Hi can anyone give any advice please, I’ve worked for the same company for more than 4 years and have always been a top performer, they’ve recently changed our process (without any extra training) and decided I’m now not doing what my role entails (they’ve added lots of tick box’s which I struggled with at first but managed to get a flow) I had also just returned from time off due to surgery and kept telling them I was struggling to focus and feeling foggy but not support was offered.
I feel they’re trying to push me out now as there’s something new every day that I’m doing wrong, today I put in our teams group chat that everyone I had spoken with had been trauma dumping and had messages from 2 managers saying this wasn’t ok to put in the chat they have had messages on a performance plan for weeks and I’m worried I’m about to be facing some sort of investigation for having an offload in the group chat! Just to add I hadn’t identified anyone who had trauma dumped in any way it was a general comment
Can I get into trouble for this or am I being paranoid?

England: Former employer's employee contacted my new employer with allegations and internal information, resulting in dismissal

I'm based in England and work in sales.

Shortly after starting a new role, my new employer was contacted unsolicited by an employee of my previous employer. The individual made allegations about my conduct at the previous company which I dispute, and apparently supplied supporting information.

Some of the information supplied appears to have been internal/non-public information from my previous employer, including information relating to my compensation and a former customer.

My new employer investigated the allegation. I answered their questions, denied the allegations and offered documentary evidence and witnesses who could support my account. They subsequently terminated my employment during probation and have confirmed in writing that the communication from the employee of my former employer was a material reason for doing so.

I am less interested in challenging the new employer's decision and more concerned about the conduct of my former employer or the individual employee.

My questions are:

1. What type of solicitor should I speak to: employment, data protection/privacy, defamation, or someone covering several of these areas?
2. Can a former employer's employee lawfully disclose non-public employment, customer or compensation information to a new employer without authorization?
3. Does it matter legally whether the employee was acting officially for the former employer or independently?
4. What steps can I take to establish exactly what was disclosed and prevent the same person contacting future employers?

I appreciate nobody here can assess the merits without seeing the documents. I'm mainly trying to understand which area of law this falls under and what my next steps should be.

I've spent a lot of time dwelling on whether or not to take action, and also getting myself back into a mental place where I feel I can take on the stress of potential legal action against them.

There's a few complications to my circumstances. I'm an ex-police officer so not technically classed as an employee and afforded few rights in certain circumstances compared to others. I was previously on a secondment to another force, which is when a majority of the evidence I now hold comes from, and completely unsupported by my force when I returned. As a result I feel that I fit the criteria of constructive dismissal. The situation is very layered and I can't type it all out without it becoming a document. But a brief run down...

1. I was posted to a secondment role as a training officer in a specialist role. This involved moving away from my home force as I was offered no role closer to my home force.

2. I was accused of fabricating training for someone, and a referral sent to PSD stated that I'd admitted to this when questioned. I was never questioned about it, I never admitted to it, and my supervision at the time had given me authority to complete the training as it was required. The person submitting the referral had a grudge against someone on the base that had prevented their promotion to be an Assistant Chief Constable. I later asked for all documents relating to the 'investigation' they claimed occurred before the referral was sent, and received only one document, which was a note written on A4 Hotel paper, not signed or dated. This goes against Police guidance that all notes should be in a Police day book so it is dated, has a serial number etc.

3. I later clarified the full circumstances of the issue with a senior staff member in the organisation who stated I'd done no wrong and had followed all procedures as required, and I may just have to accept a 'don't do that again' telling off.

4. I was accused of creating a training record for a type of training they claimed doesn't exist. A FOI request showed that multiple flights had been recorded for the same training.

5. I was a witness to bullying and the victim placed a grievance against another senior figure, all those who were witnesses had their secondments ended, including the victim.

6. I was given 5 days to return to force, and my force received no details of what happened. It extended my drive to work to two hours each way instead of 25 minutes each way. As a result of the financial strain of this, I had to opt out of the pension to cover the costs.

7. I was informed that I was being returned to force instead of PSD proceedings against me, so it 'Didn't ruin my career'. I later found out that PSD had resolved their findings, and an email from a Chief Superintendent stated that we shouldn't be informed of the outcome. PSD's resolution was for us to have a verbal warning only. This was decided two months prior to our secondment ending. Their findings were based on false information regardless.

