nhs contracts? Hi all, i am now working in the nhs as part of the theatre department and in doing so signed the usual contract agreeing to working on calls, late shifts and weekends etc, the problem is that some staff are not taking part in this arrangement because of various reasons ( my cats scared of the dark or little johnny wets the bed) sanctioned by the managers and therefore the remaining staff are having to work extra shifts to compensate. My question is, are we all being treated equally and do we have any basis for taking action against the management. Any help would be great. Cheers.

I have just noticed my motorbike entitlement has been taken off my licence!. I passed my test in march 1982 but DVLA says they have no record of this!!!!!. Christ cant make this up. They said i have to send a letter to DACT in swansea, anyone else had this issue?. Im 56 and they are asking to provide details of pass. help please.

Hi, Can someone please advise on the following? Am i right in saying that holiday entitlement starts from the 1st of April each year to 1st of April following year? If you work 1 day per week - holiday entitlement is 5.6 days per year. have i got this right? So if someone works 1 hour each day, 5 days a week, how many hours or days holiday are they entitled for 1 year. Thanks

Hi All, Another post on behalf of my partners sister and farther. Apologies in advance if some of these benefit names have changed and I am calling them the wrong name and for the long post. Background Story; Partners Dad's house that himself and other daughter was living became UN-inhabitable due to a gas explosion next door that blew a hole in the side (https://www.blackpoolgazette.co.uk/news/a-miracle-escape-from-gas-explosion-at-21-charles-street-in-blackpool-1-8780154) Daughter suffers from moderate Asperger Syndrome and has recently been diagnosed as clinically depressed. She got fired from her job due to not turning up and some conflicts internally that started to escalate (she described it as bullying but I don't think that was the full She got paid out £8k from the job due to being done by the book and they previously had to pay out £40k for a previously fired employee. Her Dad moved into ours whilst she moved into her "partners" Mum's house, her partner is currently a registered carer for his Mum who has now got the onset of dimensia She now has blown through the £8k on material itemswithin the space of 6 months and has no money and no job and claims she can't work due to this depression as unknown people trigger panic attacks but she can attend events like steampunk, real ale events etc filled with unknown people. She is now being prescribed some medication to help with the depression but she has to pay for it, she is constantly now calling her Dad asking for money for these things, he is happy to do it at the moment but solely from necessities. Her Dad also thinks that her partner has also "helped" spend the original £8k payout as he runs an unsuccessful business that is currently £50k+ in debt and can't afford to pay himself. Question; her Dad wants to know what she could be entitled too money / housing wise whilst all this is getting sorted, both house rebuild and depression. She said she applied for JSA but was turned down, there was no proof that she actually went to the Job Center and her story seemed a bit off, we don't think she want's to sign on maybe for sense of pride etc as everyone one else in the family works, but will happily drain her Dad of money and make him pay for her drinks bill etc. She hasn't mentioned anything about seeing if she is entitled to any disability based benefits. Daughter in question is 28 years old and her partner is 47 (I think,) he is a registered carer for his ill Mum, lives at his Mum's home with other family and the Daughter in question, works so many hours a week for his own company but doesn't pay himself as the company has no money and hasn't for years. Any help or advise would be appreciated on how to approach this and again sorry for the long post but I know people are asked for more information on the forum all the time so thought I would try and get as much of it down as possible. Thanks in Advance.

Hi i am self employed on a low income and claiming Housing Benefit on a 1 bed (2 room) flat in an inner london brma. I have been renting one of the rooms out to a lodger on a permanent basis and receiving the 2 bed rate minus income deductions from the lodger. I would like to begin renting the room occupied by my lodger on a less permanent basis, to paying BnB visitors for weekend. Is this possible and what would be what is the best way to go about this without creating a change of circumstances every weekend that I have a paying visitor? All i can find is that there isn't any distinction at all in the regulations between a lodger and a temporary BnB guest - a 'lodger' is defined as 'someone who is liable to pay you or your partner rent, on a commercial basis, to live in your home'. There's no clarification on what 'to live in your home' means, and this means that it's quite possible that any paying weekend guest will be treated the same as any other lodger, and this may potentially mean that I have to notify the council of a change in circumstances frequently. Could i incorporate the business' under my self employed umbrella that does not interfere with my award which would be single occupancy with 1 bed LHA.? Would really appreciate any concrete info please. Thanks in advance.

