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What More Can I do To Help My Son?

Chr1s
Posts: 53 Forumite
Hi,
After reading another thread that was over a year old, I thought I would post my question on here and see how it goes. As the bulk of this information appeared to help the person who posted the question, I thought I would see if there was any advice that I could receive from anyone here? If do I would be truely grateful.
I'll be as brief as I can. I will try and give enough information so you a rough idea of how this question has materialised
Although there had been problems surrounding our sons development within the first 2 years, a diagnosis (developmental dyspraxia), wasn't made until he was 3.
He spent the bulk of his education under a satement and received different types of therapy to help him cope with his difficulties better and, to eventually intergrate him into mainstream school. At the age of 12 he was finally moved into mainstream eduction, although it was within a speech and language unit. His school life is something that he hated. Like a lot of children who are seen as different, he received his fair share of bullying, although this was always being put down to his "disability", rather than look at the wider picture. Anyway, following school he spent 2 years at college, and then he went onto work for this company.
To cut a long story short, my son has been working for a retail company for 5 years. When he first started he didn't state that he had a disability, as he wanted to be bullied, as had been the case through most of his education.
Due to a number of problems which kept on reoccurring, and resulted in our son being signed off work due to depression in February 2009, my wife took it upon herself to notify the company of our sons disability. She disclosed this to Head Office and the Store Personnel Manager at the time (during a meeting that was held at our house). After this disclosure was made our son was reloacted to the warehouse into a team of 4, we were told that Job Centre Plus had been informed of his disabillity, he was given next steps regarding how to avoid becoming depressed again and what steps should be taken should the same situations arise again in the future.
Although at the time my son was upset as he felt that he shouldn't have been moved because he loved being on the customer side of things, but as he's matured he could see why they did this. Apart from 2 incidences of verbal abuse which he received at the hands of his manager and another employee during late 2009, no other serious incidences have occured.
The beginning of 2011 things again started to go wrong, i.e. the team of 4 now consisted of just him, his concerns about the attitude of some of the managers towards him were ignored, 2 false allegations of gross misconduct were filed against him, he had to refuse to work within the warehouse due to health and safety, the list goes on. This is to give you an idea of some of the incidences.
After the false allegations were filed against him, we thought enough was enough, so our son was advised to take it to the Employment Tribunal, which has been done, and accepted. We are now waiting for his company to respond.
On the 15th February after our son was told by a manager to watch himself as his card was marked and they wanted him out, my son became very emotional. On his return home he was taken to the Dr and given 2 weeks off due to work related stress. 2 weeks later he was put on a further 4 weeks for the same reason. His sick note runs out on the 28th and he had said that he wants to return to work, although we as his parents and the Dr donesn't think he's well enough. He has made this decision because our Dr gave us the companies Occupational Health letter which he had sent to our Dr and, the 6 points he made in order to get the information are nothing but lies. So to secure his job he wants to return. We as his parents are concerned about this.
On the 14th February we recieved a letter from the companies employment coach, who said that when our son was ready to return to work then she would like to hold a return to works meeting to avoid similar situations arising again. It also said that this meeting would be held with the Area Union rep, The store Manager, herself, our son and ourselves, at a time to be discussed in due course. As soon as our son said he wanted to go back to work, we notified the person who sent this email, but have had nothinbg back.
Our son then received a phone call from the Personnel manager on Thursday, stating that our son would be paid for Wednesday 28th March, but that a meeting would be held on Thursday 29th as the people who are going to attend wont be available until then. She told him that the meeting would be held with the Area Union Rep, The store manager, herself and son, my wife and myself. As soon as he told us about this I sent an email to a few departments within the company, in addition to phoning the employment coach and the store he works at. To date we have had nothing back.
My question is this. Can two of the people who are involved with the mistreatment of our son hold that meeting ? Also as we were told by the Area Union rep that my son wouldn't get what he wanted, we are also hesitant to have him there as previous conversations with this person proved to be friutless. He also became less interested once he became aware of the fact that a claim had been put into the tribunal. I see this as a conflict of interest, could I be correct on this?
