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Worried_CJ asks...
Hi,
Firstly, I should probably start by explaining my circumstances.
I'm a 21 year old Male living in Barnet (North London/Hertfordshire) and I have learning
disabilities. I guess you could say that I'm quite lucky in the fact that they don't generally
affect me too much hence why I can work in most jobs very well.
The thing I've been having a few problems at work recently and now I'm worried as
something has happened.
To begin with, one of my colleagues at work (who's been there for 4 years and is
effectively the assistant manager (although he doesn't act very mature) has been bullying
me, calling my fat (which although I've put on weight, I am trying to loose it by going to the
gym regularly) and also stupid, ugly and many other names. Recently, he blocked my
laptop on the WiFi connection and I'm the only person who is being blocked -- any other
employee who works at this shop has access to it and even people who don't officially
work for the shop have access to it. I consider this bullying but also discrimination based
on my disabilities.
The next problem is that the shop owner/manager is selling up and giving up as we're not
making money any more. As I've worked there for over a year now, I was just wondering
about redundancy pay, if you can call it that. I don't know if I count as being made
redundant or not.
Relating to this matter, the boss (owner/manager) recently asked for my keys back
without a given reason for some reason. Just said he wants my keys back but did say I
would get them back -- apparently. Before he took my keys back, he hadn't asked me to
work (I do work part-time but normally work at least once a week if not more often) and
he's not asked me to work again since .... although this was recently.
My concern is that I've been told that he's got a duty to inform me if he no longer needs
my services so that I can find other work yet he hasn't told me this at all (neither in writing,
by eMail or telephone and not even verbally) yet. This causes me a lot of concerns as I
had a nice regular income which I was saving and also spending slightly and now I've got
no income at all right now but I've got direct debits set-up on my bank account meaning
that I'm already having money worries (i.e: I really do rely on the money that I'm paid at
work and to make it worse I pay tax too).
I'm just really really worried and insecure about my future now and this situation has
already had me in tears once.
I realise this is a lot of questions and perhaps a bit tricky for you to help me with but I
would really really appreciate any help you can give me.
So just to recap, I'd like to know about the bullying situation and also the redundancy and
me being asked for my keys situation.
If you could please help me as soon as possible before I decide to end it all.
Thank-you!!!
What we
suggest...
Hi Worried_CJ, thanks for contacting q2a.
This is a very distressing situation for you to be in but please don't think about taking your
life, as there will be an end to all this eventually. We do appreciate how this will be
affecting your confidence and your self-esteem; you are obviously keen and able to work
at most jobs, but the treatment you are getting from your work colleagues is definitely not
acceptable.
You are right to think that you are being bullied and discriminated against: you are being
treated less fairly than other people in your workplace and this is against the law. It
sounds as though you were pretty much unable to do your job when you were going in to
work as your computer had been blocked, and now you're wondering whether you have a
job at all since you were asked for your keys, you can no longer get into the building, and
haven't been asked to work since. The way you've been treated by the 'assistant
manager' could amount to harassment, and you may also have been discriminated
against. and unfairly dismissed, according to the law.
As you say, you need to know whether you've still got a job, or not, so that you can start
to look for other work, and/or claim any welfare benefits that you may be entitled to which
would help you with your money worries. Unfortunately, you would not be entitled to
redundancy because you haven't got the required 2 years' continuous service. But you
would be entitled to one weeks' notice of your job ending, or pay in lieu of working your
notice, and to be paid for any work you have done up to the date your job finishes. Once
the situation is clarified you will be able to claim Job seekers Allowance and there may be
other benefits you can claim as well depending on your circumstances.
The one thing you must not do is resign from your job, or at least not until you've had
advice. Resigning from a job can affect your legal rights and your future welfare benefit
entitlement except in very limited circumstances. Because the laws around employment
are complicated, and we're not sure how far you want to take things, we suggest that you
get advice about your situation as soon as possible from any one of the following
organisations. Their help is free and confidential:
- New Barnet Citizens Advice Bureau, 30 Station Road, New Barnet. Telephone:
0870 128 80 80. Open: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 10am-12.30pm. You can
ring on the above number for telephone advice on Monday, Tuesday 10am-12.30pm, 1pm-
4pm, Friday 1pm-4pm
- Disability Action in the Borough of Barnet, 954 High Road, North Finchley.
Telephone: 0208 446 6935. Open: Monday-Friday 10am-4pm. You can drop-in,
telephone, write, or email to: disability@dabb.org.uk
As well as helping you to deal with your employment situation, these organisations can
help you with your money worries. For example, they can talk to the organisations you
are paying by direct debit and work out what you can afford to pay them during this period
of uncertainty in your income. They can help you to claim any welfare benefits that you
may be entitled to. Because you work part-time we would suggest that you ask them to
check whether you've been paying the right amount of Income Tax.
You can also ask to see the Disability Employment Adviser at your local Jobcentre Plus:
- Raydean House, 15 Western Parade, Great North Lane, Barnet. EN5 1AH. Telephone:
0208 258 6500. Open: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 9am-5pm, Wednesday 10am-
5pm
If none of these is convenient for you, you can get telephone advice about your work
situation from:
- Community Legal Service Direct (local call rate): 0845 345 4345. Open Monday-
Friday 9am-5pm
- Equality & Human Rights Commission (local call rate): 0845 604 6610. Open
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 9am-5pm, Wednesday 9am-8pm (last call 7.45pm).
Website: http://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/yourrights/pages/default.aspx
We hope you find what we've said in our reply helpful. Try to concentrate on the positives:
your disability is not so severe as to prevent you from working altogether; you have been
able to get and keep a job for over a year so you are obviously a very capable person; the
behaviour you're being subjected to now is not your fault, although we agree that it's
difficult to cope with. Please email us again if you need to, about this or anything else.
Good luck and best wishes from q2a.
Expert advice and every precaution has been taken to ensure that the information on this page is trustworthy and reliable, but the publishers do not hold themselves responsible for any inaccuracy as information can go out of date very quickly. This page gives general guidance only and should not be treated as a complete and authoritative statement of the law. With regard to suggested weblinks given in this reply please note that Lancashire County Council is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
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