Fired Due to Sickness 3 Weeks into Job

getmore4less

Birdman2015 wrote: »

To answer my original question I had a wage paid into my bank account today. The grand total I was paid was £571. All this to cover 3 weeks work minus 1.5 days.(100 hours in total) According to The Gov.uk site I would be owe 13.5 hours holiday pay too so looks like I have been short changed. Until I get a payslip sent to me I won't be sure though.

EDIT: I emailed them to query this and received this reply -

If I take into account the time taken to train you and that we now need to invest in advertising, recruiting and training again, we are heavily out of pocket!"

That is perhaps suggesting to me that he has deliberately withheld some money from me. You can't lawfully do that surely.

I would ping-pong this one more time,

detail what you believe you are due, hours and holiday pay etc....
then ask for the amount still owning if they believe they have paid a correct amount please explain how they got the actual amount paid with a breakdown of any deductions made if the amount due is more than paid.

I think I would leave of any mention of illegal deduction court etc. at this point.
.........

If they don't catch on that you potentially have a case and just pay up getting them to list the deductions is a bonus they have already admitted they have made them) then a "letter before action" follows repeating the itemized claim and maybe throwing the employment act sections on holiday pay on termination and illegal deduction of wages.

jobbingmusician

I wouldn't bother with two letters. Just set out clearly what you believe they owe you and head it 'Letter Before Action'. (Double check your holiday accrual tho. 13.5 hours accrued for 100 hours' work sounds high to me.)

If I put into gov.uk

start date 1st May
Finish date 21 May (3 weeks, right?)
33 hours a week (ok, this is 99 hours, but still)
I get 10 hours 37 min, a lot closer to what I would expect.

Birdman2015

getmore4less wrote: »

I would ping-pong this one more time,

detail what you believe you are due, hours and holiday pay etc....
then ask for the amount still owning if they believe they have paid a correct amount please explain how they got the actual amount paid with a breakdown of any deductions made if the amount due is more than paid.

I think I would leave of any mention of illegal deduction court etc. at this point.
.........

If they don't catch on that you potentially have a case and just pay up getting them to list the deductions is a bonus they have already admitted they have made them) then a "letter before action" follows repeating the itemized claim and maybe throwing the employment act sections on holiday pay on termination and illegal deduction of wages.

I finally received my payslip yesterday. Part of the reason for it being so short was that £144 tax was deducted due to an Emergency Tax being used.

However, they have not given me any holiday pay at all and have made deductions for 3 days sickness whereas I had 1.5 days off sick so I calculate that they have underpaid me by around 18 hours.

Having checked again on gov.uk I am getting 11 hours 39 minutes holiday pay based on the 40 hour week.

I have emailed him again asking why they have come to those figures but not yet had a reply. The boss texted me yesterday asking if I still have the key to the depot. (I have!). Needless to say I am not in any hurry to return this until I get what I am owed.

Masomnia

I'd suggest you send them the key. It's their property and it may well be a breach of contract to keep hold of it. Also they could potentially deduct the cost of changing the locks etc from what they owe you.

If they don't cough up then follow the proper channels to get what you're owed. Otherwise you're also in the wrong and it won't help your case.

Birdman2015

To be honest I have said that I will drop the key off at the weekend as I live a fair distance from the place.

whoosh

If you have a diagnosed depression and this was the (or a) reason for your absence, and assuming you have informed your employer of that (and not withheld such information, e.g. on any pre-employment questionnaire) then your employer must make reasonable adjustments or else face potential liability for unlawful discrimination.

This is because depression counts as a disability under the Equality Act 2010.

It's possible that it might be reasonable in the circumstances for your employer to dismiss you given the length of your expected absence but they ought to have explored whether they can make reasonable adjustments for your condition. Legally, if any adjustments are deemed reasonable in retrospect, then your employer would have been obliged to make them.

It sounds like you have other claims to explore, too: their health & safety provision in light of your injury at work, and their data protection breach. I don't advocate claiming for the sake of it, but from the limited information you provided it sounds as though they have not acted professionally on a number of accounts.

You probably don't want to go to the effort, stress and potential publicity of an employment tribunal, but on the other hand, a solicitor's letter is relatively cheap, quick, easy to arrange and likely to get solid results. You can also negotiate other things such as what is said on a reference. You don't have to do anything beyond a letter or two if you prefer not to, but they might assume you're willing to fight up to the House of Lords, and settle quickly.

Check if your home insurance has legal cover. This normally covers employment disputes and you may want to add it in future if you don't have it.

Otherwise there are various sources of advice, such as Citizen's Advice or:

Equality Advisory Support Service (EASS)
FREEPOST
Equality Advisory Support Service
FPN4431

Telephone: 0808 800 0082
Textphone: 0808 800 0084
Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm
Saturday, 10am to 2pm

Website: https://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com

Good luck!

IAmWales

whoosh wrote: »

If you have a diagnosed depression and this was the (or a) reason for your absence, and assuming you have informed your employer of that (and not withheld such information, e.g. on any pre-employment questionnaire) then your employer must make reasonable adjustments or else face potential liability for unlawful discrimination.

This is because depression counts as a disability under the Equality Act 2010.

It's possible that it might be reasonable in the circumstances for your employer to dismiss you given the length of your expected absence but they ought to have explored whether they can make reasonable adjustments for your condition. Legally, if any adjustments are deemed reasonable in retrospect, then your employer would have been obliged to make them.

It sounds like you have other claims to explore, too: their health & safety provision in light of your injury at work, and their data protection breach. I don't advocate claiming for the sake of it, but from the limited information you provided it sounds as though they have not acted professionally on a number of accounts.