Hello Can anyone please tell me if an employee that has worked for a company 7 hours a week for 1 year, is entitled to holiday pay? If the amount of work hours above does not meet the amount that is required for entitlement. Can anyone please tell me how many working hours a week someone has to work to qualify for holiday pay? Thanks

Please can someone give me some advice with regards to the issue of holiday pay entitlement if a person is working term time only on a zero hour contract? I currently work for a taxi company as a passenger escort for school runs. I work 39 weeks in term time only on a zero hour contract. I am not classified as self employed as I don't run my own business as they provide the work we do and they pay our tax and national insurance contributions. I only started employment with them on the 9th May 2016 and I haven't taken any paid holiday from that date to this year. I have been requesting about paid holiday since the day I started but they are insisting that I am not entitled to any kind of holiday pay. The reason why they say is because I am a zero hour contract worker. They also say that their business has been running for 5 to 6 years and all the other drivers and escorts who are on a zero hour contract are aware they are not entitled either. I have spoken to them on the phone a few times and have also sent them emails and they are saying that there is no point in keep on asking about it as I am wasting my time. Please can someone throw some light on this? Thankyou for any advice BF X

I gave 4 weeks notice over 2 months ago now and should of received 4 weeks pay plus holiday entitlement. I did not recieve to holiday pay but they said they would investigate it. It dragged on all month and I did a few shifts for them after my notice was served to help with staff shortages. Today I was paid for the extra shifts I did for them but still no holiday pay. If they are saying I am still staff (bank staff) because I'm helping with a couple of shifts can they deny my holiday pay? Even if I was bank staff I don't see how I would be able to use holiday time because you only get offered shifts short notice when you are bank staff. This firm came in in January as a takeover. I have still received not contract from them. Thanks guys. George

Please could someone enlighten me. If an employee works 4.5hrs a day twice a week, how many days holiday are they due. Thank you

Brief details firstly 1. age 67 therefore receiving State Pension 2. Work for an agency virtually full time 3. Contract I have been on for 3.5 years is just about to finish 4. Although still registered with agency jobs will be as and when 5. Due in May to have operation So my question is, a) morally and b) practically would I still be entitled to SSP ( and accruing Holiday entitlement) even if I have little placements between now and Hospital? I don't, at the moment intend to "resign" (Cant be doing with being an idle pensioner!) I had an operation last October and took a total of 6 weeks off whilst working full time and received SSP and Hol Pay for this period I am just interested in whether it is correct and indeed ethical Many thanks for opinions

Hi all, I've begun working with a teaching agency and have been on assignment since October 2016. The contract provided to me by the agency states that 'The Temporary Worker is engaged as a self-employed worker, although CT is required to make stautory deductions from the Temporary Worker's renumeration in accordance with clause 4(a)'. So I am self-employed but the agency deduct NI and PAYE tax from my pay - which is fine. The booking confirmations I have received from the agency cleary state Daily rate, length of booking, place of booking. There is no mention of a separate holiday pay payment to pay slips etc. I was under the impression that I was not entitled to holiday pay as I am now self-employed, however, from my reading online I believe I may be entitled to holiday pay as I am doing a job long-term that is comparable to a role that does include holiday pay. I have questioned my agency regarding this and received the response that holiday pay is part of my daily rate and that 12.07% of my daily rate is set aside for holiday pay. I find this misleading as firstly, this has never been explained to me and secondly because the contract they have provided me is very misleading in terms of entitlement to holiday pay: Here's what it says: Where on earth do I stand with all this??

In order to qualify for the State pension you have to have made full NIC contributions for a number of years. Is this correct? If so, how many years? I believe the figure is 37 years. I have long been self-employed, low income, unmarried. I am fairly sure I have less than six years of contributions and will not achieve that State pension requirement by the time I reach retirement age, not even close. So, with regard to pensions, is there any point in making voluntary contributions?

If someone works 20.5hrs a week, not including Mon or Tues, how is the bank holiday entitlement worked out?

