Employment Advice.

Haggisman · 31 Oct 2014 at 15:06

Jez said:
I agree with this. I really detest this culture of trying to screw employers over on things like this.

What about the culture of poor employers trying to screw employees over on things like this?

I agree that suing in a situation where there's been no tangible loss is wrong, but in this case, (if the OP's story is accurate), then his partner suffered injury and loss of earnings due to the employer's failure to correctly install a disability aid. Why should she be out of pocket because they decided to cut corners? They should have allowed her a couple of days off to recover on full pay, which would have been the end of it.

To be honest, it sounds like she'd be better off out of there, as it sounds like a terrible company to work for!

Jez · 31 Oct 2014 at 15:08

Haggisman said:
What about the culture of poor employers trying to screw employees over on things like this?

I agree that suing in a situation where there's been no tangible loss is wrong, but in this case, (if the OP's story is accurate), then his partner suffered injury and loss of earnings due to the employer's failure to correctly install a disability aid.

They have not screwed her over, she sued them and won, and they are going to pay her compensation! Surely the moment you sue someone you should take it as red that you are burning your bridge? To expect it all to be rosy after that is pure nativity.

cheesyboy · 31 Oct 2014 at 15:11

Jez said:
They have not screwed her over, she sued them and won, and they are going to pay her compensation! Surely the moment you sue someone you should take it as red that you are burning your bridge? To expect it all to be rosy after that is pure nativity.

There's a significant lack of fairness in that though. The company did something wrong, which cost the employee money - she sued them for reparation, and they paid. Why should she then have to move jobs - it was their mistake in the first place.

The employee did nothing at all wrong.

Jez · 31 Oct 2014 at 15:13

You are absolutely correct - however that is a totally naive way of looking at it.

She sued them. She took them to court and claimed money from them legally. Yes she was entitled to do this, yes she was probably right to do this, but when you sue someone you cannot ever expect things to be rosy afterwards. The moment she took legal action on this she should have been writing this job off.

demonix · 31 Oct 2014 at 15:14

Jez said:
I agree with this. I really detest this culture of trying to screw employers over on things like this. Your GF sued the company, what on earth did she expect, everything to be rosy afterwards?

She sued, they admitted liability, they will have to pay compensation for this. Surely this is an indication that you have now burnt your bridge and should probably leave with the money.

The fact is that they are using her disability as a tool to get rid of her, which is something they knew about when they employed her is something they can't legally do even if there was an injury claim and if discrimination of this kind is exempt from the changes that were made to claiming for unfair dismissal then she can take them to the cleaners (even more so if they do something stupid like.... not pay).

eatcustard · 31 Oct 2014 at 15:16

Jez said:
You are absolutely correct - however that is a totally naive way of looking at it.

She sued them. She took them to court and claimed money from them legally. Yes she was entitled to do this, yes she was probably right to do this, but when you sue someone you cannot ever expect things to be rosy afterwards. The moment she took legal action on this she should have been writing this job off.

And the company will probably get hammered again in court, as well as get a bad reputation off the back of it.

Stupid company

D.P. · 31 Oct 2014 at 15:17

ChocolateStarfishRammer said:
Looked into this a while ago..

They are in the wrong.

Employers are not allowed to discipline you for under-performance in relation to a disability etc.

Look Here

That is blatantly obvious, that doesn't alter the fact that you can fire someone for under-performance regardless of their disability.

Jez · 31 Oct 2014 at 15:17

I am sure she can, and i am sure that she will. They are no doubt getting rid of her because she sued them. Can you honestly blame them? If an employee sued me i would damn well want rid of them too!

Haggisman · 31 Oct 2014 at 15:18

Jez said:
You are absolutely correct - however that is a totally naive way of looking at it.

She sued them. She took them to court and claimed money from them legally. Yes she was entitled to do this, yes she was probably right to do this, but when you sue someone you cannot ever expect things to be rosy afterwards. The moment she took legal action on this she should have been writing this job off.

And to turn what you said around, absolutely correct, however that is a naive way for the company to look at it, they may want her gone, they may hate her, but that does not give them the right to just get rid of her without a valid reason.

They tried to screw her over the first time, and failed. Now they're trying again, and setting themselves up for an even bigger fall. Some people clearly don't learn from their mistakes

Jez · 31 Oct 2014 at 15:18

eatcustard said:
And the company will probably get hammered again in court, as well as get a bad reputation off the back of it.

Stupid company

Yep, and in my opinion a totally messed up situation. The girl should have done the right thing and resigned gracefully when she sued them.

D.P. · 31 Oct 2014 at 15:19

Haggisman said:
What about the culture of poor employers trying to screw employees over on things like this?

I agree that suing in a situation where there's been no tangible loss is wrong, but in this case, (if the OP's story is accurate), then his partner suffered injury and loss of earnings due to the employer's failure to correctly install a disability aid. Why should she be out of pocket because they decided to cut corners? They should have allowed her a couple of days off to recover on full pay, which would have been the end of it.

To be honest, it sounds like she'd be better off out of there, as it sounds like a terrible company to work for!

That is the kicker to me and I can't understand why the heck they weren't far more sympathetic and gave full salary until recovery.