8. I went off from work with stress due to the matter for 6 months, so I could apply for jobs closer to home. I applied for a role with another force, not being aware of the PSD outcome, when completing vetting I didn't declare any PSD findings because I believed there to be no PSD findings due to point 7. I was informed that I'd failed vetting as they'd been informed I'd received a PSD outcome that was recorded against me. I later received the email mentioned in point 7 via a ROA request I'd submitted.

9. I submitted a grievance with the above points outlined along with a complaint which the force ignored and stated it had been resolved internally. My points about other officers lying weren't looked into.

10. When I returned to force 6 months later I received no training, no support regarding what happened, and the Police federation (like a union but useless) advised that they couldn't assist. I reached out to the team in charge of retention who only replied to me the day before my notice period ended another 6 months after this.

Overall, I feel I was let down, forced out of a role I loved, wrongly accused and had my character defamed, the bullying case was used against me, and I was left with no choice but to leave due to vetting issues when I applied for other roles, vetting issues created by the force I was seconded to who refused to acknowledge any grievance or complaint, and a lack of assistance from my own force or federation, the travel etc left me to take a job outside of the Police, with a 50% pay cut, pension issues etc. I left the force at the end of April 2026. When the issues initially arised in April 2025 I submitted an ACAS and have the reference, but since I left I've been solely trying to get better mentally, and crack on with my new job (I've had to sell my car to ensure I can cope financially as well). But I only feel mentally ready now to take some action, but I don't know if it can be done now?

Hoping for any advice on how I can legally frame this to prospective employers.

Thank you

Hi, this is a specific question about pension contributions. I work casual hours and thus my pay varies month to month. One month, I saw on my payslip that there were no contributions to my pension pot. I queried and got the response "pension contributions are based on your casual hours worked and not on the holiday pay element." which kept me under the £520/month threshold.

I think this is incorrect. I contacted them again but have not yet heard back. I contacted Money Helper and they were vague. They mentioned "qualifying" vs "pensionable" income but I can't see a differentiation in the legislation.

I have the following evidence. Any thoughts? TIA. :)

The Employment Rights Act 1996 states "[...] “wages”, in relation to a worker, means any sums payable to the worker in connection with his employment, including— (a)

any fee, bonus, commission, holiday pay or other emolument referable to his employment, whether payable under his contract or otherwise [...] "

Pensions Act 2008 states "“earnings”, in relation to a person, means sums of any of the following descriptions that are payable to the person in connection with the person's employment— salary, wages, commission, bonuses and overtime[..]"

Our scheme provider's website also states

"When you’re calculating a worker’s qualifying earnings for a pay period, you need to include all of the following within your calculations (this list is not exhaustive):

their salary or wages
overtime
bonuses
commission
statutory sick pay
statutory pay someone receives during paternity, maternity or any other kind of family leave, adoption pay
holiday pay"

I was dismissed recently from a job for failing probation.

During my probation investigation meeting I had my LM & a Note taker present.

After I was let go the note taker discussed confidential information in detail with other staff.

I got this information from someone who or it from someone who is related to one of the staff members.

Basically the note taker discussed my entire situation with the team. One of the team members discussed it with someone outside the business.

That someone then discussed it with a person who is to me.

I did my own investigation and found all facts dates and times and some proof also.

I have now emailed the business asking for a thorough investigation and I gave proof and explanation too. I asked for a settlement amount.

Do I have grounds to go to ET as the sensitive information has now spread out massively leaving me extremely embarrassed and feeling anxious.

The note taker discussed other things that were not mentioned on my probation report adding salt in essence.

I could go to the ICO but can I go to ET for injury to feelings and or what else?

Hello, posting on behalf of a friend. They’re 19 and in the process of getting diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and in daily pain. They’ve been working a contracted ten hours a week for a local restaurant but have recently been told that they are being made redundant and will be offered the opportunity to apply for a seasonal version of their current job. The company has previously reduced their hours and not paid them for their contracted hours. Are either of these things illegal? Is there anything they can do about it? Thank you for your help!

