Sapphire Posted March 8, 2012 Author Share Posted March 8, 2012 Dont bother with Citizens advice because they will ring Acas for the advice ring Acas helpline and they will be able to help. I used to work for them in the UK. You may have trouble taking this any further if he didnt write any written grievances before he left so you do need proper help now. Good luck Thats worth knowing Luckily he did write a written greivance, about the racist remarks and about being shut out of selling Thats why I think this happened.He made the written complaint to HR in January,,,life made hell since,,,and then sacked end of Feb,,,, He has been told since he made the complaint, they will sack him for complaining,,,I think they were hoping he would leave,,,but he dident Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jorgon Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Dont bother with Citizens advice because they will ring Acas for the advice ring Acas helpline and they will be able to help. I used to work for them in the UK. You may have trouble taking this any further if he didnt write any written grievances before he left so you do need proper help now. Good luck Sorry, I don't agree:- (a) ACAS are currently very pressed and cannot make a claim for someone who rings up. The CAB or a legal advice centre or a solicitor can prepare the necessary paperwork and make the claim (or prepare it so that the friend's son can do so himself). (b) The need for a written grievance before being able to make a claim was abolished as from 6 April 2009. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lebourvellec Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Sorry, I don't agree:- (a) ACAS are currently very pressed and cannot make a claim for someone who rings up. The CAB or a legal advice centre or a solicitor can prepare the necessary paperwork and make the claim (or prepare it so that the friend's son can do so himself). (b) The need for a written grievance before being able to make a claim was abolished as from 6 April 2009. ACAS are the people to call - having been through the process myself the CAB do not have the knowledge to deal with Emplyoment Law. They will give you options where he stands and what he can do next. The advisor I had spoke to gave me a name of a solicitor to contact to take on my case, which was then lodged with ACAS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoandJon Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 I think he (and maybe you) should get yourself to Citizens Advise ASAP. The issue could be that he signed a contract, which if leagally binding could cause him problems. Did he put the formal complaint to HR in writing and keep a copy? Has be kept a copy of his employment contract? and all payslips - including his P45? The other thing worth looking in to is that if he is a very low, or no wage earner he could be entitled to leagal aid. Citizens Advise would be able to let you know where to find these people. The main thing is, do not sit on this problem, forwarned is forearmed. Find out what his rights are. Coming on here may be a great way of getting a bit of support, and getting things off your chest, but you need to get proper, reliable advise. What you get on here may only be opinions etc. If the 'contract' was signed under duress, or he didn't understand it and signed it, it's not valid. Did he feel pressured to sign the document even though he didn't understand it or he would be instantly dismissed? (please nod) 'aint worth the paper it's written on then. Plus re the hours - see the EWTD (European working time directive) I'm pretty sure they've breached that bigtime. (break between shifts et al) Have only read the first couple of posts yet, will see if there's anything else I can help with. oh, and - don't let him pay the money, I think they probably owE him instead - CAB/EMployment people are good suggestion (edit corrected my stupid spelling!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoandJon Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 He had only been with them since September,would that be long enough,to claim Constructive dismissal? Constructive dismissal is usually (but not always) used for situations where the person resigns themselves, but it can still apply if he's sacked. It applies no matter how long you're employed by someone - i.e. the only reason you're no longer there is because of untenable working conditions. (Will keep reading now, this may have been already answered!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoandJon Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 Absolutely spot on And don't forget bullying and harassment - the key with this, is that if HE felt bullied he was bullied, it does NOT rely upon the intentions of the other person. (There is a requirement that it has to be reasonable that he feels bullied/harassed) Hi Sapphire The recommendation that your friend's son should go to the Citizens Advice Bureau is a good one. Or there may be a legal advice centre nearby which may be able to help. As for the wages and commission arrangement, it sounds as though his basic wage may have been below the minimum wage (the rate of this would depend on his age), and the "guaranteed" commission was a way to make up for this deficit. Of course if this was the case, then it is wrong to claw back this top-up. If there are any deductions from his final pay packet to which he has not agreed in writing beforehand, then these are not permitted and he would be able to claim these back. Not being paid over Christmas, when everyone else was, may be a deduction from wages which can be claimed from the employer. It does not seem likely that he was given written particulars of employment. Where an employer failed to do this the employee can claim two or four weeks wages in compensation if it is linked to another claim. As for the racist remarks, this would appear to give your friend's son a right to make a claim for race discrimination in the Employment Tribunal. It is possible that he was shut out from earning commission because of his race, which would also be discrimination. As