My wife has attended the last 2 meetings with our son and the way she and my son were treated was disgusting, and they are both hesitant to be in the same situation with the same person. Is there no way on behalf of our son that we can get someone else to hold that meeting. I have written a letter explaining my concerns around the way this meeting is being held, but again I have had no response. If anyone has any advice that would help him, it would be appreciated. Thank you.
After reading another thread that was over a year old, I thought I would post my question on here and see how it goes. As the bulk of this information appeared to help the person who posted the question, I thought I would see if there was any advice that I could receive from anyone here? If do I would be truely grateful.
I'll be as brief as I can. I will try and give enough information so you a rough idea of how this question has materialised
Although there had been problems surrounding our sons development within the first 2 years, a diagnosis (developmental dyspraxia), wasn't made until he was 3.
He spent the bulk of his education under a satement and received different types of therapy to help him cope with his difficulties better and, to eventually intergrate him into mainstream school. At the age of 12 he was finally moved into mainstream eduction, although it was within a speech and language unit. His school life is something that he hated. Like a lot of children who are seen as different, he received his fair share of bullying, although this was always being put down to his "disability", rather than look at the wider picture. Anyway, following school he spent 2 years at college, and then he went onto work for this company.
To cut a long story short, my son has been working for a retail company for 5 years. When he first started he didn't state that he had a disability, as he wanted to be bullied, as had been the case through most of his education.
Due to a number of problems which kept on reoccurring, and resulted in our son being signed off work due to depression in February 2009, my wife took it upon herself to notify the company of our sons disability. She disclosed this to Head Office and the Store Personnel Manager at the time (during a meeting that was held at our house). After this disclosure was made our son was reloacted to the warehouse into a team of 4, we were told that Job Centre Plus had been informed of his disabillity, he was given next steps regarding how to avoid becoming depressed again and what steps should be taken should the same situations arise again in the future.
Although at the time my son was upset as he felt that he shouldn't have been moved because he loved being on the customer side of things, but as he's matured he could see why they did this. Apart from 2 incidences of verbal abuse which he received at the hands of his manager and another employee during late 2009, no other serious incidences have occured.
The beginning of 2011 things again started to go wrong, i.e. the team of 4 now consisted of just him, his concerns about the attitude of some of the managers towards him were ignored, 2 false allegations of gross misconduct were filed against him, he had to refuse to work within the warehouse due to health and safety, the list goes on. This is to give you an idea of some of the incidences.
After the false allegations were filed against him, we thought enough was enough, so our son was advised to take it to the Employment Tribunal, which has been done, and accepted. We are now waiting for his company to respond.
On the 15th February after our son was told by a manager to watch himself as his card was marked and they wanted him out, my son became very emotional. On his return home he was taken to the Dr and given 2 weeks off due to work related stress. 2 weeks later he was put on a further 4 weeks for the same reason. His sick note runs out on the 28th and he had said that he wants to return to work, although we as his parents and the Dr donesn't think he's well enough. He has made this decision because our Dr gave us the companies Occupational Health letter which he had sent to our Dr and, the 6 points he made in order to get the information are nothing but lies. So to secure his job he wants to return. We as his parents are concerned about this.
On the 14th February we recieved a letter from the companies employment coach, who said that when our son was ready to return to work then she would like to hold a return to works meeting to avoid similar situations arising again. It also said that this meeting would be held with the Area Union rep, The store Manager, herself, our son and ourselves, at a time to be discussed in due course. As soon as our son said he wanted to go back to work, we notified the person who sent this email, but have had nothinbg back.
Our son then received a phone call from the Personnel manager on Thursday, stating that our son would be paid for Wednesday 28th March, but that a meeting would be held on Thursday 29th as the people who are going to attend wont be available until then. She told him that the meeting would be held with the Area Union Rep, The store manager, herself and son, my wife and myself. As soon as he told us about this I sent an email to a few departments within the company, in addition to phoning the employment coach and the store he works at. To date we have had nothing back.
My question is this. Can two of the people who are involved with the mistreatment of our son hold that meeting ? Also as we were told by the Area Union rep that my son wouldn't get what he wanted, we are also hesitant to have him there as previous conversations with this person proved to be friutless. He also became less interested once he became aware of the fact that a claim had been put into the tribunal. I see this as a conflict of interest, could I be correct on this?