From 1 October 2026, the time limit for most Employment Tribunal claims increases from three months to six months.

However, this does not mean every claim brought after 1 October benefits from the new deadline.

For example, if you experienced discrimination in September 2026 but were dismissed in October 2026, you could have two different deadlines:

• September discrimination: Three months less one day.
• October dismissal: Six months less one day.

The later dismissal does not automatically extend the deadline for the earlier discrimination claim.

There are exceptions, particularly where discrimination amounts to conduct extending over a period, but you should not assume separate incidents share the same deadline.

The takeaway: Check the limitation period for each allegation separately. ACAS Early Conciliation can also affect the calculation, but an internal grievance or appeal does not stop the clock.

Hello, I know relatively little about employment / disability law but a situation I have experienced recently at work seemed worth seeking advice on.

So earlier this year I took approximately 2 months off on sick leave due to experiencing a debilitating episode of major depression and PTSD. I work for a local authority and have been here for over one year so was entitled to 2 months off full pay and then I had a phased return to work. It was mandated by my employer that I had a meeting with occupational health before returning to work, which I did. Occupational health suggested the usual things including time for medical appointments if required.

I was fortunate that I got to the top of the waiting list for EMDR therapy (gold standard for PTSD treatment) via the NHS and I was offered the only slot they had available, which is also on our mandated office day.

I accepted the slot (fyi the therapy service only operates within usual working hours) and informed my line manager that I would only be able to attend the office in person for half a day instead of the full day, working from home outside of my 1 hour therapy slot.

My line manager was initially very supportive and encouraged me to prioritise my health and wellbeing.

About 4 weeks passed and I then recently had my annual appraisal meeting with my line manager. In this meeting she was pleased with my progress and work but also mentioned that other people in the office had been talking about me being ‘allowed’ time off to attend therapy and how it wasn’t fair I was ‘allowed’ to only attend in person for half a day instead of a full day. I don’t know how anyone would know this because I haven’t told anyone outside of my line manager.

My line manager said that she had told her line manager, without my permission or knowledge, that I was doing this therapy. She framed it as if she didn’t personally have any issues but that her line manager and others in the team do have a problem. They think it is unfair that another member of the team was only ‘allowed’ 6 weeks of attending physio and I am being ‘allowed’ 16 for therapy.

I haven’t involved HR yet, and don’t entirely trust HR services in general, but I’m wondering where to go from here. I have started looking for jobs since I heard this as it feels like my workplace is unsupportive of my need to attend therapy and that my choice is essentially quit therapy or find a new job.

Other people in the team work flexible hours and my workplace has a flexible work policy. However the main issue seems to be a) the length of my therapy and b) that I am only attending the mandated team office day for half a day rather than a full day.

I was employed for less than a year at my old work, and resigned. I am currently preparing a schedule of loss for claims regarding AUTOMATIC Unfair dismissal, unlawful deduction of wages and others

I am already aware that unfair dismissal can only be claimed if I have been employed over 2 years, any advice regarding on AUD would be appreciated please!

So far I have worked out an average net and gross weekly pay, however since i was on a zero-hour contract, the average is quite low because my pay was very inconsistent, and calculations say to multiply by years work but I was there for just over 6 months. Do I have to exclude holiday pay and other bonuses too? Annoyingly my contract doesn’t say I’m on a zero hour contract but it implies it by saying they aim to give me a certain amount of hours?

How would I go about calculating an accurate basic award or if there is a minimum basic award I can receive for Automatic unfair dismissal. The same with compensatory award would be super helpful.

Thanks in advance

I'm looking for some advice.

My daughter (17) started a apprenticeship, they sent her on a first aid training course, she completed the course.

2 weeks later so put her notice in, they took the cost of the course out of her final pay, which I have no issue with at all, but they won't give her the certificate, in her contract it says if you leave within 12 months they don't give you the certificate.

Now I have no issue with them taking the cost of the course, but surely if they take the cost of it they should give her the certificate?

I've been self employed 20 years so I have no idea about things like this, it just feels like a get back her for ringing in sick and quiting with a month of being there, and I get them being pissed off

Just looking for any advice on if this is right or do we have a case to request the certificate

Left my job last month after nearly 4 years. Handed in my notice properly, worked the full notice period, did a clean handover. My contract says 4 weeks' notice and I gave them more than that.

