Can they do this?

[Ineedtobehappy]

I’ve been working for a relatively small company for the last 4 months. All going well or so I thought, however yesterday upon my return to the office from my lunch break, I hadn’t even taken my coat off when I was asked to leave!
All they said was it wasn’t working out and they’d pay me a weeks notice, no explanation or anything just that.
Can they do this? Just dismiss me without reason or am I being unreasonable to think that they are somewhat justified in their actions.

They are unreasonable but I'm afraid they can. Sorry :(

Unfortunately, yes. Absolutely shitty thing to do if they can't even sit you down and have a decent conversation about it! But yes within that time period they can get rid of you for whatever reason and they're not obligated to explain or justify why. Hope you're okay

Yes they can I'm afraid.

Do you have a contract or employee hand book?

I’m devastated, I needed that job so badly.
I can’t sleep for worry, I’ve been up all night applying for other jobs.

Is there anyone you're friendly with at work, and ask them if they know anything? For peace of mind if nothing else.

Fingers crossed you find something!

Unfortunately not, it was a man and wife team within the office.

Can you think of any reason that has made them come to this decision? It seems a bit odd they didn’t give you any notice and asked you to leave after your lunch break instead of saying don’t come back in the morning? Really hoping you get another job soon.

If you've worked somewhere for two years you're protected from unfair dismissal. The corollary to this is that if you've worked somewhere for less than two years, the employer is entitled to dismiss you unfairly.

I was let go after 9 months once and it was such a horrible feeling.

Was made to feel like I had to up and leave after a morning meeting in a different location. I had to actually insist on going back to my office to clear my desk and take my things. (also took my list of urgent things to do that day as well..ha!)

Years later I heard on the industry grapevine that this company did it quite often. Being a small company they would hire in someone to cover for a busy period and then just let them go. Why not be honest and get a temp? More expensive probably.

I'm sorry this has happened, this was very very rude of them and paying you a week is very mean. They are shitty. You meanwhile are awesome and will find something soon. Don't under any circumstances take it personally.

yes they can, but I'm sorry, some people are just really bad at confronting people and hr, so it was probably a lot more brutal ( timing wise) than it needed to be, there is probably a reason that's absolutely nothing to do with you, maybe cash flow, or they were finding it hard to come up with work for you to do, ..anyway if I was you as you've nothing to loose here, I'd send a nice email saying you enjoyed working with them, that you are sorry to leave, that you wish them all the best ( whether you do or not is irrelevant) and that you had thought your role was going well and hope they will give you a good reference, but if there a reason you were unaware of for why it wasn't working out, and was terminated so abruptly so you could improve on in future jobs you would really appreciate the feedback. it might give you some clarity, or shame them into a decent reference

Ive read this before, years ago, on MN.

Thank you Escape the castle, I was so shocked yesterday I just collected my things and left 🙁 cried all afternoon thinking what the hell am I going to do.
I’m a single mum to my daughter and going through a shitty divorce.
They knew all this and how much I needed that job, I’m miles away from family and now keep wondering what the point is in all this. I worked really hard too 😢

It depends on your probation period, some companies are 3 months, some are 6 months - check your contract. If you are within the probation period, then both of you can end the employment with little or no notice.

I had one job do this to me a few days before the end of probation, but they waited until 5 minutes before the end of the day to 'let me go', I was distraught (Late teens) and locked myself in the loo having a mild panic attack so they were late leaving for the day anyway!

You'll probably never find out why if its a small family business - maybe the wife is the jealous type? Maybe you weren't what they were looking for - but at the end of the day there is very little you can do but dust yourself off and go (Job) hunting.

Sorry OP - hope you get something else soon.

It depends on your probation period, some companies are 3 months, some are 6 months - check your contract. If you are within the probation period, then both of you can end the employment with little or no notice.

They can end employment up to 2 years for no reason.

SillySally - while i don't dispute that they 'can' there is a small level of protection if you have been signed off probation in that you have an agreement in the form of a legally binding contract that decrees you will give/get X amount of notice (or the company will pay that notice period if they want you gone immediately)

Its not just under 2 years they can chuck you out without so much as a howdy-doo - you would get a small cushion of notice, or pay in lieu of

Its not just under 2 years they can chuck you out without so much as a howdy-doo - you would get a small cushion of notice, or pay in lieu of

She is getting a weeks paid notice.

If you don't have a longer notice period in your contract, yes, that is perfectly legal. However, I'd still email them to ask the reason, if it was something that you did you need to know for your next job. It seems strange to give no explanation at all.

When you're calm definitely send an email and ask for a reason / feedback on your work. This would really bug me.

You will find something else - I know it's hard, I'm currently applying for loads of jobs and getting zero response, it's soul destroying. Chin up op

I've worked for a number of companies that do this when someone is under 2 years tenure. Lots of reasons have sat behind the decisions, some reasonable and some not. The reason for saying nothing at all is to prevent any possible arguments/appeals/grievances.

Eg If they said your personal problems were impacting on your work and gave examples of needing some time off to see solicitors and appointments at school. You could then argue against this. It has no legal status, they've still done nothing wrong for dismissing you for these reasons, but HR and a line manager could be tied up for hours dealing with the complaint.

It's horrible for you, it's clean for the business.

Yes, unfortunately they can do this, as long as they give you appropriate notice/pay you notice without requiring you in.

My dh lost his job last May, he'd been there 1 year 10 months. They gave him his last month off, still paying him, as per his contract (which he'd refused to sign anyway as there were illegal bits in it that needed changed). There was nothing he could do about it.

We have come to the conclusion there were various reasons for letting him go, one being he wouldn't lie for the business owner, another being they hadn't put GDPR into place and dh would have kept mentioning it, another being the owner's son was being brought in to be an employee and they needed to get rid of someone to bring him in. Everyone else had been there longer than 2 years and apart from the manager, were part time, so the owner would have needed to have got rid of at least two of the other staff. He also hated other men and preferred to employ young, pretty females (the other staff said this) and could be pretty awful towards dh, so dh had wanted out anyway, but it would have been better if he'd managed to find another job first.

I hope you find another job very soon OP.