advice on employment tribunal settlement

greendollar

Hi Kcuvad ,

No it would not be advisable to pull the same tricks as your employers solicitors as the Tribunal would without doubt grant them an Order for Costs as YOUR actions (although no different from your employers) would fall under the vexatious , unreasonable and disruptive label .

One rule for them , another one for us .

Would my claim still be active if I had postponed 5 times , when I did turn up ( 2yrs later) totally fail to comply with the tribunals orders ...... mmmmm , no .... they would have told me to go forth and multiply .

kcuvad

Bit of an update...... Today I have had my case referred to the free representation unit and what a relief I can tell you ! They are an organisation in London who offer help with employment tribunals etc

To be honest many a time I felt like giving up having had my life ruined by my last employer, I was aware of this organisation but not every C.A.B. can refer cases (they have a list on their web site ) and my local one diddnt which in itself can feel like such an barrier when you are on your own.

My hope now is that once a solicitor sees exactly what is going on here they will sort out the other side ! I can honestly say that this employment law thing is the most stressful thing thats ever happened in my life and I dont know why as its only a job but its more than that isnt it its references etc and the rest of your life.... a feeling that even if you do win what employer will employ me once they find out ive been to an employment tribunal.

Still, onward an upwards!

jjww_2

Hi kcuvad,

After reading through your post I am pleased to read your update on getting free legal representation.

Having been through an employment tribunal on the other side as an employer I would just like to say that not all employers are the same I run a small business and could not afford to hire legal representation for anything more than advice as there was no way I could pay the £600 + vat an hour they wanted.

I represented myself against an ex employee who had every intention of playing the system (I found out afterwards they had done it 3 times before). I attended every meeting, every pre hearing review and replied to every letter, the ex employee never attended court hired 6 different solicitors during the case, never replied to a letter and it still took me over 18 months to have it thrown out 1 day before we were due to start the hearing.

It was the hardest more stressful thing I have done in my life, ACAS are a complete waste of time, my only advice to you would be to hold out for what you want as you know the truth about what has happened, I could have settled at the start of my case for £500 and a reference however morally I knew that would be wrong as the ex-employees allegations were completely fictious, i the end it cost me a lot more than that in time and money but hey-ho. I feel the whole process is over complicated and unecessarily drawn out.

Now you have representation try not to stress and let them do the worrying for you, they will advise you on what is a reasonable amount to claim for and will negotiate any offers that are made to you.

Good Luck

jjww

Googlewhacker

jjww wrote: »

Hi kcuvad,

After reading through your post I am pleased to read your update on getting free legal representation.

Having been through an employment tribunal on the other side as an employer I would just like to say that not all employers are the same I run a small business and could not afford to hire legal representation for anything more than advice as there was no way I could pay the £600 + vat an hour they wanted.

I represented myself against an ex employee who had every intention of playing the system (I found out afterwards they had done it 3 times before). I attended every meeting, every pre hearing review and replied to every letter, the ex employee never attended court hired 6 different solicitors during the case, never replied to a letter and it still took me over 18 months to have it thrown out 1 day before we were due to start the hearing.

It was the hardest more stressful thing I have done in my life, ACAS are a complete waste of time, my only advice to you would be to hold out for what you want as you know the truth about what has happened, I could have settled at the start of my case for £500 and a reference however morally I knew that would be wrong as the ex-employees allegations were completely fictious, i the end it cost me a lot more than that in time and money but hey-ho. I feel the whole process is over complicated and unecessarily drawn out.

Now you have representation try not to stress and let them do the worrying for you, they will advise you on what is a reasonable amount to claim for and will negotiate any offers that are made to you.

Good Luck

jjww

Well done for standing your ground, hopefully the gap in their employment record will cause concern for their future employers!!!

kcuvad

googlewhacker ,i wish you would googlewhack somewhere else. if you had read this properly you would have seen this was me against my former employer your comments were not welcome on my post. even jjwww was a bit sympathetic could it be that you are a bad employer whilst he is a good employer .

Googlewhacker

kcuvad wrote: »

googlewhacker ,i wish you would googlewhack somewhere else. if you had read this properly you would have seen this was me against my former employer your comments were not welcome on my post. even jjwww was a bit sympathetic could it be that you are a bad employer whilst he is a good employer .

Apologies if you misread my comments but my comment was aimed at JJWWW's former employee who took them to a tribunal and not at yourself.

kcuvad

I accept your apology .

Uncertain

jjww wrote: »

I represented myself against an ex employee who had every intention of playing the system (I found out afterwards they had done it 3 times before). I attended every meeting, every pre hearing review and replied to every letter, the ex employee never attended court hired 6 different solicitors during the case, never replied to a letter and it still took me over 18 months to have it thrown out 1 day before we were due to start the hearing.

It was the hardest more stressful thing I have done in my life, ACAS are a complete waste of time, my only advice to you would be to hold out for what you want as you know the truth about what has happened, I could have settled at the start of my case for £500 and a reference however morally I knew that would be wrong as the ex-employees allegations were completely fictious, i the end it cost me a lot more than that in time and money but hey-ho. I feel the whole process is over complicated and unecessarily drawn out.

There is a saying....

Before setting out for vengeance, first dig two graves.

I spent many years working with my professional association. Quite often this involved trying to mediate between members who had fallen out. Almost without exception the businesses that got involved in these types of disputes were the ones that could least afford to. The successful ones realised that their time could be far better spent.

Still, at least the others had someone to blame when they went under!

kcuvad

well said uncertain , thats not to say that my case has no merit because it has ! Is there anything in sayings that can sum up "dreadful employers who pick on weak employees " because if there is i would dearly love to use it against the bxxxxxrds who sacked me .

Googlewhacker

Uncertain wrote: »

There is a saying....

Before setting out for vengeance, first dig two graves.

I spent many years working with my professional association. Quite often this involved trying to mediate between members who had fallen out. Almost without exception the businesses that got involved in these types of disputes were the ones that could least afford to. The successful ones realised that their time could be far better spent.

Still, at least the others had someone to blame when they went under!

Principles can be expensive things but as has been said on many occasions defending a tribunal successfully can have long term benefits that may outweigh the costs incurred in the short term. If you defend successfully against an employee it can prevent other employees trying a fast one and taking you for more money.