SN kids and employers?

[PeachyClair]

Has anyone successfully amanged to get their work to work around their childcare with a child with SN? Dh's shifts have been re-arranged AGAIN (5th time in 18 months) (see \link{http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=2310&threadid=164919&stamp=060417184813\ here for full story), and whilst one person was given exemption coz his girlfriend didn't like it, and another coz he has teenage kids who hog the bathroom, the fact that DS has Sn and can't go to a childminder was refused as agood enough reason. If DH can't renegotiate tonight or next week with personnel, I will have to drop out of Uni next year to cover. As well as being awful after a year / the end of my career ambitions (I know I'd be unlikely to go back) this would leave us up the creek long term as we reckon DH's job has a year to run- the company is for sale and they chose tor educe the new contract they signed with the people they work for to a year.

Dh has been there almost 3 years and has a permanent contract. The shift change was given with no notice last week.

How ridiculous! This might help:

Under the Carers (Equal Opportunities) Act 2004, which came into force in April 2005 -

• Local Authorities MUST let carers know that they can have a Carer's Assessment which looks at their needs as a Carer
• Carers' Assessments MUST consider whether a Carer needs any support in relation to their employment, education, training or leisure activities
• Local Authorities have new powers to make sure that any service the carer is assessed as needing, e.g. housing, education, health - MUST consider offering support to the Carer

According to the above YOU should be able to continue with your education although you are a Carer. I know it doesn't help much with your DH's situation. He should contact Carers UK for advice.

Good post, Davros (as usual)! Is the carers' assessment covered by the same 35 day rule as the core assessment? Ie that once requested in writing, they have to provide an assessment within 35 days?

Re: DH's employment rights - hope someone who knows this better comes along. I think that you have 2 or 3 strands of law going on here:

• contract law, whereby if the terms of the contract are changed in an unfair way you can resign but then sue the employer for constructive dissmissal. Saying effectively the job has been changed to become impossible for you to do - without good reason. If there are other documented instances of people getting better terms for effectively frivolous reasons I would say you would have a good case.
• flexible working, whereby anyone with a child under the age of 6 or a SN child under the age of 18, has a right to request flexible working terms, and the employer has to give this request due consideration and only turn it down if accommodating it would adversely affect the business. Seems to me, if they have already accommodated 2 other employees they would be hard pushed to show how this would harm them. But note the onus (in law, if not in his company's guidelines) is on him to demonstrate how he would deliver as good a job on the shift pattern he is requesting.
• sadly, the thing you'd usually get them on in a case like this is sex discrimination. As it is usually women doing shift work and usually women who are the main carers - the argument is that by not allowing a woman to choose favourable shifts you are making the job harder for her (as a carer) than for a man. Landmark cases have been won on this. Alas, because your DH is a bloke that won't work for you.

I don't for a moment think that litigation should be his first action! But investigating how that would work and having the odd trigger word to drop into conversation with HR (more in sorrow than in anger, of course! ) might work wonders. Might be worth going to CAB, though I find if it's more complex than "what housing benefit can I get if I'm pregnant at 13?" then they just direct you to a solicitor. At minimum, I would be saying to HR something like "what is our process under the 2003 flexible working legislation?" If they don't have a written process to hand, they should at this point be getting very nervous.

I've found the following on ACAS: (sorry have to go to bed now so won't faff with the linky thing)

www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=816

www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/q/4/B09_1.pdf

www.acas.org.uk/media/pdf/1/9/B17_1.pdf

Might be worth giving ACAS a ring, actually. They seem to have some sort of helpline and they must deal with this stuff all the time.

Thanks you both.

The flexible working one is perfect, as we also have two children under 6. So even if they argue that Sam hasn't got a formal dx yet, we still qualify. DH's new shift system stretches into the already over manned day shift by the hour we need, so there would be no problem demonstrating how it could work without him.

There may be a factor in that the manager will have to stay an extra ten minutes for handover... we know she leaves her under 13's unattended all night anyhow. However, she is the only female on shift and the ones who have given frivolous reasons are males.

Apparently the alck of notice also breaches contract law, so DH has prinyted off the ACAS leaflets on both of these to tkae in tonight. If he gets no joy he will take it higher.

All he needs is to leave an hour earlier, and go in an hour earlier in return.

hopefully DH can find a new job anyway as the changes have cost us £60 extra a month, which we can't really afford. It makes us [angry} to be broke because he has to work extra, but we accept we can't do anything about that. DH did get a verbal agreement to be given a tag (bridge crossing device) once a shift toover a bit of it, but they 'forgot' that.

I think long term he has to get out, but for now hopefully we have what we need to win the battle. Thank you.

\link{http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk?topicid=9&threadid=165379&stamp=060419000958\ oh bugger bugger bugger}

Sh1t. Sh1t sh1t sh1t. I am so sorry. But I get the impression that the Mad Manager has decided that she doesn't like your DH and wants rid. So if it wasn't this, it would be something else a month later. I'm afraid that in male-dominated industries you have to be pretty forceful to get anywhere at all as a woman and though some are fabulous you do get some real rottweilers in there just by natural selection.

To be moe practical: (I'm using the word "you" here to mean "you and DH" iyswim.)

I think the first thing I would do if I were you would be to write a letter detailing the conversation with the manager. Leave out any abusive language, you'll never prove it - but stick to the facts. Just say that if you are suspended you would like written confirmation with reasons for suspension, and can she confirm that it is as per this conversation as discussed on . I would do this rather than asking her for her account, as by the time she's calmed down she may realise she's on shaky ground and start fabricating. So get your letter in (recorded delivery) first.

I don't think I would send it to her right away though. I'd then phone HR, and ask to speak to someone about their disciplinary process. Take the letter with you. I think the approach to take is that you don't understand the process they've applied to you as it doesn't seem to comply with EU employment regulations (this phrase should frighten HR) and you can't ask this manager as relations seem to have deteriorated beyond that point (show letter). 2 aims here: 1) to clarify to HR that a breach of law has taken place and that you do have some understanding of your rights and 2) so that when the manager (on receiving your letter) phones up HR with some wild fabrication of why you are suspended, they are already primed. It is key at this point to take an impossibly perky, eager-to-please approach: love the company, happy working there, good relationship with line manager who says am an asset, believe self hard working etc. etc; coming to HR more-in-sorrow-than-in-anger, etc etc. At all costs, you need to avoid being written off as a troublemaker when you walk through the door.

If, at that point, HR show any concern at all, I'd ask about greivance procedures against this manager. But an internal greivance procedure has no standing in law and so is only as good as the HR department that institutes it. If HR are not keen to enforce good management, it will get you nowhere.

CAB should get you contact of a legal aid lawyer who will give you free advice on where to go next. I imagine the lawyer will take the view that there is no point trying to repair the work situation; at this stage it is best to sue. But these guys only see the cases where direct negotiation and then mediation don't work out so maybe they will be right, and maybe not.

The other thing to ask CAB is what you will do for money while DH is suspended. I know a lot of people suspend on full pay but I don't know whether that is because you have to do it legally or what. But it's possible that they can be compelled to pay you, or that you can claim on insurance or something.