Legal eagles - can you help us with your knowledge?

[Zebra 10]

HI people,

We need some advice here. My partner works for a company I dare not name right now (he'd be fired instantly).

Basically they keep doing a lot of very unsavoury things and essentially messing with the minds of their staff.

My partner is in constant fear of his job for one reason or another and now they've taken it to another level.

He's been asked to go in 4 hours early with very little notice to make up for his managers shortfall in statistics. He would be paid for this but that would mean his working day is 12 hours. (Some of you will know I'm heavily pregnant and we've just moved into a new house) and we need to get things done in the house.

When I was recently admitted to hospital, potentially in labour, he was advised to go to work anyway. When it was discovered I wasn't in labour but was ill they constantly rang to harrass him and ask why he wasn't in work. We even had to get a letter from the hospital to prove I'd been admitted.

He isn't able to chalk those hours down to holiday or sick and has had to take them unpaid and with fear of later repercussions.

Sarcastic comments have been made about how many times he'll leave work if I go into false labour.

He's also worried about how it will affect his paternity leave. We might decide that he'll take his paternity leave after I'm released from hospital but obviously he'll want to be there on the day the babies are born, we have a feeling his work will be funny about this.

It's written into his contract that he can be fired for not meeting targets, well fair enough, but they keep changing which department he works in without asking him. Then if he doesn't meet target in that department they threaten his job.

The job was advertised with bonus which he's been paid twice in the year he's been there.

They also have a nasty policy of changing peoples jobs if they aren't meeting targets, making them move to a different area of work and dropping their salary to fit the new position. It hasn't happened yet but with a new mortgage we cannot afford this and it is a real threat which helps the workplace evade legal issues about being fired.

He can look for another job but the only current good thing about the company is that they owe him fully paid paternity leave because he's been there more than 6 months. If he changes jobs now he'll get unpaid leave and he will be less employable because he'll need 2 weeks off very soon.

His workplace is making life very difficult and unreliable, his stress levels are ridiculous and our current circumstances need some consistancy not this hassle.

There's much more to it than this but this highlights the big issues.

Can anyone advise?

[back2basics 10]

Ok well here is the law.

 

http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/health_advice/facts/paternity_rights_003737.htm

 

Your rights

 

To be eligible for paternity leave, you must be the biological father of the baby or the mother's husband or partner, and expect to have responsibility for raising the child.

 

Both paternity leave and pay are dependent on how long you've worked for your current employer. To qualify for both, you must have been employed for 26 weeks by the 15th week before the date of childbirth.

 

Because the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth is around week 26 of pregnancy, so long as you work for the same employer from around the time of conception to birth, you should be entitled to paternity leave and pay.

 

If you leave your job before your baby is born, you will lose your right to both paternity leave and pay.

 

Paternity leave

 

Statutory paternity leave is two weeks' paid leave after your baby is born. You have to take this leave as a block of either one or two weeks.

 

You don't have to take your leave immediately after the birth - you can take it any time, so long as it is completed by the 56th day after your baby is born. Unlike maternity leave, you can't start your leave before your baby is born.

 

To take paternity leave, you must notify your employer of your intentions by the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth.

 

You will need to let your employer know the date your baby is due, the date you intend to start leave and whether you'd like to take one or two weeks' leave.

 

You can tell your employer you want to start paternity leave:

 

 

*on the date of birth

 

 

* a certain number of days after the birth

 

 

* on a specific date.

 

 

In the first two instances, your actual leave date will be determined by the date of birth - regardless of whether it is earlier or later than expected.

 

You will need to give your employer 28 days' notice if you want to switch from one of these three options to another - say from leave starting on the day your baby is born to a specified date.

 

Other benefits

 

If you decide to take paternity leave, you are protected by law from unfair treatment, dismissal or selection for redundancy on grounds related to your leave.

 

If your employer does not comply with these rules, you are entitled to bring a claim to an employment tribunal.

 

 

My advice is to stick it out until he takes paternity leave. yes that may mean working a few 12 hour days. But he should look for another job during that time and get out of this company a.s.a.p. Never work for a company that makes you unhappy. You only have one life.

 

Congrats on the baby! And good luck!

[back2basics 10]

Sorry i missed one very important point..

 

Your employer can postpone leave for up to six months if it would disrupt business. However, leave can't be postponed if you're planning to take it immediately after the birth.

 

That would seem like the best thing to do. It gives the employer no "out".

[JoeP 11]

I don't know what line of work he's in but I'd be tempted to start looking for a new job immediately.

 

You can have all the legal rights in the world but an employer can still make your life a misery through the execution of a legal process.

 

It seems that the working environment isn't at all stable, his salary isn't secure and that efforts will be made to pressure him to work even when you go in to labour and after birth.

 

I'd suggets that he should start looking now; most potential employers won't take up references until they've offered the job, so that needn't worry him unduly.

 

Congratulations, and good luck!

 

Joe

[Hels 10]

Babies? You expecting twins? Congratulations!

 

I'd agree wholeheartedly with what Joe and others have said, it's a very stressful time for you both at the moment and sometimes it's a case of better the devil you know ...

 

That said, his employers sound awful and I would urge him to look for something else. It all depends upon what line of work he is in as to how easy it will be to get something else.

 

The stress he is experiencing will do nothing for his health and wellbeing, as well as yours. With a mortgage and babies on the way he obviously feels it is essential to remain in employment, that is a wise decision. But what an awful way for people to run a company! It never ceases to amaze me how bad some employers can be. All the rights in the world are of little use when you are going through such an awful time. To stand up to such a bad employer takes guts and strength of character as well as an enormous amount of time and energy. Your current situation is such that your partners time and energy should be spent on you and your babies and not some awful employer.

 

When are the babies due? Good luck and i'm sure you'll let us all know how you get on...

 

[PerlOfWisdom 10]

I would look at the contract of employment, and work to rule. I would make notes openly of all sarcastic or threatening comments.

 

At the same time look for another job. If you're worried about getting a bad reference, get a friend at another company to ask for a reference from them. If the reference he gets contains anything derrogatory, then you could have a legal case.

[Jamie 10]

Sounds like he'd be better off elsewhere ...

 

He should defo keep his calm, and also catalogue/gather evidence of how badly the company is treating him, this may come in handy later on down the line (and better still, if he stays calm and just collects evidence of how bad they are treating him, that in itself will wind up his bosses ... and f**k them I say).

[Jamie 10]

Also he may consider carrying a video recorder around with him, and as soon as he starts to get abused, stay calm and record the whole thing, and don't say a word, just smile (slighty).

[Zebra 10]

I shall be sure he reads this post.

Thanks for all your replies. I've no doubt that as soon as these babies are here and his paternity ends he'll be looking for alternative employment.

[chillicat 10]

Two things spring to mind:

 

1) join a union

2) get advice from a solicitor

 

Do the second if you can't do the first.

 

Best of luck with the impending birth, and make sure he's chasing other jobs in the meantime!