ED today but but NT cost me dearly

ihatedeskjets

I went BR in April 2010 and got my Early discharge today, I should be elated but it's cost me everythnig.
I was employed full time by a small company as a field engineer with a company car and all the benefits for 2 years and very happy, as was my employer by my performance. In July the company received and applied my NT tax code and soon after the problems began. The company employed another engineer to work my area, I was given all the worst jobs (3 hrs driving each way) while the new guy got all the cushy local jobs, then they fabricated a case against me for disciplinary action and in September this year they fired me for "Gross misconduct".

This lost me my home as my landlords do not accept people without a job so I've had to move in with my daughter for a while.

I claimed JSA and received a letter today telling me I am not going to get a penny as I was fired for misconduct.

And i'm still getting letters from utility companies and wescott etc asking for money.

So no job, no car, no home, no benefits and no future. That NT tax code can spell disaster.

I have appealed against the DWP decision but I doubt I will get a response now before xmas.

now

ihatedeskjets wrote: »

I went BR in April 2010 and got my Early discharge today, I should be elated but it's cost me everythnig.
I was employed full time by a small company as a field engineer with a company car and all the benefits for 2 years and very happy, as was my employer by my performance. In July the company received and applied my NT tax code and soon after the problems began. The company employed another engineer to work my area, I was given all the worst jobs (3 hrs driving each way) while the new guy got all the cushy local jobs, then they fabricated a case against me for disciplinary action and in September this year they fired me for "Gross misconduct".

This lost me my home as my landlords do not accept people without a job so I've had to move in with my daughter for a while.

I claimed JSA and received a letter today telling me I am not going to get a penny as I was fired for misconduct.

And i'm still getting letters from utility companies and wescott etc asking for money.

So no job, no car, no home, no benefits and no future. That NT tax code can spell disaster.

I have appealed against the DWP decision but I doubt I will get a response now before xmas.

What on earth did you do that was so wrong? Have you spoken to Accas? you have three months from the date you were dismissed to file a complaint, it is worth talking to them as they will help if the treatment was unfair. An employer has to by law follow the guidelines as laid out by law.

ihatedeskjets

Apparently I did too much private mileage, but the company handbook say's private mileage will be paid for by the employee at the end of the tax year.
Also I made a few phone calls whilst on holiday using the company mobile, again the company handbook say's "any excessive use of the company mobile will be charged to the employee at the end of the month". I've put my appeal letter (cleaned) to DWP here so you can draw your own conclusion. Who is ACCAS ?

I am appealing to the decision to stop paying me jobseekers allowance as you are basing your decision solely on information received from my former employer I*** and you do not know all of the facts about the situation.
When i took the position with *** as a field engineer my job was to cover the east, about 6 months later they re-employed the man whose position i had taken! He began to take over his old area. so there were 2 of us in the same area with not enough work for 1, he began to get nice local jobs and i did 90% of the long distance work i.e. wales and back.
In April 2010 i was declared bankrupt by Leicester county court but this did not in any way impede my ability to do my job.
I didn’t like the situation and put forward a proposal to my line manager ****** asking if i could re-locate to the west midlands in order to save to company money and fill the hole in our network as our man in the west had left earlier that year. This proposal was accepted by senior management but they made it clear they were doing me a favour!
I moved to Worcester (perfect for Wales trips, hence saving the company loads of money) in July 2010 and at this time i now had an N.T (nil tax) code and in September *** fabricated a case of misconduct against me. Also they had just employed someone else in the West Midlands who had already been doing my jobs!
The case was based on:
Excessive mileage:
The company handbook says everyone pays for private mileage at the end of the year but actually this never happens.
Private phone calls:
The company handbook says excessive private calls will be paid for by the employee but i was never asked to pay and neither has anyone else.

A website linkedin still had me listed as doing self-employed work:
I had forgotten to update it when i got the job with ***.

Failing to actively seek work during the previous week:
I was just a field engineer and had never been expected to find my own work.
Failing to call the office every morning:
Guilty, I forgot as the works coordinator ****** was on holiday that week. But several other engineers had broken this rule regularly and they were not dismissed for gross misconduct.
I am sure this was fabricated because of my bankruptcy as the managing director does the salaries and would have been immediately aware due to my n.t tax code.


One last thing the disciplinary hearing was a “kangaroo court” with the “impartial chairperson” being *** *** who just happens to be the managing director’s wife. She quickly took on the role of prosecutor during the proceedings.
Of course i cannot prove any of this but i would use the term “constructive dismissal” at the least.
When i was notified i was being dismissed for gross misconduct I was horrified, I knew they wanted to get rid of me but did not expect anything that severe, although as the company is also losing a lot of money at this time I think it was decided that way so they could pay me only half of the month.
Yours sincerely

now

ihatedeskjets wrote: »

Apparently I did too much private mileage, but the company handbook say's private mileage will be paid for by the employee at the end of the tax year.
Also I made a few phone calls whilst on holiday using the company mobile, again the company handbook say's "any excessive use of the company mobile will be charged to the employee at the end of the month". I've put my appeal letter (cleaned) to DWP here so you can draw your own conclusion. Who is ACCAS ?

http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1410

They have to treat all employees the same so if you were never asked to pay back what was due then they were not following they handbook, also if you can prove that no other emplyee has paid back personal usage then they have discriminated against you and could be fined by a court of law. I have posted the link above give them a call and see what they say

ihatedeskjets

Thank-you so much.
I was beginning to feel stranded and very low.

