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james bruce
james bruce, Solicitor-Advocate
Category: Law
Satisfied Customers: 3802
Experience:  Owner at James Bruce Solicitors
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I had to leave country due to family matters. I was

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I had to leave country due to family matters. I was contacted by my employer and was told I would be disciplinary fired. I presented documents explaining my situation. I can't tell a timeframe when I'll be back. To avoid disciplinary process I want to terminate the contract by settlement agreement or mutual agreement, I don't know the right figure of speech.
JA: Have you discussed the termination with a manager or HR? Or with a lawyer?
Customer: No
JA: What is your employment status? Are you an employee, freelancer, consultant or contractor? Do you belong to a union?
Customer: Employee
JA: Anything else you want the Lawyer to know before I connect you?
Customer: No
james bruce

Hello, I hope you are well. My name is***** am a solicitor advocate and I will be assisting you with your question today. I am very sorry to hear of the problem you are experiencing and I will do my best to help you with this matter.

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Customer: replied 13 days ago.
If you don't mind I'll just copy paste my ready inquiry I tried to send to citizen's advice before
Customer: replied 13 days ago.
It will explain my situation more

You are aware this is not citizens advice?

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Customer: replied 13 days ago.
but you still are able to give me legal advice yes?

of course I can assist

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Customer: replied 13 days ago.
I would like to ask for advice in my unusual situation. I'm an employee of ***** ***** company since 10/02/2017. I've always been hardworking and consequent worker for the company, despite some situations at work that made me feel underestimated.I'll start from the begining. I was in relationship with Brazilian woman in January 2020 when she was on holiday in Edinburgh. When she returned to Brazil she found out she was pregnant and formalized complaint against me.
I was contacted by Brazilian Department of Justice to recognize the child and given notice to make an appearance at this Council on February 5, 2021 at 10:00 am. 
I took it very seriously and offered to come to Brazil.I have contacted my Area Manager on 28/01/2021 regarding my situation and letting him know I won't appear at work for a while. I explained it's a family matter without further details as it's a sensitive and embarrassing subject for me.
I asked for unpaid leave till the end of February as it was uncertain how long this situation will take and also considering quarantine rules in both countries.
My Area Manager responded that if I don't appear at work on following Monday I shall be disciplinary fired and followed by saying that he doesn't believe me, wasn't ready to argue with me and hang up on me without saying anything else. I felt disrespected and decided to continue my preparation for the journey.I managed to get to Brazil and appear before the court. I sent all documents regarding the case that I could obtain to my employer.
Only obtaining these documents took me nearly two weeks. At the moment I'm waiting for DNA tests to confirm if the child is mine. This is supposedly going to take around 30 days.
Due to amount of time it takes to get this case sorted I don't think I'll be coming back until at least end of April and would like to end the contract through a settlement agreement.What are my rights? How can I write such letter? Am I eligible for statutory redundancy pay/severance pay?

Thank you for that additional information, that will be helpfull in allowing me to advise you today.

You are not entitled to redundancy pay as you have not been made redundant.

If the employer has terminated your employment it would be because you failed to attend work and just up and left without permission form the employer for the time off. I really appreciate what you have said about the reason, but, an employee cannot just pop and leave the job with no notice and no permission. The employer can treat that as your resignation form work or treat it as an act of gross misconduct and termination of employment with immediate effect. You would have been gone for 3 months or so.

Therefore as you left without permission, if the employer has terminated your job, you would not be entitled to any severance pay. Any wages that were due can be deducted from your lack of notice period.

Tge employer is under no obligation to take you back.

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Customer: replied 13 days ago.
far I have not been dismissed, my employer, after receiving the documents, said that they were reviewing my absence from their end. I would like to resolve this matter mutually and completely. Am I to understand that despite my reasons and the lack of control over the situation, I have no rights as an employee for time off for unexpected life events?

You can request the time off and wait for a decision from the employer. You have no right to just up and leave and then expect the company to run around and give you what you want.

Yes you can negotiate with the employer. Either to take an unpaid leave of absence(they won want to know a date for your return)

You can ask to Use any untaken holidays to help cover the time off, or if you do not wish to return you can ask for a compromise agreement, that is where you leave and do not return, in exchange you will receive your pay and holidays that my be due in exchange for taking no action against the employer.

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Customer: replied 13 days ago.
I just got an email from my employer. they ask for the exact date of my return to work within two weeks. I know that I am not able to provide them with this due to the time of DNA tests. If in two weeks from today I have no updates on my situation, what should I do?
Customer: replied 13 days ago.
I want to avoid trouble for both my and my employer

They are under no obligation to keep your position open.

If there are going to be weeks of delays for the DNA tests then return to work and then travel back for the testa when an appointment can be made.?

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Customer: replied 13 days ago.
It's impossible financially and logistically to travel back and forth between Scotland and Brazil during the pandemic.
How does compromise agreement look like in my situation?

It is something to consider, but I really don't think you have anything to compromise with, but that does not stop you asking the employer.

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Customer: replied 13 days ago.
Okay, thank you for your advice