Rep not returning calls-pre-sacking meeting next week, HELP!

swinterton

does your condition come under the DDA,? are you registered disabled?. if so your employer has to, by law make reasonable adjustments for you so you can continue to work.
if you do have to have your capability hearing without your rep make sure you state that your rep is not present at the start of the meeting and it is minuted and that you have not had enough time to prepare. this should help at any tribunal should you need it.
good luck

Mrs_Supersaver_1

'Registered as disabled' no longer exists!

Altho' it is possible to be registered with your local social services/council as requiring extra help/appliances or adaptions.

A 'blue badge' usually shows you are disabled.

urban_spirit

lindens wrote: »

I have been through something similar ( tho not as serious as yours sounds) and it's upsetting when you feel like the union are not on yourside.
My union rep was on holiday when my date was given so I just wrote and asked for another date. In the meantime I panicked a bit and decided to contact another rep, luckily our union website has a list of all the contactable reps and their superioirs, and theirs etc etc. so I just contacted my reps boss and she calmed me down and went through the options. is that an option for you? If yours is a nationwide union, they are usually just split into geographical areas, maybe asked to be put through that way?
It doesn't matter if your boss is annoyed, there are set procedures he has to follow such as giving you enough notice, offereing you different dates within reason etc etc.
Good luck with whatever the outcome

My rep now(rep2) is the boss of the reps regionally, and still poor representation :rolleyes: They aren't interested. He cant see a problem with rep1 shredding my private docs, nor a problem with agreeing the next steps then not doing anything.
It's clear that the reps dont 'get' disability. I spoke to union head office and asked for a rep with disability experience and the reply was 'they've all had training on the legislation'-bit different from having experience.

This is at such a serious stage and they're being so blase -wonder how they'd act if they were in my shoes.

My boss hasn't followed procedures from day 1 - that's what the grievance that's being ignored is about. Thank you for the good luck, much appreciated :T Stressful time for me, anyone want to swap places to give me some respite???

urban_spirit

swinterton wrote: »

does your condition come under the DDA,? are you registered disabled?. if so your employer has to, by law make reasonable adjustments for you so you can continue to work.
if you do have to have your capability hearing without your rep make sure you state that your rep is not present at the start of the meeting and it is minuted and that you have not had enough time to prepare. this should help at any tribunal should you need it.
good luck

Yes, my condition comes under the DDA, and the DDA removed the need to register disabled.

Apparently the employer only has to 'consider' reasonable adjustments. They rearranged the section and duties, called me into the office to tell me what my new duties where, and call that a reasonable adjustment! As far as i'm aware there is no definition of 'reasonable adjustment' - so this is acceptable however poorly it impacts on my condition. For good practise it should be a two-way discussion between employer and employee.

Minutes - dont get them. There have been minute takers at meetings but I get half a page of bullet points referring to points my manager has raised, none of my replies are ever in the 'minutes' and minutes are never agreed and signed by both parties or changed to reflect the meeting.

Many thanks for the good luck wishes :T much appreciated.

urban_spirit

After a discussion to try and get rep2 motivated, he has sent an email to manager to say we will be attending (the date has been moved to the next day, with a reply from my manager again threatening to not use my evidence), but the grievance I lodged hasn't been heard.
Rep2 is off friday/monday but (allegedly) has given access to another rep to view emails to see if we get a reply. I rang the union office all day yesterday and -surprise, surprise - I couldn't get through :rolleyes:

ohreally

Firstly, it's a disciplinary hearing, not a sacking meeting - unless you have evidence proving management have already decided to terminate your employment ahead of the hearing (E.T. will love that one).
Have you requested a branch officer to take up your case - branch secretary,chair etc? I'm not sure why the regional office is being involved at this point as this is a branch matter.The union can be held liable if the member is given poor advice therefore it is in everyones interest to get this right.
Has your employer offered support mechanisms to keep you in work, if not why not - your employer may have a duty under the DDA to make work accessible through reasonable adjustments.
Which union are you a member of? Many will have self organised groups which will likely include among others, disabled members.It may be worth contacting the disabled SOG for advice and support both with your issues re your employer as well as the way you feel the trade union has handled your case.

ceridwen

Good luck - thinking of you!

urban_spirit

ohreally wrote: »

Firstly, it's a disciplinary hearing, not a sacking meeting - unless you have evidence proving management have already decided to terminate your employment ahead of the hearing (E.T. will love that one).
Have you requested a branch officer to take up your case - branch secretary,chair etc? I'm not sure why the regional office is being involved at this point as this is a branch matter.The union can be held liable if the member is given poor advice therefore it is in everyones interest to get this right.
Has your employer offered support mechanisms to keep you in work, if not why not - your employer may have a duty under the DDA to make work accessible through reasonable adjustments.
Which union are you a member of? Many will have self organised groups which will likely include among others, disabled members.It may be worth contacting the disabled SOG for advice and support both with your issues re your employer as well as the way you feel the trade union has handled your case.

As per my previous post, I have been told a few months ago i'm to be sacked - it's a foregone conclusion.

It's a branch officer that i'm having problems with. The regional office has been involved due to reps not returning my calls despite phone messages and emails, and weeks passing. When I speak to head office to ask them to contact my rep, reps always reply on the same day-but I shouldn't have to go through head office just to get a rep to respond.

Well, you would think it's in everyone's interest to get this right wouldn't you. The advice i've been given has been poor to non-existent, deadlines have been missed due to rep1, agreed next steps are rarely carried out, and private papers to be used as evidence have been taken home and shredded-a few of many things. The grievance lodged was written by rep1-rep2 thought i'd written it, said it was very poor and not worth chasing up(!). Told rep2 that rep1 had written-and rep2 totally backtracked from what he'd said. Not what a union is meant to be.

No, no support mechanisms in place. They have a duty under the DDA to CONSIDER reasonable adjustments apparently but not a duty to put them in place (see previous post).
I've asked about disability groups but there are none.

urban_spirit

ceridwen wrote: »

Good luck - thinking of you!

Many thanks for your thoughts and good luck wishes :T muchly appreciated.

urban_spirit

It's irrelevant really which one it is - and that's not meant to be rude. What they call themselves doesn't matter. Once the meeting next week is over, I intend to make a complaint about their appalling behaviour.