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If your discrimination happened at work, you may be able to take your case to an employment tribunal.
The law says that you and Fastklean must follow a statutory grievance procedure (one set by law) before you can take your case to a tribunal. This means that you must send Fastklean a grievance, which is a letter saying why you believe you were discriminated against.
You must normally do this within three months of the event you are complaining about. This time limit does not apply if you are complaining about equal pay. In this case you can normally send your written grievance at any time while you are still working for FastKlean or within six months of when you stopped working for us.
FastKlean will then invite you to a meeting to discuss your grievance. After the meeting, FastKlean will tell you what they will do about your complaint. We will also tell you how you can appeal our decision if you do not agree with it. Once you have put in your grievance you must wait 28 days before you can lodge a claim with a tribunal. This time limit applies whether or not FastKlean has responded to your grievance.
The new grievance procedures are law and must be followed completely, except in a few specific situations. For example, the new procedures do not apply if: you are not an 'employee' of FastKlean, because you are, for example, self employed; or your complaint is about dismissal, and FastKlean has dismissed or is considering dismissing you.
If you have already left your job, you and FastKlean can agree to deal with your grievance only through letters, without having a meeting.
If the dispute reaches an employment tribunal and the tribunal finds that you have not followed the grievance procedure in full, it may reduce any compensation it awards you. You should seek advice if you are unsure about how these new rules apply in your case.
If FastKlean wants to discipline or dismiss you, we will first follow a set disciplinary procedure. If we dismiss you without following the procedure properly, the employment tribunal may automatically judge our dismissal as unfair, and award you at least four weeks' pay.
Going to an Employment Tribunal
You can take your case to an employment tribunal if:
In all these cases, you must also have put in your grievance to FastKlean at least 28 days ago.
The cost of going to a tribunal can be low. Even if you lose your case, you will not have to pay FastKlean's costs unless the tribunal decides you were being unreasonable in bringing the claim.
You bring a tribunal claim by filling in an application form called an ET1. You can get this from your local Jobcentre Plus, Citizens Advice Bureau, or online from the Employment Tribunal Service.
You must normally make a claim to an employment tribunal within three months minus one day from when you first knew about the discrimination. However, if the discrimination is ongoing, this time limit may not apply.
The time limit also does not apply if you are complaining about equal pay. In this case you must normally make a claim to the tribunal:
If you are going through the grievance or disciplinary procedure, you have an extra three months to bring your claim, as long as:
Using the Questionnaire Procedure
If you want to make a claim to an employment tribunal, you normally send a special form, called a questionnaire, to FastKlean. You can get this form from:
In this form, you can ask FastKlean for more information about your treatment. For example, if you believe that you didn't get a job because of your sex, you can ask for details of FastKlean's selection procedures; and the qualifications and experience of the person who got the job, to see how they compare with your own.
If you believe you may not be receiving equal pay, this form will also help you find out whether this is the case and if so, why.
You must send the form to FastKlean:
You don't have to use the questionnaire procedure, but it will normally help your case. In the same way, FastKlean doesn't have to fill in the form, but if we don't it may harm our case. And if you do use it, you can still choose to withdraw your complaint before the tribunal deals with your case.
How Compensation is Worked Out
If the tribunal rules that you have been unlawfully discriminated against, it can award you compensation for:
If You are Unhappy with the Tribunal's Decision
If you, or FastKlean, are unhappy about how the tribunal reached its decision, an appeal to the Employment Appeals Tribunal could be made. But can appeal only on whether the law was applied correctly, not on whether you or we thought the tribunal's decision was fair. There are 42 days after the decision is issued to lodge an appeal.
Next review due: October 2018
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