Provides definite inadmissable proof which wouldn't allow for any formal disciplinary proceedings to be taken against the guilty party. Plus going around recording colleagues without consent would likely constitute gross misconduct so I wouldn't recommend doing this. Although you say they'd only deny it, have you at least tried to raise a grievance about the name calling, or detailed it in the other bad treatment you've reported? Is there a colleague you could confide in who could maybe get in earshot at the times it most often happens?

Is there anything about the process in the contract or handbook? If not then it could be assumed from previous experience that it shouldn't take longer than 2-3 weeks. In that case I'd suggest him writing a grievance stating it is unfair to expect him to manage his finances with no process in place, and as he has to outlay the cost initially it's making the job he's expected to do increasingly more difficult.

Forget employment law, they could potentially be opening themselves up to litigation from both employees and customers if they are actively trying to force people with contagious illnesses into work. I'd contact the local health and safety office and see what they have to say on the matter.

Not a problem at all. Hope everything works out for you. Ask your therapist about mood gym aswell, I used it alongside cognitive therapy and found it very helpful. It's basically an online programme that gets you to alter your thought process positively and alot of therapists recommend it.

If there is a business reason for doing so, they can to a certain extent dictate certain times when holidays must be taken. It may be that too many staff are using their holidays just to free up the weekend thus making them understaffed so I think they could argue the reason for this new rule.

Is it maybe possible to contact your employer and say that 'at this moment your not refusing the meeting, but your GP has advised against it as it may exacerbate the anxiety.' Say that you feel it's important to follow the GP's advice because ultimately you want to return to work as quickly as possible, but say that you're more than happy to provide them with any GP reports throughout the treatment to keep them informed and upto date. It may just be that your employers are following Acas guidelines in trying to arrange this meeting to fulfill their duty of care. If you don't want the meeting then that would absolve them of this responsibility. Either way I would suggest communicating first to check the situation. Alternatively, you could contact Acas first and ask where you would stand if you did refuse. It's a situation that requires a certain delicate approach though. Although you may have the right to refuse (which I don't know sorry), if you do, there's always the possibility of them looking for business reasons that they can't hold your job open indefinitely. I would learn what your rights are first of all so you know where you stand, but try communicating and being diplomatic about the situation before exercising any of them.

There's no reason your employer can't contact you. It's perfectly reasonable that they may want to find out a likely return date and/or see if there's anything that can be done that would aid a quicker return date. Even with long term sick they may contact you to see what the situation is and whether you will return once the sick note expires...in fact they have a duty of care to do this. However, if they are contacting your partner on a daily basis then that could be seen as harrassment.

I'm sorry to say I think you're always going to be on a hiding to nothing with less than 12 months service. Which is very unfair in this case since it sounds as if you're being royally stiched up by this guy. The fact is they have investigated the incident of bullying. They've checked with other staff. There's not really any other way they can investigate and if they take your word for it and discipline him then he's going to have the same argument as you have. One thing I do find strange is that you haven't been given much in way of details about the offence. If they're carrying out an investigation usually they'd ask for a statement to get the facts as you understand it, although that could depend on the nature of the claims.

If they refuse the appeal then an ET will automatically consider the dismissal unfair. Although if they do dismiss you tonight without following the correct disciplinary process then that ship will already have sailed. But even then, you'd still need to write an appeal letter to them. If they don't follow the correct process then they won't get away with it. Not unless you let them. Best thing for now is just to see what happens from their side.

You have to go through the appeal before you can go to the ET.

You may possibly have a case for constructive dismissal, however I'd very much consider whether it would be worth the stress. Any payout would likely be very small since it would take into account that you weren't left out of work with starting the new job straight away.

As you say Uncertain, when it does happen that they are awarded costs, it would generally be for cases where they could prove the motives were malicious or for similar reasons where the claimant would know the claims were unfounded. Generally speaking an ET will recognise the right to pursue a claim if you show a genuine belief you've been treated unfairly. And they also understand the company's responsibility to be insured against such claims. What I should've pointed out in my original response is that some large company's may well have a standard settlement process which may not necessarily be reflective to the validity of your claim. If you do decide to take the settlement you'll have to take legal advice anyway, although they may well only advise you on the contents of the compromise agreement rather than whether you should accept it or not based on your claim.

If it's an employment tribunal then costs are not usually awarded. I would also venture a guess that £7500 would be an excessive amount to claim in costs. Anyway, if they're offering you £2000 when they're so confident of winning then clearly they're either full of **** or so vastly dumb they shouldn't be allowed to breathe the same air as the rest of us.

Not a problem at all, with any luck you'll get it all sorted and they'll start sticking to the procedure they themselves have put in place. As an after-thought did you get docked pay for the job you refused to do? If so, and Acas suggest they are in breach of contract, it may be worth mentioning that in any grievance

Trust me when I say I'm not naive when it comes to racism in the work place, I've seen it first hand from people I'd least likely expect it from. And I've also seen how dismissive people can be on these forums with all the 'race card' comments. But at the same time from your first post it seemed more like your interpretation of the situation rather than you having hard evidence you were being racially discriminated against. I don't want to give you bad advice based on interpretation rather than evidence because that may just exacerbate the problem. I'd very much suggest doing what I've already suggested and compile a list of grievances in one from all those you say have had problems that have been left unresolved. In your other thread you say that your employers are quite happy to browbeat the staff and just settle when anything goes as far as an employment tribunal (although why they would do this is beyond me since it makes very little financial sense for what appears to be easily resolvable disputes). Raising it like this will make it so much harder for them to ignore and will show unity amongst the staff in forcably getting a resolution.