No, it's not an error as such just misworded - the legal obligation is still there, and they will know perfectly well what you mean, to be honest they probably won't even notice it, the legislation you have quoted within your letter will have them tied up in knots for a long time without having to worry over one word. - I just have an eye for picking up these things, pernickity woman that I am!

The only thing I can find "wrong" is this bit: Change the word "right" to the word "duty". The word "right" makes it sound as if he can volunteer the information but doesn't have to, the word "duty" implies he MUST. Fantastic letter!

Just to add to what godpickachu has already posted, It is your right to inform your employer of your pregnancy when YOU see fit, and how they feel about it doesn't come into it. Many ladies like to wait till the 12 week mark before they tell anyone they are pregnant. It is not up to an employer to dictate when they should be told. As long as they are goven 28 days notice of your wish to take maternity leave, when you tell them is up to you. They won't have a leg to stand on at the tribunal - sounds to me like they know this which is why they are pushing you from pillar to post re who your actual employer was, and are now saying the job is there for you. My guess is XXXXplc are your actual employers and Jayne was your manager/supervisor. Both Jayne and XXXXplc are in the deep stuff and they both know it.

Self employed people have a tough time claiming JSA and if you have not made enough contributions, chances are that you will not qualify for it to be honest. What do you mean about receiving free home insulation? Never heard of that one before.

I would have thought if you are being disciplined you would have a right to see any evidence in order to defend yourself and answer any questions which may arise as a result of the evidence, and would have thought you were entitled to minutes of any previous meeting held in connection with the disciplinary to enable you to challenge anything which has not been recorded or which has been falsely recorded, but I am not 100% certain on whether you have a right to see the evidence prior to the meeting or whether they can present it at the meeting, although they do have to show you at some point. Do you have a union? My advise would always be to bring a union rep or a colleague with you as a secondary witness - which you have the right to do. Hopefully someone will shortly be along with more advice. It may be worth telephoning ACAS - they are able to advise of your rights in these situations. Here is their website: Acas - How can we help?

Yes - flexi is in our current contracts but it does state that it is a "privelage, not a right" and that it can be removed at any time management see fit.

We do have flexi time, but even if we are in credit, we have to put in a request to use it for time off and they can refuse citing that the business needs you there, we were also reminded of this. I once had 13 hours in credit and they refused to allow me to use some of that to take a couple of hours off to take my child to the dentist, because they had their limit of staff on annual leave. the limit of staff applies right across every department so even if my job has its full quota for staff they can refuse, which seems wrong to me - I mean if 3 members of staff are the number given to perform in one department, and they have 3 members of staff there plus a fourth available to cover, they can still refuse if another department within the building is at their limit for staff being off, even if I cannot do the other staff's job if you see what I mean.

Thank you Elche. I'm getting rather worried as my employers seem to be getting worse by the minute. They seem to be trying mercilessly to create robots out of us. I appreciate they have a business to run, but they go beyond the norm, and act like they own their employees entire lives. They are very sly. Last week they called a meeting 5 minutes before I was due to leave to collect my children. When I said I had the kids to collect and couldn't attend and was only rota'd on for another 5 mintues, they told me it would go on my file that I refused to attend a meeting, and told me that "You are an employee here 24 hours a day, no matter what your start and finish times are" They sacked a woman with 20 years service because she went sick with an injury caused in the workplace. She is currently looking into taking it further. They asked me to place my children with a new childminder so they could increase my hours and I could give more time to the company. The holidays are the latest thing they are trying their damndest to put holds on, and I was told in no uncertain terms that my commitment to them should come before my children! They are really horrid but unfortunately I live in an area where jobs with office hours are few and far between so leaving is not an option at the moment, although I am looking constantly.

Correct me if I am wrong, but I thought these people were only "permitted" to come to your house by appointment and you have to agree to the appointment?

