Accused of harassment at work

[Bradersn]

Re: Accused of harassment at work

As far as I know it has not been put in the accident book nor reported to health & safety inspectors, I do feel as if I'm getting no support from tesco as they are now saying I instigated the assault and am costing the store money in terms of my hours being covered.

Is there anybody on this forum who can advise me about some sort of court order against the man that attacked me as I have reason to believe if he sees me he will do it again.

[bluebottle]

Re: Accused of harassment at work

As far as I know it has not been put in the accident book nor reported to health & safety inspectors, I do feel as if I'm getting no support from tesco as they are now saying I instigated the assault and am costing the store money in terms of my hours being covered.

Is there anybody on this forum who can advise me about some sort of court order against the man that attacked me as I have reason to believe if he sees me he will do it again.

Firstly, as you are off work and drawing Statutory Sick Pay (SSP) and it relates to an incident that happened during the course of your employment, it must be recorded in the Accident Book. However, I will ask Miliitant to advise on this point as he is an expert on health and safety at work issues.

So Tesco are saying you instigated the assault. Do they have any evidence to substantiate this allegation? They need to be reminded that they have a statutory duty to ensure you work in a safe working environment. Get your union, if you are a member, to get this through to Tesco.

Before going to court and seeking a Prohibitory Injunction I would strongly advise you to speak to the police about this. Obviously, they are investigating the matter and anything that could prejudice the investigation isn't going to go down well. They will be able to tell you if it would help them to prevent a repetition of what happened and also provide them with a means of keeping the ex-boyfriend in his box.

[miliitant]

Re: Accused of harassment at work

FAILURE OF AN EMPLOYER IN NOT REPORTING AN ACCIDENT/INCIDENT UNDER THE ACCIDENT MANAGEMENT PROCEDURE


The primary legislation is contained within Regulation 25 of the Social Security (claims and payments) Regulations 1979 (as amended),

Inparticular section 3 which read

Regulation 25(1). “Every employer shall take reasonable steps to investigate the circumstances of every accident of which notice is given to him or to his servant or agent in accordance with the provisions of regulation 24

Regulation 25(3.)

This requires employers of 10 or more people (employed at the same time at the same business premises) to( A) keep readily accessible a means (whether in a book or books or by electronic means), in a form approved by the Secretary of State, by which a person employed by the employer or some other person acting on his behalf may record the appropriate particulars; and (b) Keep any such records for at least three years from the date they were first entered.

Comment:

It is regulation 25(3) that places the duty on employers to keep Accident Books Inparticular with regard to the above regulation, I would draw to the attention of the business the following points

1/ the accident book or equivalent must be readily accessible

2/ it is a matter for the employee, not the employer, or any one acting on behalf of the employer, whether an entry is made in the accident book or equivalent

3/ there is no restriction on the nature or type of accident or injury that can be entered into the accident book or equivalent. With reference to paragraph 2,

I would assert that it is for the employee to determine whether or not they have sustained a personal injury or not, or if they have been involved in an accident

4/ there is no time limit on the time in which an accident has to have occurred in order for the employee to make a record in the accident book or equivalent.

Regulation 25 (3)(b) implicitly recognises that an entry may be made at some point after the accident occurred.

I also need to bring to the attention of the business that failure to allow a recording in the ACCIDENT BOOK system from the employee will put the business in breach statutory duty pursuant to Regulation 5 of the Management of Healthand Safety at Work Regulations 1999

PROCEDURE ON REPORTING ACCIDENTS

All accidents and incidents have to be recorded into the accident book system by statutory authority. This comes under RIDDOR which requires the following be reported:

• Deaths
• Major Injuries – There is a list of actual injuries that are included under this category, for example: amputations, loss of sight, most types of fracture.
• Accidents that result in more than three days off work
• Diseases – This category includes a number of specific diseases for example those that affect the skin, or lungs. In addition, if a doctor notifies you that an employee is suffering from a reportable work-related disease, then it must be reported.
• Dangerous Occurrences – These are occurrences where nobody was actually hurt but the potential was there for someone to be injured. Again, there is a list of specific occurrences that must be reported, for example those involving pipelines or an electrical short circuit that results in fire.

The business has an obligation to ensure that all accidents are reported within 24 hours of notification of the accident/incident, 48 hours on a weekend/bank holiday FROM BEING NOTIFIED. If the employee is confined to hospital for example, the employee’simmediate line manager is responsible for the accident recording

Last but not least, I must bring to the attention of the business Regulation 4 of the Safety Representatives and Safety Committee Regulations 1977 on investigating accidents, and the inclusion of certificated Health and Safety Representativesin in any investigation with a representative from the business

Regulation1 (a) (b) (c) 2 (a)
Regulation6 (1) (a) (b)

The reasons for an inspection on a reportable accident/incident is to determine the route cause analysis, and not to apportion any blame on either the employer or employee.

Measures can then be put in place to prevent a recurrence. For this reason any investigation should be a joint venture by the employer and Health and Safety Representative.

A business own terms and conditions do not over ride statute legislation

[MIKE770]

Re: Accused of harassment at work

The Law Society has criticised the ‘fundamentally flawed’ logic behind government plans to scrap an employer’s liability for a third party’s harassment of an employee.

