Could this be classed as unfair dismissal.

[Tropical68]

Just wondering. If a 17 YO apprentice, is told they haven’t passed probation and they need to leave. They haven’t actually finished their probation yet, but they late to work today. But they said it’s because of her attendance. She did lose her nan who she lived with recently. It was unexpected and they woke up to her and she had to give her cpr so she has been through a lot and that’s the reason she had some time off.

Btw other than that, no particular issues with the way they worked and did the job.

No, they can let her go any time within first 2 years without a reason.

Google suggests they would have needed to be employed for 2 years first, so I don’t think so.

I see. Thanks for the info. I didn’t know if there was some sort of thing to protect apprentices but I guess not

No, they have less than 2 years service so cannot bring a claim. Plus there appears to be a fair reason i.e. lateness and poor attendance during their probation

Sadly no protection.

however consider it a blessing in disguise that they aren’t going to be employed by people who have no compassion towards a 17yo woke up to find their grandparent and have to try to provide CPR to them and watched them die.

Apprenticeships are slightly different. They need to notify their learning provider that they have been dismissed (the employer may already have done this). There is then a 30 day "grace" period in the funding rules to allow the apprentice to find a new employer who wants to take the apprenticeship on. After this time, there is an allowable 3 month break in learning period to continue looking for a new employer, but during this time the apprentice will not attend with the learning provider. After this time, the apprenticeship will have to end.

Apprenticeship learning providers are usually very keen to continue apprenticeships if possible, so the learner in question here should contact their college/learning provider in the first instance for assistance.

It depends on the type of apprenticeship they're on. If they are on an Apprenticeship Agreement, they can be terminated for any legal reason prior to 2 years full employment, just like any other employee.

However if they are under a Contract of Apprenticeship, they have additional rights and protections and can only be dismissed prior to the end of their apprenticeship in very limited circumstances. If they are dismissed outside these circumstances, they can claim for loss of earnings up to their apprenticeship end date.

Dig out the contract and find out which one it is, that'll give you more clarity.

You have some good advice about contracts on a pp. Did your 17 year old communicate what had happened with their nan? Most employers would be very accommodating in this scenario so it feels as if there is something that doesn’t add up. Attendance can absolutely be a reason to not pass a standard probation period, are they consistently late? You say no particular issues which suggests there might be some?

are there other apprentices at the company? Can they discuss with Hr?

Just to add, currently unfair dismissal within two years standard employment will be for very limited scenarios related to discrimination. So I doubt there would be a case if the contract is apprentice specific

There are different protections in place for some apprentices, depending on the type of apprenticeship they're on. If they're on a COA, sacking them almost always means paying out their full contract for the term of their apprenticeship.

My bad I missed out the ‘not’ in my final sentence!!! Agree it all comes down to the type of contract

This site could really do with an edit function! I refered to my partner as a him and a her by accident in a thread earlier today, MN must think I'm a bisexual bigamist 😂

It is extremely unlikely that a young person is employed under a contract of apprenticeship, as this does not attract ESFA funding or is covered by the Levy...

Did they follow appropriate absence procedures? I doubt one or two incidents lead to dismissal on their own but realistically unfair dismissal would not apply even during privation or apprenticeship within two years service unless there was a protected characteristic cited.

It does! Just click the three dots at the top of your post and click edit.

It doesn't here :-(

You only get 5 mins.

The edit function is only there for a short time after you post.