Tribunal coming up, employer constantly calling and sending letters regarding absence

[penguin25]

Hello everyone,

I have an Employment Tribunal coming up (CMD first) and it is in relation to disability discrimination at work. I have been absent from work for just over five months. I attended a grievance meeting and told them everything about how i had been treated at work, which they denied in the Outcome letter, and also threw in some lies about me. At the grievance meeting, i informed the manager that i would not be returning to work as i felt too humiliated. Prior to the meeting, i received three letters which said my employer would be coming to my home to discuss my absence. I did not respond to these letters as i did not feel ready to speak to them. Obviously my employer knows that i am taking them to a tribunal and no longer wish to work for them but i received another letter a couple of weeks ago headed 'Sickness Absence Review'. The letter said that my manager and another would be coming to my home. On the day of the meeting, i got numerous phone calls and voice mails left, which i did not reply to. I was getting myself worked up everytime my phone went and i saw it was them calling. A voicemail from my manager said that they would be coming to my home whether they heard back from me or not, but nobody came anyway. I received another letter today from my employer which once again said that they would be coming to my home to discuss my absence and listen to my thoughts on returning to work. It says that if they do not hear from me then they will take that as i am happy for the meeting to go ahead. I do not wish to speak to my employer and would prefer to leave things to the tribunal but i don't want to appear as though i am being awkward. I feel harassed with the letters, calls and voice messages and wish they would leave me alone. Do i need to attend a Sickness Absence Meeting, given the circumstances? They know i am not going back, so why do they continue to hound me? In the grievance Outcome letter, they said that i acted in a threatening/aggressive manner and this is one of the reasons i don't want to meet with them. I do not want to give them the opportunity to lie about me again. I'd like to send an email stating politely that i do not wish any further contact but i don't know what to write and i don't know if that would reflect badly on me at the tribunal. Any help is appreciated, thank you.

[Kati]

Re: Tribunal coming up, employer constantly calling and sending letters regarding abs

[MENTION=19071]teaboy2[/MENTION] - another one for you I think

[teaboy2]

Re: Tribunal coming up, employer constantly calling and sending letters regarding abs

Ok think you need to give us a bit more of a back ground story here to be honest, since there is already a claim at tribunal going through.

Can you provide us a back ground story as to what led up to your making a claim to tribunal (including dates of instances of discrimination, etc)?

What was your reason for not being at work for the last 5 months?

Have you been signed off by your doctor - If so what were you signed off for?

Have the company referred you to occupational health team?

Can you provide details as to how many phone calls your receiving on average each day they call you?

Have you attended any of the Sickness reviews interviews? If not, why not - As they are meant to be for your benefit not the companies benefit and the aim of them is to discuss your absence and reason for it and what they could do to help you return to work and resolve any issues that may have led to your taking time off.

Did you make your tribunal claim through ACAS? or a solicitor?

The more details you can give us the more we would be able to help you. Also please use paragraphs too, as its hard to read when everything is in one huge paragraph.

[penguin25]

Re: Tribunal coming up, employer constantly calling and sending letters regarding abs

Hi Teaboy,

Apologies for the lack of paragraphs. For a little over ten years i have suffered with depression and anxiety, which comes and goes. I worked for the company for just over one year. I was working long hours and it got too much for me, so around September 2014 i was diagnosed with stress/anxiety and prescribed medication. I informed my manager of this and also my coordinator (telling them i had suffered from depression on/off for years too). I explained that i could no longer work these long hours and asked for my hours to be cut a little, while i got better. From then on, my hours were decreased even further, although i did not want this. My manager had asked my coordinator why he was not giving me much work and he indicated that there was no reason in particular, and that there was lots of work available in my area but he still would not give me anymore.

My coordinator spoke loudly in front of others about my medication and stress/anxiety, said in front of someone else that he cut my hours because of the medication i was on (then of course, denied it), mocked me, laughed at me, ignored me on one occasion, constantly rolled his eyes when i was speaking and my hours continued to decrease, meaning that i was earning £50/£60 each week. Certain shifts were also taken from me and given to someone else. Nothing like this had happened prior to me informing them of my situation.

I spoke to my manager about all of this, who said that they would 'get it sorted' and told me not to worry. I must have spoken to my manager around five or six times and nothing changed, including my hours. It got to the point where i would go home sobbing everyday and i got myself so worked up about going into the office that it was all i could think about.