Hi I work for a small business which has no HR department. It's a combination of the administration manager and the finance department who deal with any HR related matters. I'm leaving the company and have asked for a note of my remaining holiday entitlement. They are saying I have no remaining annual leave as I've taken it all. I haven't. I've only taken 5 days. They say I've taken 16 days (I wish). I can prove that I was in the office on the days they say I was on annual leave but it's a proving to be a battle. When I first handed in my notice I was told I had quite a bit of remaining leave. As soon as I say I want to use some of it, it disappears. Can they take away holiday entitlement? What are my rights as an employee if they refuse to correct their records? The holiday year starts on the 1st April, I'm leaving in October. This has happen before but with sick leave. I was reprimanded for taking too much sick leave after being off for 3 days with the flu. When I asked to see my sickness record they had me off for 8 days. Again I could prove I was in the office on the additional 5 days. They only corrected their records when I threaten to get the union involved. I don't want to do this again, I want to leave peacefully. It's a great company to work for, it's just a shame that the HR side is in a shambles. I'm the only person who carries out the type of work I do. It does create problems when I'm not in the office. Holiday requests are a chore and when I do finally get a holiday my line manager is constantly on the phone and e-mail asking me to do work. Booked holidays are cancelled at the very last minute. Same with sickness. Those 3 days I took off, they were constantly checking on me each day. Even when I was sat in the doctor's reception - every 10 minutes, "have you seen the doctor yet?"!! My theory is the additional sick leave was a ploy to ensure I didn't take anymore sick leave in the fear I would lose my job. Needless to say, this disappearing holiday entitlement does not come as a surprise. Thanks B

Hello everyone! I've tried to research this on my own so many times, but I'm unable to find a clear answer to this. I'm a EEA national who is about to start a full-time business from home. As my business will be just starting, probably I won't met the earning thresold to be automatically seen as a self-employed in order to claim WTC. Any of you is getting WTC being an EEA national but earning less than 155 weekly pounds? Please note I meet the criteria of age and working hours before replying. Your help is appreciated!

Dear CAG team, I have a query regarding what my holiday entitlement is, as my employer is being evasive when questioned and I feel I may not be the only one with issues of this type. I work as a live in PA to a disabled women, who hired me directly and who pays me herself, not via a payroll company. I work 22 hours every day, (2 hours break), 6 days straight, then I have 8 days off. So basically nearly 2 weeks every month. I am paid my the hour, not salary and I am paid every 4 weeks, not calendar month. The problem reared its head when she told me that I am a pro rata employee and as such, I am only entitled to part time holiday. Basically 14 days instead of 28 days. I am not paid extra for bank holidays, even Christmas, and I am expected to work them. I queried the 14 days a year and was told flat that I an pro rata and that holiday entitlement is calculated on days worked not hours. If you add up the hours I work every week and divide this by a 4 week month, I am doing roughly 66 hours a week which qualifies as full time in anyones book. It got a lot worse as she then offered to pay me holiday to make up , my wages as she didn't need me for one day during my shift and did not want me to be short She then told me that in order to pay me a full days pay for that 24 hour shift she would have to use up 2 days of holiday. If she does this every time I book holiday, I will end up with 7 days! I work alone as does the other PA and have no payroll or HR department to look at this on my behalf. The other lady has never even checked to see if her wages are correct and I have also had problems with her paying my tax, which HMRC are dealing with currently. Can you offer me any advice. even knowing for sure what my holiday entitlement is would be a great help...... Thanks for taking the time to read this

Evening Could you put me straight on the issue of holidays. My background I work part time for a large home ware store, 3 days per week 16 hours, Monday/Thurs and Sat. My issue I need to resolve is: If I am taking some of my working days off as holiday, for instance my last time off was -working monday holiday thur back in Saturday..Was my boss within his right to ask me to work the weds of that week? To me that would mean I am not really getting a break? What is the point of taking a days holiday if I have to go in the wed so not got a few days off.? I may as well have switched my shift from thurs to wed. Background is they have cut my hours to 16 from 20/24 due to new minimum wage. I aslo lost my Father 3 weeks ago and have not taken compassionate leave, as we are short staffed and would feel guilty. I also was shouted at by a manager with another member of staff the manager used profanity on me, this I am seething about.

