Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

[teaboy2]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

14 days????? and in the meantime what do I do for money??? i need to be earning but can't get a job with this hanging over me. Does anyone know what benefits I may be entitled to?

Job seekers, housing benefits and maybe child benefits.

[lfc3110]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

Job seekers, housing benefits and maybe child benefits.

Still hardly enough to keep roof over my head and pay the bills. I need a job end of but no chance of that happening agt the moment

[teaboy2]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

I know what your saying i spent years out of work struggling to get by prior to setting my business with the little spare cash i had, but i managed. At the end off all this you will come out on top. But makes sure you claim job seekers and housing benefits to cover your rent, food and priority bill such as gas, electric and water. don't worry about dropping behind on credit cars or loans (though if you have a mortage contact the bank and advise them of whats happened as they can help you with your mortgage) as they are not priority debts and any prejuducie you suffer e.g default on debts will be taken in to account at a tribunal anyway.

Chances are you will hear from them this week.

[leclerc]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

Still hardly enough to keep roof over my head and pay the bills. I need a job end of but no chance of that happening agt the moment

LFC, most on here know my story, I had worked for over 10 years in finance and I was sacked for "gross misconduct"(in my case it was a fair dismissal). I had a few people on here telling me apply for this, this and this with regards to benefits to keep the wolves at bay. Furthermore, on credit cards I had balance transfers so I sent over some cash to put one credit card in credit and got the cheque for the balancing, therefore freeing up more cash on the short term. I visited either in person or via tinterweb to sign up. The difficulty for you that i did not have was that all issues were fully resolved in my case whilst with yours they were not. You need to contact mortgage providers other providers to state that there will be a period in which you may have difficulties making payments. Many providers SHOULD be positive because you have been proactive prior to any arrears which is better than contacting them after the fact. if you have mobile phone on contract then, unless it has free minutes or a decent rate it might be worth asking if they can downgrade the service if it will save the pennies. The most important thing at the moment is for you to survive this period of time when things are up in the air. Once that it is over then things will improve and you come out of this stronger to tackle the world, so to speak.

Keep the chin up.

[lfc3110]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

Received the outcome of my appeal today. Basically they are saying because I replied to an email from hr which apparently had an invite to the appeal attached, they don't believe me and the decision stands. I told them in the appeal that I have the email at home and there is quite clearly no attachment. They said because I had received some correspondenace to my home address they think I received it all and I choose to ignore the invite!! Yet one of their envelopes quite clearly states refused- which suggests its gone to wrong address and someone luckily refused to take it. Need a no win no fee solicitor now I think!! What do you legal bodies suggest?

[teaboy2]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

Received the outcome of my appeal today. Basically they are saying because I replied to an email from hr which apparently had an invite to the appeal attached, they don't believe me and the decision stands. I told them in the appeal that I have the email at home and there is quite clearly no attachment. They said because I had received some correspondenace to my home address they think I received it all and I choose to ignore the invite!! Yet one of their envelopes quite clearly states refused- which suggests its gone to wrong address and someone luckily refused to take it. Need a no win no fee solicitor now I think!! What do you legal bodies suggest?

I agree, best to see if you can get a free consultation with a solicitor and discuss the issue with them, they will likely offer you a no win no win claim. I would alos suggest taking a screen shot of the original email you received that they claim contained an attachment inviting you to the appeal, as that will show no attachment was included, and then send them a copy of the screen shot, informing them you will now begin legal proceedings against them.

Also check you home insurance as you may be entitled to free legal cover from your insurance policy.

[bluebottle]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

LFC, please remember that there are provisions under Section 3, Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (PfHA) to seek damages against the manager and your former employer. If you find yourself out of time with an ET (3 months from date of dismissal), you can pursue them for up to 6 years under PfHA. With Section 3, you can also seek an interim injunction from your local county court preventing any further bullying and by application to a Circuit Judge, the injunction can be made permanent. Teaboy has given you excellent advice and you would be wise to follow it.

One piece of case law that will be of help to your case is the Court of Appeal ruling in the case of Mjrowski -v- Guys and St Thomas's NHS Trust 2005, which makes an employer vicariously liable for harassment by an employee against other employees. The harassment needs to have taken place on least two occasions and the onus is on the bully/harasser to prove their conduct is reasonable in the circumstances and does not amount to harassment.

[teaboy2]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

LFC, please remember that there are provisions under Section 3, Protection from Harassment Act 1997 (PfHA) to seek damages against the manager and your former employer. If you find yourself out of time with an ET (3 months from date of dismissal), you can pursue them for up to 6 years under PfHA. With Section 3, you can also seek an interim injunction from your local county court preventing any further bullying and by application to a Circuit Judge, the injunction can be made permanent. Teaboy has given you excellent advice and you would be wise to follow it.

One piece of case law that will be of help to your case is the Court of Appeal ruling in the case of Mjrowski -v- Guys and St Thomas's NHS Trust 2005, which makes an employer vicariously liable for harassment by an employee against other employees. The harassment needs to have taken place on least two occasions and the onus is on the bully/harasser to prove their conduct is reasonable in the circumstances and does not amount to harassment.

