Hi all, there was an old thread on here relating to Debt Managers which I now can't find. Can anyone let me know where it is? Also I would welcome any updates on this company. All the best, Paul

No they can't! They can only do this if you agree. You are available to work and therefore fulfil your contracted hours/days of work. If your boss tells you not to come to work then they have to pay you. Whilst it is not your companies fault that the whole estate is closed neither is it yours. They should have insurance to cover this sort of event. Regards, Paul.

Hi Seq, In the absence of any mention of timescales in your companies policy I think a week is reasonable to acknowledge it and really it should be held within 2 weeks as there is no one else involved so he doesn't have much info to gather.

Hi, You have been totally honest and up front with them and this is how they treat you! It would be illegal for them to withold wages from you. It is there mistake and you have been honest enough to bring it to their attention. By law they have to agree a repayment schedule with you but it does have to be reasonable on both parties. You say you are term time only, is your salary divided by 12? Regards, Paul.

I would suggest going back to the tribunal and asking them to enforce the award. If the award was against him and his firm (and others) then you could still be in with a shout. I also think that you should point out to your insurance company the above and seek their help under the terms of your policy. Be as hard with them as you need to be with the tribunal. You might have to take this through the county court to serve an enforcement notice, of this I am really not sure. Best of luck. Paul.

Hi Alison, I think we need more info here. Is there a company sick pay scheme in place or not? If there is then she should be paid as per the scheme. If not then she should be paid SSP (statutory sick pay) which is basically paid by your firm on behalf of the benefits agency after the first 3 days of sickness. Looking at the amount she has been paid it looks as if this is what she has received. Your colleague should not hand in her notice but perhaps ask to be transferred to another store whilst the work is carried out. No reasonable employer would ask their staff to work during a refit. Her employer has a duty under the Health and Safety at work act to provide safe and healthy working conditions. Regards, Paul.

He may have declared himself bankrupt but surely the award is against his company? Has the company been declared bankrupt? Regards, Paul.

If you leave you will have no rights of redress. Obviously we don't know all the details of the case they are making against you but you should consider carefully before resigning. if you feel you have no chance you should ask your Union to try and broker a deal and at the absolute minimum try and get an agreed reference and your notice pay. If you were accessing the web in working time then they may have a case. Have you read the authorities internet access policy? As for your personal diary, how did they get hold of this? In my opinion they had no right to copy it unless there was an allegation of fraud or other possible criminal activity against them then they would have a right to use any evidence they had come across unless they broke into your desk? Regards, Paul.

I know it is late in the day but put it in writing that you want this person present both to HR and the appeal chair (whoever is hearing your appeal) try and get your colleague to confirm what he said to you about being willing to attend but not being released. As a last resort, during the appeal meeting state that you want your colleague to be called and ask them to go and get him/her. It will be interesting to see their reaction. Insist that he is called into the hearing to either answer questions or say of his/her own free will that they do not want to take part, in front of everyone. Make sure whoever is taking notes minutes it. Be aware though that he might be telling you one thing and your HR/management the other. This should flush them out though. The important thing is to gather as much evidence as possible. If you are not in a Union and have a Rep with you, try and get a colleague to come in as a witness and/or take notes. Best of luck, Paul

Thats odd it certainly used to! I've e mailed the communications dept. to find out why it's stopped working. If you visit the GMB website there is lots of information on Asda if you put Asda in the search engine. Unfortunatly it doesn't seem to have been updated recently:confused:

You need to contact your union as a matter of urgency and submit an appeal. From what you have told us you have a very good case. I hope your Rep took minutes?

Hi Crazy monkey, I've sent you a private message about Asda. Theres a page on my unions website for Asda employees at www.gmb.org.uk/asda Regards, Paul.

Yea same as that. Its just on occassions when Im out and about and can't get to a pc that they are a necessary evil!!

I'm sure all these people who work in these phone shops used to be estate agents!?

The only test usually on company policies in when you get to tribunal where if you can prove that the company hasn't followed good practice which is usually the ACAS guidelines on disciplinary procedures or their policies are in breech of employment law usually because they have not been updated then the tribunal will normally increase any award you might receive. I appreciate that this does not help you in your current situation. All you can do is argue what is fair and reasonable at this stage. You could not be expected to call in everyday if you were in a coma but according to your companies policy you would be in breech. That might be an extreme example but similarly if your doctor has said you need complete rest and should have no contact with your employer because this might agrovate a condition then I think you could argue that you were taking medical advice by not phoning in. The law as I understand it stipulates that you have to send in a doctors certificate to cover periods of sickness absence. Ringing in everyday is only a requirement of your company and the test at tribunal would be whether it was deemed to be reasonable. Do you get re-imbersed for the cost of the calls, do you receive sick pay and what would they do for example if someone didn't have a phone? A company will usually only dismiss if they think they could justify their actions at tribunal. Regards, Paul.

