unfair dismissal

Nafta

Hi, I have been working for a number of year fr my employer on a fix term contract. I am also waiting to see if I am a permanent employee because of the number f fix term contracts renewed.
The thing is I am a carer for my disabled husband and I also have to children.
My contract is now coming to an end and before I sign the new one my employer has requested I work flexible hours which mean working late a lot of the time. MY employer is aware of my circumstances and although I have tried to come up to an agreement there is no flexibility from their part. I think this is discrimination and unfair dismissal. I cannot sign the new contract and renew because then I leave my family unattended and will not take cr of my responsibility as a carer.
re-deployment if successful would mean a pay cut of at least £10000 a year as my job is very specialised and I have earned my grade throughout the years. It is very unlikely that I will be able to get a job with close or same salary. I am also the only breadwinner.
One more thing to mention is that I am currently going through and RSI injury work-related and I am unsure if this would be an obstacle with me getting a new job as I need to make sure it heals properly.
Any advice on claiming compensation? I am not sleeping well and have suffered already a lot of stress and anxiety over the past 4 years more ven now. I need some help?
Many thanks

Here_Comes_The_Judge

Get Blatchford in here. Stat!

Barney_Rubble_0403

https://www.gov.uk/fixed-term-contracts/renewing-or-ending-a-fixedterm-contract

Might help you decide what your situation is.

Blatchford

I am afraid that this one is not going to be easy, and I hope to God you are in a union.

Being a permanent employee is something of a red herring. Nobody is a permanent employee. All employment can be terminated by either party, otherwise it is called slavery. Having a series of fixed term contracts may mean that your contract is deemed as "permanent" - but that does not mean that they can't change your contract. All they need to do is tell you that they are changing it, and offer you the new contract on new terms, and you can either accept it, or not. If you don't accept it you are able to claim unfair dismissal. But I am afraid that I am not seeing any unfair dismissal right now. It is neither unfair dismissal nor discrimination that you have a disabled partner and children. They are not changing - or you have provided no evidence that they are changing - the contract terms BECAUSE you have a disabled husband and/or children. So no discrimination, and you are not being dismissed because of your husband and children, but because you are unable to meet the employers changing business needs. That makes you redundant - very definitely redundant. But that is, on the face of it, all you have here.

I am afraid that your being unable to get another job with this level of pay and being the breadwinner have no relevance.

If I were to make a guess, and it is only a guess, if I were to assume that the employer doesn't need to make these changes (and that is something that no tribunal will ever determine - employers decide what their business needs are, and tribunals will never interfere with that), then the reason is not your disabled partner or your children. I place money on it being pursuing a claim against your employer - not that you will ever prove that. I assume that you have legal representation for that claim, but it will not likely be of very high value, and may be very difficult to pin down. Unfortunately whilst RSI can be occupationally related, it is also almost never solely so, and determining a high degree of culpability can be difficult. Personally, for an injury of this type, I would have recommended going down the route of how the employer can help to "fix" the problem rather than pursuing a claim. Suing your employer seldom ends well.

In order to give any more detailed advice I would need to know:
- Are you in a union?
- How long in total have you worked there? Any breaks in employment between contracts?
- Are you the only person doing this role? If not, have the others also had their terms changed?
- Why is the employer saying they need more flexible hours?
- When you asked for fixed hours, what exactly did they respond with?
- It would help if I had some idea of what you do and now this is "niche" employment.

But it may well be that the best we can achieve would be how to discuss redundancy, so I can't promise to get your hopes up. Sorry.