Hi, I work 4 days a week and therefore entitled to 22.4 days holiday (rounded to 23 days) from 2011 to 2014. A per my contract and through custom and practice, I receive double rate for working on Bank Holidays since 2009. In 2015, I worked 8 Bank Holidays and these were paid at double rate. However, that year the management had reduced my holiday entitlement by 8 days. Their reason was that I was paid double on Bank Holidays, this rate was as part "payment in lieu" for a holiday entitlement. My office is open through out the year and I work every Bank Holiday each year and this never effected my statutory holiday entitlement of 5.6 weeks (23 days) After writing my grievance and giving my employer plenty of opportunities to pay me the correct entitlement, I have now filled for Employment Tribunal and the case was accepted. Do you guys thing I have a good chance of winning this case? I have payslips to prove I have received 23 days holiday and also double rate for Bank Holidays in the past. Look forward to your input.

Hi, Not sure where to post this so went to the most correct sounding place. I have for the last few years been working with a company during the summer months. As it is seasonal work there is no holiday in the usual sense, it is simply moving from site to site and working when needed. At the end of this current season (2015) I received a payment in lieu of holiday out of the blue for the time I worked as they have moved to an automated payroll system. However in previous years (2011,2012,2013 and 2014) I never received this payment. I was wondering whether there was any chance of reclaiming this or whether I would simply be under the employers discretion for whether or not to do so? Thanks for any help apologies if a stupid question Smiley

Hi all Thanks for taking the time to look at my question. As stated in the title I've requested my holiday allowance from my employer and have received a response stating my allowance so far this year is 6 hours a week as per my contracted hours. I work on average 25 - 30 hours a week shift work and have done for the entire year and previous years too. So far this year I have been paid for 544.5 hours of work Here is quoted from my contract under the headline "holidays" "In each holiday year you are entitled to 5.6 weeks paid holiday pro rata to your working week ( the holiday year runs from 1st April to 31st March)" The rest of the information under the same heading is unrelated to my issue ( notice period, can't carry over to the next year etc) I've worked for this company on and off for the last 8 years but this current contract was signed on the 11th of June 2012 Last year I had a similar issue trying to get holiday pay out of them and ended up getting my previous 8 weeks average for the 2 weeks I requested. This year they are using the excuse that last year they couldn't find my contract but now they have, my holiday entitlement is 16 hours based on the 6 hour contract x 5.6 weeks pro rata. What advice can you give me to help me fight for my right for fair holiday pay, please provide references where you can. Thanks again for looking and for your responses Jez

Hi All Slightly complex situation but here it is, any advice appriciated. Overview We have a mortgage with NRAM and a secured loan with Picture>Webb>IDEM. We cannot make payments and are in default. NRAM looking to put us on a voluntary repossession scheme which are happy with. IDEM have had us is court. Today was the third hearing and they didn't show as they cannot find the correct Deed of Entitlement information, witness statement and paperwork. They asked for Adjornment via letter (not sent to us only the court) but the Judge struck out the claim as they had said they would based on second hearing and paperwork etc beign wrong. What kind of solicitor can best give advice on this? (I.e Conveyencing, housing etc?) Given they cannot prove Deed of Entitlement can we challenge their charge at the land registry and have it removed? Again, your advice is most appreciated!

Hello all, anyone know about second charge and Deed of entitlement? Interesting Case with IDEM Capital, advice required please Hi All Slightly complex situation but here it is, any advice appriciated. Overview We have a mortgage with NRAM and a secured loan with Picture>Webb>IDEM. We cannot make payments and are in default. NRAM looking to put us on a voluntary repossession scheme which are happy with. IDEM have had us is court. Today was the third hearing and they didn't show as they cannot find the correct Deed of Entitlement information, witness statement and paperwork. They asked for Adjornment via letter (not sent to us only the court) but the Judge struck out the claim as they had said they would based on second hearing and paperwork etc beign wrong. What kind of solicitor can best give advice on this? (I.e Conveyencing, housing etc?) Given they cannot prove Deed of Entitlement can we challenge their charge at the land registry and have it removed? Again, your advice is most appreciated!

