Husband been let go from job. 1 weeks notice. Blindsided.

[Gluteustothemaximus40]

So my husband got a new job 3 months ago, but a weird place to work, for a family run business.

Said the job was 3 month probation then the money would increase. Position was assistant manager.

No signs at all that there were any issues.

Anyway, today, the day after the 3 month probation, the boss says he has to let him go. Says he isn’t aggressive enough with sales and a bunch of other shit. None of which is true.

so he has a week. We have to find another job in a week or we are fucked for paying mortgage and bills and food and just being alive. I have a full time job.

this has never happened to us all our lives. We have worked for companies since we were both 16 (now 40s and 50s) and neither of us have ever been fired or given one weeks notice anywhere. This is alien to us.

so, is this even legal? He never had a contract, everything was verbal.

he didn’t do anything wrong, no gross misconduct, in fact he was early by half hour every day, worked hard, sold, did everything asked and more, and yet here we are.

I’m torn between crying, as financially we are so fucked and I want to throw up, and being angry at the cunts who have done this.

A really horrible situation for you and DH, sadly it's not unusual especially in SMEs when they start worrying about money. Still it's no real help knowing many others are in the same boat.

Apply for Universal Credit and speak to your mortgage lenders about it, they deal with this day in day out and will have a system of breaks etc until you get back on your feet. Talk to others like utilities too to see if they have any easy payment options just in case.

Also try the agencies, some have really interesting well paid work and a lot of companies use them for acquiring perm staff too going from temp to perm. Some pay weekly too if you want it, that can be such a help when the wages dry up.

Best of luck to him on his job search and I hope it turns out well and he's back in work in no time.

It sounds a bit like an adult version of the thing where some restaurants etc. keep getting a different poor teenager in for a "trial shift" every weekend, have them washing up or running backwards and forwards for hours, then never actually pay them afterwards, the "job" they thought they were trying out for fails to materialise and the next week, the place has some other poor muggins in working for free instead... What's the betting they have some other underpaid poor sod in for the next 3 months working their backside off on a promise of "jam tomorrow", and then get rid of him/her too? Getting a proper contract would have been a good start, but at least he'll be warned for next time...

No, it's day one. But it's a "piggy back claim" - you can't bring it as a claim in its own right.

I was also thinking the same. Good luck with the job hunt op. This will be a blessing in disguise one day.

This is small companies for you. I would never work for another as they can screw you over and there isn't much you can do. I now work for large soulless businesses but they're run kind of well and they don't usually pull this kind of shit.

Even though it would not have helped in this situation, why was he working without a contract? That should have set off alarm bells. Was he even paying tax?

Christmas temp workers are being recruited now so he should be able to pick up something relatively quickly but January and February are often the quieter months, so securing employment for those months will be trickier.

Apply for UC today.

NI is going up so employers will have to lose staff.
It’s nothing personal but it’s cheaper to get rid of your husband who has just started, than a more experienced staff member who will need to be paid redundancy.

So with the contract thing it was promised but never materialized. The sister of the boss was HR and she even said the other week she was working on DHs contract. We were so pleased as it meant probation must be done. So really no warning at all.

Can you sell something unimportant like an expensive watch or a personal number plate to generate cash to get breathing space

gotta love mumsnet there you go OP go sell that personalised number plate that’s taking up space on your car.

Hopefully this will be a blessing in disguise for you, do look for temporary Christmas work and it might even work out for something longer term. It will also get the crappy horrible people job off the top of his CV. be honest, if he has any stats that prove his sales use them and say that he prefers a gentle, professional approach and these were the results but he was at odds with the hard sell ethos of the company.

He can also I sister they pay him 7 days holiday if he hasn't taken any - might help a bit

This happened to me at a family run business. I think they can be really clicky, it's awful.

Yes make sure he asks for any holiday pay and get on the phone to ACAS. Was it cash in hand or paid by bank?

Once all clear I’d be leaving as many public reviews as possible. Trustpilot, Google, Facebook, anywhere they are listed.