Tell her not to allow them to intimidate her. Tell her to come here and look at this thread: http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/debt-collection-industry/131409-cheekiness-towards-dca.html This will possibly make her see what little powers these people actually have. I don't owe money to anyone other than council tax which I pay for, but I was chased by a DCA for someone else's debt for a utility supplier - I'm female, the debtor was male and his name sounds nothing like mine, so they haven't even got the argument of "mistaken identity". I'd never been registered with the utility supplier the debt belonged to. The debtor must have lived in my property at some point. The letters I got were addressed to "the occupier" - I already knew the debt wasn't mine, but it wasn't till I came here I realised much of what the DCA were doing was illegal and though here, I gained the knowledge from other members of how to fight the DCA. It may not be your sister's debt at all, DCA's are notorious for sending threatening letters of telephoning numbers which have the occupant's name the same as the debtors name. They do name traces and basically send blanket threats to any person in the area with the same or a similar name, hoping to catch the real debtor. Without a consumer credit agreement, they can't prove a damn thing. Please tell her not to worry, she will find loads of support on here, I know I have and although I'm sure some members are fed up with my constant questions (!) the members here have been fantastic at educating me. And I've given a little back with my knowledge of other consumer issues, I hope. It's a fantastic site, I cannot praise anyone here highly enough. Tell her if she comes here, she can soon have her worries eased, and it will make her so much stronger. I couldn't say boo to a ghost when I first came here, now though I can't shut up! As you guess from the long post. ONE THING I MUST STESS THAT I HAVE LEARNED HERE: Never, ever speak to a DCA on the phone (unless to wind them up) - and never, ever sign a letter - a signature is not legally required, or she can use an electronic signature which is not like her own. There is the thread on creating an electronic signature, I can't find it - perhaps someone who knows where to find it can post it for this member, please?

Also, what do you mean by this looks to now be "case law"? What is "case law? Many thanks.

Maybe someone could answer this for me. I've looked at the tribunal and am hoping someone can advise me on the situation I find myself in, as maybe I'm stupid but I don't fully "get it" if you see what I mean. I spoke to my employer about something similar recently - I am worried about not being afforded leave when my childminder goes on holiday, and they laid down the law about it to all staff. This was the scenario I gave: Childminder gives 4 weeks notice, I submit a request for annual leave, I am refused as my employers have exceeded their limit for staff annual leave for that particular week. I then seek my 2nd childminder to cover - she is unable to. I have no family in the area to help, I am a single parent and there are no local playschemes that could take the children. I ask colleagues booked on annual leave if they are able to "swap" so I can take that week. They can't swap. I inform my employers that I have exhausted my options of childcare and that I will be taking the week off to care for my children (both under 6 years of age). I ask for unpaid leave. My employer's response was that if I took the week off without their authorisation, even if I have informed them I am going to do so due to dependants and no suitable alternative, they will seek to either discipline me or terminate my contract. If they are over their numbers for staff leave and absence, then I am expected to be there, and my personal circumstances do not eclipse the business requirement. Bear in mind that my absence record is impeccable, and I often have leave to carry over at the end of the year as I rarely take leave. On previous occasions when I have been denied leave I have found a suitable alternative childcare and attended my work, this has happened twice. One of the weeks I'd been granted leave then had it taken away slyly! But on this occasion no suitable alternative can be found and my employers refuse to bend, threatening me with the "sack" or a disciplinary if I take the time off. Would I then be likely to win if I took it to tribunal and get my job back with no threat of them doing it again? Please clarify, thank you.

Thank you Fox!

Total Annual Income, including bonuses, overtime or any other income if you are in employment, if you are on benefits I assume the full amount of benefit claimed should be given. There are no "allowable expenses" with Tax Credits, it is calculated on Annual Income, minus any occupational pension payments.

Ok. I will try to answer, I will first pre warn you that some of what I am about to say will come across uncaring - I do not mean it to sound that way, just stating the facts of what you can and can't follow up so you have an idea of where you stand, and how the hospital may defend any claim. I myself had a traumatic birth with my second child so I do know how it feels to be through an experience which traumatises you. Before I go any further, I will post up this link where you may find support from: Birth Trauma Association I don't know whether you could sue them for the lack of progression with the labour as they cannot force your body to progress if it does not react to the induction. The midwives leaving for their breaks cannot be used as they are as entitled to the next person to take a break, and mistakes and poor practice can result if a staff medic is tired. You never should have at any point been ignored, an explanation of what was happening should have been given, unless this was likely to cause further problems. As for the C-section, if the baby's heart rate was dramatically falling, a section could present an even greater risk to the baby and possibly to you. Also there may not have been time for one, they would have needed the anaestheatist (sp), the appropriate staff, they would need to all scrub up, prepare you and administer the anaesthetic. In the time it would have taken to do that, there may have been a risk also. A scan may not have revealed much at all, depending on the baby's position, and there most probably would not have been a sonographer available to perform the scan, or again, time may have been a factor. If they had scanned you when you were in labour (early or established) everything may well have appeared fine. A cord can wrap at any time. My DD's head appeared, the midwife felt for cord around neck, nothing there. Yet when I took some gas and air, I sucked her head back in and when that happened, the cord wrapped around her neck. Women are not routinely scanned immediatly prior to or during labour. A birth plan can only be followed providing it brings no immediate risk to your health and the hospital attendants are happy to follow it. A midwife has the right to change anything if it stands in they way of preventing danger. My advice would be to obtain your notes regarding the labour and delivery and take it from there. You can ask to meet with a doctor or midwife to look over the notes with, this will give you an opportunity to ask any questions you may have and it will also be useful for the "translation" of medical terminology that will be present in the notes. Unless you can prove they were negligent or performed in any way which presented a risk to you or your baby, there won't be a case. You won't be able to move forward with any case until you have seen your notes and raised questions about why certain procedures or policies weren't adhered to.

