Archived Topic
Topic ID 1271
13/01/2006 by Frenchie
East Herts Council
Not that I have much knowledge but on what ive been reading recently it seems there is always something bad going on in Herts HQ. Mercury has another 2 people taking them to a tribunal acccussing them of a bullying culture etc. Seems its pretty rotten through and through if all these accounts are true.
0 replies
Archived Replies
Reply ID 15193
13/01/2006 by Steve
The story in today's Mercury concerns Hertfordshire County Council, based at County Hall. The issue at the back end of last year was with East Herts District Council based at Wallfields (and also Bishops Stortford).
Reply ID 15195
13/01/2006 by Frenchie
So i was right saying i dont have that much knowledge !
Reply ID 15212
13/01/2006 by SMT
As an employee at County Hall, I find the women's claims surprising. Having worked in the private sector for a number of years before joining the Council, I am amazed at how many people complain at what is a much better working environment compared to a number of other jobs/sector. The women complain about the safety of their work area, but everyone has to have an assessment (which I thought was OTT, but there you go) to ensure that the area is safe. Tribunals are normally a private process, and are not open to the press, so maybe the claimants are taking the opportunity to have their day in the papers.
Mind you, the Mercury's comments about the Freedom of Information Act on page 12 are inaccurate too, so I'm not overly impressed with their reporting. (Requests which take more than 2 and a half days to collate the information for are subject to a fee, as the Act allows, to cover officer time, as the legislation was introduced with no additional funding to cover the work - the Mercury state that requests were not answered as the information sought would be "too expensive or time-consuming to collate".)
Admin - I hope I haven't trode on any legal toes here!
Reply ID 15262
16/01/2006 by Bart
I think industrial tribunals are open to the press - remember Faria Alam and the FA? Not the most high-brow of examples, but there we go!
Reply ID 15264
16/01/2006 by carlos fandango
Also bear this in mind. Claims for unfair dismaissal are limited. Claims that include sexual or racial discrimination or constructive dismaissal are not. That's why you get so many sex discrimination cases in the financial markets.
Reply ID 15294
16/01/2006 by SMT
quote:
Originally posted by Bart
I think industrial tribunals are open to the press - remember Faria Alam and the FA? Not the most high-brow of examples, but there we go!
I've just checked my college notes! Tribunals are heard in private; the judgement can be reported to the press but the press can not report a tribunal as it is being heard (unlike court cases). This has advantages and disadvantages, but claimants will sometimes leak their story to the press so that others in a similar position may be encouraged to come forward as they would not otherwise be aware of the action.
Then you have the position where the "story" is reported and it's tomorrow fish and chip wrapping, but the view of the general public is that employees at County Hall are bullied.
Reply ID 15428
19/01/2006 by e_austen
The issue of bullying seems to be thinly reported in the Mercury. The basic case is: the women put in a grievance against three managers for a number of reasons, including bullying, theft, financial mismanagement. Their manager then put them at health and safety risk, suspended them for gross misconduct and colluded with others to compass their dismissal.
But I'm sure all will be revealed at the tribunal or in the press, or any other forum available for the facts to be told.
I used to work with one of the women involved in the East Herts bullying case when she worked at County Hall and, to be honest, and from what I hear on the grapevine, no one I've spoken to is surprised.
7 replies