Employer taking me to court for no notice

LadyMissA

getmore4less wrote: »

Don't they have to detail their losses and ask for payment before taking people to court.

yes I am sure they have to put a claim into the court detailing what the fees are for

embob74

InsideInsurance wrote: »

They are required to negotiate before taking you to court but that doesnt automatically mean giving you a breakdown of costs. If you ask for a breakdown of costs and evidence to support it and they refuse but still issue court proceedings then it is possible that they may win the case but they have to pay legal costs as the judge could consider the litigation unnecessary.

The courts are the place of last resort and whilst judgement on the case isnt impacted by following the correct procedure or not court and legal fees can be.

Does this mean I should request a breakdown of any losses they would like to blame me for? The losses is the least of my worries as I would only be liable for 3 shifts max but the costs would bother me.

embob74

SarEl wrote: »

If they paid over and above your hourly rate they can sue you for the difference. Plus court costs. Your arguments about why you "had" to leave are not relevant - if this did go to court then the court would not be interested. I suspect it is a bluff, but nobody could tell you for certain that it is.

Even if I had to leave due to discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy? Or would that only be applicable in a tribunal case?

LadyMissA

embob74 wrote: »

Does this mean I should request a breakdown of any losses they would like to blame me for? The losses is the least of my worries as I would only be liable for 3 shifts max but the costs would bother me.

if they would be paying you anyway I cant see how it is a loss.

If they are taking you to court do you just have a letter saying so (possibly a threat) of you have the court papers?

SarEl

embob74 wrote: »

Even if I had to leave due to discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy? Or would that only be applicable in a tribunal case?

Sorry, but what discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy? You mean the one where they changed the calendars that they used to notify you of shifts? Or possibly the "hidden piece of paper" (so how did you happen across it?) saying that they were, shockingly, planning to abide by your contract and give you shifts as agreed in it? And of course, before you resigned without giving your contractual notice in breach of your contract, you went through a full grievance procedure with the employer?

Sorry, but quite apart from the fact that you cannot simply resign and claim constructive dismissal - you must go through the grievance procedure - if this is the basis of the discrimination you are claiming they will rip you to shreds. And even if you had a case for discrimination, which it would appear you do not - that does not mean they cannot sue you for breach of contract. Although I will warn you - if you attempt a tribunal claim on the basis of what you have said here they will almost certainly go after you for costs, and they might just win.

As I said before, nobody can tell you this is an empty threat - in law what they say they will do is possible. I do think it unlikely, but it is not impossible, and so when you have exhausted the other advice (like insisting on some evidence that you owe them anything) then the decision as to whether to take that risk must be yours. If they have a vaild claim, and if they are not bluffing, it is already too late once court papers are signed off - your costs have increased even if you agree to pay before court. Personally, I think they ae bluffing. But I won't have to put my money where my mouth is and you may.

Mistral001

One option is swallow your pride, go to your ex-employer and apologise for leaving them in the lurch.

Before going, work out in detail what the cost to the employer was ie. number of hours not worked in the notice period times the difference between your wages and the wages of the replacement staff. If it was 50 hours for instance and the replacement staff were paid £8 per hour and you £6 per hour, then as far as I can see they will want £100. One thing NOT to do is to loose your temper and start bringing up grievences with them.

Consider paying them right there and then as you will get only one bite of the cherry so to speak to do a deal. Consider offering to meet them half way.

If they refuse point blank to do anything, it means that you will have to wait for the solicitor's letter that might or might not come, but you will have to do that anyway won't you?

Hammyman

Mistral001 wrote: »

If it was 50 hours for instance and the replacement staff were paid £8 per hour and you £6 per hour, then as far as I can see they will want £100.

It will be a lot more than £8/hr. To employ someone who is on £6/hr costs more than £8/hr to the employer in employers NI and holiday pay. And if it was from an agency, the agency will have a couple of quid an hour profit on top.

