Sacked without a reason.

[Atmywitsend29]

DH started working for a small, local and brand new business in our village. Full time, he worked hard, never had a complaint from a customer.

He turned up for work Thursday and was told he had been sacked. Immediate dismissal. No notice. No warning. And he has still been given no reason as to why! He asked and was told he'd receive an email, he never received an email. And was removed from the group messaging moments after being told he'd been sacked.

DH didn't have a contract, the business owners were "working on it" (business only been open 3 weeks, DH been working there since just before opening).
Which I know means there's nothing he can do.

Not really sure I have an AIBU now I've typed this out (I already know it probably would BU to march down there and demand they tell me why they've done this to a man with kids, a month before Christmas, a week after their late payment of his wages caused us to miss rent) but more of a stark warning really.... Never ever ever ever work for someone without signing a contract. No matter how nice they make themselves seem.

Unfortunately he took a risk moving from an established role to an unproven business. There may be financial issues or his approach did not fit but either way it is perfectly legal to let h8m go, as ling as they pay him for work to date, minimum week's notice and the odd day or two of annual leave he should have accrued. Hope he finds something else soon.

That’s shit. And a poor idea in a village when word gets out.

I know it’s just before Christmas but hopefully that will work in your favour. There’s lots of seasonal work about even if just some babysitting or something. Good luck up.

In something of a shock, they have tonight paid him for the full week, as they said they would. Despite him only working two days this week before they sacked him.
A happy surprise.

Well at least this week is paid.. hopefully next week he will get work.

Late payment of wages may be a clue; owners have a major financial problem they don't want revealed to/gossiped about in the local community. Maybe their bank/ backer has pulled out or something.

I’m so sorry to hear this.
Would you feel comfortable sharing roughly which area you’re in? Many of us may be aware of jobs local to us…. For example, I’m just outside Edinburgh, and currently recruiting to two admin, and one receptionist role. Start before Xmas, if someone was available.

frustrating as it is, chasing for a days holiday pay could be unbelievably stressful, and time might be better spent searching for a new role.

As PPs have said, if no cash is the reason behind the dismissal, you won't get very far - and it won't help put DH in good frame of mind for job hunting.

Glad to see that they honoured the promise of pay to the end of the week, and best wishes for DH finding another role.

seems odd that they are paying salaries weekly TBH - monthly would seem more normal.

He won't be chasing them for holiday pay, he doesn't see the point and I support him in that.
He's received an email claiming they've received some feedback which led to his dismissal but can't disclose it to him because it's confidential. I said to him I'm pretty sure that's not how confidentiality works.

Just chalking it up to a shitty experience, we definitely won't be spending our money with them again, and neither will any of our friends that live in the village. Good luck to them, as many have pointed out in this thread the actions they've taken are unlikely to make them popular in a little village!

He's going to chase up the agency tomorrow, and we've done an entitled to calculator and would be able to claim a little to help us get by if we get to that point.

Thank you all again for your comments and well wishes

When the first furlough period was due to end the company I was working for (MARSTONS) got rid of thousands of employees who had been with them for less than 2 years. It was terms "termination of contract" and was perfectly legal. 3 days later furlough was extended so they could have kept us on but chose not to.

Its shit but there is nothing you can do about it. I spoke to ACAS who had taken a lot of calls from people who had been binned off by various companies in that way and they confirmed that it was shit but....get over it.

Marstons is a massive company going for years so I thought I was safe, goes to show.

@colourfulpuddles

A contract wouldn’t have made a jot of difference.

An employee under 2 years service can be fired for any reason (including no reason, barring discrimination of course).

exactly

@Atmywitsend29

I've always worked jobs with a pre agreed probationary period, and a contractual notice period. For example my probation is 6 months, my notice period is a week (for me and the company) until I complete my probation, and then it's 1 month for me and for the company. Personally it seems completely outrageous that a company can just sack someone on the spot, not give them notice or reason, and they could have been a loyal hard working employee for 18 months!

