To think that sacking the Chancellor's media adviser is illegal (just one more reason to despise this Government)

[Livingtothefull]

www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/sajid-javid-dominic-cummings-fires-special-adviser-johnson-brexit-sonia-khan-a9085056.html

I am a line manager and mere mortals like us have to handle a dismissal in an appropriate way:
Invite the individual to a meeting in line with company policy;
Let them know beforehand that dismissal is a possible outcome (though never a foregone conclusion);
Allow them a companion to the meeting;
Let the individual have his/her say and consider this before reaching decision;
If we dismiss, explain the grounds for the dismissal (conduct, capability or whatever);
Allow them the right to appeal the dismissal.

It looks as though none of this was done here; apparently the Government is arrogant and high handed enough to think the law and good practice don't apply to them only the rest of us.

If she has more than 2 years service she has a lot of rights, and may choose to take this to an employment tribunal; in which case she will probably win. And guess whose money will have to be used to compensate her?

I was wondering about this yesterday. Surely people need verbal, written warnings, etc? Though I guess if they say it’s gross misconduct then maybe you can just do this? If a shop worker was caught with the hand in the till they’d be sacked instantly. However you need definite proof.

And I’m not sure being in contact with an ex colleague counts as gross misconduct and apparantly that’s the only evidence that was found on her phone. No evidence that she’d been leaking anything. hope she sues the arse off them.

I expect their contracts are such that this is legal.

Though another example of why we have the worst Prime Minister ever.

Not if it's gross misconduct. Thought I don't know of it was or not.

Surprised you care so much about a Tory SpAd though.

There will be a caveat somewhere.

It will be something along the lines of employment law can be ignored if national security is at risk.

Something like that.

You can dismiss straightaway for gross misconduct but still need to follow due process. What she has done certainly doesn't sound like GM though it depends if there were any rules about this that she was expected to follow.

If it was an unjust sacking then yes I hope she sues; however this means that public money will have to be used to compensate her.

I wondered about this, though I can quite see that leaking confidential material to an ex-boss could well constitute gross misconduct. I'm not sure demanding to see your employee's phone and screaming in their face when they refuse really constitutes the due process that even gross misconduct requires though. I guess, as a pp suggested, there are special clauses in their contracts. Dominic Cummings is a sociopath and wouldn't care anyway. I suspect there will come a day when Sonia Khan is grateful and relieved that being frogmarched from the premises is all that happened to her.

The screaming isnt ok.

But I would assume handing over your phone as and when asked, is definitely something you agree to when doing that job.

She will have signed all sorts of agreements.

She's been there less than two years, she has next to no rights.

She was formerly of the Taxpayers Alliance, and has been a Tory for years. So basically she's pro business and anti workers rights.

Karma.

I hope she sues the arse off them. Fucking Cummings has apparently done this to five people in the last month, four of them women. That bastard seems to think he’s God.

The level of power given to Dominic Cummings, a completely unelected adviser to BJ (who himself was only elected by a few thousand Tory party members) is extremely concerning.

I'm at least glad that Sajid Javid is kicking up some sort of fuss, though that probably means he'll be for the chop sooner rather than later. Dissent is not permitted.

I suppose she's just found how how much that bunch despite you if you're female and from a minority group, no matter how self-hating you are.

OK she is a long time Tory so not a good person.....though the law isn't there to protect only nice people. The issue is not whether I care about her personally.

She may be in her role less than two years however may have continuity of service. BTW it was the Tory government who increased the qualifying period for unfair dismissal from one to two years back in 2012.

I believe this is the fourth young women who's been sacked? Cummings sounds like a grubby little power hungry misogynist. Doesn't matter about her political leanings, it's an unacceptable way to treat anyone.

Boris's team was put together really quickly. It comprises those that Cummings deems useful. All fire and enthusiasm at the start but the cracks are now showing.

It's the Tory cabinet equivalent of Change UK. It will fall apart.

There is also the public humiliation aspect (she was marched out of Downing Street by a police officer); she may have a case based on that alone.

At least when a private company treats one of their employees unjustly, any compensation has to be paid out of company funds rather than taxpayers' money.

Livingtothefull, your OP is just what I was thinking.

And who the hell is Dominic Cummings when it comes to employment matters anyway? Surely this whole thing is a lawsuit in the making – even after the Tories gutted employment laws.

I completely agree the law isn't just there to protect nice people.

I massively dislike Kahn’s politics but believe she has been treated appallingly. She was frogmarched out of the front of the building by an armed police officer. Is that how sackings normally work in Parliament?

It sounds as though she was in contact with an ex-colleague who has differing opinions from Cummings. So now not only do you have to be a fully paid up member of the no deal Brexit club, you are not allowed to speak to anyone who isn’t? Is this some kind of cult? Are Boris, Cummings, Patel, IDS and Farage stock piling a cache of weapons for the inevitable shoot out with the police that happens at the end of cults?

It’s also interesting to note that Cummings has apparently said he’s sick of hearing about gender issues and pay gaps and that 4 women have been sacked for next to nothing since Johnson got in to power. I wonder what his partner thinks about this? Like Rasputin, Cummings will be the undoing of the Johnson government.

Javid and Patel should also watch their backs because no matter how much they try and forget they are first generation Brits and go out of their way to pull up the ladder and prove they’re uber-English, they will be scapegoated and discarded as soon as they’ve outlived their usefulness. Let Khan be a lesson on how women and minorities fair when they get above their station in the eyes of the people they’re desperate to ingratiate themselves with.

I expect their contracts are such that this is legal

I think there’s probably something in this. For instance civil servants can be fired/let go with a change of government even when they’ve done nothing wrong. The new bosses just want their own team. I don’t know any other business where it would be acceptable. Bit like Boris sacking half the cabinet I guess. There must be something in their contracts which say they can be kicked out with no reason.

I think Cummings is the modern day Peter Mandleson, but far, far worse.

She's been there less than two years.

Civil servants can’t be let go with a change of government, they have some of the best job security in the country. They can be moved out of responsible positions but not sacked. Special advisors obviously move with their boss.

Cummings is a tinpot dictator who nobody’s voted for, using Boris as the puppet who legitimises him. It wouldn’t surprise me to see him in court as a traitor at some point in the future

But she may well be an employee of longer standing (albeit in a different role).

She has indeed been treated appallingly; whether the treatment is illegal would need to be determined.

1. Is the person an employee? (PAYE etc or casual worker self employed etc)
2. Even if an employee it sounds like gross misconduct to me justifying immediate dismissal.

What sounds like gross misconduct @Xenia? She was on a salary of around £60k.

This is the explanation given for her being ejected from the premises.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-49526811
But the Met Police issued a statement on Friday confirming that on Thursday night "a police officer stationed at the door of No 10 Downing Street escorted a woman from the front door to exit gates as she did not have a security pass at the time".

Security clearance had been withdrawn from Ms Khan after she had been summoned to a meeting with the prime minister's senior adviser and de facto chief of staff Dominic Cummings.

However:

1. I'm not sure Dominic Cummings gets to withdraw anyone's security clearance;
2. at many employers, losing security clearance would mean someone was redeployed not sacked;
3. I well remember that Call-Me-Dave's comms dir, Andy Coulson, never had high level clearance, thus avoiding the rigorous vetting process. Makes me wonder what level of clearance Dominic Cummings has? And what material he's being allowed to see?

www.theguardian.com/media/2011/jul/20/andy-coulson-security-clearance-checks