Taking legal action against employers

[Terminator X]

Tough to "go legal" <2 years though as there really isn't anything to go at them for. I'm in the School of "what's the fking point"; leave and simply move on to something better.

TX.

[mp3manager]

Terminator X said:

Tough to "go legal" <2 years though as there really isn't anything to go at them for. I'm in the School of "what's the fking point"; leave and simply move on to something better.

TX.

I was TUPE'd from old employer to new employer, so my length of service, which is more than 2 years, comes with me.

[HenryJM]

But if they are your employer currently, they've recognised a problem, albeit not immediately, and they sort it out there is no case for you to take against them,at least not one that you are likely to win.

[edc]

Have a look at some of the ET stats and you may surprise yourself. If you have been on the Employer side of the fence it is easy to be put off as when the schedule of loss is submitted by the claimant it is usually inflated to sky high levels. If you are inexperienced you may want to cry or settle but if you are expereinced you will probably laugh it off. Employees can ofen think it is an easy road to some big money but once you have factored in time lost, professional fees, travel costs, stress etc it often just isn't worth it. As an employee, if you are as good and in demand as you often think you are, then you will be in a new job anyway and mitigated your loss to a large extent.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/employmen...

For 2011/12 an average of 9% of claims were successful at a hearing and 29% were withdrawn. The average award for unfair dismissal was £9k, for sex discrimination £10k, disability discrimination £22k. For race discrmination the average award is much higher but skewed by a disproportionate few cases and the median award is actually only £5k.

[nikaiyo2]

If I was evaluating candidates I would interview someone who had taken an employer to a tribunal, but would never offer them the job unless they offered something that was very special compared to the other candidates.

[Chimune]

We had someone who was always banging on about taking their prev employer to court for some bs.

The alarm bells I could hear weren't loud enough for our hr apparently, but after a year, the person was found to be an unreliable asshole, with sticky fingers and a bad attitude. When we got shot of them, they tried to take us to a tribunal too. They lost.

Any good manager / hr dept should be able to spot the serial offenders:

big hoop earings, jet black hair and the ability to start an argument in an empty room = 3.141

[TurricanII]

HoHoHo said:

Troubleatmill said:

..
Employee = little stress, little financial outlay, probably sleeps well
Employer = mucho stress, £'000's in costs regardless of outcome and sleepless nights

Agreed on both counts
Providing the word gets out about the employee!

Employee.
Damage to employer - minimal in the grand scheme of things.
Reputation damage to the employee if things don't go to plan - much more consequential.

I am not sure how often it happens but it is also worth bearing in mind that in specific circumstances the employee/employer might also face a costs order if they are taking the p***:

Where it appears to the Appeal Tribunal that any proceedings brought by .. were unnecessary, improper, vexatious or misconceived or that there has been unreasonable delay or other unreasonable conduct in the bringing or conducting of proceedings .. the Appeal Tribunal may make a costs order

http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/tribunals/empl...

[HoHoHo]

TurricanII said:

HoHoHo said:

Troubleatmill said:

..
Employee = little stress, little financial outlay, probably sleeps well
Employer = mucho stress, £'000's in costs regardless of outcome and sleepless nights

Agreed on both counts
Providing the word gets out about the employee!

Employee.
Damage to employer - minimal in the grand scheme of things.
Reputation damage to the employee if things don't go to plan - much more consequential.

I am not sure how often it happens but it is also worth bearing in mind that in specific circumstances the employee/employer might also face a costs order if they are taking the p***:

Where it appears to the Appeal Tribunal that any proceedings brought by .. were unnecessary, improper, vexatious or misconceived or that there has been unreasonable delay or other unreasonable conduct in the bringing or conducting of proceedings .. the Appeal Tribunal may make a costs order

http://www.justice.gov.uk/downloads/tribunals/empl...

It doesn't happen often at all.

The employees solicitors can take the piss and tend to get away with missing deadlines etc., the employers solicitors are watched like a hawk.

'Vexatious claim'.....good phrase that in reality means f-all.

[anonymous-user]

Terminator X said:

Tough to "go legal" <2 years though as there really isn't anything to go at them for. ...

TX.

This is incorrect. Claims based on discrimination, whistleblowing, and breach of contract (to give but some examples) can be made with fewer than two years service.

Having said that, no one should rush to sue for anything. Suggestions above that the stress lies only on the employer are incorrect. Making a claim is time consuming and stressful. Suggestions that the tribunal system is slanted in favour of employees are also misconceived. Someone has helpfully posted the tribunal stats, which show that most claims fail, and that the payouts on successful claims are generally quite modest. As for impact on future employment, this is not likely to be significant.

[DSLiverpool]

If someone goes off with stress and they are generally poor in their position does a mechanism exist to say "here is £5k please go" which they may be happy to settle for but don't want to say so. Or is the whole convoluted route the only way forward.

[Foliage]

DSLiverpool said:

If someone goes off with stress and they are generally poor in their position does a mechanism exist to say "here is £5k please go" which they may be happy to settle for but don't want to say so. Or is the whole convoluted route the only way forward.

I think you can buy someone out of their contract, Im sure someone will be along soon with proper info. My take on it though is if both side are happy and both sides sign something to say as much then how could there be any problems.

[edc]

DSLiverpool said:

If someone goes off with stress and they are generally poor in their position does a mechanism exist to say "here is £5k please go" which they may be happy to settle for but don't want to say so. Or is the whole convoluted route the only way forward.

You can either manage them out the business through due process citing one of the reasons for dismissal or go down the compromise agreement route. How receptive they are to this will depend on a number of other factors though.

[Terminator X]

Breadvan72 said:

Terminator X said:

Tough to "go legal" <2 years though as there really isn't anything to go at them for. ...

TX.

This is incorrect. Claims based on discrimination, whistleblowing, and breach of contract (to give but some examples) can be made with fewer than two years service.

Having said that, no one should rush to sue for anything. Suggestions above that the stress lies only on the employer are incorrect. Making a claim is time consuming and stressful. Suggestions that the tribunal system is slanted in favour of employees are also misconceived. Someone has helpfully posted the tribunal stats, which show that most claims fail, and that the payouts on successful claims are generally quite modest. As for impact on future employment, this is not likely to be significant.

I got shot of a chap in my team basically as he was fking useless. Less than 2 years employed so easily done. He tried a tribunal but as "there really isn't anything to go at" he could only cite religious and racial discrimination ... laughable and indeed he dropped it after a while.

TX.