Unison legal representation and support for et unfair dismissal claims

London50

Don't you just hate it when the school holiday roll round and children have nothing better to do than dream up these stories.

Hounded_out

London50 wrote: »

Don't you just hate it when the school holiday roll round and children have nothing better to do than dream up these stories.

It may take one to know one.

Your replies are all so professional.

Hounded_out

I have an update re some of the queries that were raised - see below.

Re the rather abusive comments. That's sadly to be expected on such faceless forums. I have also been negative, but now realise that some of my comments - though honest - may not have gone down too well.

My update -

1) Approx what % of member ET claims are "funded" by Unison - I sense the figure may be very low as a) the Union (claim) to have limited resources, and b) they only seem to be interested in strategic. high profile cases, or sure fire winners - is there such a thing in the ET ? Even without consulting with the regional office, my friend's local Unison rep has in effect said that they will not support/ fund an ET UD claim. - SEEMS LIKE ONLY ABOUT ONE IN TWENTY CASES ARE FUNDED BY REGION/ UNISON'S LEGAL TEAM. WHILST UNISON SHOULD BE APPLAUDED FOR THEIR EFFORTS IN HAVING ET FEES SET ASIDE, IT WOULD BE NICE IF THEY COULD BETTER FOCUS ON THEIR MANY (NHS) MEMBERS WHO ARE IN NEED.

2) If Unison will not privide professional "legal representation" then if the member - i.e. my friend - hires her own direct access barrister (she has one lined up) who thinks she has reasonable prospects of success and is willing to act on a no win no fee basis then do Unison then just abandon the member (as they have threatened to do), or are they obliged to still provide some "support" on an ongoing basis !? - YES, THEY ARE OBLIGED TO PROVIDE SUPPORT AS THE CLAIMANT/ MEMBER IS THEN A LAY CLAIMANT AND IS THUS IN EFFECT REPRESENTING THEMSELVES.

3) To date her Union rep has told my friend just to appeal her dismissal, but has given no info on ET time limits etc. That is despite my friend's EDT being 10 weeks ago, and if this situation had continued then my friend would have missed the ET claim submission (or ACAS ECC) deadline. My friend works/ worked in the NHS and the Trust claim that due to a backlog of appeals they cannot hear a dismissal appeal for another 6 weeks or so - how convenient given that by then the ET claim deadline will likely have passed by. - SEEMS LIKE THE NHS TRUST WHO MY FRIEND WORKED FOR MAKE A HABIT OF (UNREASONABLY) DELAYING OR HEARING DISMISSAL APPEALS FOR SEVERAL MONTHS - ONE APPEAL WAS ONLY HEARD 8 MONTHS AFTER THE DATE OF DISMISSAL. IN ANY EVENT, VERY FEW - IF ANY - ARE UPHELD.

Any constructive comments on the matter at hand would be appreciated.

nicechap

Unison seem to be pretty good at some legal things;

https://www.unison.org.uk/news/press-release/2017/01/the-government-should-admit-employment-tribunal-fees-were-a-mistake-and-scrap-them-says-unison/

I can only guess why the OP hasn't yet asked Unison themselves instead of pestering uninformed strangers on the internet:

https://www.unison.org.uk/get-help/online-enquiries/