I was signed off by my doctor for two weeks in December 2014 with stress/anxiety. My employer refused to pay me SSP because i had not worked enough hours (due to the coordinator gradually decreasing them right down). After this, i tried to claim ESA and was offered £11 a week for some reason, which i declined. I did not hand in anymore sick lines but kept in touch with my supervisor to let them know how things were going. The supervisor never passed my messages on to the manager, so it looked as though i had not kept in contact.

Not long after becoming unwell, i received a call from Occupational Health, who had said my manager referred me. I told the woman i was not aware of this and she said the call could not continue, as my manager needs to inform me first. So nothing came of that.

The very first letter i received after becoming unwell in December 2014, was on 27th February 2015, with my employer inviting themselves to my home for a Case Review. I did not feel up to this, so rearranged. The next letter was dated 13th March 2015, asking me to call the office to rearrange the review. This is when i spoke to the supervisor, telling him i did not feel well enough to attend a review and he said he would pass this on, but never did as i found out later. On 20th March 2015, a letter said 'We have tried to contact you numerous times and we have also been leaving voice messages and sending letters'. It continued to say that as i have failed to follow absence notification procedures, i may be subject to investigation on my return, which worried me even more. It said that failure to respond will result in SSP being stopped (but i was never paid this in the first place)

I wrote a grievance letter and then received a letter dated 3rd April 2015 confirming receipt of this. A meeting was arranged for 10th April 2015 but i had to rearrange this due to a hospital appointment. The grievance meeting was scheduled for 22nd April 2015, which i attended. At the end of the meeting, i said i did not feel that i could return to work because i felt too humiliated and i told them i've had to find another job because of this. The manager thanked me and wished me luck with the new job.

In the Outcome letter, they more or less denied everything, with the words 'Not Upheld' after every concern discussed.

On 15th May 2015, i got a letter titled 'Invite to Sickness Review' which had my absence record attached. It said a meeting will take place at my home on 22nd May 2015. I have not attended these reviews as i have been suicidal, am on anti-depressants and have an appointment with a clinical psychologist soon. On the 22nd May 2015, i had two missed calls from my employer and three voice mails. One was from a member of staff asking me to call them back, another from the same person giving me a different number to call them on and the third was from the manager saying that she's got another meeting to go to, she's busy and she will come to my home whether i get in touch or not. Nobody turned up.

On the 27th May 2015, a letter said that they have again made numerous calls but have not heard from me. They have again arranged another meeting and it says that they require regular meetings to discuss my health and my thoughts on returning to work.

I made it clear that i have no intention of working for them because of my treatment and told them i have had to find another job.

I raised my concerns informally in September 2014 when it all started but was not satisfied with the outcome. I then raised a formal grievance but again, was not satisfied. I contacted ACAS, who issued me with a certificate and advised me to submit an ET claim before it was too late, which i did. I have a Case Management Discussion next month and received another letter to say that the claim and response have not been dismissed and the CMD is to go ahead.

ACAS contacted the employer regarding a settlement and the employer was not willing to make me an offer but instead, asked me to make them an offer. I did this and the employer asked if this would include termination of employment, which i said yes to. ACAS got back to me again and said the employer rejected my offer (saying they believe i do not have a claim), however, they offered me a tiny amount of money, which felt like another insult. I rejected it and decided to leave it to the tribunal. If you require anymore information, please just ask. Thanks again.

[teaboy2]

Re: Tribunal coming up, employer constantly calling and sending letters regarding abs

Right you need to inform ACAS that the employer is still hounding you with calls etc requiring your to attend a case review - which you now deem as harassment.

As per your hours, what were your contracted hours?

When you told them you no longer wanted to work for them you effectively quit! Therefore legally your no longer their employee as you resigned without notice.

As for not paying SSP, well depending on your answer reference contract hours, you may well actually have been entitled to it and entitled to being paid for the contracted hours regardless as to whether the employer gave you any work or not!

P.S. as you are no longer their employee then their actions actually amount to a breach of the protection from harassment act 1997 - Which is a criminal offence, though you can also sue them via the civil courts for damages for the distress they have caused you. You may wish to add this to your employment tribunal claim too, as it amounts to bullying and harassment under the equality act 2010 which is more specific for harassment and bullying committed by and employer or another employee! It also amounts to a breach of their duty of care towards you, which is an implied contractual term in all employment contracts.