Furious at ds work dismissal

[OneGreyBiscuit]

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.

She said they said this was ok. Not uncommon-I've worked with people who were allowed to leave early to catch a bus, and they just lost ten minutes of lunch to balance it out, or didn't have smoke breaks.

Nothing they can do, he doesn't have the qualifying service period for unfair dismissal, likely he was still in probation period

Good point, not everyone can make it as an Influencer or a Global Celebrity, you need a plan B, even showing up on time to a part-time job is a good starting place.

Surely the lesson he learns from this is to turn up to work on time?

Surely?

Oh dear, I wonder if one of his colleagues maybe said not to worry about being late rather than an actual manager.
If anything like this crops up in his future employment, its always good to get consent from the company in writing.
I hope he finds another job soon.

You take on a job that starts at 9am, you are there for 8.55 am , he shouldn't need to be told

So why was he sacked? Just because the person at the next desk tells you it is OK to be late every day it doesn"t mean the actual wage payer agrees?

This is the very rare exception Op, it's not the general rule for any workplace, surely you must know this? Your lax attitude is rubbing off on Ds

Unfortunately your son learnt the hard way, you can’t really expect his employer to put up with him being late every day then going on holiday. At 19 surely he’d have the brains to think after day one I need to get an earlier train?! What about all the other employees can they stroll in late? Does he stay late at the end of the day to make the time up? Can’t believe you’re annoyed with the employer!

I am sorry your DS is upset and that he had a wasted journey, and of course you feel bad for him. I understand that it was hard for him to be dismissed without warning; unfortunately even though it seems they have been harsh, the law is on the employer's side due to your DS short service and there really isn't a lot he can do about it (assuming there is no potential discrimination issue eg a disability making it challenging to get to work).

I get that other workplaces are more tolerant, but different places have different cultures due to various factors such as the nature of work. Ultimately the employer is within their rights to insist on their employee working their contracted hours.

The best thing to do is to help him put this behind him now, not dwell on the anger (many people have bad experiences like this, sadly) and plan for his next job.

And at least he wants to work.

Blimey.

You are furious that your adult son, who was persistently late for work and chose to go on holiday within a month of starting a new job, was dismissed?

And we wonder why so many young people are entitled and struggle to understand accountability and responsibility these days.

It’s rubbish but sounds like an important lesson for him. He’s going to be super early from now on!

It may be they had someone else lined up, or maybe that they were between two candidates, gave it to your DS and on reflection weren’t happy with their choice. Or it could just be they didn’t think it was working so didn’t see the point in keeping training him.

hopefully he’ll find something else soon.

He did get a 2nd chance and a 3rd and 4th etc he had another chance every single time he turned up late.
As for having him come in to be sacked thats standard procedure.
Oh he can take the £17 train fare from the 25+ mins per week that he was paid for work he didn't do

He should have been getting an earlier train, anyway, being late every day isn't a good look and suggests a lack of commitment to the role.

He's been there a month - they can terminate his employment for any reason they like, unless unlawful, unfortunately.

So if you're looking for work/changing jobs, you shouldn't book any holidays on the off chance you find a job and the start date is within x weeks of the holiday?

What is the time frame, btw? Is 6 weeks OK? Two months? Three months?

If you get made redundant and have a holiday booked, do you cancel it even if it means losing money in case you find a job, or should you stay unemployed until afterwards?

I remember being late for the first day of my first job. I was an hour late due to problems with the trains. I apologised profusely and my manager was lovely and said it was fine, not to worry. I didn't take that as permission to rock up late every day.

Maybe that's your son's issue. He took it as they have no issue with him being late. But they were onky fine about the first day and expected him to fibd his feet and make sure it didn't happen again.

If it was in finance, they probably just mentioned this to avoid mentioning more complex issues. Ie his personality just wasn't the right fit (annoying, speaking borderline disrespectfully but not in a clear enough way to document etc) or his performance was not amazing and they think they can do better etc..
If the candidate was super hard working and good in every other way, you'd just tell them they needed to be on time going forwards.

OP says "He is a few minutes late everyday because of the trains and they said they were ok with it."

I presumed "they" meant the person/team who discussed employment terms with him. Sure, if he's going from what Gareth said at the water cooler then fair enough.

If his employer said it was OK and now they're back-pedalling, then it's not OK.
I'd like to know.

I grew up in a village and live in one now, I've come across people who have been able to negotiate slightly different work patterns to accommodate poor public transport.

How is OP's situation different to an agreement that a parent arrive 15 mins late so they can drop their child at childcare?

Turning up late in a finance job.

Silly. Time is money.

He doesn’t need a second change after a few weeks though, they obviously didn’t think we was the right fit. Wether he’s lied or his misunderstood, he opted not to get there early to show willing in a new job and they’ve let him go for it, lesson learned. And honestly at £17 a day for trains maybe it’s for the best for him too. Hopefully he finds something else soon.

It clearly wasn’t ok though.

so he either assumed it was, misunderstood a conversation, or just told his mum that it was fine. But it wasn’t because they specifically what he was sacked for.

It sounds like he was late, mentioned it, was told it was ok and assumed that meant it was ok every day when it wasn’t

I genuinely couldn’t care

The second chance was after he was late the first time, the third when he was late the second... Sounds like he had many chances. Yes, if it happens once, that's ok, the second time he should have started taking an earlier train, not assumed that they'd be ok with this forever.

Clearly, you do, as you responded to my comment.