Lost my job this week

[familyr]

Got a job in Aug 2019 at a tiny family company (< 10 emplyees, no HR department/person). Was advertised as contract but with permanent role/growth for right person and could be PT/FT - in the interview I was asked preference - said PT due to caring responsibilities was preferred but not essential.

Worked PT, then nearly FT during a busy period, then company said they'd go back to previous hours. All fine. In this time I've had about 3 'one to ones', asking how I'm finding things, what I'd like to more of etc. The feedback I've had in these meetings has been good - they like the way I work, nice to have around etc.

New people have come and gone in this time and my contract has been renewed a few times. No longer have caring responsibilities so last year I mentioned I could increase my hours. They were like, 'great', then promptly employed a load more FT people.

My contract was renewed again and I trained up the new FT people. Had a 1-1 a month or so ago - good feedback again.

Then on Monday, got called into a meeting and told they are not going to continue contract as me working PT doesn't work for them. I said in the meeting I was happy to work FT if that's what they wanted but then they said they couldn't afford a FT person right now.

I asked for feedback again and they said they were happy with my work, just not the PT hours.

AIBU to feel like they maybe could have mentioned the hours being an issue before deciding to end my contract or am I expecting too much?

Or, does this sound like it's nothing to do with hours and more that they are just not that in to me (now I've trained all the new people up!).

Well that sucks! I’m sorry OP.

I think either it was a huge misunderstanding (person you mentioned going FT to, promptly forgot, or thought you were just trying to look keen, or something) or they quite like you but you don’t have something they look for in FR permanent employees, whether that’s office culture fit or whatever.

My gut feeling is the PT thing is an excuse and they never intended to make you permanent. I dunno why, could be sexism / general office culture clash / education snobbery / one of a billion things. I once lost a job cos I wasn’t enough of a big drinker 🤣🤷‍♀️

Thanks @Skysblue.

I guess no one who loses their job ever feels happy about it do they, so I'm supposed to feel shit! I've just never 'lost' a job before and the feeling of shame is pretty overwhelming.

The new recruits are all a good 10+ years younger than me, no kids/aging relatives.

Sorry to bump but does anyone know where I stand legally with this?

I've been there for less than 2 years but am being dismissed because I work PT. I'm the only employee being dismissed, and the only PT worker. AFAIK this isn't a redundancy process ie my job isn't 'at risk' , it's definately going, but ultimately, will be replaced by a new FT worker.

I've not been invited to apply for any future FT role.

Have been ruminating all week about this so would be good to know if I'm being ridiculous and should just be thankful I've had work for the last 12 months.

Sorry OP but I strongly suspect you are being dismissed because you are coming up 2 years employment (with notice). Shitty but common.

You need to contact ACAS as I believe it is discrimination and so you can lodge a claim for unfair dismissal even though you have worked there less than 2 years.

The legislation is the Equality Act and The Part Time workers (Prevention of less favourable treatment). The key for you is that the grounds for dismissing you are discriminatory because it is on the basis you work part time. In discrimination cases the two year rule for unfair dismissal does not apply. So lodge an ET1

I would contact ACAS then email your manager/ person who was dismissing you along the lines of - further to meeting on xx when you advised me you were terminating my employment on the basis that I worked part time. As stated at the meeting I am happy to increase my hours to full time. I would appreciate you reconsidering my request to work full time. Please can you provide me a copy of the companies grievance policy.

In the meantime do a time line of when you worked extra hours, when you asked to increase hours, who was recruited and when. Also list all employees and if they work full or pt and if they present as m/f and what jobs they do. Finally look out for any job adverts and make sure you apply for them and also keep a copy of the advert with dates etc.

I meant to say sorry you have been treated so badly.

They are making excuses, they want you out and you being there nearly two years is probably the reason. You could fight it but it probably is futile, the best you can hope for is a glowing reference.

@Margaritatime

You need to contact ACAS as I believe it is discrimination and so you can lodge a claim for unfair dismissal even though you have worked there less than 2 years.

The legislation is the Equality Act and The Part Time workers (Prevention of less favourable treatment). The key for you is that the grounds for dismissing you are discriminatory because it is on the basis you work part time. In discrimination cases the two year rule for unfair dismissal does not apply. So lodge an ET1

I would contact ACAS then email your manager/ person who was dismissing you along the lines of - further to meeting on xx when you advised me you were terminating my employment on the basis that I worked part time. As stated at the meeting I am happy to increase my hours to full time. I would appreciate you reconsidering my request to work full time. Please can you provide me a copy of the companies grievance policy.

