Furious at ds work dismissal

Honestly if he thinks being late every day is OK and doesnt think it really matters then no wonder he has been asked to leave. Why does his employer have to tell him to get an earlier train.

They wont have time to micromanage him like this. Then he goes on holiday. Cannot you not see this is not a good look. Hopefully he has learnt from this. Does he know where he went wrong?

Does that mean they told him they were ok with him being a few minutes late on the first day, but the implication was not to be late on subsequent days?
Or that they are ok with him being late every day?

He had the ability to get an earlier train, as proved the day he was dismissed, so why on earth was he getting a later one every day? Of course they wouldn’t be happy with this!

You don’t need to assume, tells you early on in the OP he’s been there a month

Surely he would have worked it out for himself that if he was late every day he needed to get the earlier train or you as a parent might have suggested it to him - a verbal “it’s ok to be late” won’t stand up. I am assuming he has been there less than 2 years so unlikely ACAS can do anything and unless his contract says it’s ok to be late everyday not really a leg to stand on.

Instead of being angry with the employer, be angry with your son. Tell him this is a life lesson and to act like the man he now is. He needs to treat work like work, not school and I sincerely doubt he was 'only' 5 or less minutes late. As others have said, he should aim to be there early, not late. You are not doing him any favours by misdirecting your anger.

Given that he’s been sacked specifically for being late every day it’s clear the son was not told being a few minutes late every single day was ok.

The OP would be far better putting energy into getting down to fine detail with her son about the “ok” conversation to work out how he misinterpreted it to the point he got sacked and teaching him what to do going forward if he encounters a similar situation.

It is the employees responsibility to get to their place of work, whatever means they do this. The usual war cry of speaking to ACAS will give the same response.

I suspect they were okay with one or two latenesses. The consistency and holiday led to him being labelled unreliable. It is likely he was spotted by a more senior manager and they got involved. I can come and go as I please, I have flexi and I earned the right. A new starter cannot. I’d also argue the fact he could have gotten an earlier train but chose not to goes against him. ACAS won’t help as he is on probation. They could say it is to do with his tie and it doesn’t matter, he’s gone. Tough but fair lesson.

We're venomous are we? You're delightful.

I think you should be angry at your ds not the ex employer!

He's not told you the whole story.

Not really, it's clear that the son was told being a few minutes late was OK. It's the experience of some of the other people on the thread and it's my experience too - at my last job I was regularly a bit late because of public transport. I was told not to worry, everyone was in the same position and a few minutes here or there didn't matter. I offered to get a (much) earlier train and was told not to be daft.

This is the attitude I'd take with my own direct reports now, too.

It IS unfair if he was told it was OK to be a bit later, and then he's not only told it's not OK but sacked for it before being given chance to improve. Sounds like it's maybe not the nicest place to work so, hard as this is, perhaps he's dodged a bullet.

it’s usual at interview to ask about any existing holiday commitments so that they can be honoured if possible, so that may explain why he ‘informed’ them rather than requesting the holiday time.

At 19, he really should have realised that he needed to get the earlier train himself.

You should be furious with your son, not his ex-employer.

In probation you need to impress. He should have got the earlier train from the start. Very bad attitude to be late for work every day. What time did the train depart that he was getting. And what time did the earlier train depart.

I was going to ask about the holiday.wether it was one he pre warned then about, or if he he'd asked for the time since starting and maybe work had said no, but he went anyway?

Whether they’ve been unfair depends on what he was actually told, versus what he believed he had been told. From the OP, it seems likely he was told that it was OK to be late occasionally if there were problems with the train services. I can’t imagine any employer being OK with an employee who was late every day simply because their preferred train time didn’t get them in on time.

There are probably 100+ people eagerly waiting in the wings for a job & who would eagerly arrive at work early.

Arriving late is rude & shows a lack of enthusism (not taking into account train delays)

A lesson of life

While it might seem harsh, you cannot be late every day. Either he misunderstood what was said or the person who said it was OK was not actually in charge.

If there was a train he could get to get him in on time, then he should have been getting that one. You always give yourself some leeway time for travel delays when arriving at work.

If they genuinely didn’t mind him being a few minutes late maybe they are just looking for a reason to let him go? Maybe he wasn’t that great at his job once he arrived?
If he was outstanding at his job it’s unlikely they would have let him go for being a few minutes late especially if they had previously said it was ok. They would have given him a warning first and wanted to give him a chance to change. I think it’s likely either he wasn’t great at his job or they don’t need that position anymore.
I do think it’s pretty poor that he was consistently late when an earlier train was available - it sends a message that the job is secondary to his convenience- in today’s job market I don’t think I’d be wanting to send that message whilst new to the role.

No when you start a new job you let them know about any pre booked holidays. Besides she probably just means that they knew he had holiday, he hadn’t disappeared. No need to try and pick apart the wording on that one.

Not if the holiday was booked at interview. You inform them at the interview

Hsng on, what is this about informing them about his holiday? It doesn't work like ths (unless zero hours). You REQUEST holiday!

They may have thought he meant he’d occasionally be late if the train was delayed, which is the case for most commuters. People are expected to get a train that gets them to work on time or a bit earlier than their start time. From your post I’m assuming he’s fairly junior (sorry if that’s not the case). They may have seen lateness as evidence of a bad attitude and felt it was better to cut their losses and find a more motivated person from the many others that would have applied.