You probably don't want to go to the effort, stress and potential publicity of an employment tribunal, but on the other hand, a solicitor's letter is relatively cheap, quick, easy to arrange and likely to get solid results. You can also negotiate other things such as what is said on a reference. You don't have to do anything beyond a letter or two if you prefer not to, but they might assume you're willing to fight up to the House of Lords, and settle quickly.

Check if your home insurance has legal cover. This normally covers employment disputes and you may want to add it in future if you don't have it.

Otherwise there are various sources of advice, such as Citizen's Advice or:

Equality Advisory Support Service (EASS)
FREEPOST
Equality Advisory Support Service
FPN4431

Telephone: 0808 800 0082
Textphone: 0808 800 0084
Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm
Saturday, 10am to 2pm

Website: https://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com

Good luck!

How ridiculous would it be to even contemplate suing an employer you've worked at for three weeks?

It's advice like this that makes employers reluctant to take on disabled people.

marliepanda

whoosh wrote: »

If you have a diagnosed depression and this was the (or a) reason for your absence, and assuming you have informed your employer of that (and not withheld such information, e.g. on any pre-employment questionnaire) then your employer must make reasonable adjustments or else face potential liability for unlawful discrimination.

This is because depression counts as a disability under the Equality Act 2010.

It's possible that it might be reasonable in the circumstances for your employer to dismiss you given the length of your expected absence but they ought to have explored whether they can make reasonable adjustments for your condition. Legally, if any adjustments are deemed reasonable in retrospect, then your employer would have been obliged to make them.

It sounds like you have other claims to explore, too: their health & safety provision in light of your injury at work, and their data protection breach. I don't advocate claiming for the sake of it, but from the limited information you provided it sounds as though they have not acted professionally on a number of accounts.

Firstly, depression isn't always counted as a disability. It can be, but it is not a blanket 'you have to make reasonable adjustments' If someone is off with depression after 3 weeks, you cant make adjustments when someone is off.
Your blanket statement is inaccurate and dangerous. Can I go to work for one day, say the work has exacerbated my depression and lay down what I want them to change?

As regards to his 'injury at work' This is what the OP said.

The reasons for absence were mainly a recurrance of depression from last year and a shoulder injury caused in no part by the heavy lifting the job involved.

So the job hasnt caused the depression (so what adjustments do you suggest?) and he actually says that the injury was NOT caused by work. Maybe a mistype, but he said that it wasnt.

whoosh

IAmWales wrote: »

How ridiculous would it be to even contemplate suing an employer you've worked at for three weeks?

It's advice like this that makes employers reluctant to take on disabled people.

How long do you think somebody should have to be employed to have the option of legal action if they've been badly and illegally treated?

In the case of a disability the law says: no time at all. Some claims can be brought even if the claimant never worked a day.

Note that I wasn't advocating claiming for the sake of it but the OP seems to have been badly treated and his employer seems to have ignored their responsibilities on various counts. A solicitor's letter is likely to help to clarify and resolve things without proceeding to a claim, as I also said. Of course, the OP has given limited information, and if he feels claiming isn't justified or right, he won't.

Let's hope this sort of thing never happens to you.

Alderbank

whoosh wrote: »

If you have a diagnosed depression and this was the (or a) reason for your absence, and assuming you have informed your employer of that (and not withheld such information, e.g. on any pre-employment questionnaire) then your employer must make reasonable adjustments or else face potential liability for unlawful discrimination.

This is because depression counts as a disability under the Equality Act 2010.

It's possible that it might be reasonable in the circumstances for your employer to dismiss you given the length of your expected absence but they ought to have explored whether they can make reasonable adjustments for your condition. Legally, if any adjustments are deemed reasonable in retrospect, then your employer would have been obliged to make them.

It sounds like you have other claims to explore, too: their health & safety provision in light of your injury at work, and their data protection breach. I don't advocate claiming for the sake of it, but from the limited information you provided it sounds as though they have not acted professionally on a number of accounts.

You probably don't want to go to the effort, stress and potential publicity of an employment tribunal, but on the other hand, a solicitor's letter is relatively cheap, quick, easy to arrange and likely to get solid results. You can also negotiate other things such as what is said on a reference. You don't have to do anything beyond a letter or two if you prefer not to, but they might assume you're willing to fight up to the House of Lords, and settle quickly.

Check if your home insurance has legal cover. This normally covers employment disputes and you may want to add it in future if you don't have it.

Otherwise there are various sources of advice, such as Citizen's Advice or:

Equality Advisory Support Service (EASS)
FREEPOST
Equality Advisory Support Service
FPN4431

Telephone: 0808 800 0082
Textphone: 0808 800 0084
Monday to Friday, 9am to 8pm
Saturday, 10am to 2pm

Website: https://www.equalityadvisoryservice.com

Good luck!

In this case I agree with IamWales, inappropriate advice

Depression can be a disability as defined by the Equality Act but more often it is not. Even if it is for the OP what would have been a reasonable adjustment in this case?

And what 'injury at work'? The OP makes it clear (post #12) that his shoulder injury is unconnected with this job.

There would only be any prospect of a claim if the employer gave disability as the reason for dismissal. With less than 2 years employment he can dismiss for any non-protected reason - perhaps he does not like the colour of the OP's eyes?

In no circumstances would the OP get his job back. He would get a load of stress and at very most a few days pay which would not cover his costs. Very poor advice.

OP, a new job is stressful for everyone and must be especially so for you. Forget about this job and move on. Consider building up coping strategies for yourself for when you start your next job. CBT can be effective for this. Once you are actually offered a job, tell your new employer that you do suffer from anxiety in new situations and tell them what simple things would help you. If they are the right employer for you they will welcome your suggestion. For example, having a 'work buddy' to show you the ropes, go to lunch with you, etc. might be all you need.

Best wishes