My mums employment issues (Please Help)

[crm84]

Hi all, this is my first post in this area of the board as I know absolutely nothing when it comes to employment issues but my poor mum is at the end of her tether and I need to help her out.

 

Please grab a coffee as this is going to be a long one.

 

My mum works in a office (private sector) for little over minimum wage; she has worked there first of all on a rolling temporary basis (Employed with the company not as a contractor) and was made permanent in this year,

 

In May of this year my mum was moved onto a new campaign within the office with a new manager, to whom took immediate dislike to her, she was openly blaming my mum for things and putting her down in front of the team (Examples Edited) Other environmental issues like ill fitting headsets with faults, unclean desks and damaged chairs also took effect.

 

My mum couldn’t handle this anymore and was signed off work with “Work related Illness (Changed)”. This meant she was off for a total of 6 months Long Term Sick.

 

During her absence she complied with all reasonable requests for sick lines, paperwork etc but 3 months in was given a meeting to attend, first of all this started with the manager having a right go at my mum down the phone for saying that she hasn’t turned up for a meeting which we never got the letter for (This was later discovered and I am only mentioning ) When she finally did get the meeting request and attended rather than the HR rep that she wanted their attending it was the manager she was complaining about and another manager. so needless to say she was pushed into a corner with regards to her complaint but none of her REAL complaint got heard by the managers that mattered just a watered down version of events from the manager who was hearing the complaint.

 

 

Finally just before going back to work she received a meeting request this time actually with HR who covered all her concerns, addressed them in a professional manner and they both mutually agreed a phased return working program to suit them both which my mum was looking forward to.

 

So this is now end of September with a view to returning in October, Pay day arrives to which she finds no wages in her bank account. Needless to say her Direct Debits bounced each incurring a charge as well as the Credit Card company the payment was due for also levying a £12 missed payment charge none of this is my mum’s fault as she hasn’t even stepped foot in the place in months!

 

She called her work who said “We will look into it and call you back” needless to say around 5-10 calls later she is no further forward and no payment either, At this stage my mum gave up and started phoning pay roll herself, In the end this took 4 days to resolve and over £125 in charges from her bank never mind the bad marks on her credit history for missed payments.

 

They FINALLY paid her and we are still waiting on them getting back to us regarding the charges that were incurred as part of their doing.

Two weeks later my mum started back work on a phased return which she was quite enjoying which involved a few days a week getting her retrained addressing concerns etc and was ready ..

 

End of October comes and guess what no wages again £20 this time, Roll on another batch of bank charges. Same as before contacted her work who said “We will look into it and get back to you” no wages by the end of that day earlier,

 

She arrived in the office the next morning (No wages remember) a manager had a go at her in a really busy corridor and said some things (Not repeated for anonymity) This was overheard by my mum’s return to work advisor who reported it to a higher level, they themselves clearly seen the state of my mum and asked her to point out who had said it, she did and the manager didn’t believe them she then mentioned the lack of wages to which they then said we will look at it, go home and calm down you are in no fit state for work.

 

The next day which was her day off she spent chasing management about where her wages were, they gave her the usual we will phone you back etc, and never did, she finally got the senior manager who she had spoken to the day before and this time he had turned nasty and very unhelpful. He then asked what happened last month and she explained to which she was told oh no that couldn’t have been the case he then had a go and said leave it with me.

 

At this point my mum is in absolute pieces having been treated like dirt after trying to go back to work after a long absence which was due to them, not getting any money at all for it to live in, No one ever calling her back, and then being shouted at by the people that are supposed to care, She was in such a state she had a anxiety attack to which was a horrible experience to witness. She is also due a fair few days holiday back to whichshe is scared to ask them about as her colleague who was also off sick was told “you will lose them as you were off sick.”

 

This morning as I was going to work my mum was sitting up in floods of tears and couldn’t even construct a sentence together about going to work so I told her to phone in sick. Still has no wages although they have promised to pay her today. They say this time the mistake was due to them.

 

The whole time she was off she had a councilor and was prescribed anti depressants to help with her condition caused by work

 

What do we do now?

 

- The holiday issue surely its law that no matter sick or not she gets her holidays? What happens if they don’t facilitate / allow her to take these does she lose them? What is the best way of dealing with this?

 

- The attitude problem of the manager/s how does she deal with this?

 

- The wages problem has caused over £200 in bank charges and 2 missed payment marks in an otherwise unblemished credit history, how do we approach this?

 

- My mum has taken notes and screenshots on her phone of every call made and when as well as what was said and with dates and times so taking things further there is plenty of evidence

 

Thanks for making it to the end of this hellish story and I appreciate anyone who can help in any way at all.

[dj1971]

crm84,

 

So sorry to hear about the problems your mum has been having.

 

Personally I would contact the member of HR with whom your mum made the agreement of a phased return to work and update them on what has been happening.

 

With the annual leave issue, she is still entitled to her full annual leave entitlement and this should be unaffected by the fact she was off on sick leave. Again I would advise you confirm this with the member of HR.

 

Unfortunately there is no law against managers having a perceived attitude problem. I appreciate how difficult it is when you do not get paid on the day you were supposed to, but ringing around different people expecting them to sort it out immediately will not help. It might be a good idea for your mum to speak with her bank and explain the situation to them about wages, emphasising this is a temporary problem and putting an overdraft facility in place so she can avoid further bank charges.

 

I suggest your mum choose one person to deal with all the issues and that could be as I have suggested the person from HR. That way you do not have 2 or 3 people working to try and solve the same issue and quite possibly making it worse. The person from Hr is well placed to address all of your mums concerns, although they may not get resolved as quickly as she might want.

 

The only really thing that matters in all of this is your mums health. Did she consult with her Dr about going back to work? I know from personal experience the temptation to get back to work is very strong after having a period of sick leave and all too often people go back before they are ready. I am not saying this is the case with your mum, just something for her to think about.

 

SOrry I cannot provide you with more legal advice as I am not qualified, but they are some fantastic people on this forum with the right skills and knowledge to help your mum get through this. Most important is that your mum looks after her health in the meantime.

 

Good luck

 

DJ

[stu007]

Hi

 

These PDFs from ACAS may be of help:

[stu007]

Hi

 

Please remember your mums health is the most important thing here and IMO she really needs to go back to her GP and as you have observed her condition ask her permission to go in with her to the GP

 

This is the link to ACAS Website: www.acas.org.uk/

 

Also this direct link to art of ACAS Website will explain the workers entitlement to annual leave for periods of sickness abscence:

 

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3860

 

Also this PDF:

Edited November 5, 2012 by stu007

[lbruk]

Ouch,

 

OK, a few things to sort out here.

 

Firstly, the anti depressants, these were prescribed due to issues at work correct? Did she make the employer aware that she was struggling? was she put under undue pressure compared to someone of equal rank?

 

Sick pay - what is the company policy - word for word, is it guaranteed or manager discretion?

 

Charges to bank - if the company is at fault - then they should be billed for them.

 

The incident in the corridor - was this overheard by people? would they be willing to make a statement regarding what they heard?

 

we'll start basic and move on, best thing you can tell your mum is that they have acted disgracefully, however we need more info to be able to see if they have acted illegally.

 

Lastly, what do you want out of this?