Re sacked and not told

[autieawesome]

My dd has worked for kfc since she was 16. Started on a 0 hour contract, worked part time for 2 years then once she started uni she did seasonal work (holidays only) she has been doing that for past three years so has worked their 5 years in total. She didn't work at Easter due to being on holiday. She has contacted kfc to work this summer and the new manager (who has never met her) says she's not on the system. She checked on hmrc website and they ended her contract 5th April. Are kfc allowed to cancel her contract with no notice or reason? They haven't contacted her at all.

There has been some change in law re zero contract hours and this happened to my son. Fortunately his manager at the gym he works was the same manager and knew to issue the new contract to him.

It’s common for this to happen with zero hours contracts, if you don’t work for a certain length of time (should have been specified in her employment contract or possibly a side letter). Otherwise the employer incurs payroll costs for someone not doing any work. There are employer costs associated with having an employee on the payroll, even if not earning.

Find out whether she was actually sacked or the reason for having her employment terminated. She shouldn’t have been took off the system without notice but it might just be a miscommunication and they’ll rehire.

At some places, seasonal employees don’t have the same rules as other employees re working times - I work for a competitor and we have plenty of employees who only work summer and Christmas.

Is it a franchise or not? Ask to speak to the business manager or franchise manager.

It is a franchise , business manager is a good shout. Manager has ignored her emails.

What does it say in her employment contract? I know @ToughAndDurable is telling you what you want to hear, but it isn’t correct. There is nothing wrong with what they have done, if laid out in her T&Cs of employment.

If large employers didn’t do this, they would end up with hundreds of employees who aren’t actually doing any work for them.

I'll need to ask her about contract hopefully she will have it on her email

Which part was incorrect? Terminating without notice?

If she wants to work there again could she not reapply? She should have had a p60 if she worked there at all in 2022/23 financial year. Under gdpr her details would be removed after a time of inactivity. Even if they had formally terminated her contract she is not owed anything.

@autieawesome just ask her to email

this is on the gov website - You have the right to ask for a written statement from your employer giving the reasons why you’ve been dismissed if you’re an employee and have completed 2 years’ service (1 year if you started before 6 April 2012).
Your employer must supply the statement within 14 days of you asking for it.

Excellent thank you

Yes . She can reapply but she had a job and a agreement (possibly informal) to work holidays only.

Confusingly, the gov.U.K. guidance uses “dismissal” to mean being terminated for poor performance/redundancy etc,( i.e. not including the natural end of the contract), whereas ACAS use it to mean your contract ending for any reason.

In this case, it’s likely that the contract has naturally ended, due to inactivity. This is a similar circumstance to a fixed-term contract: the employee knows at the start of employment that the contract will end at a certain point. The employer is not required to follow any additional process but, as a PP says, the employee should have received a P60 at the end of the tax year.