Hi all,
Been with my company about a year. Had to raise grievance due to discrimination due to disability, and victimisation due to bullying and harassment because I whistleblew (could only have come from me), been removed from work area, isolated, and training that had been previously agreed prior to grievance removed. This is all documented and I have a vast amount of proof including SAR evidence that is pretty damming and I have the unions support.
Grievance investigation is being dragged out and the company seemed a little shocked that I had lodged with Acas (I think they thought I would time out) before they even started investigating.
Got an asked to attend a call via HR last week about "without prejudice" call, union joined and was offered 3 months notice period and small non taxable figure for me to "settle". Union said this was pretty much their standard first offer.
Union keeps asking how much I want, so does HR (although hr rep he said that he didn't know the details of the grievance) and said Acas only gave v v limited details.
I don't know what's reasonable. I work in a fairly specialised area, in a specialised role and obviously finding a new role would be a nightmare.
Any advice or guidance ?
I have never whilstblown or faced anything like this before. I'm now feeling like I'm going slightly mad given the really low offer (which hr man seemed to imply I should bite my hand off)
Sensible people of MN help me. Any experiences advice would be great. I have no idea tbh
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Grievance settlement and without prejudice meeting
livingnight · 18/03/2024 17:03
Gagagardener · 18/03/2024 20:49
If you take it to a tribunal, your employer will have to spend time and money on preparing their case and defence. Ask your rep or lawyer if they can put figures on how much a tribunal might cost your employer, and how long it might take for your case to reach a tribunal.
Legal fees will be expensive for your employers; they will not want to pay them. Your aim is to divert that expenditure towards yourself. So use the information to put your compensation into perspective, and to help you arrive at what you will settle for. (E.g., if it is a year, then say you want a year's salary, plus something for the direct discrimination you suffered in their employ because of your disability.)
An entirely uninformed guess is that they will settle at 15 to 18 months' salary. Go for whatever your rep/lawyer gives as the high end of a range. Make it clear to your employers that your having a disability will make finding a replacement job harder for you than it might otherwise be.
You are leaving the job because they have made your position untenable. Remember that. All best wishes.
WoodBurningStov · 19/03/2024 08:06
I've been involved in a couple of Compromise Agreements with employees the standard is 3 months salary tax free and a month's notice, which you take as graden leave but is taxed. A good settlement would be 6 months tax free and 2 months notice taken as garden leave. This should enable you to take a year of frugal living to find another role. A good reference should also be part of the agreement.
Twilightstarbright · 19/03/2024 08:39
I would push for 6 months salary as a redundancy payment, (first 30k is free), your notice paid as gardening leave. Do you get any benefits like company car etc? Agree a reference and get the company to Pay for your legal advice.
It’s ok if you don’t want to go to ET. I was in a similar position a few years ago and I’m glad I took the payout as it was enough to breathe but ended the stress which was affecting my health hugely.
livingnight · 19/03/2024 08:51
This is my fear. I mean I can't quite image self representing against a company that would been able to have 5 lawyers on the other side.
It was annoying because the HR man said oh I don't know any of the details of this case and we haven't concluded our grievances process and it's been going on for 3 months and they have only just picked it up to look at it. It's bonkers !
Twilightstarbright · 19/03/2024 08:39
I would push for 6 months salary as a redundancy payment, (first 30k is free), your notice paid as gardening leave. Do you get any benefits like company car etc? Agree a reference and get the company to Pay for your legal advice.
It’s ok if you don’t want to go to ET. I was in a similar position a few years ago and I’m glad I took the payout as it was enough to breathe but ended the stress which was affecting my health hugely.
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DumpsterBaby · 19/03/2024 23:33
I’m confused. Discrimination is involved and as you say that is not capped. So I’m not sure why they keep referencing unfair dismissal only (eg three months etc). Have you not worked out your schedule of losses? You need to do that to give yourself an idea of what you could get at tribunal.
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