in April 2020.

MAY 2020 as a result of 2nd period of sickness, my OH referral. Here they suggest again a risk assessment, they also suggest a phased return, and phased return to duties.

I returned to work in July, no phased returns were discussed. My manager claims she did a stress risk assessment during a wellbeing call we had on zoom, she didn't tell me she os conducting one, nor was it documented on paper. She simply asked me stress tool questions, however no action was taken on the stress tools.

12TH Oct, referral to OH for a cough I had. They suggest again a SRA

20th Oct, due to disclose of another medical condition I have another OH app, again they suggest a SRA.

I raised a grievance, the grievance was not upheld and was maintained that the wellbeing call stress tool is a risk assessment. I appealed, and on appeal they said that although it was discussed, a sra was not completed and needs to be completed ASAP. Additionally a full refferal to oh for both my conditions (depression, ibs), which hadn't been done before.

12th Jan 21,is when I had the full referral, here they specifically outlined adjustments to targets and duties, extra comfort breaks. I completed sra in December after the grievance appeal.

I apologise if it is quite long, but it was a long campaign of discrimination, theirs much more to this than just a SRA, but this is one of my main points in the tribunal.

To summarise, it was 4 times suggested for a SRA, since disclosure of depression in Oct 2019, I was only given a phased return for 6 weeks which she failed to review at the end of the period (oh did suggest re refer if continues to be stressful after 6 weeks). Since then, no adjustments were placed whatsoever until Dec 2020, when I had the grievance appeal.

Thank you

[ULA]

From what you have said the SRA was a recommendation of an OH report together with some identified reasonable adjustments in Jan 2020. Employers have a duty of care for their employees. Therefore an SRA being identified as something that should be completed as a result of an OH recommendation, means your employer should have given serious consideration to doing this and if they decided not to should have communicated the reasons for this decision to you.

What also appears to be an issue is that recommendations were made by OH for reasonable adjustments which do not appear to have implemented. Again the company should have considered these and communicated why they did not believe them to be reasonsable adjustments.

[Riddy95]

Thank you so much!
From the bundle, my line manager repeatedly says "this is a colleague who takes his full sick entitlement and personal time every year", can this be a defence for her? Her assumption, with no proof is that my conditions don't exist.
Another point is, my employers solicitors have on 3 occasions not complied with case management orders (disability disclosure, bundle) we have agreed to delay witness statements twice, because they kept persisting. Now, with the deadline tomorrow they again want to delay. I refused to delay witness statements again and they replied to say that they won't be complete by the deadline. What can I do to tell the tribunal they are refusing to comply with their orders, and will still delay witness statements even if I don't agree a 3rd extention?
Thanks

[ULA]

I cannot comment on their defence as you have not said what your claim is for but I am presuming from what you have said that it is possibly disability discrimination. Please confirm and I can then come back to this point.

You could go back to them and say that they have disregarded the deadline set out in the CMO for the exchange of WS's and that you have agreed on two occasions to a delay. You require that WS's are now exchanged by and give a date next week and if this does not happen you will be making an application to the Tribunal for an Order to exchange WS's.

If you not in receipt of them on the date then you will need to make the application to the Tribunal and you must copy in the respondent. In that application I would advise that you set out in brief the details of your agreement to vary the CMO in regard to this exchange i.e dates and missed deadlines.

[Riddy95]

Yes you are correct, disability discrimination, and harassment related to disabilities.

I have today written to the courts, because they missed 4 orders, and now failed to comply with witness statements. I just wrote a letter stating the facts of the missed orders, just to make the tribunal aware of the contempt from the respondent. I did not specifically make an order for anything, just simply stated what the respondent had failed to do. At least the tribunal will be aware.

Thank you

[ULA]

Did you copy in the respondent? If not you should have done so under Rule 92 of the The Employment Tribunals Rules of Procedure 2013 (as amended).

The defence for the company is in needing to prove that their actions have not amounted to harassment or been on the grounds of disability, how they decide to defend their position is down to them/their represestative. Your efforts need to be about proving your claim and finding inconsistencies or inaccurracies in the defence and witness statements when you get access to them.

[Riddy95]

Yes I have copied in the solicitor handling the respondents case.

I await the witness statements.

My main case is no SRA, and no adjustments (apart from phased return 2019)

The harassment is related to degrading comments during performance management, unreasonable targets, setting me upto fail, initiating performance management without adjustments, not referring to OH when needed, trying to bully me into the office, Sarcastic comments during meetings, and on WhatsApp. My witness statement is 22k words long, it is a very lengthy csmpaign which lasted over a year. I hope if I win, to be awarded somewhere between upper middle band to lower higher band.

Thanks