Hi Forgot to say the reason I would collect everything and make the enquiries is to keep all my options open and to protect myself. Whilst I would probably put in a grievance in these circumstance, in doing so, you change from being the victim to the aggressor so it is a decision only the person that this is happening to can make for themselves. Also colleagues may not want to get involved and don't always back up what they know to be the truth.

I am not an expert but have some experience of this. I am familiar with central Government policies and processes. LA are virtually the same. There are two distinct processes. One is a criminal investigation covered by the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PCEA) and the other is misconduct under the LA policy and processes. To acquire material by the DPA utilising the PCEA the criteria they must satisfy that the enquiries they make are reasonable and proportionate in relation to the crime investigated. There is an Inspectorate body that inspect agencies entitled to use the clause which exempts them from the DPA in relation to criminal enquiries so they must keep a paper trail to justify that there was reasonable ground to suspect a criminal offence and that the enquiries made were reasonable and proportionate to the crime being investigated. In my view this would be laughable solely in relation to going home 30 minutes early. There are safeguards built into PACE to protect an individual's rights. If you are accusing someone of being suspected of fraud, theft etc then they are entitled a) to be advised of their rights under the law b) their right to have a solicitor. It doesn't seem this has happened at the time it is advised to your friend that going home half an hour early could be a fraud. An enquiry could start off as a criminal enquiry and change to a misconduct charge but again the LA should have to be able to justify why they did this. Under DPA and the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) you can ask to see this paperwork involved including managers memo's etc. They cannot do this simply to use all the powers of criminal law whilst denying the individual of all the protection and safeguards afforded to them For misconduct the process starts with charges be laid against the individual for misconduct to advise them of an enquiry taking place for whatever and it should refer to if the charge is misconduct or gross misconduct. The enquiry should be carried out in line with the laid down policy and procedure. Misconduct enquiries do not qualify for exemption under the DPA. Your rights are protected. You say that the LA is not going down the misconduct route but they haven't adhered to due process under criminal law in my view. I am not sure if their own building access and cctv is covered by the DPA. I guess it would depend on whether is was agreed with the union that this was a management staff control system as well as a security system and I suspect that is unlikely. There are some people who think just because you provide information into the office for one purpose they can do what they like with it. They can't. They can only use it for the purpose given and would require specific authority from you to utilise it in another way. You can check this out with the Information Commissioners office about the allowed useage of the building access data and cctv in relation to DPA and misconduct enquiries. At the moment I can't see that the LA is following any process at all. If someone accuses you of something I think you have the right to a fair and balanced hearing. It is amazing how many managers get amnesia when it comes to justifying their decision. As you hours are 40 a week find any other day where your friend left half an hour late, worked through lunchtime It doesn't even have to be in the same week where no overtime was claimed for. Also I would look for a colleague owho has been told on a previous occasion by a) the manager in question and b) any other manager to go home 30 mins early. Show it as normal practice. Was there particular circumstances that day ie bad weather, transport delays etc that would make it likely. I wouldn't bank on the manager not coming up with an excuse as to why they went home early so cctv footage of them going early won't actually help you unless it happens with them on a regular basis. If your friend is a member of the Union rep but if I had not been charged either with misconduct or criminal (that really is a joke for 30 minutes) I would stick in a grievance. This is unacceptable, disproportionate behaviour from your management whose actions do not follow laid down policy and procedure (should be available in your office internal internet) that have deprived you of your rights and safeguards not only under the policy and procedure but also the law (your manager mentioned fraud). There is nothing more likely to make someone ill than to be wrongly accused of something and unable to be heard by allowing them to put their own case forward. I think the threat of fraud was done because the manager may have realised they overstepped the mark and is trying to bully and intimidate your friend in order to justify their own actions. There is usually a time limit to put in grievances after the event usually about three months. Get them to get a copy of the LA internal policy on misconduct, check the situation with the Informations commissioners office regarding CCTV/data access to the building with the Information Commissioners and then get them to speak to their Union rep. If they are not in a Union I guess they could speak to Citizens Advice or a community or on line solicitor where you don't have to pay. They should also do a note of events upto now and date and time that when they actually write the note. From now if anyone speaks to your friend on this matter get them to make a note of it in their diary, date and time the note to show it was written at the time. I would also always send an email along the lines of what I'm being told ie further to our conversation this morning I understand that you are saying blah blah blah. That gives the manager the opportunity to put it right but there is a paper trail in case there are any more bouts of managerial amnesia. Print off anything that supports their version of events and keep it. If policies or email have a security caveat make sure the document printed off is kept in the prescribed manner. ie in an sealed envelope or a double sealed envelope etc. If the manager is using scare tactics and hasn't actually done anything except to justify their own action your friend might not not want to to escalate the situation only they can make the decision. Whatever your friend needs to think carefully about their next move because there is a problem here. Maybe the manager doesn't like them, why would you go to the trouble of getting some cctv for half an hour when they could have pulled your friend up without it and spoken to them about their hours and reminded them of their commitment and clarified any misunderstandings there might be around that. There's no evidence here of any intent to deceive and the standard of proof for a criminal matter lis high and in a matter like this with a very very low chance of a success. You just wouldn't get a prosecutor to consider taking this to court. . Most people who pop off early intend to make it up by taking a shorter lunch break or something the next available opportunity or have worked 10 /15 or 20 mins over on previous occasions so consider it quid pro quo even when not strictly doing flexitime. If the employer did take action it would be probably internal in relation to breech of contract for their conditioned hours. Again being able to show occasions when your friend has worked over even just 5/10 mins would knock this on the head along with your friends understand that their manager had the authority to let them go early. Clearly this is not the case and I doubt any manager would be able to show what was in someone's mind when the went home. They would have great difficulty to do that it's much more likely to be seen as a breech of contract if they were to go that far but if they did I suspect there would be no staff left in the LA! Whilst unpleasant I don't think your friend has much to worry about except maybe having fallen foul of some less than effective and perhaps even spineless management. The question is how they deal with this. Maybe ask HR for a move to a different area. They are actually in a much much stronger position than it might feel to them right now in regards to what has happened. Hope this helps Good luck

