time in lieu not paid after suspension :(

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alicia pen

Member
30 July 2019
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Hello

I have been suspended (and contract ended from work) for a physical fight/harassment with another female employee which i regret. I worked for NSW health.
However i accumulated roughly 80 hours of time in lieu (roughly 6k) which i wasn't able to take. In fact i had 80 hours of time in ileu worked but not worked any.
I'm under state award and in it states after every 3 months any time in lieu not taken must be paid/or on termination.

I' have contacted my unnion (very slow to progress)- They have represented me and finally i get an email stating that I did not speak to my manager about not being able to take time in lieu that they will only offer me $2600. I actually did speak to my manager verbally but not via email so no written record.

They offered settlement of $2600 "without prejudice" and stated "if the matter escalates we would further review the claims for where TIL or unproductive time was used and unrecorded."

So I had a few questions
`1) I was wondering- if i accept this offer "without prejudice" I understand I can legally continue but I planning to contact Nsw state award complaints to see if I can get them to pay me fully. Am i still able to do this if I accept their offer? Would this likely woork?

2) Or is it more better to go with a workplace lawyer- it is only 6k and I'm worried getting a lawyer will costs thousand and probably not worth it? Is it likely a stern/letter of demand from a lawyer may convince them to pay all my time in lieu?

4) I'm not sure what they mean by "unproductive time was used and unrecorded"- i think it may be time used with fight/harssemment which went on for a few weeks . Can they really do that or is it just a threat?

Thanks, it's not a great deal but and I regret my actions but I worked hard those time in lieu on sat/sundays. Thankyou..
 

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