My wife has attended the last 2 meetings with our son and the way she and my son were treated was disgusting, and they are both hesitant to be in the same situation with the same person. Is there no way on behalf of our son that we can get someone else to hold that meeting. I have written a letter explaining my concerns around the way this meeting is being held, but again I have had no response. If anyone has any advice that would help him, it would be appreciated. Thank you.
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Comments
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I don't know much about employment law, and I don't want to come over as unsympathetic, but is this the right environment for yoru son if you, his parents, are having to get so involved?
Would he not be better in a different job, one where his disability was known from the outset ?2014 Target;
To overpay CC by £1,000.
Overpayment to date : £310
2nd Purse Challenge:
£15.88 saved to date0 -
Hi,
It's Ok I cam eon here for advice, good or bad.
Actually the problem is we have only got involved because of the way the company has behaved. His disability had no effect on his job when he started, this is the problem. It's as a result of the treatment he has been on the receiving end of that has caused him to regress. That's why we have become so involved.0 -
Have you tried talking to someone like the Citizens Advice Bureau or ACAS? http://www.acas.org.uk/
also see: http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/DisabledPeople/Employmentsupport/YourEmploymentRights/index.htm0 -
Well as we now have a solicitor we have been told that we can't seek legal advice elsewhere. However, when I have asked our solicitor about this issue, she can't advise us. This is because she has only been employed to deal with everything up to the date of the Employment Tribunal and nothing more.
It just doesn't seem right that the people involved with the ongoing investigations that the company are carrying out, are allowed to hold the meeting.0 -
What do you want?
- What adjustments/changes are you asking for in the workplace
- What do you want from the Employment Tribunal? - Compensation for mistreatment/loss of your sons job or do you want to use the system to force the organisation to make the above changes?
The reason that I ask is that many employment situations are unfair or upsetting but that doesn't necessarily meant that they can be resolved by either the employer or the courts.
I absolutely understand that you want the best for your son but I'm concerned about your expectations - if the union is backing away then my first thought is one that these can't/won't be met.0 -
Well as we now have a solicitor we have been told that we can't seek legal advice elsewhere. However, when I have asked our solicitor about this issue, she can't advise us. This is because she has only been employed to deal with everything up to the date of the Employment Tribunal and nothing more.
It just doesn't seem right that the people involved with the ongoing investigations that the company are carrying out, are allowed to hold the meeting.
Doesn't stop you going to CAB or ACAS - Just from getting another Solicitor and filing another claims for actions past the date of the alleged discrimination that you have logged with the courts.
Has your son logged a formal grievance? From the sound of your post this is simply a return to work interview to deal informally with the issues raised - not a formal investigation.0 -
As i have read there is a union rep going to be there, the union rep is there for your son and should in fact be the one to speak up for him and about the way he has been treated, i would advise to speak to the union rep.0
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Why was the solicitor appointed? Was the TU involved in putting the complaint to the ET? (i'm guessing not). This may explain why the steward is cooling off (you may find that representation is withdrawn if you have approached/ appointed a third party).
Union advice/ representation is normally provided subject to you agreeing and abiding to the organisations terms - you may have jeopardised this.
Did you request the involvement of a full-time officer?Don’t be a can’t, be a can.0 -
Your son shouldn't have lied when applying, omitting the fact or saying he doesn't have a disbility when he clearly does.
You said your son received two incidents of verbal abuse. Was it discrimination due to his disability or simple being reprimanded because he's not performing up to standards?
"2 false allegations of gross misconduct" What were the details? Are you able to prove it's false? Whilst I don't support discrimination I also don't believe just because your son has a disability he can continue working when he's commited gross misconduct on more than one occasion.
I think they're just having a meeting to check your son is fit to work, and you're thinking too much because he's previously been accused of gross misconduct.0 -
If people were a bit kinder it would be a help.
Unfortunately some people cant see past their own importance.
Good luck OP, hope your son is okay after all this.make the most of it, we are only here for the weekend.
and we will never, ever return.0
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