METRO - WEDNESDAY 4 MAY 2005

IT HAS TAKEN 9 YEARS AND TAXPAYERS £350,000, BUT MOTHER HAS WON FIGHT FOR £270.39 MATERNITY PAY

A mother yesterday won a nine-year battle to claim compensation for being underpaid while on maternity leave.

At the end of Michelle Alabaster's landmark sex discrimination case, the Appeal Court awarded her £270.39 in damages and interest – at a cost to the taxpayer of more than £350,000.

The 36 year old mother of two took her case all the way to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg, after a pay rise was not included in her maternity wage packet.

Thousands of other women are set to benefit after her test case led to a change in the law last month. Employers will now be forced to include pay rises in calculations for maternity pay. Mrs Alabaster started her case against the Woolwich Building Society, now owned by Barclays Bank, in 1996 while pregnant with her daughter Ellie.

She claimed her employer was breaking European Sex Discrimination law by not giving her the £204.53 pay rise.

After her original employment tribunal, in Ashford, Kent, she took the case to an appeal panel, the Appeal Court of Justice, which decided in her favour. Yesterday, the Appeal Court in London ruled that English law as well as European law entitled her to the money.

‘Pregnancy is a really expensive time for new mums and it is hard making ends meet – I am proud I have fought for what is right. Thousands of women will benefit from what I have done,' said Mrs Alabaster, of Eltham, South-East London.

She was indignant after her employer took the extra cash away. ‘They must have thought I was worth a pay rise but, the moment they realised I was pregnant, they said we are not paying the rise,' she added.

The former secretary said she was ‘very pleased, ecstatic even' at the outcome. The money - plus legal costs thought to total at least £350,000 – will be paid by the Secretary of State for Social Security.

HOW HR2all CAN HELP...

Our 'employing staff' module will allow you to create an up to date maternity policy as part of your staff handbook.

METRO - MAY 2005

SICK NOTE WORKERS COST FIRMS £12BN

Workers ‘pulling a sickie' cost industry £1.7 billion last year, a report claimed.

The figure is a part of the £12 billion that workplace absence cost the economy, the CBI said. The cost to firms per worker was nearly £500 – a rise of £20 on the previous year.

An average of 6.8 working days were lost per employee last year, said the study of 500 firms. Lowest absence rates were in London.

HOW HR2all CAN HELP...

Beprostaff@HR2all 'managing staff' module contains a section on ill health that can help you deal with absenteeism. In addition, our 'mystaff' section will allow you to keep a record of the time taken off by each of your employees.

METRO - MAY 2005

MONKEY POSTER ‘RACIST'

A black council worker who complained of racism at work was horrified to be given a desk next to a poster of a monkey in a suit and tie.

Business adviser Everald Brown returned to work after being off with stress to find he had been sat next to the ‘racially offensive' image at Croydon Council. The 46 year old, who was the only black man in a 30-strong team, claims the incident in April last year was part of a campaign of harassment.

Mr Brown, who said he was ‘not made to feel welcome', is claiming racial harassment against the council and his boss, David Johnston. Both deny the allegations.

HOW HR2all CAN HELP...

To keep harassment at bay, Beprostaff@HR2all ‘employing staff' module will enable you to create a disciplinary policy which can become a part of your employee handbook. The policy will set out rules that employees must abide by.

METRO - MAY 2005

I QUIT OVER BANK BOSS'S OSAMA JIBES

A muslim at one of the world's biggest finance companies was forced to quit after racist bullying.

Yaldrem Majeed claimed he was taunted with jibes about terrorists and Muslims in the wake of September 11. The performance analyst left his £60,000 a year job at Citigroup after bosses ignored his complaints.

Pakistani born Mr Majeed claims his manager called Muslims ‘cruel and backward' and joked about the faith's women. During a computer failure, John Buckley allegedly said Osama Bin Laden had ‘interfered with the system' and made a point of looking at Mr Majeed while talking about terrorism.

He also claimed to be the only worker forced to complete a daily time sheet and to be stopped from taking holidays owing to extra work at the last minute. The 35 year old, the only non-white member of his team, said he suffered stress and depression but was told ‘there was absolutely nothing' he could do about it

‘There was a time when Mr Buckley sat next to me and covered his nose to imply I had bad body odour,' said the married father of two, who started working for the company in August 2001. ‘Initially I had tolerated comments as I was not sure whether he was joking. But I became very uncomfortable about the situation and it was clear that he knew I was upset.'

But the harassment allegedly increased after Mr Majeed, of Walthamstow, North-East London, complained to a superior.

By March 2003, it had ‘become unbearable' and he contacted human resources staff to lodge a formal grievance. Mr Majeed quit last April and has been unemployed since. He is seeking psychiatric treatment for his alleged trauma.

Citigroup in Lewisham, South-East London, denies race discrimination. The tribunal is continuing.

HOW HR2all CAN HELP...

This case depicts how a poorly dealt with grievance has caused a company to end up in a tribunal. Beprostaff@HR2all 'managing staff' module will provide you with information on what to do when an employee raises a complaint. Carrying out the correct procedures will ensure that from an early stage you can prevent yourself from ending up in court.

METRO - MAY 2005

LEGAL STAFF ‘RAN RIOT' ON DRINK FIRM'S BONDING TRIP

Staff of a drinks company had so much free booze on a bonding session at a smart hotel that they ran riot.

Diageo's legal team emptied free mini-bars in their rooms, downed pre-dinner drinks and consumed unlimited wine with the meal. Then they headed to a free bar as the training course descended into chaos.

A clerk pestered a married colleague for sex and became angry when she rejected his advances, an employment tribunal heard. Rob Reeves, an ex-paratrooper in his early 20s, burst into Denise Swinton-Mitchell's room and told her: ‘I am trained to kill and I will kill you.' Secretary Ms Swinton-Mitchell, 37, had herself been running around the Edinburgh hotel at midnight, banging on guests' doors and shouting.

When ‘lunatic' Mr Reeves stormed into her bedroom, she fled to the room of workmate Ronald Smithies, with him in persuit. Mr Smithies told Mr Reeves to leave them alone but the clerk repeatedly called him a ‘f***ing homo' before assaulting him, it was claimed.

The previous year, during a legal department conference in Gleneagles, Mr Reeves allegedly entered another woman's bedroom univited. He warned he could break her neck, shouting: ‘I can kill you.' On another occasion, he slept overnight in the bar at Diageo's London Offices.

Mr Reeves was suspended and later resigned after Mrs Swinton-Mitchell made a formal complaint. However, Diageo bosses said they found pornographic emails exchanged between the pair before the training trip. In another email, Mrs Swinton-Mitchell appeared to ask Mr Reeves to get her some cocaine.

When the messages came to light she was also fired. But the mother of two, from Chigwell, Essex, claims they were simply ‘office banter' and is suing Diageo for unfair dimissal and sex discrimination.

Diageo denies her claims. The hearing continues.

HOW HR2all CAN HELP...

This case deals with sexual discrimination. Aside from this type of discrimination there are many others that you may not be aware of, and a lack of understanding could land you in trouble. To avoid being caught in such a situation visit Beprostaff@HR2all ‘managing staff' module and educate yourself on the various types of discrimination and on how to avoid them.