ON top of the great advice above from Blue Bottle, i just thought i would add that the 3 month ticking clock for issuing a tribunal claim actually starts from the last event. That would be the date in which received their letter informing you that your appeal was rejected.

How have you go on with finding a free consulation, or with your home insurance legal help.

[lfc3110]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

haven't got legal cover on my home insurance so can't go down that route. Still waiting for solicitor to get back to me regards no win no fee. Also my employers say there is no case against my ex boss as there is no evidence

[bluebottle]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

haven't got legal cover on my home insurance so can't go down that route. Still waiting for solicitor to get back to me regards no win no fee. Also my employers say there is no case against my ex boss as there is no evidence

Really? They all say that. Then they're going to be in for a shock when they find it is they who have to produce evidence to prove the manager's conduct does not amount to harassment and that they are vicariously liable for the manager's conduct. Also, the manager is going to be in for a shock as well when she has to produce evidence to prove that her conduct did not amount to harassment.

Claiming there's no evidence is a common tactic. If they say it again, just refer them to the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, Sections 1, 2, 3 and 7 and mention that the matter is dealt with by the courts, not ETs, and damages are unlimited. I doubt, after hearing that, they'll be so keen to parrot the "No evidence" remark again.

[leclerc]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

haven't got legal cover on my home insurance so can't go down that route. Still waiting for solicitor to get back to me regards no win no fee. Also my employers say there is no case against my ex boss as there is no evidence

Just to add to Bluebottle's post:

1) Failure to inform you of the disciplinary.
2) Contacting your new employee when the disciplinary process was not complete.
3) Failure to provide you with evidence of the alleged offence that you were sacked because of.

That's just the basics and a solicitor has yet to get involved in the case. I would not have further contact with your previous employer because they have decided that you are guilty as charged. Have they even bothered to ask you to repay any money that they allege you owe?

[lfc3110]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

Just to add to Bluebottle's post:

1) Failure to inform you of the disciplinary.
2) Contacting your new employee when the disciplinary process was not complete.
3) Failure to provide you with evidence of the alleged offence that you were sacked because of.

That's just the basics and a solicitor has yet to get involved in the case. I would not have further contact with your previous employer because they have decided that you are guilty as charged. Have they even bothered to ask you to repay any money that they allege you owe?

I have not been asked to repay any monies that I alleged owe them no
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Had a text message off one of my former colleagues to say- now that I've gone- it seems it's her turn from the bullying from my ex manager

[teaboy2]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

I have not been asked to repay any monies that I alleged owe them no
------------------------------- merged -------------------------------
Had a text message off one of my former colleagues to say- now that I've gone- it seems it's her turn from the bullying from my ex manager

Any details on the kind of bullying your former colleague was on the receiving end off? Also ask her if she would give a witness statement of the bullying you received in exchange for providing a witness statement to her supporting any claim (Grievance) she makes that the manager is a bully - Tell her to keep a record (date/time/description of event) for all instances of bullying no matter how small or irelevant it may seem.

[bluebottle]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

LFC,

With the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, you can pursue both your employer and the manager for up to 6 years after the date of your dismissal. This is useful if you run out of time for an ET or are not up to fighting your employers at an ET. Also, the onus of proof, under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 lies on the employer and the employee engaging in the bullying, in this case, the manager, to prove the conduct towards you does not amount to harassment, that the conduct was reasonable in the circumstances and that any reasonable person in possession of the facts of the matter would consider the conduct to amount to harassment. The three points raised in Leclerc's post above are sufficient to constitute harassment and could be cited in any civil litigation against them under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997. The advice Teaboy has given you in his post above is the best advice you could be given, i.e. keep a diary. Such evidence in legal proceedings of this nature can be very damning.

[lfc3110]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

I seem to be hitting brick walls. The solicitor I saw before my appeal who indicated he would take the case on on a no win no fee has now turned round and said this
'any employment claim to be embarked upon by yourself would not have the strength or merits required in order for us to be able to enter into a "no win, no fee" or conditional fee agreement with you.
Stephen would be able to act on your behalf on a "paid for" basis and I would advise that Mr Taylor Heath's charging rate currently is £235.00 per hour plus VAT and that an estimate for preparing and issuing a claim and carrying out all of the steps leading to a full hearing, including any interim hearings would be a minimum of around £7,000-£8,000 plus VAT. On that basis you would need to recover in excess of this in damages and it is Stephen's view that this is unlikely. Furthermore, should you be unsuccessful in your claim you would expose yourself to a likelihood of having to pay the Defendant's costs which would be a similar figure to that of your own and this is a real risk for you as your mistaken use of the company credit card is a matter which could be viewed as one which would merit your dismissal in any event.

There is of course no charge for the advice given to this point as your meeting was a free of charge half hour advice meeting.

So now I have hit a brick wall and don't know which way to turn