Help with preparing for tribunal hearing

joanne_d_3

Hi , hopefully someone can help me with a few quick questions.

Im helping my hubby prepare for his employment tribunal.

Does anyone know if extra amounts of tax credits paid to us during the period since my husbands dismissal will be deducted from any award my husband would be fortunate enough to be awarded if he wins his case ? I Also , this is a tricky one so maybe some of you with legal knowledge can answer thsi one.....


Thanks in advance

SarEl

joanne_d wrote: »

Hi , hopefully someone can help me with a few quick questions.

Im helping my hubby prepare for his employment tribunal.

Does anyone know if extra amounts of tax credits paid to us during the period since my husbands dismissal will be deducted from any award my husband would be fortunate enough to be awarded if he wins his case ? I know that if he had been claiming jsa during this time THAT would be deducted from his award but are tax credits?

The Respondent solicitor is pushing us to disclose "all income received since dismissal which MUST include details of all state benefits"...... Is tax credits a state benefit ? Must i disclose the amount received?

Also , this is a tricky one so maybe some of you with legal knowledge can answer thsi one.....

The respondents solicitor had applied to the tribunal office for an order to make my husband provide her with hospital records and Gp records....we have done this and she now has them in her possession but when i asked her what she intended to do with them MEANING WHICH MEDICAL EXPERT SHE INTENDED TO HAVE THEM EXAMINED BY she replied that i have no right to know what she is intending to do with them !

She states that she has the legal right to have the notes examined by ANYONE she hooses and that she is not obligued to tell me anyhting !

Is this correct ? The medical notes are highly sensitive and we assume they are covered by the data protection act ?

Thanks in advance

In terms of state benefits, you must declare all income including tax credits. However, I believe (as in I have been told) that the rules on tax credits are that the calculation is based on current income and can't "go backwards" - in other words, whilst you must declare these in your statement, you do not have to repay them for previous periods if you win. Although the employers solicitor will no doubt attempt to get these amounts taken into account to reduce any award.

In terms of the medical reports, within certain limitations, the solicitor may not be very polite, but she is correct - it's her business what she does with these and not yours. She must protect your personal data in the same way as she ought to for any other data - but if she wishes to produce these in the tribunal (in other words in public), show them to another medical practitioner, an investigator - well there are a lot of things that may (remember, I only said may!) be lawfully done with them. It all depends on what relevance they have to the case. You cannot dictate how she uses evidence. You can objcet to the use if you (a) know about it - for example if it appears in evidence and (b) it isn't relevant to use it for that purpose - but you can't ask why she wanted it or what she intends to use it for - if anything. Certain classes of solictor have been known to employ a scatter gun approach to paperwork and ask for everything relevant or not.

joanne_d_3

Thanks SarEL !

Ok...that answers all my questions.

I would have thought the solicitor would have needed to get permission from my husband before she allowed the notes to be viewed by anyone else so im glad i asked on here before i said that statement to her lol

thanks ever so much , its always appreciated

traz39

we had a hearing date for tribunal tomorrow and at 3pm today the other party cancelled can they do this

joanne_d_3

Hi traz.

Sorry , im going through the whole tribunal process myself and am certainly no expert so unfortunately i cant answer your question but i just didnt want to read your post and run .

i can imagine how frustrating this cancellation is for you , especially the day before the hearing !

What reason did they give for cancelling ?

Is it a postponement ? I take it that it would be as the other side (the Respondents) CANT cancel !

traz39

why u say they cant cancel it is them that have are they not allowed to is that u saying we r waiting now for new date

Googlewhacker

traz39 wrote: »

why u say they cant cancel it is them that have are they not allowed to is that u saying we r waiting now for new date

Again not an expert but I would guess that they could ask for a postponement as long as there are valid reasons and the judge would provide this.

Might be worth you starting your own thread

joanne_d_3

The Respondents CANT cancel a tribunal , yes they can ask for a postponement but they cant cancel . the only way the tribunal can be cancelled is if YOU , the claimant cancel it if you no longer wish to see it through !

traz39

thanks for your reply yey they have asked for a postponment cant believe they have been allowed this less than 24 hrs before they hearing saying they had the wrong date has they thought it was the 5th july not the first:mad:

greendollar

And the Tribunal judge granted a postponement because they had their dates wrong ?
I'm also going through the Tribunal process myself , the way Tribunals allow employers to abuse the process is quite staggering . The Tribunals state that they aim to resolve cases within 26 weeks ... haha , what a joke , 2 bloody years I've been waiting because of my ex-employers excuses and failing to comply with orders .
As for your husband income , all I can tell you is what I have done and that is declare my JSA .
Tax credits are for you and your children and not part of your husbands income . The tribunal will not take them into account so they do not require that information .

traz39

goin to ring solicitor this morning and see what she says it was a bit late yesterday we managed to get legal aid up until the tribunal so it was ok so my mum paid for a solictor to go to court with us hope we dont have to pay it again