Just been sacked for the first time ever after a funeral

[PrueD]

On Monday I was at a funeral and yesterday I was off on compassionate leave. When I returned today the director sacked me. Been there 9 months.

Before now, I hadn’t been made aware of any issues in my one to ones, the last one being a week and a half ago. I had told my manager a month ago about my terminally ill relative. It was harder to work at my usual capacity at this time but I was still doing a good job on important projects. The main problem I had was they kept piling on more work on top of existing work.

I said I would’ve liked the chance to address any issues and they said they don’t have capacity to support and that’s it. I’m in shock, having an awful week as it is.

Firstly I'm so very sorry for your loss.

It is cruel and heartless to sack you in the same week as your nan/stand-in mum's funeral.

Karma will get them, but that doesn't help you right now.

Many years ago I was sacked after 2 months for one typo. The reality was they just didn't think my face fitted, the office bitch didn't like me but they all liked her. She found every way to trip me up, including not telling me one morning that the directors father had just died before I went sailing into his office all cheerful. Obviously she told them she'd told me.

And they were a company that didn't know exactly what staff they wanted....they hired me to be an office manager and set up processes, then decided they'd actually just wanted an admin person.

They hired and fired just to try people out. 3 people were sacked on the spot in the two months I was there. Messed with people's lives. It had serious financial repercussions for me that had a knock on effect for many years.

But karma won, 3 months later office bitch got sacked and 2 years later the company had folded.

So hang onto that thought.

I am sure when your original manager comes back from maternity she is not going to be pleased that her mat cover sacked you.

Dust yourself down, look for other jobs and describe this one as a temporary contract, "it came to an end when a project was concluded". Which it was, you just didn't know that at the outset.

How do I explain why I’m leaving at new interviews?

That's horrendous.

Do they have a high staff turnover.

I'm sure you feel like crap, honestly, you're better off out of the place, overworked, extra work piling on, high expectation, no compassion.

I'm sorry for your loss. 💐

Talk to ACAS anyway, although you can be let go before 2 years they have to follow their processes and it doesn’t sound like they did. If nothing else ACAS may be able to negotiate an agreed reference.

Could you contact your previous employer? They may not have filled your role yet...
good luck, when one door shuts and another opens.

Unfortunately this is the case. You aren't able to seek a claim for unfair or constructive dismissal, but you can potentially look into wrongful dismissal which is valid at any point in your employment.

It's more a case of has the employer followed the correct procedure in dismissing you.

Sorry you're having such a shit week OP. If they can get rid of you this quickly, then they're not the type of employer you really want to be working for.

Id approach your previous company to ask for a reference, as you said they were pleased with your work - so they should give you a decent reference.

Going forward if anyone asks say you were let go as others were during your time there & people weren't replaced and it was all rather unpleasant - that's honest & what has happened.

Exactly. Full employment rights aren't attained until an employee has two years' continuous service with their employer. However, all employees have some rights from day one of employment - so an employer can't discriminate against an employee on the basis of any of the nine protected characteristics (defined in the Equality Act 2010) and nor can they dismiss an employee for a reason that's "automatically unfair". From what the OP has told us I can't see her basic rights have been breached, but it's always worth having a chat with Citizens Advice as an adviser will explore the OP's circumstances fully and may flush out something the former employee hasn't realised.

They hired you for that project delivery and now that’s done, you’re surplus to requirements

they did it before, right?

it’s cheaper than hiring a contractor probably

I understand you.
I helped my mum nurse my dear gran until she died last year. She was my absolute world.
It is bollocks to have a blanket system that rewards more leave and care if it’s a parent, spouse or child. I know many who are closer to aunts, cousins or even godparents than an actual direct bloodline relative. Each case is unique.
Take care of yourself OP. This is a horribly vulnerable time.

Probably too late now, but could you ask to resign instead?

I'd suggest finding a way to word your reply that indicates it was an issue with your employer, not you.

i.e. "Unfortunately it transpired they weren't a great company to work for so I'm looking for something that is a better fit."

Thankfully I did ask for this before leaving and got a good reference from my previous manager.

@Notgivenuphope yes the funeral this week and now the reality of being sacked is starting to kick in.

thank you for understanding.

I’m really sorry about your job situation, but also about your loss of your grandparent. What an awful time. Just came to say although it feels like you’re in the thick of it today, and dealing with a big shock on top of your grief, something better will come along as a work opportunity. Unfortunately being in a role less than 2 years they can just let you go. They have to put a reason in writing, but more than likely it’s not at all to do with the quality of your work (even if it says it is). Take their reason with a pinch of salt. The same thing happened to my husband a few years ago after 6 months in a role. He was so upset and it really knocked his confidence, but it was absolutely nothing to do with his capability or him as a person. He was a very highly valued employee at other companies before that role, and has been successful and valued at every employer since…. And you know what, you will be too. Please don’t let this knock your confidence or take it too personally. Some companies / managers are arseholes, and honestly who wants to work for them? Take time to rest, be kind to yourself after the loss of your relative & I’m sure another much better opportunity will be around the corner. Sounds like a huge cliche, but it’s usually true. It feels like a sucker punch at the time, but better days are coming.

I'm so sorry, some employers are totally immoral.
Although the law is supposed to change soon, there is no recourse to unfair dismissal unless you can show you were sacked due to a protected characteristic. I would say you have nothing to lose by talking to ACAS. The service is free and they are super helpful and know the law.
They do have to pay your contractual notice period I believe.
Post a truthful review on glassdoor.com.
It may not feel like it now, but you are probably better off out of there in the long term.

You don’t have the service for an unfair dismissal claim. Unless there was any discrimination you’re limited really to wrongful dismissal (If they’ve not followed a fair process) but if you’ve had your notice pay you’re unlikely to get anything from such a claim

Sorry for your loss

If the reference is inaccurate ('‘This decision follows a thorough review of your performance and overall suitability for your role.’) then they are on potentially dodgy ground. It might be worth getting some legal advice, sometime home insurance includes this, or ACAS for general pointers on poor references.

And her old employer may also be happy to have her back if they have a vacancy - it's certainly worth her getting in touch with them just to check.

It’s a thorough review I wasn’t privy to. It was never raised in one to ones or in writing.

if you can dismissed like this without a fair process it doesn’t seem correct at all.

I'm sorry you've lost your DGM.

It doesn't remove the absolute ball ache of job searching and paying the bills in the meantime, but this screams of being a Them Problem not a You Problem. Don't tie yourself up in knots trying to figure out what you did wrong or trying to prove their reasons wrong: there are no answers to this because they've made up something vague and wishy washy as they can't say you're fired with no explanation and won't want to share the real reason.

Given they haven't replaced the other woman and the large increase in your workload rather than employ another person there too, my money is on the business struggling. In those cases it is always either the most well-paid employee (provided they haven't been there too long, necessitating a large settlement of course. This usually proves foolish as that pay was given due to a wealth of experience that turns out to be carrying the department IME...) or, because there are no legal complications, those with less than 2 years service.

My curiosity would get the better of me, and I'd be watching to see if your post gets advertised.

So basically an equal to your mum.

There’s going to be a lot more of these dismals in the next few weeks. Employers costs are going up and it’s easier to get rid of people like the op rather than people who have been there years and will have rights and redundancy pay.
Sorry op it’s probably nothing whatsoever to do with your performance.

Employer sounds awful, you might have had a lucky escape. Sorry it happened to you and sorry about your gran too. Good luck finding a new job.

It’s poor practice, but you have no recourse. Some ruthless companies even do it deliberately to aid recruitment, since more people apply for ‘permanent’ roles than short ones.