Ok you are obviously missing the point for whatever issue you feel that you have with me. Well thank you for your messages anyway, of course you are right my employers are completely blameless in all of this! NOT.

Thanks for the reply steampowered, the court just ordered my employers to pay me all of the payrises back to 2009. I actually thought that I was to be taxed etc. as related to each year, I didn't realise that it would all be classed as this years salary and no I have not had any interest whatsoever. Emmzzi, I do not think you are grasping what I am saying, I am not shirking my pension or tax responsibilities, I am pointing out that if the payrises had been awarded when they were due, I would have had some extra cash in my pay packet at that time, this way however I will owe most of the lump sum to ctc because it has all been piled onto this year salary. If they are counting it as part of this years salary for tax and ni purposes then why aren't they counting it as this years salary for pension purposes? Likewise if they are taking pension for previous years then they should tax and ni it as previous years salary and i would not lose my ctc. They just want it both ways. Of course I would not rather have never had the lump sum because it means that my salary is considerably more now, even if I barely have a penny left from the lump sum. Anyway thanks for the messages, I have a CAB appointment this afternoon, they helped me to take this to court so they will know what if anything I can do.

I didn't claim ctc in the previous years that this payment mostly covers, so it would not have been affected. It wasn't an accounting error either, it was won in court.

No I think it is based on the salary when we leave or retire, but not entirely sure. Can they base this payment on two completely different tax periods though, seems unfair if they can do, because why not class it as pay for that period then if they are taking the pension contributions for then, a time when I didn't have benefits to be affected, the way that have done it they get the extra input into their pension and I lose all my ctc for a year that the payment mostly doesn't even apply to. Just saying that to me it should either all be classed to the relevant years or all apply to this year, pension contributions and all. Have just read online that the threat they made to me about it is wrong, so have no confidence that they are right. Will ask CAB tomorrow. Thanks anyway.

Hello, after a massive battle, I have successfully fought and won a backdated payrise which should have been awarded to me 6 years ago. (long story) Anyway the amount has just been paid in one lump sum which they are taking tax and national insurance from as if it was all this years pay, which is fair enough if that is how it works. The problem that I have is that they are taking back payments of pension contributions for the new higher salary, for all of the previous years and it amounts to a fair sum. I am arguing that they cannot treat my backpay as if it is this years salary for tax purposes but then treat it as previous years salary, for pension purposes, can they? I will not benefit for paying the higher pension contributions for the previous years as it was then a final salary scheme, but last year this changed to a scheme where all contributions from that point went into a pot for the future so if the pension contributions went in as this years then it would actually benefit me, plus contributions are at a slightly lower rate now. It would seem that I am being stung both ways, my salary will now look a lot higher this year meaning that I will owe back a lot of ctc, whereas if it was treated as previous years salary for the years it was actually meant to be for, then I didn't claim ctc so it wouldn't have affected anything. I suppose my question is, can they do this? Can they tax it as this years salary and then take pension contributions as if it was previous years salary? I am mad as hell with them, they have had this money for 6 years and earned interest on it when it would have really benefited my family to have had this extra pay when it was due but they withheld it and now they seem to want it all ways, in fairness my judgement might be a bit clouded. Cheers.

Thanks neword, well I didn't receive either hb or ctb whilst working, but the tax credits are also income based so maybe I will have to pay some back to them, but hopefully it shouldn't affect my current benefits then, do you think? That would be good to hear. Cheers to everyone for taking the time to reply.

Thanks Mr P

Thanks Lapsed, I hope this is the case.

Hi, I receive job seekers, child tax credit, council tax and housing benefit.

Hi, long story short, I am currently on benefits and have been since April of this year. My previous employer has now agreed after a long battle, that I was underpaid for the last few years and is paying me the difference between the pay that I actually received and the wage rise that I should have received, for those previous years. However I am concerned that they will give it as a wage payment, as if it is earnings for this year, when none of it would be applicable to this tax year since I have not received any wages in this tax year only benefits. So does anybody know if my current benefits might be stopped or affected because of the backpay? Thanks for any advice.

Hi, can anyone tell me please, if another incident of discrimination takes place after the ET1 is submitted, do I need to add that to my claim or will it be taken into account? If I have to add it, do I just let the court know or do I have to put another claim altogether in and does the 3 months time limit from the incident still count if adding it to existing claim? thanks

Thanks nicolee, amazingly the original solicitor rang me and tells me that he is reviewing the case after he told me that he was dropping it! I am contacting the insurance to say that I no longer think he should be working on the case, he refutes the conflict of interest, but it is clearly there on the internet for all to see, so have sent the insurance company the link. Will keep this updated. Thanks again for all the advice given so far.

Well this gets interesting, I have just found out that my insurance appointed solicitors law firm, is under some kind of contract with the council that I am taking to a tribunal. I am not sure what this will mean now, but I am speaking to the new solicitor first thing on Tuesday morning to find out. I am wondering if this is why he has dropped the case without doing anything.

Thanks again for the advice, book has been ordered! I will of course update you as and when, if the new solicitor gives me the go ahead then I will be seeking as much advice as I can possibly get. This forum is a goldmine and the people on it are fabulous, it makes me feel like community spirit isn't dead after all.

