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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Furious at ds work dismissal

958 replies

OneGreyBiscuit · 03/08/2026 14:29

This is more has my 19 year old ds employers been unreasonable. He's just been sacked for being unreliable. For context - he accepted a new job about a month ago. He informed them of where he lives which is about a forty minute train journey away. He is a few minutes late everyday because of the trains and they said they were ok with it. He's just come off holiday (which he informed them of) and went back today. He was sent an email before today telling him to get an earlier train so he's on time. Fair enough, so he did and would've continued doing. At 9 he was called into a meeting to tell him his contracts been terminated for unreliability. He was only informed of getting an earlier train from today, so how can they dismiss him like this? If he continued to get the later train and continued being late then I'd understand but they've not even given him a chance. I'm absolutely furious. And to add insult to injury he still had to pay for his waste of time and money train fare this morning.

OP posts:
ElfAndSafetyBored · 03/08/2026 14:32

Someone else might know better but I think he needs to call ACAS and ask for advice.

JustAnotherWhinger · 03/08/2026 14:32

You can’t seriously be surprised that they weren’t ok with a new start being late every single day.

He should have been getting the earlier train from day 1.

Hercules12 · 03/08/2026 14:32

It’s a good lesson for him. You really can’t be late every day for work and shouldn’t need your employer to tell you to catch earlier train. I’d tell him this.

HermioneWeasley · 03/08/2026 14:32

I’m sorry, it a tough lesson for your son, but yes given his length of service they can dismiss him for this and in this way. They do need to pay his notice though which will be at least a week or more if his contract specifies

HRHCurmudgeon · 03/08/2026 14:32

Unfortunately, he can be dismissed for any reason during probation. If he’s consistently been late and taken holiday within a month, I can see why they made the decision - not saying it’s fair and they’ve behaved poorly but they haven’t broken any employment laws.

InQuiresandplaceswheretheysing · 03/08/2026 14:32

Surely he should have been getting an earlier train from the start.

PrayForPlagues · 03/08/2026 14:32

Why on earth did he have to be told to get an earlier train so he’d be on time? That’s what he should’ve been doing from the start!

MauriceTheMussel · 03/08/2026 14:32

“He was only informed of getting an earlier train from today”

That alone means YABU. He should have the initiative to get an earlier train from day 1 to not be late. He’s not 5; he shouldn’t even have to be told.

Potooooooooes · 03/08/2026 14:33

If he was able to get an earlier train today why was he not already doing so? I know they said they were ok with him arriving late every day, but if he didn't get this in writing he's stuffed.

Next time he needs to be at work at the correct time. Even if this means hanging around beforehand each day.

AlisonPi · 03/08/2026 14:34

How dim is he, Exactly? If he can’t figure out he needs to get an earlier train, I guess he wasn’t much good at his job either, so they let him go.

Savvysix1984 · 03/08/2026 14:34

He should’ve always got the earlier train. I’m surprised he wasn’t pulled up on it before. It’s a tough lesson on not taking the piss.

stackhead · 03/08/2026 14:34

Did they agree in writing the later start time? If not, and there was an earlier train available then chalk it up as a good life lesson.

Boreded · 03/08/2026 14:34

He should have been getting an earlier train. He was late every day. He shouldn’t need to be told to get an earlier train.

FFS 🤦‍♀️

NotThoseKindOfEggs · 03/08/2026 14:34

Unless there is a disability, your son’s employers were within their rights to dismiss him without a more formal or lengthy process. It is a harsh lesson, but I’m sure he’ll learn from this and I wish him well in his next role.

pastadish · 03/08/2026 14:35

Did he not think to get an earlier train himself so he’d actually arrive on time?
Did you mention to him that he should get an earlier train ?
This is quite strange that he’d need to be told what train to get so he’s not late for work

OneGreyBiscuit · 03/08/2026 14:35

He told me that they were ok with him being a few minutes late as they were fully aware he gets the train, if they had a problem, they should've told him the first week and not say it was ok.

OP posts:
Bearbookagainandagain · 03/08/2026 14:35

I thought getting to work on time was a given...

Why did he need to be told to take an earlier train?
Why didn't you tell him to take an earlier train?

ilovesooty · 03/08/2026 14:36

After such short length of service they can dismiss him for any reason as long as it doesn't involve a protected characteristic. Not having the initiative to employ strategies to get there on time was evidently something they didn't want to accommodate.

CountBinfaceForPM · 03/08/2026 14:36

Did they really tell him it was OK? Or is that what he is telling you?

TheOctopus · 03/08/2026 14:36

You can't rock up to work late every day. It's really not the employers responsibility to be concerned about how a member of staff travels to work.

JustAnotherWhinger · 03/08/2026 14:36

OneGreyBiscuit · 03/08/2026 14:35

He told me that they were ok with him being a few minutes late as they were fully aware he gets the train, if they had a problem, they should've told him the first week and not say it was ok.

There is no chance they told him it was ok to be late every single day. None at all.

He is an adult going to work, he shouldn’t have needed to be told to get the train that gets him there on time.

ColdAsAWitches · 03/08/2026 14:36

OneGreyBiscuit · 03/08/2026 14:35

He told me that they were ok with him being a few minutes late as they were fully aware he gets the train, if they had a problem, they should've told him the first week and not say it was ok.

I suspect his version of them saying they were ok with it us very different to their version. Either way, he's only a month into the job, he's pretty much got no rights.

Ponderingwindow · 03/08/2026 14:37

I am highly skeptical that your son’s employer told him that he could arrive late intentionally every single shift. It is more likely they said they would be understanding if the train schedule was running behind occasionally.

ToKittyornottoKitty · 03/08/2026 14:37

Was he staying a few minutes late every day to make up for being late? If there’s an earlier train why didn’t he just get that anyway rather than declaring from the start that he’d be late?

mrsneville · 03/08/2026 14:37

This is just a life lesson surely

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