Schedule of Loss - grievance

[Myal]

Hi all,
Looking for advice from those that have settled after a grievance outcome.

Pending witness statements, mine is coming to an end. If I am in the situation to settle, I'll likely take it but do I draw up a schedule of loss?
The complaints involve bullying and harassment, breach of contract, unfair treatment and finally failure to make reasonable adjustments as two illnesses fall under the Equality Act. Its resulted in me being signed off for work related stress and depression.

I've already been offered a WP settlement but need to weigh up what the ex gratia payment should be if I didn't go to a tribunal.

I am still employed with them.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

[strictlymomdancing]

watching this with interest as I am in the exact same position, similar circumstances etc.

I haven't been asked to compile a schedule of loss though or been offered a settlement yet although my union expects me to get one.

are you in a union? could you ask them for advice?

[Myal]

Sorry to hear you've been in a crappy situation too strictlymomdancing.

Unfortunately I have lost my union rep as naively, I took advice from a lawyer when drawing up the grievance which apparently breaches Union rules.
In fairness, the rep was honestly useless and quite aggressive; only added to my anxiety.

[daisychain01]

I would consult with the solicitor who took your instruction for the grievance. You're not having to invent a new wheel, they will already be au fait with the details, which will save time and money. They can calculate a realistic WP settlement.

What you need your solicitor to do is convince your employer to agree to settle instead of going to tribunal. What you may find is that they will drag their heals to force you to trigger ACAS Early Conciliation, then drag their heals again to see if you enter your ET action with an ET1 etc. Currently they don't have to agree to a settlement, it depends how strong they think your case is.

Hence the reason not to do it alone if you don't have any experience in calculating a schedule of loss.

[BodenGate]

You are better with a solicitor.

[strictlymomdancing]

My union have been a bit see saw too. My full time rep is good, he's been very honest with me and very supportive, however he is a very busy man and I can't always get a hold of him.
The solicitor from Thompson's that they gave me is bloody useless though. Too cautious and my f/t rep is starting to get pissed off with him too so I do have worries about how my case will go but at least the solicitor put the ET1 in. So now I wait.
I think there are some examples online of schedule of loss that could help.
Have you done an appeal yet?

[Myal]

Thank you, that's really informative.
I'm still waiting for their decision which I suspect won't be until the 2nd week of Jan.

I asked the solicitor to stay in the background until the grievance was over in order to save costs and I was only trying to gauge whether it's worth going as far as an ET as I'm exhausted already.
But, I'll wait for the decision and reach back out to the solicitor.
Thank you for taking the time to reply.

[Myal]

As my response to daisychain, I only asked the solicitor to step back to save costs.
Will wait for outcome of grievance but only looking at schedule of loss to gauge strength of case.

[Myal]

Haven't appealed as haven't had their decision yet. It's in the hands of employee relations but even they've made 2 mistakes resulting in a breach of confidentiality which is when the solicitor stepped in to see if they were willing to settle.

I'll wait for the outcome and take it from there. So exhausted though.....

[BodenGate]

Will they pay your legal costs as part of the settlement?

[daisychain01]

@BodenGate if the solicitor draws up a schedule of loss, and the employer agrees to settle, a settlement agreement document is then drawn up and @Myal solicitor would request a sum in addition to cover the solicitor's review. That's very common practice to ensure a clean break and no further claim.

If it gets to ET then each side (99.9% of the time) pays own costs. Hence it's beneficial to try to settle before ET action is required.

[Myal]

Hi all,
Hope everyone is safe and well.

I've finally finished with grievance and it wasnt upheld but its exhausted me.
I've been offered a settlement agreement which I will accept but I am confused over the PILON payment.
Employers are paying me 12 weeks but the agreement says 'the parties agree that the Pilon is equal to or exceeds the amount given by the formula in section 402 d (1) of the income tax (Earning and Pensions) act 2003 (ITEPA) and that accordingly, your Post Employment Notice Pay is nil'

Does anyone know what on earth this means? I have a meeting with my solicitor tomorrow but fear a sleepless night....does this mean my PILON calculated is nil?

Any advice for be gratefully received.

[zsazsajuju]

Are they saying that you have worked your notice or that they are paying you for it? Sounds like the former but it’s hard to say without reviewing whole thing. Are they offering you 12 weeks plus notice or 12 weeks in total?

The pilon is relevant to tax. Pilon payments are chargeable to income tax but compensation payments are not up to 30k.

[MigginsMs]

I wouldn’t bother drafting a full schedule of loss unless you actually end up in Tribunal. Are you looking to settle via settlement agreement or COT3? If the former your solicitor should be able to advise on potential quantum. Do also bear in mind that the way things are the chances of you getting into a tribunal to have a claim heard anytime soon is very slim and there is a lot to be said for being able to settle and get the money sooner, even if it might be less than a tribunal would award

[MigginsMs]

Does anyone know what on earth this means? I have a meeting with my solicitor tomorrow but fear a sleepless night....does this mean my PILON calculated is nil?

Sorry just read the next post.

No the settlement agreement should set out what the PILON is. Post employment notice pay is a specific defined term with reference to that act.

www.osborneclarke.com/insights/termination-payments-taxed-differently-from-6-april-2018-what-do-employers-need-to-know-and-do/

This might help. It basically means that the termination payment isn’t going to be classed as post employment notice pay and therefore taxed.

[strictlymomdancing]

Sorry to hear about the outcome of your grievance.

My grievance was partially upheld (but only the very minor points eg only one incidence of failing to make adjustments for me was upheld and it was only because the manager was 'misguided').

I appealed, that outcome was even worse. basically repeated the first outcome

I can do a second stage appeal apparently but I've been granted an extension for submitting that because of Coronavirus.

They have agreed to make changes, and the changes they've agreed to make are good, but why agree to make changes if nothing went wrong?

Settlement talks are still to be held although my union no longer thinks this will be financial or an exit package. The union think this will be more along the lines of a private apology that I won't be allowed to talk about.

Which sounds shit to me but like you I'm exhausted and I have nowhere else to go. Being disabled, it will take me longer or be near impossible for me to find something else. Especially in this current environment where millions of people are looking for new jobs now!

I must be the only person who wants lock down to continue forever so I don't have to go back!