Cafe Zouk

A good friend of mine recently saw a solicitor and went to court, it was all due to his previous employer not paying him the money he was entitled to when he left. Basically he was in sales and had found another job, so handed in his notice politely and in writing to his direct manager. The manager apparently asked him to wait in the meeting room, came back about 15 minutes later and said he needed to clear his desk and leave there and then. My friend was half expecting this and was quite happy to be put on garden leave (when an employer asks you to leave immediately, but then still has to pay you for your notice period), but asked the question if it was and that he would be paid, the manager said “I don’t know, it’s not my decision”, so he left it at that.

Once he left the building he stopped by at an oxford solicitors office, Oxford being where the company were based, although he lived in Swindon at the time I believe. They advised him that it’s quite a common situation and to keep a written record of events and correspond in writing from now on, so there was written evidence should the case go to court (as it later would do). He took this advice and did everything in writing from thereon in.

Sure enough, and as now expected due to the correspondence he had received in reply, his money did not arrive in the bank on time, neither did a payslip turn up, so a few emails later he took them to a tribunal, it was pretty quick and easy by all accounts and he was in and out in side an hour and didn’t even need to take a lawyer in with him. The judge ruled that he should be paid all money owed to him, although he was a little disappointed that he was not awarded any compensation.

Anyway a few months later, this rather unlucky chap, was involved in a road accident, he was riding his bike and a car didn’t see him and had him off, unfortunately he was travelling at some speed and broke a knee, not a major injury, however for someone who had just got rid of his car and bought a push bike to save money whilst looking for a new job, he didn’t really know what to do. So he called up the same solicitors in Oxford who he had seen previously, but they told him that it’s not their area of expertise, they only deal with corporate and business law and dealing with tribunals and accidents at work is very different from a road traffic accident .

So he went off on the search for a no win no fee solicitor, found one and they managed to get him some compensation, unfortunately he was unable to work for quite a while, so is still struggling to find a job after having been out of the workplace for almost a year now.