118 212 may claim to be cheaper than other directory enquiries services but am I the only one to be repeatedly given wrong numbers by them? You then have to call them back to complain which costs you even more! To apply for a refund or complain you have to write in:???: OOO what a cheap dirty trick Maureen!!

I would speak to your union rep and ask them to get the meeting postponed until you are fit to attend. Make sure this is done before the day so you are not made out to be unresonable. This meeting seems to be outside of any procedure. To discuss your future employment within the company?! I've seen these sort of letters before and before you know it they turn into a formal disciplinary meeting without any notice! If the company request it, get a letter from your doctor saying you are unfit. As for having to ring in every day, surely if your doctor has signed you off for a period of time then this is sufficent to say you will not be into work until either the note expires or you have a diffferent note/letter saying you are fit to return. Regards, Paul.

Hi, Sorry to hear about your accident. I'm sure you are covered by your employers liability insurance as you were going to an appointment in their time and at their request. Speak to your Union. Depending on whos fault the accident was you should also be able to take a claim against the drivers insurance company. I do hope that you make a good recovery from your injuries. Regards, Paul.

My understanding is that you have been made redundant by way of the company going into administration so unless the receivers are continuing to pay your salary and you are still at work you should be entitled to redundancy payments. I would seek further advice on this either from your Union if you are a member or from the CAB or ACAS. You should ensure you are in contact with the receiver and registered as a creditor regarding your salary and I believe the DTI pick up the tab for redundancy payments. Your colleagues would as I understand be working for a new employer so would not lose their entitlement to redundancy payments as they have not transferred from one employer to another. Your former employer is probably useing this as a carrot nd a stick to try and retain your skills. Do they really want to carry on working for someone who has done the dirty on them? My condition would be that he stumps up the monies he owes them! Regards, Paul.

Hi C, does the letter state its a disciplinary hearing or just a meeting to discuss your sickness? Have you had lots of other periods of sick leave? Its not unreasonable for an employer to ask you to come to a meeting but after 9 days is highly unusual. Usualyy they would ask you to go to occupational health first and await there report. I think you should ask the company what the meeting is about, what status it is and then seek medical advice whether you are fit to attend or not. Regards, Paul.

Hi, Have they put this in writing to you? If they have you need to state your objections in writing otherwise you will be deemed to have accepted any changes or reviews of targets etc. A target is something to aim for and hopefully exceed. Are thesy based on past years performance or are they just set on a whim? As long as you are working to your contract I don't think you have anything to worry about. This seems to be a scare tactic by your manager who in fairness is probably having the whip cracked on him by his manager and is desperatly trying to get you to work harder. You could respond to his 'not getting in early enough' comment by asking what time he would like you in or how much extra pay will you receive by getting in at 0700 or 0800?! You will only have a legal case if they take it outside of their internal processes which will be if they try and dismiss you, although there are other avenues you could consider like constructive dismissal, discrimination etc. Regards, Paul.

Hi again, You have to show to a Tribunal that you have made every attempt to resolve it at the workplace through their internal procedures. Its difficult to say if what you suggest would work or be counter productive. Why not call the witnesses yourself to the next grievance meeting? That way management will have to take into account what they say and it would (or at least should) be minuted. Remember this is your meeting. Regards, Paul.

Absolute rubbish, like employers are all the same? Gmail sent me a PM months ago asking about their Union and I offered to help anyway I could......Still no reply!!

Hi, I assume by an appeal they mean that if you are unhappy by the decision then you can take it to the next stage of the grievance procedure? 7days is quite common, sometimes it is more, sometimes it is silent. I have seen one where it was 3 days. Where have the witness statements come form, your witnesses or theirs? You should request in writing access to all statements to keep the whole process open, honest and transparent. I'm not sure there is any "right" to see them but witholding them in my opinion would be unreasonable. You need to know on what they have based their decision. Do they not refer to this in their decision? Example; x said this and y said that, therefore our decision/conclusion is...... Regards, Paul.

Thats very unfair to wait until the last moment when they've had 12 weeks to advise you if there are any problems or issues so that you could have adequate time to correct any cpncerns that they had. In employment law, I know that the time limits which are normally in years are based upon 52 weeks. It might be worth asking them what specific problems they have so that you can seek retraining or take corrective action and maybe through in some company claptrap about wanting to fit in and be an integral part of the team. I've used that one before and its really throws them, especially if you can keep a straight face:D All the best, Paul.