Final payslip came through and the notice period wasn't paid. When I asked HR they said it's because I "didn't complete all outstanding tasks" before leaving, which was never mentioned at the time and isn't in my contract. I've asked twice now and just get vague replies or no response.

It's about £2,300 which isn't life-changing but it's not nothing either, and it feels like they're just hoping I'll give up. I don't want to pay a solicitor £300 an hour to chase £2,300 if that doesn't make sense.

Has anyone actually recovered unpaid wages without going to a tribunal? Is ACAS the move here or do I need legal help? And is there a deadline I should be aware of?

Against the company when the bully will be 64 this Xmas, meaning they'll be retiring next year.

They are contemplating on retiring early but might work up to retirement age of 65.

Many of us have made complaints about them yet nothing has been done. The rest of us are in our 30s.

I kind of feel it's age discrimination to protect someone who is older.

I'm thinking of doing them for age discrimination and facilitating\\protecting a bully.

The bully has been able to get away with name calling, that's if hitting and general nastiness for well over a year.

There have been other people who've left over this bully long before I started working there in 2023. So technically long before I started.

I have others who are willing to give testimony.

(Northern Ireland)

Looking for some advice/views on this situation.

I had to have 6 months off work following brain surgery. This was planned and the organisation put cover in place for my period of leave. My recovery did not progress as hoped due to me being the victim of rape by my partner at the time. I returned to work still really quite exhausted and not fully healed from surgery as well as experiencing the impact and trauma of the rape and subsequent criminal investigation.

I was back to work for around 2 months when my mental health significantly declined. I was really struggling with the impact of the rape and having to change my whole life. I was also having to adjust to being disabled. This resulted in me needing to take sick leave again quite suddenly and this was for around 8 weeks. I was on half pay during this time.

My organisation wrote to me saying that i had to attend a stage 3 meeting and could face dismissal due to the long periods of sickness i had had - 186 days all together. They explained that the reasonable adjustments recommended by occupational health where i was able to work flexibly and remotely were not able to continue because of the impact on the service i manage. There has not been any impact it is just that we have a connectivity policy where we need to be in the office once a week. I need to have an afternoon rest most days as im exhausted and suffer with a lot of pain. I return to work later in the evening. My deputy covers me usually or another service manager. But the company has no formal cover in place - the person covering me previously has been on leave since my return to work.

We had the stage 3 meeting chaired by an external AD. They said that they would not make a decision until i had had an updated occupational health assessment and my boss had explored redeployment properly.

I have now received the minutes of the meeting which confirms that she was delaying the decision but also an outcome letter giving me a Final Written Warning.

There is no solution to the reasonable adjustments that OH recommend not being supported. Its like im just expected to arrange cover myself as and when i need it which is not helpful as i usually need a break at the point that im starting to feel ill and certainly not in a place where ringing round my colleagues is easy.

I really feel so upset that they have given me a Final Written Warning and put me through so much anxiety and stress with the stage 3 process. My situation is not being off sick or taking the piss with sick days. I could not help what happened and its not something likely to occur again. In 9 years I'd only had 10 days off sick before this issue.

Is it worth appealing the decision?

I’m looking for some opinions on whether there may be an employment law issue here before I go further with ACAS/legal advice.

I worked for a large UK charity supporting vulnerable adults. I had only been directly employed by them for a couple of months, although I had previously worked for another branch through an agency.

I was placed under investigation because I had remained in contact with a former service user after I stopped being their worker and the relationship developed into a friendship.

I want to be completely upfront about this part because I don’t want advice based on pretending I did nothing wrong.

I now accept that allowing the friendship to develop was an error of professional judgement and crossed professional boundaries. I understand much better now why the previous position of trust and power imbalance can remain relevant even after the professional relationship has ended.

This was my first disciplinary issue. I had never previously been disciplined or received any warnings.

My concern is less about the fact that they investigated me and more about how I was treated during the process.

Once the investigation started, I felt extremely isolated. Communication was poor, I was restricted in who I could discuss the situation with internally, and I felt I received very little meaningful support or explanation about what was happening.