In the meantime do a time line of when you worked extra hours, when you asked to increase hours, who was recruited and when. Also list all employees and if they work full or pt and if they present as m/f and what jobs they do. Finally look out for any job adverts and make sure you apply for them and also keep a copy of the advert with dates etc.

Unfortunately while this is all sound advice for permanent workers, as you are a contract worker they have no obligation to renew your contract past the point that your contract legally ends. Hence why they made it a contract in the first place.

It's a shifty thing for them to do, but their reasoning is valid owing to the fact you are working a contract. So they don't even really have to give a reason - just that they aren't renewing your contract.

You can argue until you're blue in the face but it won't do you much good.

Thanks. The thing that worries me is that not extending a contract counts as being dismissed and when I apply for new jobs I'll have to state this. I'm not sure how I can put a positive spin on contract not being renewed after 18 months because I was PT.

The initial contract was for 4 months but was led to believe in interview and subsequent 1-1's that it would be made permanent and the only reason for not doing so was finanacial. It wasn't a FTC to cover a mat leave for example.

Under 2 years you only have a case of being discriminated against for having a protects characteristic. It doesn't sound like you have.

Sorry.

You can explain it simply by saying you were on a contract and the contract came to an end. You know there may be other stuff in the mix but most employers would understand that sometimes contracts don’t get renewed.

@GintyMcGinty

Under 2 years you only have a case of being discriminated against for having a protects characteristic. It doesn't sound like you have.

Sorry.

This is true. Sex is a protected characteristic and PT workers are disproportionately female so there may be something there. Age is also a PC and you mentioned that they have largely employed younger people, do you think that is a factor?

However, once you start a dispute I can't imagine that you could still work there? So regardless of what ACAS says it looks like you are leaving.

I do think age is a factor. I'm not insta-friendly/on brand sadly!

I absolutely have no intention of working there in the future, but I feel that their repeating hiring and firing is unethical. I'm not the first person they've got rid of for spurious reasons (previous was told it was financial but then they recruited a load more people a month later). But they do usually employee recent grads who will not challenge them on their lack of HR/Health & Safety/pretty much any standard that most employers have to adheer to.

I would also say that a contract coming to an end and not being renewed is not classed as a dismissal, providing they have you notice that the contract was not being renewed? So no need to explain/justify a dismissal to a future employer. I know that is little comfort now, but didn’t want you to make the mistake of declaring you had been dismissed on an application form when you haven’t been. Hope you find something else soon

Are you a teacher? I think I read somewhere that not having a contract extended is effectively dismissal for teachers (or I might be talking out of my arse)

I'm in a different industry and would certainly not consider this a dismissal if you applied for a job. I would just put "fixed term contract" on your CV and if they ask why you left, say your contract came to an end.

Not a teacher - it's a marketing agency for a niche industry. I've read too on gov.uk I think that not extending contract is effectively a dismissal. Appreciate it's a technicality but I do feel like I've been fired.

I do have a protected characteristic (depression), athough pretty sure employer doesn't know about it. I was diagnosed after I started and take medication and don't think it affects my work but who knows. It's partly why I work PT but work would not know this.

If work didn't know, they couldn't make adjustments.

They cannot treat you less fairly for working PT. Sounds like you may have a claim for age / sex discrimination.

ACAS first thing Monday. I work for ACAS.

The thing that worries me is that not extending a contract counts as being dismissed and when I apply for new jobs I'll have to state this.

Are you sure? I left my last job when it was being restructured and I was going to have to reapply for essentially my existing job but with longer hours. I wanted to leave anyway, and explained to my boss (who was very supportive and understood that the job I was having to do was virtually impossible) that I thought it would be better to leave then, so I could put "contract came to an end due to restructuring" as a reason for leaving on future job applications. He agreed and thought it was a sensible move. I got a new job soon afterwards and nobody ever asked me anything about the contract coming to an end (and the supportive boss presumably gave me a good reference). I don't understand why you would have to say you were dismissed.

This is what I have read:

www.gov.uk/fixed-term-contracts/renewing-or-ending-a-fixedterm-contract