I feel a little better now, i've followed the links from acas to direct.gov and submitted a claim for unfair dismissal. It was much easier than I thought. I dont want my job back as it wouldn't work out but I dont want to be labelled with the tag "Gross Misconduct".

I'll update this thread and maybe get it moved or linked to the appropriate forum if it turns into a battle for unfair dismissal.

Falze

Best of Luck mate

now

ihatedeskjets wrote: »

Thank-you so much.
I was beginning to feel stranded and very low.

I feel a little better now, i've followed the links from acas to direct.gov and submitted a claim for unfair dismissal. It was much easier than I thought. I dont want my job back as it wouldn't work out but I dont want to be labelled with the tag "Gross Misconduct".

I'll update this thread and maybe get it moved or linked to the appropriate forum if it turns into a battle for unfair dismissal.

good luck with whatever you do, I think you will find that they have to treat all employees as equal and if their records show that no other employee has paid back private usage then you could be in with a fair chance of clearing your name and getting somee money out of them. They will be in trouble if they have used your BR to fabricate a case against you because if that is why they dismissed you they should have stated that as the reason and it should be in your contract and I think the company handbook

JMV

Just as a side note for your case - any custom and practice that is commonly used and accepted behaviour can be classed as becoming a part of your implicit contractual terms - despite what the 'Handbook' says...

For instance - if a receptionist is asked to post the daily post at the end of the working day (perhaps because the post box is just outside her house) but then, after a few months she decides she doesn't want to do that anymore, her employer can claim that it is now part of her duties...

The fact that (allegedly) you have never been asked to pay back personal usage for petrol and phone calls, and that (as far as you know) no one else has, could easily make a case for the personal usage being a part of an implied contract of employment...

If you can get some proof that you'd never been asked to pay anything back (or even better that this was common practice) then your claim for constructive dismissal would be even stronger...

My advice is to gather as much evidence as possible - including trying to record a diary of events...when did your working environment start becoming 'uncomfortable'; what warnings were you given about your behaviour, prior to the dismissal@ all that kind of evidence could be very useful...

Above is based on my training and practice as a Work Place representative for UNISION btw...

Re Banefits - I was under the impression that, even if you can't claim JSA you should be entitled to Income Support - I could be wrong, I am somewhat out of the loop where benefits entitlement is concerned...

I'm glad you're feeling less desolate and I would like to know what happens so do keep posting back ...

Take Care

ani_26

Hey now and JMV - good to see you both back on the forums. Keep posting.xx

Good luck ihatedeskjets. I hope everything turns out ok for you.

Nohope x

now

JMV wrote: »

Just as a side note for your case - any custom and practice that is commonly used and accepted behaviour can be classed as becoming a part of your implicit contractual terms - despite what the 'Handbook' says...

For instance - if a receptionist is asked to post the daily post at the end of the working day (perhaps because the post box is just outside her house) but then, after a few months she decides she doesn't want to do that anymore, her employer can claim that it is now part of her duties...

The fact that (allegedly) you have never been asked to pay back personal usage for petrol and phone calls, and that (as far as you know) no one else has, could easily make a case for the personal usage being a part of an implied contract of employment...

If you can get some proof that you'd never been asked to pay anything back (or even better that this was common practice) then your claim for constructive dismissal would be even stronger...

My advice is to gather as much evidence as possible - including trying to record a diary of events...when did your working environment start becoming 'uncomfortable'; what warnings were you given about your behaviour, prior to the dismissal@ all that kind of evidence could be very useful...

Above is based on my training and practice as a Work Place representative for UNISION btw...

Re Banefits - I was under the impression that, even if you can't claim JSA you should be entitled to Income Support - I could be wrong, I am somewhat out of the loop where benefits entitlement is concerned...

I'm glad you're feeling less desolate and I would like to know what happens so do keep posting back ...

Take Care

Thank you for this, it is good to have somebody who knows what they are talking about, I just hate it when people are picked on and singled out for dismissal just because they are BR or something else.

I worked for a company many years ago who did this sort of thing to so many people all the time, how they got away with it I will never know

now

Nohope wrote: »

Hey now and JMV - good to see you both back on the forums. Keep posting.xx

Good luck ihatedeskjets. I hope everything turns out ok for you.

Nohope x

Hi Nohope, great to see you, I just feel so sorry for this person what a thing to happen, good news on ED taken away by getting the sack, something is not right and I really hope he gets it sorted out.