Post by Patrick Torsney on Feb 7, 2011 10:33:52 GMT 1
Here is another case study from Gloucester Law Centre, this one an Employment case
We must remember that the recent proposals for legal aid reform propose to remove all work of this type from the scope of public funding. This means that if you have any difficulties at work, such as not being paid your wages or being sacked on trumped up charges or because someone doesn't like you, you will no longer be able to qualify for assistance in trying to resolve the matter
Mr K, who is Kenyan and speaks limited English, had been dismissed after 6 years service. His employer had also failed to pay his final months wages and accrued holiday pay
The employer concerned was known to the Law Centre as this was one of a spate of similar cases in which this company had failed to meet its obligations
The Law Centre advised Mr K that he should not pursue a claim for unfair dismissal as the case was, unfortunately, not strong enough, but nevertheless he was certainly entitled to receive the wages for the work he had done and his holiday pay that had accrued
We tried to resolve the matter through correspondence but the company ignored all our letters and the pay owed to Mr K was still not forthcoming
With no option left, we therefore assisted Mr K to commence Tribunal proceedings and we pursued the matter on his behalf
A week before the hearing was due, the company finally admitted they owed the money and paid Mr K the approx £1000 he was owed
There was no way that Mr K would not have been able to achieve this result without our help. Like the vast majority of people in the street, Mr K did not understanding the legal system. All he knew was that he had done a months work for a big company who now said he couldn't have the money he had 'earned' and refused to entertain any further discussion with him
It is worth remembering also that employers generally employ solicitors and barristers to argue cases on their behalf, knowing that the legalities of the process can tear people who try to represent themselves apart. This is just another bar to accessing justice in Employment cases
We are also hopeful that our intervention in Mr K's case and other similar cases involving this particular employer will have a wider positive impact in that the employer will get the message and start meeting its obligations without the need for us to be involved
What we got paid for all this work? The standard fixed fee (the way cases like this are paid ie this is what you get however much work you do and however long the case takes): £230
We must remember that the recent proposals for legal aid reform propose to remove all work of this type from the scope of public funding. This means that if you have any difficulties at work, such as not being paid your wages or being sacked on trumped up charges or because someone doesn't like you, you will no longer be able to qualify for assistance in trying to resolve the matter
Mr K, who is Kenyan and speaks limited English, had been dismissed after 6 years service. His employer had also failed to pay his final months wages and accrued holiday pay
The employer concerned was known to the Law Centre as this was one of a spate of similar cases in which this company had failed to meet its obligations
The Law Centre advised Mr K that he should not pursue a claim for unfair dismissal as the case was, unfortunately, not strong enough, but nevertheless he was certainly entitled to receive the wages for the work he had done and his holiday pay that had accrued
We tried to resolve the matter through correspondence but the company ignored all our letters and the pay owed to Mr K was still not forthcoming
With no option left, we therefore assisted Mr K to commence Tribunal proceedings and we pursued the matter on his behalf
A week before the hearing was due, the company finally admitted they owed the money and paid Mr K the approx £1000 he was owed
There was no way that Mr K would not have been able to achieve this result without our help. Like the vast majority of people in the street, Mr K did not understanding the legal system. All he knew was that he had done a months work for a big company who now said he couldn't have the money he had 'earned' and refused to entertain any further discussion with him
It is worth remembering also that employers generally employ solicitors and barristers to argue cases on their behalf, knowing that the legalities of the process can tear people who try to represent themselves apart. This is just another bar to accessing justice in Employment cases
We are also hopeful that our intervention in Mr K's case and other similar cases involving this particular employer will have a wider positive impact in that the employer will get the message and start meeting its obligations without the need for us to be involved
What we got paid for all this work? The standard fixed fee (the way cases like this are paid ie this is what you get however much work you do and however long the case takes): £230