Jez · 31 Oct 2014 at 15:19

Haggisman said:
And to turn what you said around, absolutely correct, however that is a naive way for the company to look at it, they may want her gone, they may hate her, but that does not give them the right to just get rid of her without a valid reason.

They tried to screw her over the first time, and failed. Now they're trying again, and setting themselves up for an even bigger fall. Some people clearly don't learn from their mistakes

I agree

What a messed up situation though that the employee has as much power as this.

D.P. · 31 Oct 2014 at 15:22

Jez said:
Yep, and in my opinion a totally messed up situation. The girl should have done the right thing and resigned gracefully when she sued them.

I don't think she should have been forced to resign but I cannot fathom why you would want to work for a company you have just sued.

By all means sue the company if they have done wrong but don't ever expect to work their again. the atmosphere would be horrific for starters, let alone future prospects dimmer than a black hole. Why would you want to work for a such a terrible employer in the first place in a situation that you have just made a 1000x worse?

You sue, get the compensation and move on to a better employer that respects you.

elmarko · 31 Oct 2014 at 15:22

Jez said:
You are absolutely correct - however that is a totally naive way of looking at it.

She sued them. She took them to court and claimed money from them legally. Yes she was entitled to do this, yes she was probably right to do this, but when you sue someone you cannot ever expect things to be rosy afterwards. The moment she took legal action on this she should have been writing this job off.

I depends on the person, maybe if they are too afraid of confrontation but if I was in that position I'd leave when it was convenient & beneficial for me, not to appease management & simply to resolve awkwardness.

Additionally, if I was attempted to be forced out under dubious grounds during my time there I'd sue them for constructive dismissal.

D.P. said:
I don't think she should have been forced to resign but I cannot fathom why you would want to work for a company you have just sued.

By all means sue the company if they have done wrong but don't ever expect to work their again. the atmosphere would be horrific for starters, let alone future prospects dimmer than a black hole. Why would you want to work for a such a terrible employer in the first place in a situation that you have just made a 1000x worse?

You sue, get the compensation and move on to a better employer that respects you.

Jobs in some fields take time to find, if a person has a certain speciality walking from job A to B without taking a huge cut in pay (by taking anything) isn't always an option.

Not to mention the financial requirement of moving potentially, it makes perfect sense why a person would like to stay for at least a reasonable amount of time.

D.P. · 31 Oct 2014 at 15:23

elmarko said:
I depends on the person, maybe if they are too afraid of confrontation but if I was in that position I'd leave when it was convenient & beneficial for me, not to appease management & simply to resolve awkwardness.

Additionally, if I was attempted to be forced out under dubious grounds during my time there I'd sue them for constructive dismissal.

I would leave not to appease management but for my own mental well being.

Jez · 31 Oct 2014 at 15:26

D.P. said:
I don't think she should have been forced to resign but I cannot fathom why you would want to work for a company you have just sued.

By all means sue the company if they have done wrong but don't ever expect to work their again. the atmosphere would be horrific for starters, let alone future prospects dimmer than a black hole. Why would you want to work for a such a terrible employer in the first place in a situation that you have just made a 1000x worse?

You sue, get the compensation and move on to a better employer that respects you.

Exactly my thoughts, the fact that legally she can probably now sue them further for them trying to offload is just plain wrong.

cheesyboy · 31 Oct 2014 at 15:26

Jez said:
Yep, and in my opinion a totally messed up situation. The girl should have done the right thing and resigned gracefully when she sued them.

That's not "doing the right thing".

Any decent employer would recognise how much of an error they made in the first place, would learn from the situation, apologise to the employee, and put a policy in place to avoid it happening in future. That's "doing the right thing"

The employee was the victim. It's not on them to take a hit for it.

elmarko · 31 Oct 2014 at 15:27

D.P. said:
I would leave not to appease management but for my own mental well being.

What if you could not afford to take a pay cut instantly? (assuming the persons job in question isn't minimum wage or readily available locally, it may require moving)

Jez said:
Exactly my thoughts, the fact that legally she can probably now sue them further for them trying to offload is just plain wrong.

How is it wrong she may be able to sue them for trying to get rid of her without reasonable justification?.

cheesyboy said:
That's not "doing the right thing".

Any decent employer would recognise how much of an error they made in the first place, would learn from the situation, apologise to the employee, and put a policy in place to avoid it happening in future. That's "doing the right thing"

The employee was the victim. It's not on them to take a hit for it.

My thoughts exactly.

AJK · 31 Oct 2014 at 15:28

Jez said:
Exactly my thoughts, the fact that legally she can probably now sue them further for them trying to offload is just plain wrong.

It's really not.

Haggisman · 31 Oct 2014 at 15:30

Jez said:
I agree What a messed up situation though that the employee has as much power as this.

Why is it that? What if she's not in a financial position to just quit her job?

By all means she should be looking to get out of their ASAP, but she shouldn't be forced into joblessness through the company's incompetence.

Jez said:
Exactly my thoughts, the fact that legally she can probably now sue them further for them trying to offload is just plain wrong.

I disagree - the company put themselves into this position, firstly by failing to install the support bar correctly (shouldn't have happened, but fair enough, everyone makes mistakes), secondly by failing to be reasonable in their response to her injuries, realistically giving her no choice but to try and get her money back through legal means, and now by trying to get rid of her for any old excuse.