employment tribunal

The bundle is just the collection of paperwork, and whatever they have, they have to hand over to you. If they are struggling to compile all the information because of financial constraints, the judge will require them to meet a deadline or settle. They can save on their financial constraints by making you a decent offer and ending the process. Good sign so far, seasider!

The other side have asked, via ACAS, for a delay in submitting the "bundle" I think they said it was due to financial constraints/reasons? any idea what this means? are we being too hopeful in thining they may be considering an offer? thanks

Atos has nowt to do with et but I agree with you.

Just commenting on a compensation payment demonstrates there is something to pay out - it's a matter of haggling. Keep going seasider and ignore their comments. The longer you continue, the more likely you are to get a higher settlement.

seasider and good luck!

Good luck, seasider, and don't let them wear you down. The first offer in my daughter's medical negligence claim was a quarter of the final settlement. It took seven years to get the MDU to come to the table and they settled a week before the case was due to come to trial.
ATOS is a disgrace - Private Eye has revealed so many cases where someone who is obviously unable to work has been told they are going to lose their benefits. One woman attempted suicide.

had a response from the other side but funnily they have failed to comment on all the points we can prove and concentrated on those that are a bit vague. They have also suggested that any compensation payment should be reduced as DP brought it on himself! does this sound like they are already accepting he will win or is that just wishful thinking? no luck on the job front yet.

Keep going seasider. As long as they think you are heading for the tribunal, they will have to put in many more hours work than you have, and they will be weighing up what that entails against offering to settle in advance. They will make a pathetic offer first, but no-one accepts that, so stick to your guns and don't be put off by anyone telling you you will end up with nothing. The nearer the tribunal date is, the higher the offers get, and the keener they are to settle. Organisations do like to boast ' we have never been through a tribunal' which they would be able to say if they settle before the court date.

thank you both for the flowers. So kind of you to think of me . We managed to get the application done tonight and finally agreed what to put in! so we can relax a bit now . We are just waiting for the employers response to our original application to the tribunal so we may have a better idea what we are up against when we see what they have to say. Will keep you posted and thanks again.

I had a text from a friend tonight who is on holiday in Spain her husband had been rushed into hospital but all his family are flying out tomorrow as he has taken a turn for the worse. I feel for her having to deal with all this far from home and it just puts everything into perspective.

Feeling for you seasider and wishing you well. It's hard to put a figure on your feelings, but I can imagine some of what you are going through. It is just not fair is it?

seasider

thanks again Carol things getting a bit strained here!

You work out annual earnings from beginning of dispute to projected retirement date, less any pay that has been received already. Compensation for loss of earnings and accompanying tension with ex should be calculated, under 'hurt feelings.' If there is an offer of redundancy, that will be paid at the going rate, depending on length of service. Any holidays not taken should be paid for, too. I don't know about loss of status - sorry.

Certain payments are free of tax up to a certain amount (30 odd thousand - it will be easy to find if you google).

Contact company or private pension scheme to find out about what can be withdrawn/converted from pension as a lump sum in advance, too. They can give advice, but limited to pension. Company payroll dept tend not to have a clue about what you will be allowed ex gratia, but will always work out what is owed if you give them dates.

help - re employment tribunal compensation does anybody know how much loss of future earnings to ask for . DP is mid fifties and job prospects at the moment are very poor so could be unemployed for some time. Also he pays maintenance for two children from his previous marriage which he cannot now afford . This has led to a deterioration in his realtionship with his ex wife and he has only seen his children once in December and then last week when they previously came very other weekend . Can this be brought into his claim? I understand you can claim for loss of status etc but how on earth do I calculate a monetary value ? very confused at the moment and any help appreciated! Have spoken to ACAS but it is still a bit vague . thanks

That's wonderful seasider. I can see things are gradually falling into place for you. It is amazing to think just how much you will need compensating for, when you start to add it all up. I know one person who included her loss of access to her network of support, in addition to hurt feelings, and being made to feel the stigma of having to attend a tribunal, and although the judge said it was acknowledged that she would experience these feelings, she didn't receive separate recompense, but it was all included under 'hurt feelings.'