would being sacked. However, it is possible that he was sacked not because of his race but because he made a complaint about the remarks or being shut out from earning commission, in which case this is victimisation which is another claim which he can make. These are all claims under the Equality Act 2010. Of course if he was sacked because he was a bad worker or for other reasons which your friend is not aware of, then he would lose this claim. Your friend's son would have no claim for unfair dismissal because he would need to have been working there for a year for this to apply (soon to increase to two years). There are exceptions to this, but I don't think any such exception applies in this case. The reference to "probation period" has no real meaning or effect in law. It makes no difference to the legal rights and obligations. When someone complains about things such as racist remarks or being shut out from earnings commission, this is a grievance which the employers are obliged to treat seriously by investigating and holding meetings etc. If they don't do this, then any award for compensation can be increased by up to 25%. Starting a claim in the Employment Tribunal is currently free, although the government will be changing this soon. If your friend's son can't find a Citizens Advice Bureau or legal advice centre to help, there are solicitors who will present a case on a "non win no fee" basis. Your friend's son should be aware that there is a 3 month time limit to go to the Employment Tribunal from the time of the event complained of. He needs to act quickly because some complaints go back some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jorgon Posted March 8, 2012 Share Posted March 8, 2012 The advisor I had spoke to gave me a name of a solicitor to contact to take on my case, which was then lodged with ACAS. You can't lodge a claim with ACAS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Que Sera Sera Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 You lodge a claim with the Employment Trubunal, but the claim will automatically be sent to Acas for conciliation to take place. The Tribunal System will not accept a claim unless it has, however you can lodge it with Acas for a pre claim conciliation which does not go to an employment tribunal but gets settled hopefully by Acas, through what is known as a COT3 agreement. Also the need for a written grievance has not been abolished, it is still there as best practice, but the Tribunal will not automatically throw it out the claim, if it hasnt been done, but it will still take into consideration whether one has been done and that if one has been done, if both sides have acted reasonably in dealing with the grievance. So it is always best practice to do one.In fact even if you were to win your claim if you havent followed the grievance procedure the Tribunal could reduce your financial reward by quite a large sum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lebourvellec Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 You can't lodge a claim with ACAS. You are quick to say what you dont agree with - but you have given no useful advice to the OP. Apart from contact CAB which is mainly run by voluenteers - they do not have the legal knowledge to deal with Employment Law. "The Acas helpline offers free, confidential and impartial guidance on employment rights and workplace issues." As I said I had a solicitor that dealt with my case over 10 years ago in Scotland. All correspondance regarding my case and trubunial hearing date came from ACAS on headed paper. If you havent got anything useful to say ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jorgon Posted March 12, 2012 Share Posted March 12, 2012 You are quick to say what you dont agree with - but you have given no useful advice to the OP. If you havent got anything useful to say ..... Well, my original long response to Sapphire does I believe, give useful assistance. Please read it if you haven't already done so. Since my original long response people have been disagreeing about whether Sapphire's friend's son should go to the CAB or to ACAS first. I don't regard that as helpful. The fact is that the 3 month time limit for bringing a Tribunal claim will still be ticking away while discussing matters with ACAS. The only way to stop the clock will be to bring a Tribunal claim. ACAS will not be able to prepare such a claim - after all, they are only a conciliation service. Yes, ACAS will then get involved. Yes, you can go to ACAS without a claim having been made and indeed recently COT3 settlements signed off by ACAS have become very popular because of a mistake made in the Equality Act 2010 which required all binding settlements to go through ACAS (soon to be corrected). Yes, it is good practice to put in a written grievance but no it was wrong to say that this must be done before a claim may be brought. I am simply ensuring that Sapphire's friend's son is not misled by these earlier erroneous comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lawyergal Posted April 16, 2012 Share Posted April 16, 2012 Look at automatic unfair dismissal because of race discrimination, you don't need a years service for that. In addition race discrimination (less favourable treatment on the grounds of race), breach of cotract for money claims, unlawful deduction of wages. It will depend what his contract says for the deductions they made, if they are entitled to reclaim a bonus etc under the T&C's then he may not have a case. I would suggest speaking to ACAS to they provide a pre claim conciliation service. Also bear in mind he has three months less one day from the last act of discrimination and termination to claim or the Tribunal are likely to refuse the claim. Also if he has it tell him to speak to his legal expenses insurance provider as they are likely to give consideration to funding the claim (subject to the terms and conditions of his policy) Sorry if that's repeated what anyone else has said but thought the above may help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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