Frank Irons T/A   Employment Law Advice Services (Kent)                 

HOW TO RUN YOUR OWN CLAIM

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ABOUT EMPLOYMENT LAW SERVICES


Frank Irons ,  has been an Employment Law Practitioner since 1994 now semi retired.  Relevant experience with Citizens Advice Bureaux, Solicitors and Employment Law specialists , Kent Law Clinic and on his own account with private cases. He now lives in Canterbury Kent
WHAT HE CAN DO


Frank Irons, Employment Law Services will give legal advice free by e-mail  on all matters concerning Unfair Dismissal , including Constructive Dismissal,  all forms of sex , race , age, disability  and gender discrimination , victimisation,  wage deductions, Transfers of Employment (TUPE), Equal Pay  and breaches of contract. He cannot represent you at tribunal but he can assist you prepare a case.


DO IT YOURSELF  

Please see the next page of this site , which will help if you want to run your own case for Unfair Dismissal in an Employment Tribunal, rather than employ a solicitor on a fee or a no win- no fee agent.  Its definitely worth considering if you have a straight -forward Unfair Dismissal case and /or your money Claim is modest -  a solicitor will charge you up £250 per hour to prepare your case , a  good employment solicitor will represent you personally in tribunal , but other solicitors will Instruct a Barrister, typically another £500- £1000 a day including the additional time the solicitor takes to prepare the Instruction.  A no win -no fee arrangement is typically up to 30% commission based on a single day case but will increase with the length of the hearing- this can eat substantially into awards. Its definitely worth having a go - the ET process is cost free from the point of entry and throughout and although costs can be awarded this happens very rarely and only if you act unreasonably. There are checks and balances build in , for instance you will be warned by the Tribunal if your case has no prospect of success and given a choice to continue. Only then will costs  be a risk on the merits of your case. If you misbehave in the process then expect  costs orders to be made against you  but then that is up to you. I have seen adverts from legal services ( brokerage firms generally) which emphasise unduly the risk of costs being awarded against you if you make your own claim. That's a mis-representation  - costs are very seldom awarded and only then in very exceptional cases of complete intransigence.
 

HOW TO RUN YOUR OWN CLAIM

CONTACT DETAILS-  lorenden@talktalk.net

 

     
 

Unfair Dismissal

An employer dismisses an employee without carrying out a statutory or a fair process, or indeed any process and without sufficient reason, or for an non -permissible reason. Some or sometimes all of these reasons form the core of most Unfair Dismissals. A potentially fair dismissal occurs when the employer has used an allowable reason and carried out a Fair process, including the  statutory process. One year of service is required to have the right to Claim except in certain circumstances , i.e. dismissal following complaints about statutory entitlements, discrimination, safety, TU Activities , Public Interest Disclosures etc. Check for specific jurisdictions.

Constructive Dismissal

An employer treats an employee so badly that the employee is entitled to resign because of that conduct. The employer's conduct has to be sufficient to allow a Claimant to say that the employer has repudiated one or more main terms of the contract or has fundamentally breached the  terms of trust and confidence. One year of service required and before making a claim to ET a grievance must be lodged relating to the alleged breach of contract or Trust and the Claim must not be made within the next 28 days. Time in which to make a claim extends by a further  3 months. This is a difficult jurisdiction with the burden of proof on the Claimant and is not to be entered into without clear evidence of the employer's misbehaviour. Its important not to stay in employment past the point where the breach, or more likely the breakdown in Trust occurs, to do so will run the risk of affirming the breach.
                       
Discrimination

Discrimination occurs when an employer acts towards a person in a manner which is less favourable for a reason related to the  sex, race, gender , age , part time status or disability etc  of that employee, and that reason would not,  or did not, apply to another person who was not unfavourably treated ( i.e. a Comparator). No service requirement, including refusal to employ. There are two entries into this Statute  1) The Complainant has been subjected to discriminatory treatment short of dismissal and is still employed or  2) The Complainant has been dismissed for a discriminatory reason. In the first entry  a grievance must be lodged with the employer ( which extends time to claim) however a dismissal does not require a grievance BUT time does not extend to make a Claim.

 

Equal Pay -Equal Pay Act 1970

Generally this effects woman in comparison with men ,  particularly in Industries which historically have paid men more than women for like or equal value work. I can do no better in describing the working of this now elderly Act than providing a link to the excellent Thompsons Solicitors web entry on this topic. A tiresome and cumbersome jurisdiction from a bygone era for everyone and long past its sell by date. Equal Pay Act -Thompsons

 

Transfer of an Undertaking  

An employee has the right to have their contract of employment transferred when a contract is taken over by another service provider ( i.e. cleaning, catering or security services etc ) or when the business in which they are employed is subject to a  transfer of assets ( but not on purchase of shares)


Redundancy

A permitted reason for dismissal. Redundancy occurs when work of a particular kind carried out by an  employer, either ceases or diminishes  and the employer has a need to reduce staffing. An employer has to show that the selection process he used was both fair and objective and that he had consulted adequately with affected employees or workplace representatives


Wages, Notice and other contractual sums
A Claim can be made to an employment tribunal for any sum owing at the end of the contract , usually unpaid notice , holiday pay or arrears of wages or expenses.  If the contract still exists ( i.e. still employed) this does not prevent you claiming against your employer. No minimum period of service is required either within the employment or at the end of employment. 

Examples of claims existing after dismissal are deductions from final pay  , failure to pay Notice or Redundancy Payments or other severance payments , holiday arrears and outstanding expense claims etc.

Unlawful deductions within  employment are typically failure to pay agreed wages, holiday pay , contractual or other sick pay , agreed bonuses , commissions , expenses etc.  None of these claims, with the exception of a claim for notice pay, can be sent to an employment tribunal unless you first raise a grievance with your employer, either before or after the contract terminates. You must then wait 28 days before making an ET Claim. Time limits apply also to these claims- 3 months from the failure to pay or in the case of a series of "deductions" , 3 months from the  date  of the last  deduction. Do not rely  on any extensions of time  you may have heard about - they do exist  but it is always better to get the Claim registered within the  first  3 month  period, even if you are appealing a decision. Employers sometimes delay appeal processes to push claimants out of time. 

 

 
uploaded 12/11/08 
Web Site devised and managed by Frank Irons