Oh, yes....an MP's letter to any government department works wonders if there have been errors on their part! As for the time line, they will have one, they have targets and clearance times to meet. They may not be able to tell you how long it WILL take especially if there is a backlog, but you have every right to know how long it SHOULD take. IE - and this is just an example. Say a review clearance time was 6-8 weeks, but you heard nothing for 12 weeks? They have exceeded their clearance time and although you have every right to raise a complaint about it. There won't be much they can do to get it done in the clearance time if there is a backlog and lack of staff resource, but you have a right to expect it to be done within that time and take it further if they haven't fulfilled it. An MP's involvement will soon get them moving. Best of luck.

Do you not have reciepts or bank statements showing what you paid your childminder? She is obliged to keep records of payments which you have to sign, for her tax purposes. I pay my childminder by standing order, but although it is evidenced by my bank what I have paid her and when, I also have to sign a book of hers to declare how much has been paid, seperate for each child. This helps in school holidays when her costs rise, as instead of increasing the S/O I give her the remainder in cash but I know I have signed the book to state how much extra I have paid. However, I do not get a copy of the book and I have no reciepts for the extra so now I will be paying it via S/O as well, just to be on the safe side. Also, is there a written contract with the childminder stating the hours of childcare and the fees?

And this means what, exactly? "Any errors" can cover a whole range of things. If it means for example, personal details, like how many children, what their ages are, working hours, annual income, childcare fees - then fair enough. But if they are asking customers to report the amount of the award if they think it is wrong and the other details are correct, this is asking the impossible. Unless everyone is trained in every aspect of Tax credits, every circumstance, every avenue, how can the layman possibly know how much their award should be? A layman would only query an award if his or her circumstances had not changed or changed only slightly and the award value had risen by a significant sum, which would be so huge it would seem inconsistent with the change of circumstances. Otherwise we have no way of knowing. If all details we have provided are correct and we are still overpaid - that should be the end of it. We cannot be held responsible for their errors in calculations whether human error, computer error or otherwise. We have to sign a declaration that all the information we have provided is factual. The officers in tax credits should take ownership of their own mistakes, after all if we deliberately told big fat, hugely unbelievable lies on our applications, who would be prosecuted? Us? Or the staff for not having a "reasonable belief" that we were telling porkies? Erm us. We have to take responsibility for the information we provide. They should take responsibility for competently training their staff, and take responsibility if they overpay us because they calculated it incorrectly. At the end of the day if our award notices hold infomation about us that is correct but the award is not correct - their fault, not ours.

Oh it was definately from the Council, I have little doubt about that, given the return address and email address contained in the form. (Thanks for confirming it blonde - rep left) In this area, we have not been given the option to with hold details at all. We can register on the edited version which means marketers can contact us, or on the full version, which any member of the public has the right to see under supervision. That's the information from the Local Authority. I've never had trouble getting credit and I've never been on the register, so not too concerned about that. My main worry is that my address can be obtained easily if I am registered there. It's strange that no-one has been prosecuted if it is a legal requirement. I suppose certain human rights laws could be used in defence of the claim. What about cases of witness protection?

Thank you very much for this, I couldn't find out who I should report it to, so I really appreciate this. Now I'll be able to make a complaint. Rep left for you.

