I agree do not let the time limit go by. I have some handy wording provided by my former solicitor which would allow you to tick the relevant boxes and state that you are making a claim for disability discrimination and failure to make reasonable adjustments but will provide the details later. If you use the wording, you get 14 days from the date of lodgement to provide the details of claim and the Respondent gets 28 days from the date you provide details to reply. As you are still employed this might be a more strategic and less antagonising approach? Let me know if you need the wording for the "details later" ET claim.

I agree and so do a lot of other people. The 2 big U unions are just a front for a money making racket and nothing more. Time for the members to take over and kick these parasites out.

So is your ET claim submitted?

I am confused by these dates. Were you terminated on April 8th or April 12th. Yesterday was July 5th so I cannot see the problem with 3 months less 1 day????

They should have quit when they were ahead. I think you will win this one too.

I managed to get some help from the organisation below. They assess your income less housing costs andyou might qualify. The quality of the advice on my employment problems was excellent and some of it can be done by phone. You might want to try it Community Legal Advice Community Legal Advice (CLA) is a free and confidential advice service in England and Wales paid for by legal aid. If you are living on a low income or benefits, you may be eligible for free specialist advice from legal advisers on issues including: benefits and tax credits; debt, education; housing; employment; and family problems. The advice is independent and confidential. Community Legal Advice will ask you questions about your problem and find out what help you need. You will be asked a number of questions about your finances to see if you are eligible for legal aid. Community Legal Advice has a free translation service available in 170 languageHelpline Call 0845 345 4 345 Monday to Friday 9.00 am to 8.00 pm, Saturday 9.00 am to 12.30 pm

As your employment ended on June 19th 2012, you would be in time to make an Employment Tribunal claim. Also, if your income is low, you would be entitled to free legal advice from your local legal service. Your case is complex and the issues occurred over a long period of time. I suggest that you make a list of the incidents in date order from beginning to end and get an appointment with a solicitor as quickly as possible.

"Out of Tme" was argued by the Respondent's barrister right up until the end of a 5 day hearing. It was hot air. The incidents in a discrimination case usually extend over a long period. Anthing that happens 3 month prior to lodging the ET claim can form the basis of the case and all that went before can be included as background. It is your solicitor's opinion that counts. I see that you are paying for legal representation yourself, that must be costly.

I do not think we are permitted to recommend lawyers Sam.

Done and dusted at last. Enjoy that cash as they owe you every penny!

Same goes for Unite but there is a "grass roots" movement within the union and I think it is having some impact. Recently regional officer backed a pay cut for me and my colleagues, would you believe it?

Dunno. Still waiting for the judgement after more than 6 weeks. The panel had their second discussion amongst themselves 2 weeks ago but still not joy. I did not expect this sort of delay but it is common. Still pretty sure that I have lost because of judge bias. Fanx fur arsking Professional:wink:

I would not consider meeting them or putting myself out to help "the client" in any way until they have paid up.

I would be wary of meeting them at all before the money is paid.

You can always offer to make a written submission and answer questions by e-mail. That way you have fulfilled the co-operation bit without putting yourself out too much. Good luck with ACAS.

I get the impression that they are withholding the money because they did not like the wording of your communication to the Tribunal when withdrawing your claim. Let them know that you are willing to change that wording but ask for an assurance that the monies will be paid immediately after you have complied with their request. As for the investigation, now that you no longer work there, it is really up to you, if you want to co-operate or not.

I would thank them for their reply and ask that they resolve the "full pay as a reasonable adjustment issue" as soon as possible as the financial stress is making the condition worse. I would also point out that given your partner's disability, it is possible to treat him more favourably than other workers by continuing full pay until his medication problems are resolved. I would include the last bit because the employer may try to use the "we treat everyone the same in respect of sick pay - that is the company policy" argument so I think it best to counter that before they even have a chance to raise it as it will save time. Also, if this ends up at a Tribunal, you will be in a better position if you have made it clear that the Equality Act does support the continuance of full pay for disabled workers in similar circumstances.

What I mean is do not refuse to participate outright - say that you will consider that after the agreed amount of money has been paid. Was there a signed agreement? Did you withdraw your ET claim without a signed agreement? There is still time for them to pay as Tuesday is the deadline.

I would not refuse to participate until I had received the money. Tell them that you will consider that after what was promised is delivered as the money and investigation are now separate issues. Have you withdrawn your ET claim and what do you have in writing to support the compromise agreement?

