Partner sacked without notice, fair?

[Gooooo]

He's been there just under 2 years, I think a week under 2 years, unfortunately.
It's a zero hours contract he's on but he did have a contract which stated if he wanted holidays/to resign etc. He needed to give notice.
He's also way past his probation period.
Anyway he's been told today he's fired. Understandably he's gutted, what I want to know is are they allowed to fire with immediate effect?
There was no gross misconduct, they were just unhappy with his performance.
We've got bills to pay as has everybody and my salary isn't that high.
They expect notice from employees but doesn't seem to work both ways .

I’m not talking about giving them hours. I’m talking about the legal requirement to serve them notice if they are an employee. You don’t know what you’re talking about and you are embarrassing yourself. Go read the employment rights act instead of making stuff up.

It depends on his contract and status not really that it's zero hours. If it's a casual contract no notice is needed, if it's an employee contract they need to give notice. You need a copy of the contract, they should give him one if he asks. The fact they did it a week before his 2 year service would suggest to me it may be an employee contract so notice is needed. Are you sure they're not intending to pay his notice period rather than have him work it? What does the letter from them say?

Correct

To work out notice period pay, they should do a weekly average based on his previous 52 (working) weeks pay.

How can that possibly be correct. It’s zero hours!

I am aware of adding on notice to make two years.

We're not sure of his employment status tbh. I'm not confident enough to state that he is definitely an employee rather than a worker. As you know, that is a complex area of employment law.

In all practicality, they can also just stop giving him shifts. You know this.

OP - as we can't go fully into the ins and outs, do seek some further advice from someone who can go through your partner's situation in detail.

And if you don’t believe me @Coldspringtime here it is in black and white. Even if they serve notice and don’t give him any hours it will affect the termination date, which will be of relevance if it takes an employee over 2 years’ service

employment rights act section 86 and 97

OP please talk to ACAS

This.

Either he's persistently been a poor performer who's been given chances and now they've got rid of him before the 2 year rule makes it a lot more difficult.

Or they're a poor employer who uses the two year rule and other advantages they can gain in employment law to their benefit wherever they can. The fact he's on a zero hours contract without any apparent benefit to him is a bit of a red flag here too. Good employers don't take advantage of their employees or hold all the power in this way.

How many hours a week has he typically worked over the last two years? What chance does he have of getting another job elsewhere? What sort of work is it?

There are a lot of people who don't understand zero hours. Yes the company doesn't have to offer you hours but they still need to give statutory holiday and pay, it's worked out the same as notice pay, see above. Get a copy of the contract and call ACAS, don't come here, too many people don't understand how this area works hon.

This is one of the many problems with a zero hours contract - his notice is literally zero hours, so they are within their rights to do this. Nothing he can do except look for another job.

Under two years they can terminate you at any time. Sadly this is completely legal

You are totally and utterly missing rhe point. It’s bewildering. Sure they need to give notice. What point is there to that. It’s zero bloody hours.

he maybe entitled to holiday pay but it depends on hours worked and holiday taken.

Not necessarily. It does make it easier, but not always as easy as many think.

Our employee handbook has a Short Service paragraph in it which requires even staff that have been here less than 2 years to go through a disciplinary hearing or a right to appeal, depending on the reason for dismissal.

We're looking to get rid of a poorly performing staff member at the moment and are having to hold a disciplinary. If we don't, they could make a claim for wrongful dismissal.

I doubt this is the first he is hearing about poor performance. Its likely they have had meetings etc to give him notice to improve.

OP listen to @ChocSaltyBalls and @Baabaa75 . They know what they are talking about. Lots of other posters are not correct and not understanding the law.

And do you not see the difference between dismissing an employee who has more than 2 year’s service compare to one that has less than?

Because if he goes over two years service it gives him rights against unfair dismissal...

https://www.acas.org.uk/zero-hours-contracts

Of course it does. It doesn’t give him a right to any hours though.

he can get dismissed and not claim unfair dismissal if he hasn't been there 2 years. Only if there's discrimination can you claim anything if you are dismissed prior to 2 years.

also only on mumsnet does everyone immediately think the employee is at fault. I have had the misfortune to work for employers who deliberately keep an eye on how long someone has worked and then fire them before the 2 years are up 'because they can without penalty'. If they are not 100% sure about someone, employers do this. They may need to cut costs, they may just not 100% like someone but that doesn't mean there would have been any indication beforehand that the person was going to lose their job. And more often than not, employers will say it's poor performance because it immediately puts you on the backfoot!

It's always a risk when you've been somewhere less than 2 years unfortunately. But definitely check how much leave he has owing to him as they must pay that out. Also if there was a notice period in his contract, they should officially give notice even if they give him zero hours in that time.

As many people have said, if he is an employee, the one week’s statutory notice he would be entitled to may mean that he has the 2 years’ service required to claim unfair dismissal.

And while it doesn’t seem relevant here, I would point out that discrimination is not the only time you can claim unfair dismissal if you have less than 2 years’ - there’s a whole long list of them in the Employment Rights Act 1996.

No, but do you think the threat of an unfair dismissal finding at tribunal would prompt the employer to make some notice payment? Or that an award for unfair dismissal at tribunal would be more than zero?

yes though they largely fall under the banner of discrimination (if not breach of contract/automatically unfair)

it's really important you read his contract carefully re the notice period - or as others have suggested ask ACAS (some employment lawyers will also give you a first appointment for free if you look for someone local)

It's not because the notice period may take him over 2 years at which point he has statutory rights.

Talk to ACAS @Gooooo https://www.acas.org.uk/

I agree with other posters - you need to check whether stat notice would have put him over the two year mark, and how the letter is actually worded.

Forget what/whether he would actually have worked any hours in the period. That's a massive red-herring right now (although, even that might not be as cut and dried as other posters would like to have you believe, depending on what his working pattern has been like over the last 2 years).

I also do this for a living. We do sometimes terminate like this, but it's usually in the first few weeks when it's clear they're not working out.

I would always advise against it with someone so close to the 2 year mark, because there's too much scope for ifs, ands and buts which could open a whole can of worms.