Which would You Try to Make a Claim For If any?

tesuhoha

euronorris wrote: »

The above actually suggests that you didn't have enough work, originally, to keep you busy for the hours you work.

Was that the case? Did the school not provide you with enough work to fill your time? If so, they may have viewed that as terribly inefficient and a place where a cut could be made?

Or, do you mean that you worked additional hours, but didn't claim any extra pay for them?

No, it meant that some work of mine just didn't get done and my intray was always overflowing. I just did as much as I could. I am a very fast worker and thats why they asked me to do it.

The school has been taken over by a superhead who is making all sorts of cuts and the present staff are now very worried about how they are going to cope because all of the other older people have also taken voluntary redundancy. This superhead does seem to dislike older people.

The lady who is 63 who was also made redundant is a teaching assistant. She told me that one parents evening a younger teaching assistant was supposed to stay behind to help with the tea and coffee but at the last moment was unable to do it. My older friend stepped in. She was in the middle of serving teas when the superhead arrived and started yelling and shouting things like 'what's she doing here?' She would not allow her to stay and insisted that she leave the building. This person has not had only 4 days off sick in 17 years and loved her job. She could only assume that it was because of her age.

tesuhoha

Nicki wrote: »

I think you are being too sensitive. Fang was unpleasant but he always is, it's nothing personal and no one on MSE reads his posts believing they will find anything of use to anyone . Heretolearn just misunderstood your first post. The rest of us, me included, aren't intending to have a go, and are sympathetic to your predicament but just saying what we would do in your case.

As others have said maybe try posting this over on the employment board if you haven't already. There are some knowledgeable people there (and also some idiots sadly, so take your thickest skin over with you!)

Thank you. I am going to take a deep breath and a step back as i am getting too drawn in. You are right. I don't want to get into an argument about this as only wanted advice and maybe my first post was badly worded in explaining my feelings and the situation.

euronorris

Are there witnesses to such events? If so, would they be willing to confirm what transpired? Did the head specify age at all, at anytime during his rage?

What I'm reading is a lot of 'feelings' and 'impressions' from his behaviour towards the older staff, but no actual use of discriminatory words (verbal or written), so I fear that it would be very difficult for you (or your friends/colleagues) to prove that age discrimination is his motivation. Do you have anything to that effect? A time when he blatantly said that age was an issue, or it was documented in an email or letter perhaps?

Are you not entitled to ask for a breakdown of the reasons why you scored so low in certain areas? You could ask for it in a feedback manner to assist you in finding new employment. Then, if their reasons contradict recent evaluations, you could point this out and ask for specific examples.

Nicki

tesuhoha wrote: »

Thank you. I am going to take a deep breath and a step back as i am getting too drawn in. You are right. I don't want to get into an argument about this as only wanted advice and maybe my first post was badly worded in explaining my feelings and the situation.

You feel how you feel, and you don't need to apologise to Fang or to anyone else for that. You are in shock at the moment and getting used to a loss whilst struggling with a sense you've been treated unfairly. Why should you amend your OP or step away, it is perfectly clear and most people are discussing the issues with you sensibly, though as we don't know any of the background inevitably we might sometimes make assumptions based on what you have posted which are not quite accurate.

tesuhoha

euronorris wrote: »

Are there witnesses to such events? If so, would they be willing to confirm what transpired? Did the head specify age at all, at anytime during his rage?

What I'm reading is a lot of 'feelings' and 'impressions' from his behaviour towards the older staff, but no actual use of discriminatory words (verbal or written), so I fear that it would be very difficult for you (or your friends/colleagues) to prove that age discrimination is his motivation. Do you have anything to that effect? A time when he blatantly said that age was an issue, or it was documented in an email or letter perhaps?

Are you not entitled to ask for a breakdown of the reasons why you scored so low in certain areas? You could ask for it in a feedback manner to assist you in finding new employment. Then, if their reasons contradict recent evaluations, you could point this out and ask for specific examples.

I went to a feedback meeting with one of the governors and the HR woman to find out. They said that I had not explained the duties in enough detail (even though I had filled out the form and typed an extra page detailing my jobs and skills). The HR woman tried to tell me that the panel did not know what teacher cover was but then the governor admitted that he knew and said that maybe they should have scored me higher.

Later on I looked up the policy for restructuring schools on the LA website and found out that according to the policy rules they should have made me step outside to wait while they reconsidered the decision. However, they did not do this.

I did not go to appeal because it shattered my confidence but I wrote out a reply to the audit and found evidence of enough detail on everything they did not score me on, ICT skills, accuracy, organisation skills, working under pressure.

The superhead is a woman. We have a caretaker who is losing some of his overtime and she told him that if he didnt like it he could get on his bike. She said to her PA within his hearing 'who does he think would give him a job?' and she laughed. She is very clever and probably would not say anything directly ageist but everyone in the school knows what happening. People are not stupid.

tesuhoha

Nicki wrote: »

You feel how you feel, and you don't need to apologise to Fang or to anyone else for that. You are in shock at the moment and getting used to a loss whilst struggling with a sense you've been treated unfairly. Why should you amend your OP or step away, it is perfectly clear and most people are discussing the issues with you sensibly, though as we don't know any of the background inevitably we might sometimes make assumptions based on what you have posted which are not quite accurate.

I would not apologise to Fang. He should apologise to me.

euronorris

tesuhoha wrote: »

I went to a feedback meeting with one of the governors and the HR woman to find out. They said that I had not explained the duties in enough detail (even though I had filled out the form and typed an extra page detailing my jobs and skills). The HR woman tried to tell me that the panel did not know what teacher cover was but then the governor admitted that he knew and said that maybe they should have scored me higher.

Later on I looked up the policy for restructuring schools on the LA website and found out that according to the policy rules they should have made me step outside to wait while they reconsidered the decision. However, they did not do this.

I did not go to appeal because it shattered my confidence but I wrote out a reply to the audit and found evidence of enough detail on everything they did not score me on, ICT skills, accuracy, organisation skills, working under pressure.

The superhead is a woman. We have a caretaker who is losing some of his overtime and she told him that if he didnt like it he could get on his bike. She said to her PA within his hearing 'who does he think would give him a job?' and she laughed. She is very clever and probably would not say anything directly ageist but everyone in the school knows what happening. People are not stupid.

Well, whilst it is still so fresh in your mind, I would start writing all of this down in as logical an order as possible. It will help you to get things straight in your own head, and will also be valuable information to pass onto a solicitor (or similar) if you do decide to make a claim.

I'm not sure what the procedure is though. You may find that you have to exhaust all of the internal processes first. ie, sending a letter to the governers and HR woman advising them of your knowledge about the reconsideration that should have been performed and outlining your defence against their findings of your job performance. So, again, writing everything down now, will come in handy if that is the case.

As for the head. I'm not suggesting that anyone is stupid, but if it comes to court, feelings and impressions aren't going to count for much without any specific ageist remarks (or at least anything that could be construed as such). Her comment about the caretaker, for instance, is nasty, but could not be viewed as ageist.

It's a tough battle to fight. You need to be sure that you're prepared for it, as it will be draining and has the potential to become very nasty.