Liability for witness expenses for retired employee.

[AmyJake]

I was retired from my employment in London until 2004.
There was a clause in my employment contract stating I was obliged to act as a witness for my employer even after retirement if any legal matter arose in relation to my employment after I left.
The contract stated reasonable expenses would be paid.
At the time of my retirement I lived in St Albans about 20 miles from my place of work.
I now live 250 miles away from London.
My ex employer only wants to pay the return train fare from St Albans and my train fare to get from where I live now could amount to £175 plus.
In addition I will need some hotel accomodation and even though I am paid a pension by my ex employer I have a job and will have to take time off work and want compensation for this.
Does anybody know my position for getting all my expenses.

Amy

[jno]

I would have thought reasonable expenses are those involved in getting you to court right now. If your employer wanted you to get to court from where you lived in 2004 he should have started his case eight years ago.

[TheShakeperian]

Yes, they have to pay from where you are now , not reasonable to expect you to stay at the same place just in case they needed you.
Write to them and and say that you will need expenses from where you live now + accomadation and refund of lost wages.

[AMYSULLIVAN]

I would certainly try to get your ex employer to send you a rail ticket and to book and pay for your hotel accomodation and tell them it has got to be of a certain standard and state you want 2 nights accomodation in view of the distance.
You did not state what type of case it was. You may be in London for more than 1 day.
I would also request cash in advance for payment for lunch etc when you are in London and say you will refund any surplus.
It is unlikely your employer will need you on a further occasion so they may not pay a penny once the case is over.

Amy Sullivan.

[TheShakeperian]

Is there any time limit on how long you have to be available to do this? Some legal cases drag on for years.
I had to give evidence as a witness a few years ago all my expenses were paid by the court , who I presume claimed it back from the defendants. That was a criminal case though, so if this is a civil case things may be diffrent.

[dzug2]

You could just tell them you can't remember any details so turning up will be a waste of time

[joko]

is this actually legal?

i mean you sign a contract for work... i dont see that an employer has the right to place clauses on you for the rest of your life...and expect you to upheave your life to come to their aid whenever it suits them ...a contract is surely only valid for the time you work there.
it sounds like they have added an unenforcable clause here.

i would look into that, they may not be able to force you to attend... i suspect they should never have added it to the contract.

in terms of expenses, they should pay EVERYTHING.
Not only is this a pretty cheeky clause to add, to expect you to be out of pocket for it is a joke.

I would just tell them straight they pay for all your expenses or you dont go... that you re retired and simply cant and wont foot the bill... also tell them you have a terrible memory and will be of no help whatsoever to them...

could you do this by remote camera? record a statement or something, or even webcam?

i was witness to an incident years ago and was messed around by them so much that when i suddely got yet another letter about 4 years after it happened ordering me to travel to bradford, i was pretty peeved and told them i couldnt remember anythign any more, due to medication, and i would be no use to them - and they cancelled it.
dont know if thats why of course, but it was mostly true...

[New Judge]

Is it a criminal matter to which you were witness? What type of court are you being asked to attend (County Court, Crown Court or Magistrates' Court?)

[joko]

id like to see them take you to court... i doubt theyd get very far...

[zebo]

The Education Authority for whom I used to work was being taken to Court by an ex-pupil for failing to respond to her dyslexia. This started before I retired, we were all interviewed by the Authority's lawyers and a date was set for the case which was after my retirement. We had to keep ourselves available for a 2 week period in June in case we were called, so we had to miss an important family event. On the morning the case was due to start I received a call from the lawyers, the girl's claim had been withdrawn and there would be no trial. I was not best pleased!