Jane’s Story: “I Love Being Back at Work”

• Employment Legal Advice offers free employment-related legal support to Greater Manchester residents.
• The service is a joint initiative between the Growth Company, Citizens Advice Manchester, Citizens Advice Bolton, Citizens Advice Salford, and a network of local legal partners.
• Find out how we helped Jane with an employment legal issue and empowered her to confidently return to work. 

Many people run into difficulties in their job, but do not know where to turn for guidance.

Whether you are worried about your rights, redundancy proceedings, pay issues, contractual terms, or ongoing disputes, Employment Legal Advice can set you on the right track.

The service is a joint venture by the Growth Company, Citizens Advice Manchester, Citizens Advice Bolton, Citizens Advice Salford, and a network of local legal partners. It aims to help people across Greater Manchester to access free and timely employment-related support provided by experts in the field.

Jane is just one of the people who has benefitted from this support. After supporting her with an employment legal issue, we empowered Jane to find work and enhanced her skills so she could confidently return to employment.

Jane’s story

Jane was encountering problems with her employer as well as dealing with the aftermath of her cancer treatment. Joanna Murfin - Triage Coordinator in our Employment Legal Advice team explains:

“Jane told me that she had no idea how to represent herself with a case and, that she had no energy as a result of her cancer/treatment and was really struggling.

“I spent time taking-through all the information about her situation over the phone and made her an appointment with one of our employment solicitors - who after assessing all the evidence was able to offer ‘no win, no fee’ representation* and was willing to represent her with her case against her former employer.”

The case took a few months to conclude and Jane was successful in receiving compensation (damages) from the employer. Jane explains what this meant to her:

“I feel that, had it not been for the solicitor taking on my case, I may not have succeeded at all with my employment law claim. It took the immense pressure off me, as well as leaving me time to focus on getting myself back into employment.”

Returning to the employment market after a period of illness can be a daunting experience. That’s why the Growth Company and our partners provide a range of support services to help you get the job you want.

Because Jane hadn't worked for 16 months due to a cancer diagnosis and her recovery period, we referred her to our Working Well (Work & Health) programme. It provides a tailored service to support you back into employment, with help from employment specialists, health professionals and community organisations.

Jane was supported by Callum Agbadabunia, a key worker at our InWorkGM Hub in Trafford. Jane explained what type of support Callum provided:

“Callum helped me improve my CV. He also put me in touch with charities, including Smart Works and Working Wardrobe, to help me present myself to find a job, as I had no working clothes due to weight loss or income to buy any.

“He organised a food bag and some vouchers for when I had no income and also helped me with my initial travel costs for my first two weeks and encouraged me to apply for Access to Work.

“I started my job in October 2022 and in March this year I started a new position in the same company. I love being back at work”.

Callum explained that, if you are currently unemployed and looking for work, we have a range of services to help you and our friendly team are on hand to support you every step of the way. Callum told us:

“Jane was a pleasure to work with and was very proactive. I just pointed her in the right direction and she went and followed through.

“Access to work was a big one for Jane to help her get set up in her new role, and it’s great to hear that she’s thriving with her promotion. In my role, I tried to make her transition back in to work as seamless as possible by expanding her support network.”

More information

For more information about the Employment Legal Advice service, visit the website.

The Working Well (Work & Health) programme has been designed by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) and is delivered by an alliance partnership, InWorkGM - between Ingeus and The Growth Company. Visit the website for more information.

For more information about Smart Works, visit their website.

For more information about Working Wardrobe, visit their website.

For more information about Access to Work, visit their website.

* We cannot guarantee this for all service users as it is the decision of the solicitor once they have assessed the evidence.