Problems at Work
Unfairly dismissed? Contract terminated? Facing an unwarranted deduction from your salary? Got a problem with your annual appraisal?
Helping members when they have problems at work is one of our most important roles.
Members can seek advice on any employment-related matter from trained local representatives. They have access to full-time negotiators and expert legal advice at Prospect headquarters, and if necessary cases can be referred to the union's solicitors. We can give basic guidance about your employment rights, represent you in discussions with your own management, or, if your problem is serious, we can help pursue the case to an appeal board or employment tribunal. (But please note that we reserve the right not to take up cases for members where the event giving rise to the case occurred before that person became a member.)
Even if you're employed on a personal contract we can represent you in disciplinary and grievance actions.
We take up thousands of personal cases in an average year. These are some of our many success stories.
£10,000 award for member in company with no trade union recognition
GR had worked for a small private company for around 5 years when a dispute with the owner led to his dismissal. There was no trade union recognition in the company but as a union member GR insisted on his right to be accompanied to an appeal against dismissal as is allowed under the 1999 Employment Relations Act.
The appeal, like the rest of the dismissal procedure, was considerably flawed, being conducted by someone at a lower level in the company than the person who had dismissed him. We therefore agreed to support GR in a claim to an Employment Tribunal on the grounds of unfair dismissal. By this time GR had found alternative employment, but the tribunal found his dismissal was unfair and he was awarded £10,000 compensation.
£2.40 bill nearly costs a member his job
DH almost lost his job over a disputed £2.40 on an expenses claim. He was suspended and had his pay reduced by 30 per cent. A police investigation concluded that no criminal act had occurred, but D's employer, the Ministry of Defence, persisted with a disciplinary charge, alleging fraud. We pursued the case through a succession of local interviews, and after an eight-month investigation DH was cleared. His case was raised in parliament when MPs discovered that MOD had spent £50,000 of taxpayers' money investigating the matter.
£8,000 in back pay
The union won back pay for DB after his branch secretary found he had never received the promotion increase he was entitled to. A check on his records revealed that a 5% pay increase had never been implemented. His employer claimed that the promotion was a 'sideways move,' and it took months of meetings and letters to persuade it to change its mind.
Posthumous compensation for race discrimination victim
We won over £12,000 posthumous compensation for a members' widow after her husband was denied promotion for six years despite having passed a promotion board. JM worked for the Prison Service. He passed his promotion board from farm manager grade 4 to grade 3 in 1990. But when he died after a severe asthma attack in 1996 he was still a grade 4.
His branch secretary had taken up the case a year before he died, arguing that he was a victim of race discrimination because everyone else who had passed the same board in 1992 had since been promoted. A further 18 grade 4s had been promoted during that period.
After months of negotiation we secured a settlement for Jim's widow, with an enhanced pension and compensation lump sum calculated on the basis of promotion increases Jim would have received if his promotion had gone through.
Even MDs need unions
Managing directors rarely have trade unions available to defend their interests at employment tribunals. Dr Charles Lynch was glad to be a union member when he was squeezed out as MD of PTL, the small utilities services company he'd set up a decade ago.
Its US parent company was having problems and became the subject of a friendly takeover. There were sweeping changes, and PTL staff were told to report directly to managers in the States. Dr Lynch effectively had no authority.
On advice from the union's solicitors, he resigned and said he intended to work out his notice. To the surprise of his New York boss, he was entitled to six months' notice, a provision not usually available in the United States. When his six months were up he left PTL and began working privately. The union then opened proceedings for constructive dismissal, and the case has now been settled.
"A lot of managing directors of small companies will think that there isn't anything in trade union membership for them," said Dr Lynch. "But in the end even an MD still reports to somebody. You can be a very vulnerable employee in a sense - the target if somebody decides to have a go at the organisation."