They can do it anytime up to 2 yrs!

The only two reasons they can't are due to disability or discrimination.

The late payment of wages should have set alarm bells ringing. Giving up a steady job is always risky even if you don't like the job. Especially just before Christmas.

Hopefully your husband will find something soon. Thankfully there are lots of job vacancies available at the moment, so he might at least be able to get something soon. Having a contract or probationary period isn't a guarantee of continuous employment though up until 2 yrs. I'd tell him to avoid start-ups or tiny village new businesses. I hope he finds somewhere soon.

I must say though that the fact that they have sent the email stating a made up reason rather than the legally allowed "termination of contract" or even a "You didnt pass probabtion" suggests that they havent got a fucking clue what they are doing. I rather suspect that their HR specialist is Google. As shit as it is now, I am sure that he will get another position asap and long term you will see this as a bullet dodged. I feel sorry for the poor bugger they have replaced him with as they will soon be facing the same issue.

@Aprilx

You need to stop saying and thinking that he didn’t have a contract. He absolutely had a contract and he had a contract from the moment the position was offered and accepted.

A piece of paper is evidence of the employment contract and of course evidence is good to have, but he was still employed and still had a contract.

That said, as employees can be dismissed at any point during the first two years (except for certain circumstances) there isn’t a whole lot that can be done. But he is entitled to notice, not getting the proper notice means that it becomes “wrongful dismissal” (as opposed to unfair dismissal). Without the evidence of a contract saying anything to the contrary, I would assume statutory notice periods would apply, which would maybe be a weeks notice and pay (it depends on how long he was there). Not much, but something I would make sure I got.

None of that applies as he'd worked there less than a month.

Maybe ask around the village given new start up business financially unviable someone might give him a handful & something to tide him over

@PyongyangKipperbang

I must say though that the fact that they have sent the email stating a made up reason rather than the legally allowed "termination of contract" or even a "You didnt pass probabtion" suggests that they havent got a fucking clue what they are doing. I rather suspect that their HR specialist is Google. As shit as it is now, I am sure that he will get another position asap and long term you will see this as a bullet dodged. I feel sorry for the poor bugger they have replaced him with as they will soon be facing the same issue.

I completely agree with this tbh.

Bit of a shitty update, he's been unsuccessful in any applications made, according to indeed he's usually one of 50/100 applicants, the agency he signed on to are faffing with his paperwork currently where they've had a massive intake.
Rent will be paid by draining my bank and using my overdraft.
And we shall be eating tinned beans for Christmas dinner this year.
I wish I'd done the Christmas food shop already tbh, or at least got the bits needed to do some baking. But, such is life I suppose. We make the best of what we have.

Have you done an entitled to calculation to see if you can get any universal credit?

Have you a local food bank? Families like yours are exactly the reason i donate. Pleae do contact them.

We did a calculation online for universal credit, but didn't apply because we expected him to find work quicker and easier than this.

I don't want to ask a food bank, I know they get lots more people in need over Christmas, people in much worse situations than us. We have food to get by, there won't be anything extra over Christmas, no Christmas dinner, no treats, but we can feed our son and that's what matters really.
And will do our best to make sure Santa gets his mince pie and carrot for the reindeer.

He could start in an agency its not ideal but as ots coming up to xmas agencies will be crying out for staff to the run up to as and some pay weekly pay

If you have a car, I keep getting adverts for Amazon Flex. Delivering for them, just not in a van. Royal Mail still has adverts up in my local sorting office for Christmas staff as well.

I don’t know where you live but the supermarkets are hiring for Xmas delivery drivers over £10 an hour which is great for a temp job

Pretty much every retail business will be looking for people this time of year. Usually bars / restaurants / hotels as well but things are still a bit all over the place for them. Royal Mail also usually take on a load of folk in the run up to Christmas - presumably all the other delivery companies do too.

Also get him to sign up with every agency going. All the agencies will say to only stick with one or two, but I've been out of work a couple of times and got it sorted fairly quickly by going in to every agency I could find.