Hi. I have always ignored the pesky letters from Electoral - they go straight in the bin. Two reasons - 1. I don't vote and 2. I don't want just anybody to be able to look me up, especially not my very violent ex. As I don't vote, I see no need for them to have my details. Today I get in from work and there is a letter (not even in an envelope) addressed to the Occupier on the mat saying that as I have not returned their forms, a canvasser called today to help me complete these forms. It told me that I am required by law to give details of every person resident at the property. (It's just me and my two school age children). I don't want to complete this, it's never bothered them before so why does it bother them now? As it has the council return address on it, surely if they are insistent on knowing who lives here, they can check the council tax name? It also states that I might be interested to know that banks use the register of electors when deciding when to open accounts. Funny that, I've never been on the register and never had a problem opening a bank account! So, is it a legal requirement for me to complete this form or are they just being economical with the truth here? It doesn't make sense to me as I'm sure if it were illegal they'd have prosecuted me before now!

I wouldn't be sure of the answer as I'm not that "up" on Housing Benefit or Council Tax Benefit. What I can tell you is that a recorded interview under caution is part of a fraud investigation. If he didn't tell them at the time that he held this company or provide verification of his income (or lack of it) at the time then it may be seen as fraud, (witholding information about his personal circumstances) but if there has been no financial loss to the local authority funds and if he still would have qualified for them then all I can see is a slap on the wrist. But if he would not have met the qualifying criteria under that circumstance and/or there has been a financial loss, they may take further steps.

Best of luck with it midge. And like I said if they try to fob her off, get the MP invoved, she is entitled to that information and they cannot refuse to provide it.

Don't mean to rain on the parade, and I may be well wrong with this, but don't the records get destroyed six years AFTER the final repayment has been made and the debt cleared? Hopefully someone more in the know will confirm or deny this....just a thought.

Unfortunately, DWP debts are not like other debts and a different legislation applies to them. IE when a debt is in dispute, all repayment action and requests for repayment should be halted. This does not apply to government debts if you are in reciept of benefit. They can and will continue to take the deductions from benefit. However, if you formally dispute it and ask for proof of debt they must comply. Like I said they can continue to take deductions from benefit in the meantime, but if they are unable to prove the debt, they will have to refund any deductions to you. But do be aware that although different legislation applies, there also applies what I like to call "Automated drivel legislation" - which means they make it up as they go along. If they ever try to tell you that their guidelines or legislation suggests something, ask them to provide you in writing with the exact quote for that piece of legislation, and which regulation states it. This is back up if they do chose to send "automated drivel legislation" which al in all is desgined to throw you off, as they don't expect people to understand it. They use key words such as "regulations", "guidelines", and "legislation" in letters as nifty trick designed to make you think it;s not worth pursuing, so please do make sure if they mention these keywords, they also provide you with the exact piece of legislation they are referring to. If they provide you with more drivel, if need be, you can use this later. What you should do is write to Debt Management, (send it recorded delivery) stating that you dispute this debt, and would like to be provided with evidence from them that this debt exists. What they will then have to do is arrange for the original casepapers to be returned to their office, photocopy them and send you a copy which proves that you owe this money. If they are unable to locate proof of this debt, then they have no case for recovery action. If they can prove it, they will continue to take deductions although you are entitled to ask for a reduction of the deductions, and they have to consider it, but they do not have to honour it. If you went back to work and refused to pay they will chase you, even if it means waiting till you're on a state pension and taking it out of that. Now, they are notorious for feeding crap to people about "guidelines state we do not have to provide proof" blah blah blah. Not the exact wording they use, but you get the picture. They will try it on. If they try this crap on with you, get in touch with your MP and ask him/her to act on your behalf. I got a letter from them ages ago stating I owed them money from ooh I think it was about ten years or so ago, for a Social Fund Loan. I have never in my life had or applied for a Social Fund Loan, therefore I knew it was incorrect. As I wasn't claiming benefit they couldn't take any deductions but sent regular threat-o-grams that if I didn't pay up, this that and the next course of action would happen. My requests for proof were initially ignored till I sent a recorded delivery letter, then I recieved their automated drivel that "In accordance with guidelines we are not obliged to send proof....blah blah blah" - this went back and fore for months, until I contacted my MP who wrote to them on my behalf. They confirmed to him within two weeks that no casepapers on me could be located and they were writing the debt off. Rubbish, can't write off a debt that never existed in the first place. Anyhoo, I never heard from them again. My advice where government is concerned is always "If all else fails (or they keep sending automated drivel) involve your MP". Works wonders. Best of luck.