The plan, set out in a Government Equalities Office consultation which closed on 7 August, argues that such liability is an ‘onerous’ burden on business and, along with a raft of other employment red tape, discourages employers from taking on more staff.

The Society responds that the government has ‘not detailed or quantified’ the burden that the present third party harassment rules impose on employers and also that there is ‘no reported evidence that this burden is onerous’.

Current provisions require employers to act when they have been informed of the harassment and when it has happened on at least two previous occasions. The employer is not held responsible for the third party’s actions, but is held liable for failing to address them.

The consultation document also argues that the provisions serve no useful purpose because there have been few prosecutions under them.

The Society, in its response, points to 2007 research showing considerable evidence of third party harassment, in particular on the grounds of race and sexual orientation. It argues that the few prosecutions that have taken place since the Equality Act 2010 came into force show that the provisions have a deterrent effect, with employers displaying notices warning customers that harassment will not be tolerated and advising staff on what to do should such harassment occur.

The Society’s response adds that alternative ways of raising proceedings against third party harassers, such as claiming under the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, would also place an administrative burden on employers and require appearing before a criminal court, which is more costly than appearing at a tribunal.

‘The logic behind the proposal to remove (the provisions) because only a few cases are brought and that it places a regulatory burden on employers is fundamentally flawed,’ the response said.



Info for Peeps = just Info if relevant to yourselves, will try to update on future events.

This is what is going on at the moment regarding Harrasement at the work place, just for your info.

[miliitant]

Re: Accused of harassment at work

is the above just a proposal mike or is it going through as a white paper at the moment

[bluebottle]

Re: Accused of harassment at work

Where did the government dig it up that the PHA is a burden on businesses and and requires the matter to go before the criminal courts? Few, if any, cases under the PHA end up in front of the criminal courts. Where the PHA is used to deal with the effects of workplace bullying, it is dealt with by the civil courts.

It seems to me that the Tories and their assorted right-wing nutter support groups feel that bullying in the workplace is acceptable and should be allowed. It is something that should be fought tooth and nail. Thing is, Posh Boy and his cronies have got to survive in office long enough to get it as far as the White Paper stage. Something tells me that something is going to happen or come out between now and the beginning of October this year that will force a General Election towards the end of this year and no party will have a majority.

[Bradersn]

Re: Accused of harassment at work

Thank you for that infomation I've got a meeting with a union rep next week to discuss how tesco management have treated me so got most of that printed off aswell as other bits and pieces.

Just an update, still suffering with the anxiety and post concussion syndrome things like short term memory loss. My doctor has signed me off for a further week which I will go with as well his a doctor and knows what's best!

Just a big worried as with tesco if I take sick leave 3 times in 6 months it goes to a disciplinary, this is my fourth so am worried about my job again now, but it's been on the advice of doctors that I have the tine off so they can't sack me surely? Thinking they may say to me I'm not fit enough to work if I continue to bring personal issues into the workplace but then again I just need the time to recover.

I've nothing to worth about do I?

[bluebottle]

Re: Accused of harassment at work

Thank you for that infomation I've got a meeting with a union rep next week to discuss how tesco management have treated me so got most of that printed off aswell as other bits and pieces.

Just an update, still suffering with the anxiety and post concussion syndrome things like short term memory loss. My doctor has signed me off for a further week which I will go with as well his a doctor and knows what's best!

Just a big worried as with tesco if I take sick leave 3 times in 6 months it goes to a disciplinary, this is my fourth so am worried about my job again now, but it's been on the advice of doctors that I have the tine off so they can't sack me surely? Thinking they may say to me I'm not fit enough to work if I continue to bring personal issues into the workplace but then again I just need the time to recover.

I've nothing to worth about do I?

If you are genuinely ill and have a MED3 to cover it, an employer should not be threatening you with disciplinary action. That to me sounds like treating health and safety at work legislation with contempt. I would dearly love to see an employer trying to justify disciplinary action against an employee who is off sick with an injury that happened on duty because of the employer's lack of care. An employer who ignores a medical professional's advice and orders an employee back to work by threatening disciplinary action would, in my considered judgement, be committing offences under Section 2, HASAWA 1974 and Regulation 3, MOHASAWR 1999. But then, Tesco's senior management is so deluded, they believe the law doesn't apply to them and they can do what they like without fear of consequence. Yeah, in their dreams.

[pigletnhs]

Re: Accused of harassment at work

i had a similar situation , was in an affair with a colleage. itlasted nine years and ended very very accrimoniously, when her husband found out she triedto make out it was all my fault,saying id somehow forced her and blackmailed her into the relationship..he made her go the police and make a statement of harrassment against me..byt at the same time she was begging me to gpo along with her story..it ended up i told her i was going into the police with my solicitor to tell them my side , i had numerous adult type texts and videos off her i was going to show the police,,in the end she begged me not to, and withdrew her allegation..end result,she is now known to the polce as a timewasting adulterous woman, and my reputation is unblemished ..my advice..stand up to these reputation ruining vixens.there just bullies .and will do anything to save themselves when it gets heated in the kitchen..i did ask the police if they would prosecuteher for wasting there time , but they wouldnt..same old story , not interested unless your a petite sexy blonde ..good luck and please do move on .