constructive dismissal earned me a JSA sanction now im jobless and pennyless

Sueinbirmingham

PS - dmg - we cross-posted. If you look back at my previous post I clarified and although the time of my edit was later than yours, you can tell from the time it would have taken to type it that I wouldn't have seen yours before starting to type it, but I think it answers half your question.

Loopy_Girl

mitch161 wrote: »

yes the mistake was on the bank. but it still involved a withdrawl of money, which was then recovered and then halifax charging me unfairly and then a lengthy process to retrieve the unfair charge back.

my head cannot take much more hassle and stress,

if anyone knows a condition in the sky contract that i can utilise without stress or arguments with sky to suspend without charge my subscription i would be greatful.

i will try appealing to their good will but i also like to be organised to know a little nugget of legal jargon or a term/condition i can use to sway them more easily.

i cannot take much more rejection lol.. im even wondering if santa exists right now, jokes... and will he miss my house this year lol

I believe the 12 month thing is a legally bounding document however I think if you are honest and explain your situ you may have a chance. Explain you only want to suspend your 12 month contract till you are back on your feet. You'll not be the first they have had in this situation, partic these days.

mitch161

mental health

yes in retrospect. i should have not removed myself from the position. but tactically gone on the sick for a while, returned to work and if managers still harrassed me filed for a harassment case against them. but they were not harrassing me because of the work i was doing. as i was and always have done a good job with no negative notches on my record for years. their aim was to reduce the wages, and my name was on a list of people whom after years of working there had accumilated alot of holiday pay and alot of pay rises. they were not going to offer further promotions and there were no other positions open within the company at other locations.

so at the time they were suggesting i turn up to work late where my contract says one time. but a hand written note (which i never honestly ever seen) suggested i start an hour earlier. began negative investigations (first steps of dismissal) then luckily over hearing a line manager talking about auditing a section which, was un auditable as the results would not tally. to suggest me and the other hotlisters are the cause of the inaccuracy which is in their eyes classed as gross misconduct. pretty much fraud/theft.

i was not gonna have a lie like that tarnish my name, and seen no way of convincing them otherwise. so i resigned underprotest stateing firmly my facts on the resignation letter. which has now earned me some respect with head office for them to admit things were not done correctly on their part.

if i was simply told in 9 months time(when harrassment began) my position no longer existed i would have accepted it. but the harrassment route they tried failed for many months. then more recently 3 investigations during work time. and then moving into further investigations as to why i was not working (during the times of investigations) which i found amusing but also invalid, leading to more black notches on my record. all for the sake of the management avoiding 7 weeks of redundancy pay. (their aim was to go through enough investigations, disciplinary meetings in a 2 week period to sack me in that small time scale.) so i jumped ship before being pushed, to keep a untarnished record.

yes on retrospect financially it would have been easier to get sacked to avoid this sanction on JSA, but at same respect i did not want a bad reference from employer to tarnish my chances of seeking a new career. again honesty doesnt help these days.

Sueinbirmingham

No, it often doesn't always help.

You never know, though, you might find some work soon, even if it's just some temporary Christmas work. Good luck.

Loopy_Girl

I would phone SKY on Monday (don't phone the weekend as the dept you will need I suspect will work business hours) and plead your case. If you have been with them for a while and paid on time and stress you just want to suspend your account temporarily (as oppose to never wanting it again) then I feel you may be in with a good chance.

mitch161

yes albeit im facing starvation in under 3 months if appeals, tribunal, sanctions and benefits dont go in my favour, this has not tempted me to bite my lip and withdraw my resignation. i would not return to my previous employer, it certainly did cause extreme stress for me.

temporary work is little chance. as most retailers i have found wont pay out till wage till after january. (their blah is it take accountants a few weeks to enroll, and their wages work in payments once every 4 weeks)

plus financially to counter act losing housing benefit / tax. would have to be atleast £220 a week pay after emergency income tax and also possible if only lasting 4 weeks £330 a week so that the extra (4x£110) would cover 2 weeks of living money to get back onto benefits after temporary work ends

so again, limiting options. and i hate it.. what a system!!!!

i can now see why people do cash in hand work. they work and there that same friday the money is in their hand. in my local area the christmas temp work are minimum wage 16 hour a week retailers working on an accounting system which gives the employee their christmas pay and bonuses in january/february. store staff say they use credit cards for christmas and pay off with wages in january/february pay.

rediculous!!

atleast this situation has opened my eyes to alot of things and i will not forget it EVER. i now see how good i actually had it in work and cant wait to get back,, learned soooo much in such a short term.. when im back in work i think im gonna continue my budgeting to gain atleast a years worth of (when i received it) benefits as i do not want to be limited like this ever again. if ever unemployed again i will not sign on. but finances in this situation required me to. never again though

Loopy_Girl

Sounds like a sensible plan...so even though it's a crappy time, you have learned something so try and take the positives!! (I swear if I lived near you I would cook you a nice home made warming meal!)

Try and keep warm, phone SKY, DON'T spend anymore on Christmas presents (hopefully you will get cash presents for you;)) and try and have a nice Christmas

mitch161

thanks again people.

i think i have borrowed friends internet for long enough tonight but will be checking it again before monday morning in hope for a fact i can state to give them no choice but suspend service. if not its gonna have to plead with them politely to their christmas good will..

and no my christmas shopping is 100% complete, as i said, luckily. before the sanction came in.

just gonna have to bite the bullet and hope it all comes good in the end.

thans for the offer of food. give me a few months and i might even thumb a lift lol to anyone offering. but right now, im trying to turn this experience into a positive, learning cooking skills i never had before.

surprising how my single 1 takeaway dish 6 months ago could have fed me for a week on the same cost as im making meals today.

anyone else in my situation under sanctions. i feel sorry for you, truly and deeply. what a state this system is in.

people on £60k getting child benefit while im reduced to near on zero.

anyways, goodnight kind folk. ill be checking back on monday

Uncertain

mitch161 wrote: »

im not doing nothing. its just this sanction occured last week and sky and water rates debited out of my account soon after not having the JSA in the bank (last few days) so im seeking ASAP to get some legal jargon to use when i call sky this week. ive posted for help/guideance on other discussion pages/ and forums but want some nice nugget of info to push them soon.

thanks again for everyones support and idea's so far. i already pre-thought of a few of them, but its still nice to hear so many volunteering support and help

I suggest you look here (first case study) for a clear example of why the bank cannot charge you if you cancel a direct debit.....

http://www.financial-ombudsman.org.uk/publications/ombudsman-news/27/27-directdebit-guarantee.htm

tomitma

If you phone up Sky and explain to them that you can not pay, ( NOT WILL NOT, BUT CAN NOT) they have authority in the call centre to stop your service with no penalty charges, also what they may offer is having a break in your contract, stopping your service for a couple of months until you get back on your feet. With no charges. (my brother works for sky, and he told me this)

Cancel the direct debit, this should cost you nothing, if you have an online account this will take just seconds.