Mistral001

Hammyman wrote: »

It will be a lot more than £8/hr. To employ someone who is on £6/hr costs more than £8/hr to the employer in employers NI and holiday pay. And if it was from an agency, the agency will have a couple of quid an hour profit on top.

Just using it as an example figure. However, just to nit pick, the employers NI contribution will not have been included in the £6 that I am using so it will be just a percentage of the difference that has to be added on ie 12.8% (I think that is the current rate) of £2 .

yvonne13_2

Hun, it would cost them more to take you to court

embob74

SarEl wrote: »

Sorry, but what discrimination on the grounds of pregnancy? You mean the one where they changed the calendars that they used to notify you of shifts? Or possibly the "hidden piece of paper" (so how did you happen across it?) saying that they were, shockingly, planning to abide by your contract and give you shifts as agreed in it? And of course, before you resigned without giving your contractual notice in breach of your contract, you went through a full grievance procedure with the employer?
Sorry, but quite apart from the fact that you cannot simply resign and claim constructive dismissal - you must go through the grievance procedure - if this is the basis of the discrimination you are claiming they will rip you to shreds. And even if you had a case for discrimination, which it would appear you do not - that does not mean they cannot sue you for breach of contract. Although I will warn you - if you attempt a tribunal claim on the basis of what you have said here they will almost certainly go after you for costs, and they might just win.
As I said before, nobody can tell you this is an empty threat - in law what they say they will do is possible. I do think it unlikely, but it is not impossible, and so when you have exhausted the other advice (like insisting on some evidence that you owe them anything) then the decision as to whether to take that risk must be yours. If they have a vaild claim, and if they are not bluffing, it is already too late once court papers are signed off - your costs have increased even if you agree to pay before court. Personally, I think they ae bluffing. But I won't have to put my money where my mouth is and you may.

Thank you for your time in giving me your input. I fear you seem to have misconstrued what my intentions are and are berating me for not wanting to put up with work practices I do not feel I should have to.
I have not told the full story as I wanted to keep it brief but my leaving was not a whim, I do take my work responsibilities very seriously.
I informed the boss I was pregnant as I had bleeding and had to phone in sick. The week after I did my 2 nights shifts then got a call the next day to say there had been complaints about the standard of my work. I expressed surprise and a few days later I received a letter asking me to attend a meeting which was for all cleaning staff about standards expected. I immediately called to say I was unable to make the meeting as I had a hospital appt. Additionally it was during the day, I had no childcare and it costs me £10 to get to and from work. I was told it was in my best interests to make the meeting. I didn't make it and got a text 10 mins after the meeting should have started saying she forgot to tell me it had been cancelled :mad: good job I hadn't wasted my money.
Next shift I did the desktop calendar which displayed all the upcoming shifts had disappeared, replaced with a hand written one which only detailed shifts for the next week or so. I found a bit of paper which showed future months would give me only one shift. I would be quite happy with that but it was just the fact they had altered all my shifts yet again without any advance notice. The only way I find out what shifts I am doing is when I go into work and if this is only once or twice a month how am I supposed to know they have changed it again?
Additionally I found a letter detailing a complaint from the store to my boss regarding standards the day after my shift and a reply from the boss's husband (who works there) saying I had been called in to a disciplinary. The meeting was not said to be a disciplinary in their letter.
There was also a letter from the pet store regarding the appalling standards of cleanliness from when the boss's husband had worked and he had replied that he had so much to catch up from doing my work he hadn't had time! My mum worked a shift and she mentioned to the boss that her husband was lazy and had not cleaned properly the previous nights and the boss agreed he was lazy!
So why I should have to be called to a disciplinary without fair notice, be accused of poor work when her husband is a culprit and put up with shift changes at very short notice when I have family commitments I have to work around?
Sorry for the rambling but I do feel I needed to explain my reasons for leaving so suddenly. Bearing in mind prior to informing them I was pregnant the boss had actually called up to say the pet store staff had specifically mentioned the great job I had done it does seem convenient I am suddenly no good to do the job.