18 days since I appealed. No date yet!

[Acjb007]

Some of you will know I was dismissed from work on the grounds of gross misconduct. I appealed and it's been 18 days. I'm just wondering how long it took others on here who appeal?

[Trev1234]

Re: 18 days since I appealed. No date yet!

Hi - dismissed 30/6 appeal notified 26/7 for 29/9!

Reasonable should be a few weeks.....

[FlamingParrot]

Re: 18 days since I appealed. No date yet!

Some of you will know I was dismissed from work on the grounds of gross misconduct. I appealed and it's been 18 days. I'm just wondering how long it took others on here who appeal?

Around 3 weeks and that was back in 2003 so nothing much has changed. The appeal was just a pre-claim formality, it wasn't submitted with expectations of reconsideration or re-instatement, in fact, that was my worst nightmare! :shocked:

[Trev1234]

Re: 18 days since I appealed. No date yet!

Yep as FP states that is exactly the mindset I have. They ain't going to say 'ooops sorry big mistake, you're ace come back. Please'.

T

[Acjb007]

Re: 18 days since I appealed. No date yet!

I thought they'd be eager to get the appeal done ASAP due to if the appeal is successful they will have to compensate for each day from the day of dismissal. Considering they have breached their terms of contract and discriminated against me. It's no longer about gross misconduct it's now about how badly and unfairly they have followed the disciplinary process.

[Acjb007]

Re: 18 days since I appealed. No date yet!

It's now been 41 days. Acas said it should have been dealt with in 7-14 days. I've written to work telling them they have not followed a fair appeal proces or followed Acas guidelines. I also stated the delay has caused unnecessary stress and anxiety which has caused ill health. Is there any thing else I can do? Get Acas to write to them? Content head office and let them know what a shambles the store is making of my appeal?

[Trev1234]

Re: 18 days since I appealed. No date yet!

Does it actually matter at an ET given I have had to wait 3 months? They don't appear to care either way?

41 days isn't fair - and I did write in to highlight this for the ET should it come to that. They did offer an appeal outside of their policy with the same officers involved in the dismissal - why on earth would I take that?

Best of luck!

T

[FlamingParrot]

Re: 18 days since I appealed. No date yet!

As I said earlier, the appeal is purely a formality and a part of the process you are supposed to follow. They may well be trying to make you miss your deadline for early conciliation and ET claim by delaying it but that being the case, you'd still submit your request and claim in time and say you were made to wait an unreasonable length of time for the appeal. One thing is for sure: you don't want to be out of time so submit the request for early conciliation before the three months are up and say they've been delaying the appeal. :thumb:

[Trev1234]

Re: 18 days since I appealed. No date yet!

Good point FP for all of us readers!

[cupidstunt]

Re: 18 days since I appealed. No date yet!

Are you still in time? if not get your ET started asap and state the reason for hold up, I got allowed to continue even though out of time and the Judge agreed at the hearing that the respondent had tried to stall.

[Acjb007]

Re: 18 days since I appealed. No date yet!

It's now been 45 days since my original appeal letter. My second appeal letter was sent 9 days ago and I wrote they have failed to follow a fair appeal process as Acas stated it should be dealt with in 7-14 days. I also mentioned the delay is causing unnecessary stress and anxiety which has caused ill health. My gp is trying to help but is limited as to what he can give me due to my liver disease. To be honest the company I feel is playing games with my life.

To answer your question, I have just over a month left until my 3 months are up. I wish I could take them to a tribunal now as the list is becoming longer with all their mistakes and a judge would hopefully set an example of them. My list is unfair dismissal by not following a fair disciplinary process, disability discrimination by ignoring my medical notes, breach of contract by not following their own disaplinary policy, causing unnecessary delay with my appeal resulting in ill health which the company is aware of my very serious health problems. I know I did wrong but I'm so angry now and my reason for dismissal is nothing compared to how badly they've treated me. The company also owe me Ł130 in unclaimed expenses. Thanks for your support and help.

[Acjb007]

Re: 18 days since I appealed. No date yet!

Update....it's now been 11 days since my second appeal letter and still no word from them. Acas said to write to them saying it's my final letter and I demand to hear from them within 4 days or Acas will then take over for early consiliation as they are being unreasonable taking unfair amount of time to respond. I'm to send it recorded so work can't say it was never received. In total it's 47 days since I originally appealed. My anxiety and stress levels are becoming so bad I'm struggling to hide it in my new job

[Acjb007]

Re: 18 days since I appealed. No date yet!

Update. I wrote to work saying Acas had told me waiting 48 days for an appeal date is not following their fair appeal policy. I demanded a response in 5 days or Acas will take over my case and deal with them directly. I got a letter, hand delivered the following day. All it said was another store will be dealing with my dappeal and be in contact shortly. so....still no date or apology for the delay. I've now lost 2 of my 3 months to get the appeal over and done with. If they haven't dealt with it by 5th Nov I can't tame it to a tribunal. Any advice or should I let Acas take over in the hope of early consiliation. I want to take it to a tribunal as I'm sick of how the company has messed me about and they know of my health condition.

[Trev1234]

Re: 18 days since I appealed. No date yet!

I'm not sure if you've completed the ACAS concilliation form and if not do this Monday - ACAS will contact your ex-employers and commence concilliation. Be aware it might not go anywhere so in parallel seek legal advice and be drafting up details of your appeal for the ET1.

You have 4 weeks with ACAS (and a bit more if needed) which will stop the deadline from Monday; after ACAS concilliation ends you have a further 4 weeks.

You have time but get on with it, the earlier they know you are pursuing formal arrangements the more likely they will respond. Write everything down and keep a meticulous diary of events.

Good luck!

T

[Acjb007]

Re: 18 days since I appealed. No date yet!

I haven't filled out the Acas form yet. I want to speak to Acas first tomorrow and give work a chance for a date. Deadlines tomorrow. I want Acas to state I'm claiming for unfair dismissal due to disability discrimination, failing to take medical evidence into account as mitigating circumstances, not following their own disaplinary policy which is also breach of contract. Since the disciplinary I want to claim for unfairly delaying the appeal process which has lead to unnecessary medical issues like insomnia, anxiety, and stress. All of which are seriously damaging to my current health conditions which the company are aware of. Breach of confidenciality due to management discussing my health issues with colleagues to which I have a witness. I also have proof in the form of texts which show 2 days before I was dismissed I was removed from the rota, my staff card destroyed and a job I had done for a year was given to another colleague. All these things show a decision was made before my hearing. So as you can see all in all the company has seriously failed to follow a fair disciplinary and damaged my reputation with gossip. Also although not proven my health which my gp and specialist can back up has been effected badly for a long period which they should have dealt with in 7-14 days if they had followed Acas guidelines. I'm at high risk of hemeraging again if my blood pressure raises or my lifestyle is disrupted by lack of sleep, stress etc. I've found it seriously difficult to hold down my new job with all these issues and I'm proud I've remained strong and not relapsed.