Thanks so much for your help and advice, it is very much appreciated. My parents are now funding a solicitor to asses my case properly as I don't know if the other solicitor did or not, and they will give me some help with getting it all together. Amazingly the solicitor that ditched me a few days ago has now re-contacted me to ask for a telephone consultation with a review as to what the next step is! Its all very strange, but the new solicitor that I have, just on a fixed price assessment and then so many hours to help me prepare my case, (as we can't stretch to full support) seems fab and so I think I will stick with this one. I will still be doing a lot of the work myself, I am not at all phased about standing up for myself in front of the respondents and their ensemble, I am not easily intimidated! Its just getting it all right before I get there that I find confusing. Thanks again for your help and advice.

Also, I made a subject access request some time ago but my employers are not responding to it despite a reminder, which I assume is due to the court action. The thing is that I need documents that they are withholding from me, which includes my payslips, which is why I made the SAR, is there any way that I can get them to hand these documents over? They are needed for my case. Thanks again.

Hi Salisbury 24, I have read your thread above about how you won your Employment tribunal. I was wondering if you could give me any pointers, I am currently floundering a bit and any advice as to how to prepare my ET case would be great.

Hi all, I wondered if someone could give me some advice with an ET claim that I have made, please. I am representing myself and need to know more about disclosure and how it works please. Also I have an email from the respondent asking for further information, do I have to do this or do I wait until a tribunal orders it? The claim is for discrimination on disability and sex grounds and I have just been left high and dry after my insurance solicitor said that I no longer have the magic 51% after stating that I had good prospects at the beginning. He never even met with me or had a full breakdown of my side of the story and now just because my employer is lying on their defence, he has dropped my case without even listening to me. I would never have taken this on by myself and am floundering a bit to be honest. Thanks for any advice you can give.

Sorry you are right, it is because someone has forged my signature on a very damning work document and I have a meeting tomorrow.

Could you guys help me out, what can I do to prove that a document that has my signature on is a complete forgery?

Thanks for this info, I have never heard of a county court claimI thought the only option was ET so I will certainly look into that, thanks again. The employer was notified by oc health that I was covered by the equality act at the same time that the reasonable adjustments were asked for. They definitely knew I had the condition before this point and have even made derogatory comments about it, but I suppose they could argue that they didnt know that I was covered by the equality act because of the condition as I have never claimed to be disabled or asked for anything before. Bad back2, thanks again for your tip off, I cannot believe that they can do this! The solicitor that I spoke to through legal aid helpline is actually a legal 500 solicitor and said that if I can get the insurance to accept the claim she would represent me through that. I see what you mean now, does this seem to be the norm rather than the exception?

Thanks for the tip off Badback2, I didnt know that about legal aid. Am thinking of going with the insurance solicitor for now as she seems ok and I might as well get some free help. The union have completely ditched me now just for daring to suggest I have a case and I have spoken to EHRC this afternoon for some advice. I am taking all advice and adding it with my own findings, also a friend of my son is in his last student year specialising in employment law so he is chipping in too. Hoping to come up with some kind of reasonable case between it all, but hoping that the old saying 'too many cooks spoils the broth' doesnt apply here and gets the case confused. Am I reading your post correctly, as my insurance specifically states that I cannot choose my own solicitor for an employment tribunal or some other things such as small claims court etc. but the link seems to say that I can, (unless in my stressed frame of mind I am misunderstanding things) If this is the case, how would I go about it? Have put a claim in now and am awaiting their decision and assessment. thanks again for the helpful links and info.

I merely wanted to know, on the face of it, (assuming that disability is a sure thing and assuming that the reasonable adjustments were completely reasonable) if the scenario sounded discriminatory. I totally understand that I have not given you enough to go on but have found a second opinion now anyway. I will of course come back and update the thread when all is over, with full details and outcomes. Thanks for everyones input.

No its not unique, but all the other factors in combination might identify me. Sorry to be so vague but I have been through a living nightmare this last year and at least a year leading up to it was hell, so I dont want to forewarn anyone about what I am planning.

Hi Thanks to you all for advice. I didnt realise the PM thing so am sorry for requesting it. I have put a claim in today to be assessed to see if house insurance will cover it so will update when I know. I have also contacted a legal aid helpline, apparently I will qualify for legal aid and the solicitor is willing to represent me and also says that I have a good case so that is 2 saying the same thing now. I just dont understand the unions stance but Rebel I do agree with your take on it. Becky I have had a condition since 2002 and my GP and oc health both say that I am covered, but oc health told me that they have to put 'may' as it is up to a tribunal judge and he also wrote that on the report. My GP even told me to go to a tribunal and he would support me as much as he could. I cannot put any more info on at the moment for fear of being identified, sorry. Also Becky I agree that if I go back to work they will just dismiss me for something fair, such as a trumped up capability charge or something. I know my boss! That is why I feel that I need to do this now. Colleagues are either scared for their jobs or up the bosses behind so I cannot count on any witness statements. There is much, much more to this case than just disability discrimination and I have lots of evidence. Tbh even if the disability discrimination doesnt get upheld there is so much more that it doesnt matter tremendously but I would like to include it if at all possible as I know for a fact that it was their intention as they have made derogatory comments about my condition, on many occasions. Thanks again everyone, all input is very much appreciated x