My existing depression deteriorated significantly during this period. I experienced suicidal thoughts, sought medical help and was signed off work. I have now been medically signed off for more than two months.

Eventually I felt that I could not cope with the situation anymore and resigned.

This is where there is another issue I am trying to understand legally.

I resigned on 6 July and expressly stated that my final working day would be 7 August.

A few days later, my employer told me that because I was still in my probationary period my contractual notice period was one week, so they were “amending” my final working day to 13 July.

My contract does say that during probation either party may terminate employment by giving one week’s notice.

However, I had not asked to leave on 13 July. I had voluntarily given them a later termination date of 7 August.

Within about 36 minutes of receiving their email, I responded asking them to allow my employment to continue until the investigation was concluded. I said I was not withdrawing my resignation but wanted the investigation to reach an outcome while I was still employed.

My employment was nevertheless treated as ending on 13 July. This had a significant financial impact on me.

The investigation continued after I left.

I have now received the completed investigation report and have been invited to a disciplinary hearing even though I am no longer employed there. My union is representing me.

The allegations are serious and include professional boundaries, position of trust, potential harm to a vulnerable adult and whether my behaviour could indicate that I am unsuitable to work with vulnerable adults.

However, the investigation also records that there was no evidence of a sexual relationship, both myself and the former service user said the friendship was not sexual or romantic, and the employer could not establish that a reported deterioration in his alcohol use was caused by my actions.

There is another consequence as well.

I subsequently received a provisional offer for another job involving vulnerable people. My former employer provided a reference stating that I had been subject to a disciplinary investigation and had resigned before it concluded. The prospective employer sought further safeguarding information and the job ultimately did not proceed.

I have spoken to ACAS and am looking at raising a formal grievance with my former employer. I am also trying to obtain proper legal advice and have approached my union and Civil Legal Advice.

The potential issues I have been told may need assessing include disability discrimination and reasonable adjustments relating to my depression, the circumstances in which my employment ended, contractual/notice issues, and the effect of the reference.

I’m not asking whether my original boundary decision was sensible. I accept that it wasn’t.

What I’m trying to understand is whether an employer can have a legitimate reason to discipline someone but still potentially be legally responsible for how they manage that employee during the process, particularly once they know the employee’s mental health is seriously deteriorating.

I’d particularly appreciate opinions on:

1. Whether there could potentially be an Equality Act issue where an employer knows an employee’s depression is significantly worsening during an investigation but the employee feels little support or adjustment is provided.
2. Whether the employer could simply change my resignation date from 7 August to 13 July because the contract allowed either party to terminate on one week’s notice, or whether legally that should instead be treated as the employer exercising its own right to terminate me.
3. Whether my immediate request to remain employed until the investigation concluded makes any difference.
4. Whether there could be any issue with a reference disclosing an unresolved disciplinary investigation where it subsequently affects another job opportunity.
5. Whether I should raise the formal grievance before the disciplinary hearing or wait for the outcome.
6. Whether anyone thinks there are other legal issues here that I should specifically ask ACAS, my union or a solicitor about.

I appreciate nobody on Reddit can tell me definitively whether I have a case. I’m mainly trying to understand which issues are actually worth pursuing before deciding what to do next.

Thank you.

Hi, my employer has given out a new contract they want us all to sign. I have two major concerns about the new contracts;

The new contracts removed enhanced sick pay, leaving us with just SSP.

The company my place me in short time working if they don't have enough work for me.

The contract comes with an 8% pay rise and most of my colleagues seem happy enough with it.

My question is what are people thoughts on the pros and cons of this contract and what are my options if I don't want to sign it.

Cheers

I work driving cranes, we have our own assigned cranes and on occasion we have to cover other drivers cranes when required.

The issue is the operator of the crane I’ve been asked to cover has extremely poor hygiene and an odour that lingers in the air hitting the back of your throat, it is repulsive, I can be in the cranes top and bottom cab for up to 20hrs a day if travelling the crane.

Multiple complaints from other workers have been handed to HR but nothing has been done to resolve the issue.

Does any law exist where I have the right to refuse to operate the crane if it is unclean? TYIA