The issue of confidentiality is being overblown here. For a start you were very new to the role and that should be enough in itself to counter any allegation of wrongdoing on your part. Also, as you say, the facts were common knowledge, which made it difficult for you to see that you should not have made any comment. You are guilty of no more than an understandable error of judgment , which is unlikely to be repeated and the union should be supporting you as you are only an ordinary worker offering to do your bit to help others in an unpaid workplace rep capacity. I recently heard that a co-worker had been sacked for theft. I was told by other workers and got all the details. I had previously asked the union rep why he was not at work but he did not tell me. I assumed that he was off sick owing to conflict with management. That union rep did what you should have done by not telling me. He has loads more experience than you and knew that someone else would fill me in but it was inappropriate for him to do it. On the other hand, had he told me, no harm would have resulted but the principle of keeping your mouth shut is a good one for workplace reps in general.

In your position I would keep on paying the union dues because your problem appears to be with the individual rep rather than the union itself. Also it is cheap so the cost is not an issue. Having said that, I understand your position as I have been there. Members are not really important to unions these days as they make money from many sources other than union subs. You should be diplomatic but insist on seeing the local paid Regional Officer who works for the union. Insist on an appointment no matter how busy he/she claims to be and air your concerns informally. Also insist on being accompanied to meetings by a paid union official as the workplace rep is clearly out of their depth and not committed. The stuff about breaches of confidentiality and collusion with employer can be aired informally at that meeting, It is not uncommon for workers in your position to see the workplace rep as being too "cosy" with management, which may or may not be true. However, it is up to the union to make sure that your case gets the attention and support it deserves and, if they do not provide an adequate level of service, I believe you can take them to the ET for breach of contract/ trust or somesuch.

Good luck with that.

I think that your partner would fit the definition of dsability under the Equality Act 2010. He has a long term serious health problem and relies on medication to enable him to work. His employer is obliged to make adjustments to help him continue in work and one of those adjustments could be to maintain his full pay during this period of absence and not count these sick days as sickness absence - I mean do not add them to his sickness absence leave record. He is obvioiusly too unwell to attend a meeting but I suppose the employer wants to find out when he might be able to return to work. In his position, I would write (e-mail is faster) to the employer and explain that a meeting would be stressful and pointless at this time. I would provide a return to work date, if there is one or give a rough idea of when I could return, if possible. I would also invite the employer to obtain a medical report from my treating doctor or specialist. I would also mention the full pay issue and say that I am keen to return to work as soon as possible and will attend a meeting to discuss a return to work plan and any necessary workplace adjustments ( phased return, physical aids, changes to workload etc) that may be necessary as soon as I am up to it. I would also say specifically that I feel that I fit the definition of a disabled employee in line with the Equality Act 2010 and ask for full pay as a reasonable adjustment. It is important to spell things out for the employer so that they cannot claim ignorance later.

Large employers, according to my former solicitor, always take cases all the way regardless of the cost, usually to the tax payer. This does not mean that their case is strong and they certainly are not acting on principle. It is just that they can put financial pressure on you and price you out of continuing with your case. As for your jurisdiction issues - the Respondent is likely to claim that incidents occuring more than 3 months ago are out of time. In your position I would do a brief chronology of events underheadings like Mpre than 3 months ago and within 3 months of claim being lodged - then I would say that in the interests of justice incidents going back more than 3 months should be considered because the Respondent's actions constitued a continuous pattern or course of discrimination which forced you to make an ET claim.

On one of my claim forms I put "Jurisdiction" as a heading and wrote something like " all incidents occurred between May 1oth and July 14th 2011 and claim submitted on August 8th - therefor I submit that the claim is in time. Look at the events of your case in chronological order - are the events/incidents that are within the 3 month less one day time limit sufficient to prove your case or do you need to strongly rely on something that went before? If so you can ask the Tribunal to consider the events as a "continuous course of action" and consider them all. As for the Tribunal sorting things out for you, well, although other GAGGERS have found judges helpful, the level of support varies. It is difficult for an unrepresented claimant to frame a discrimination case as the law is complex. You might be able to represent yourself at Tribunal but I think you need some advice from a lawyeron the legal aspects of your case and the strength of the evidence you have to support your claim.. Have you tried any of the free legal services?