Nafta

Hi Blachford and thank you for your response.
It is a bit complicated and I am not able to disclose much but will do my best.
I have been working here for over 10 years without any breaks.
Let's say my duties are A, B and C. At the beginning we were a small group so I was ablet o do all three but with time the group grew so I was needed a lot for A and B and less for C. C is the part of the role that need flexibility. then my husband became disabled. I was still mostly doing And B because of the great demand but also because my employer felt I could not due C in case I had to take time off or I was called away for caring responsibilities. Basically I was asked if I could assure them that I could complete a project without interruptions and I said I could not but nobody could as nobody know what is round the corner. But they said my circumstance were different from the others. I have to say I have not been called away whereas some other employees have. I think that is discrimination? At this time my employer even considered removing C all together from my role but nothing was done.
Recently I injured my hand whilst performing a task at work and the doctors said it was an RSI injury. The demand for And B was so great that I have been working at unreasonable speed to meet deadlines and that I had to go slower and give my hand a bit of a rest and that I could no longer go back to working at that speed ad the injury would come back. Two weeks later they mentioned to me that they are making some changes to my role. They make it clear I am the best person for the role but now they want me to do more of C (remember before he thought I was not able to do this) and that I need to work more flexibly which means working late most days. I told them we could compromise and I would work flexibly 3 days and they could give me two days and that I would work some weekends but they said they could no be flexible.
I am waiting to have a meeting with a Union rep
I am the only one under support role. the other people do mainly C and I offer support to them with A, B and sometimes C.
Apologies but I am afraid of saying too much because of a without prejudice settlement offer.

LilElvis

Nafta wrote: »

Apologies but I am afraid of saying too much because of a without prejudice settlement offer.

Have they made you a settlement offer? Is that regarding the injury or for termination of your employment?

Nafta

LilElvis wrote: »

Have they made you a settlement offer? Is that regarding the injury or for termination of your employment?

It s for termination of employment

Blatchford

I'm afraid that that doesn't change my opinion. I see no discrimination. The employers needs require this role - the job- to do C. The fact you can't is not discrimination, it's fortune. You cannot dictate the employers needs - they are not obliged to provide you with a job that you want to do or can do. Regardless of how realistic it is that the employer wants the role carrying out without any diversions - and I agree with you that that is a ridiculous expectation- it is not up to me, you, or an employment tribunal to decide that. The employer has a right to determine the role that they need, and this is what it is. It is possible that there may be a chance that the flexible working request refusal might contribute something to a case. But it's questionable. And besides which, the lay of the land is now clear. The settlement agreement is all that is negotiable and that is best left in the hands of your union. They know what we cannot. But I wouldn't, unless you have a very generous set of terms, expect much more than redundancy and a little bit more. Certainly you are not going to get something that makes up £10k a year for the future. You wouldn't get that from a tribunal either. People vastly overestimate what a tribunal might award- and you'd need to win first of course.

This is one for the union. But moderate your expectations. And I'd start thinking through how you can manage going forward with less income, so that if you do get a reasonable job offer you are ok, but if you need that settlement to survive for a bit of time, and/ or your next job doesn't pay as well, you are better able to manage.

getmore4less

LilElvis wrote: »

Have they made you a settlement offer? Is that regarding the injury or for termination of your employment?

Nafta wrote: »

It s for termination of employment

you forgot mention that in your first post

Any other critical information you forgot?


10 years service,
10weeks(subject to age) redundancy and 10 weeks PILON setts the floor for any settlement agreement

Blatchford

getmore4less wrote: »

you forgot mention that in your first post

Any other critical information you forgot?

I may be wrong, but to be fair, I suspect that they genuinely forgot to mention it because they are desperate. I suspect the offer is not very much. It'll probably increase a little, because tactics dictate that you go in low on any negotiation. Like many people they think that employment rights are so much more extensive than they actually are. We often see people who think that parental / disability / carer responsibilities give them protection. They rarely do. And never as much as people think they do.

I'm making assumptions here, but 10 years statutory redundancy - we don't know age, wage etc, but what, maybe £8k?. A couple of grand maybe for RSI? A sweetener? Probably not a lot more than the annual difference between the wage she's getting and the wage she'll get if she gets another job. Sorry, also assuming a she! So that offer on the table is possibly around £10- 12 k ? Whereas "everyone" knows that discrimination claims are worth at least £250k. I'm not remotely suggesting this OP is making this up or that they are money grabbing. Just that very few people really understand employment law, or the very few protections it offers. The reality on the other side is that the OP had a disabled partner, children and will very probably, if they are correct in their assumption, never get a job that pays this well again.

I think we'd all be desperate in that situation. But they are in a union, and thankfully that won't fix their problem but it will did the best possible for them. Better than having nobody.

Ps - no guarantee they will get PILON. The employer doesn't have to give that.

getmore4less

You want your notice pay from the date of settlement or later which they do have to pay(be mad to give up that contractual right).

They could PILON, Garden Leave or work.

The latter not being the smart option when you want someone out.