Hello folks, have been a member for a good number of years but not posted very much. I now have a question that hopefully somebody may be able to give some advice about. For the last 21 years I have worked as a Janitor for a local government authority, about 4 years ago they put some Janitors (not all) on to term-time contracts, unfortunately I was one of the ones that was put on to a term-time contract. More recently they (government authority) have changed us from weekly paid to monthly paid, so what they do now is calculate your yearly wage, including holiday entitlement, and divide it by 12 to give you a monthly wage paid on the 14th of each month, any overtime you work can take up to 10 weeks to get paid depending on when you work it. I have a wedding to go to in September of this year (2015), live in Scotland so it will be in the middle of a school term. Would I be able to take a couple of days off and claim it as holidays? I understand (but not confirmed) that I get paid time and a half for working holidays and this is included in my yearly salary. I think I am entitled to 30 days holiday because of my time of service. By my calculations I would only lose 1 day wages if I take two days off and claim it as holidays. Have not seen a copy of my "new" contract since they changed me to term-time but my "old" one said that holidays must be taken outside term-time. As I am only working term-time now then surely I am entitled to take my holidays during term time. Sorry for the long post but if anyone has some advice it would be gratefully received. Thanks

Those of you that are carers may find the following link of interest. This is a bill called the "Carers Bedroom Entitlement (Social Housing Sector) Bill (HC Bill 95)" It can be found here see link below, it has NOT been passed as of yet but this is for informational purposes only, so you will have an advance warning that it could become law soon... Or see myt attachment.. http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/bills/cbill/2014-2015/0095/cbill_2014-20150095_en_1.htm "Provide that people in receipt of Universal Credit and Housing Benefit and accommodated in the social housing sector be entitled to an additional bedroom related to caring responsibilities or overnight care; and for connected purposes."

Hi This isn't actually for myself by my girlfriend. I have used this forum before and it was great so would appreciate some advice here. Its a complicated situation so in order to fully understand what has happened, here is the complaint she sent to student finance last week. "I would like to make a complaint regarding the communication skills and moral dishonesty of student finance. Before detailing the areas of my complaint I would like to state that I have always completed all paperwork on time, queried any abnormalities and upheld all details stated in the contract. To begin, I was given a maintenance loan and tuition fee loan without query when I began my degree in Veterinary Science at the University of Liverpool (after recently completing my previous degree in Chemistry). I was aware that post-graduate students differ in their entitlement to student loans and spoke to numerous student finance advisers regarding this both before and after applying for a student loan. Not once was I told that student finance were making a mistake in allowing me my tuition fee loan and I was misled to believe that I would be able to finish my degree with complete financial support. That such a fundamental mistake could be made by so many of your staff is unthinkable and considering the impact it has now had on my studies, career, financial situation and well being. I am unable to understand how this mistake could have occurred multiple times and am seeking a full explanation regarding this. Not only did your staff make errors but I have been supplied with a full tuition fee loan for almost two years of my course and in this time your screening process has not picked up on this anomaly. I hope that this will also be addressed when investigating this complaint. Next, the manner in which Student Finance has dealt with their own incompetence can only be described as appalling. I received four letters in the space of two days and each letter had different values I was entitled to and confusingly spanned across a number of academic years. Together they were incomprehensible and incredibly unclear. My online account had always stated that I was received £0.00 for everything since you updated your online system. Upon querying this at the beginning of the year with one of you advisers I was told that it was just taking a long time to update. So I spokewith one of your advisers again to ask what all these letters meant; and although they also had trouble comprehending the situation I was told that the decision to discontinue my tuition fee loan had been made some time ago. I was never notified that my profile was being reviewed, given no written explanation as to why student finance had made such a mistake and offered no apology. This lack of communication is atrocious. How is Student Finance able to justify this knowing the impact this would have? As the investigation of this complaint I would require a full apology and would like to know the protocol Student Finance uses when dealing with ethically sensitive decisions. As of yet I not received the customer service that is advertised to students. Finally, I would like Student Finance to truly know the impact this has had. I am unable to fund my studies, am unable to apply for bursaries and have no additional financial support. I would never have invested the time and money into such a demanding and lengthy degree if I had not been misled by Student Finance on several occasions. I now face ending my course just before my exams that I will be unable to take and deal with the vast additional debt that would never have occurred. The actions of Student Finance will not only destroy my ambitions and career opportunities but will undoubtedly affect my well being. I expect an honest investigation on how this has happened,a sincere apology and how Student Finance aims to rectify such an abhorrent situation. " She has now been informed by her University (Liverpool) that she now may owe them 18k for the first 2 years of her degree. We live together and are independent (we rent) so obviously she cant afford to pay either the 18k herself or the further 3 years going forward. She obviously would want to continue with the degree if possible however we will have to see what happens. A strange situation I know. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks Patrick