Go on to Turn2us and do a benefits check to see if you are eligible for Universal Credit. If you are, even if it’s a low amount, do that today as there’s a built in 5 week wait for money. Tell your mortgage lender and ask for a payment holiday - they will usually agree with this. This gives you some breathing space. If you are likely to find it difficult to cover any other bills let them know - better for you to approach them before they send out the red letters.

I'm sorry it's come as a shock, it's unusual ever to work without a contract so he mustn't do that again, but he could still be let go for any reason within 2 years. Emplpyment protection only applies for longer term employees, because some people turn out not to be any good at a particular role. Can he go back to a previous employer? Or contact old managers and colleagues who have moved on and might be able to get him in? If he's in his 40s then he must have over 20 years worth of employment contacts to call upon.

Until the government changes the law employees have almost no legal rights for the first 2 years of employment.

Temp agencies are probably the quickest way to find something.

Sorry to hear this.

yes it’s legal unless he can prove he was dismissed for an automatically unfair reason or discriminated against

he should have had a contract but it would not necessarily have stopped this from being the outcome.

fingers crossed he’ll get something else soon.

It's a shitty, shitty way to be treated OP and it's the mark of a poor employer, so he really is better off.
Lot's of great advice from other posters and I would add get your husband to treat getting a job, as "his job", for the time being. By that I mean, let it take his time and energy from 9-5pm but after that, down tools refocus on something else.
Easier said than done when you're both worried, but he'll just feel worse still frantically searching at 11pm at night. He can start fresh the next morning and it's reassuring to feel one has a plan at a time of uncertainty.
You both sound like grafters, so I'm sure it will just a matter of time! Good luck!!

Thank you everyone, your posts have really helped. Today is his normal day off as he works on weekend, so he is making calls and getting on with the job hunt. Yes, holiday pay accrued should help a bit. I really do hope this is one of them look back situations and be glad.

I agree with pp join employment agencies and get temp work to bridge the gap.

Something very similar happened to me only I’d been in the job for 20 years. I found a new job within a couple of weeks which as it turned out was vastly better than my previous one. It was in a different area and one I’d never thought I’d end up in but I love it and it’s more money too! I’m sure your husband will pick up something. Remember where one door closes another one opens.

You can get UC for six months if you have more than 2 years recent national insurance contributions. This is regardless of household income, it becomes means tested after that. He needs to sign on and say he has been let go. You then at least get some money and your national insurance contributions covered whilst he job hunts. It absolutely sucks but it sounds like a less than great company in the first place.

A contract would have made no difference, as currently you can be let go for no reason at all in the first two years.

And I bet it is budget related, seen so many articles on the news websites saying that each employee is now costing the business over 1k a year more for NI and increased wages

Good luck with the job hunt

Happens a lot. Talk to your mortgage people see if they can arrange a freeze on payments say fir 3 months as they might not want to do longer. Any DD payments call provider to arrange a different plan short term. The most important thing is to maintain contact with your creditors. Hopefully a temp job now whilst looking for employment will get you through this.

OK so this is really shit for you both, OP, and I totally get it, cos I've been there. If I were you and DH here's what I'd do:

1. Immediately put in a claim for Universal Credit

2. Sit and go through bills, what do you pay vs what do you NEED to pay (for example, if you're paying £150 on your gas and electric but you're in credit, ask for the credit to be refunded to you)

3. Ring mortgage company if you have a mortgage, explain the situation, ask what your options are. I was made redundant with barely any pay, and I was given a 6 month payment holiday, which saved my life

4. Drop down things like food shopping to the bare minimum, if you can. Go through cupboards, make a meal plan with the food you have in. Aim to use up things before replacing, as much as you can, so if you've got 6 tins of soup, that's 6 lunches you don't need to buy this week

5. If you have some money you can spare for a couple of weeks, and you/DH don't have any addictive personality issues, look at Matched Betting. It's tax free earnings, and as long as you're following step by step from Outplayed or Oddsmonkey, which tells you what to do, you will make a few hundred pounds quickly. Definitely research this properly and read up etc before starting to make sure you're comfortable with it though