Sorry for your loss. You could write a complaint to the DVLA. Their internal procedure should then sort it out for you. Maybe suggest as part of a suggested resolution you put forward for some compensation for the distress caused to you by the insensitive behaviour of the company they passed the information to. You could also ask under the Freedom of Information their internal policy on dealing with relatives of deceased owners under these circumstances to see if they followed it. It would be remiss of them not to have one but would also be an issue for the grievance if they don't. I wouldn't deal with Inter Credit International. I don't know if the mail you are getting from Inter Credit is genuine, they may just be [problematic] who prey on people who are grieving and think they might just pay up.

It's not clear when you actually moved into this flat and paid the deposit. There may be fraud taking place if someone is renting out and collecting money for a property they don't own and did not have permission to rent out. I would report it to the police and make a statement. Also it must have been the new owner who took action for repossession of their property and will have cost them to do so. If you can identify them, maybe they can help with letting you know where you might find the previous owner and some further information as to how you came to be in this position without any warning and perhaps an the address used by your 'landlord' for the sale two years ago. On the face of it this does not seem like an ordinary case of a landlord who hasn't followed procedure and is refusing to return your deposit. Can't hurt might help!

I should add that although I have now been given ill health retirement it hasn't been processed so I have no idea when I might expect to receive a pension.

Thank you for the replies. S123 of the Equalities Act has already been quoted by my employer as a reason for having the disability discrimination case thrown out. I believe my medical evidence will be sufficient to fight this. Although I am unclear if discrimination can continue after dismissal. Due to delays in the appeal (internal process and my employer making belated application for ill health retirement) where accepted they should have looked at ill health retirement option I have only just received ill health retirement. One year after dismissal. I am completely without any money and falling into debt. I believe my employers by virtue of my contract had a duty to complete this process in a reasonable time and one year for someone they already know has a mental disability. I believe their action is to ensure that I don't have sufficient funds to continue with my action. I don't with legal representation, which is why I am doing this process myself. I would have thought until my employer had fulfilled their obligations re the termination of my employment ie completing the necessary forms and paying me my pension in a reasonable time there is still ongoing discrimination because they are fully aware of the impact of their actions upon me. I can't find it in law though as everything else points to their legal responsibilities terminated at the date of dismissal. Unless someone knows different?

Thank you so much for this. I am very grateful to you for researching this for me. These cases are exactly what I was hoping to find.

Hi I am new to this site so I hope someone can help. I am defending myself on a disability discrimination Tribunal case. I have been diagnosed with severe work related stress and depression. This happened over a long period of time and I have been traumatised by events. I struggle to cope and have memory and concentration difficulties as well as frequently feeling suicidal. I cannot multi task and everything I do seems to take forever. I was aware of the Tribunal time limits ie 3 months for submission and although I tried very hard to meet that date my application I was about a week late. My illness, unable to multi task etc. I have been trying to find some case law site to help me as my ex employer will rigorously try to get my case thrown out on time limits. Most of the sites I have found like Practical Law will not let individuals sign up (free trial periods) unless they are solicitors. Baiili is only upto 2006 and impossible to narrow down a search for relevant case law. I have found some cases where the case was allowed through ignorance of the time limit and being involved in other processes but looking for some that fit my circumstances of knowing the time limit but mental health and inability to overcome computer difficulties meant I missed it. Can anyone either help with some case law names that fit my circumstances or an upto date case law website , which is free to use or where I can get a free months trial to use it. Please help.