Hi Carol - We had a call from a very helpful lady at ACAS today so we know a little more about what we need to consider. There were things like the loss of employment rights. We had never thought about this issue but of course when you have to start a new job you lose the rights you have accumulated. Will let you know how we get on. Thanks for your support x

ACAS might give you some guidance - you have to look at loss of potential earnings, costs incurred, any travel fare and stationery costs, compensation for 'hurt feelings' and there may be other suggestions from Gransnetters in the know. Keep the postings going Seasider as there will be a process that you go through which some of us might know a bit about. Good luck x

thanks Carol I really hope we can settle before then. We are just not sure how to calculate the amount of compensation we should be asking for. Is there any guidance anywhere?

Gracesmum that is great news - I am sorry you had to go through the mill first

Seasider the 5 months may be immaterial if there are offers put on the table before then and you decide to accept. The tribunal I have referred to in other posts was at the end of a long process, in which time we received several offers and finally settled 3 months before the tribunal date. We sent a list of senior executives that we were prepared to call to the tribunal, and that really put the wind up them because it would have cost much more than the required settlement to organise and train them up to give the evidence, as well as pull them out of diaried meetings and conferences on the tribunal days. The solicitor who acted for the organisation and made our lives hell was himself made redundant a few weeks ago. He sent a simpering email out to the whole organisation saying he was being forced out - what goes round, comes round!

Hi Gracesmum glad to hear you won but sorry to hear you had such a stressful time leading up to the tribunal. Best wishes to you both hope you can put it behind you. A good friend helped us with our tribunal application and we found out yesterday it had been accepted though we must wait 5 months for a hearing date. At least it feels like things are moving along and maybe if his employers realise they are wrong it may not get as far as a hearing. DP has had no luck job hunting yet but I feel like I am walking on eggshells. He pointed something out to me today and I happened to mention I had been too busy to notice and he took this as personal criticism that he is not working! Such a shame as we were going out for a meal followed by a show for which we had been given tickets as a Christmas present. We had been looking forward to it but the row put a damper on the whole evening.

So glad the appeal succeeded, gracesmum. Well done to you for pursuing it. But I am distressed to hear yet again of a potential client being let down by CAB. I can only put this down to cuts in grants from local authorities. It is specially disturbing given that the government expects CAB to take over the work of Consumer Direct when, as is intended, it is disbanded. If this is the Big Society, Cameron can stick it....

Wondering how you are progressing with your tribunal seasider? Thanks to brilliant advice from a very special person, DH's appeal was upheld within 2 minutes of his hearing yesterday!! They were very nice to us and the judge, recognising DH's not inconsiderable health issues said he just wanted to extend every good wish for his future. But the DWP denying in writing that his appeal was justified and claiming that a "health professional" knew best when they had clearly no idea of the severity of DH's stated illness, beggars belief. ATOS healthcare are simply not fit for purpose and the stress and anguish this has occasioned has affected both of us. We found it impossible to contact CAB by phone and DH ended up "doorstepping" them on one of the coldest mornings of the year and because they are short staffed too, they were unable to provide a "benefits expert" until 2 weeks after the tribunal. What absolutely clinched it was, I think, the advice we were given regarding the nature of the appeal and the necessity of corroborative evidence even although a "health professional" i.e. the assessor from ATOS shoudl have had the nous to look up DH's illness if she didn't know what it was! I have gone on at length, I am afraid because it has had a massive effect on both of us - DH has felt ill, had trouble sleeping, I have been stressed and also had difficulty sleeping largely because the whole wretched process has made us face DH's health problems and his prognosis from a closer perspective instead of dealing with each day as it comes and crossing bridges as we come to them. Good luck!

Good luck seasider. When checking out the case I was involved with, most solicitors were rather lost on the fine detail, and the scarce employment lawyers were more interested in big time cases, not individuals. ACAS will help you get all the relevant information lined up, and will not reject the case out of hand if all the information has not been properly compiled - they will advise you and set a further deadline for submission.

hi Grannyactivist we tried to put all this behind us over Christmas but now the hard work begins! Just completing all the forms for the tribunal. We were considering a solicitor but worried about costs so doing it ourselves with some assistance from friends. Just worried that we will not put the relevant info on the application and it may be refused. We are fairly sure we have a good case if we can get to tribunal but we will be fighting a large company. Thank you all so much for your advice and support .

I meant service not device. This ad reckons it knows how to spell