Sacked for taking parental leave

[Chloujo]

Hi, thanks in advance for any advice given.

I have been in my job for 9 months now and I phoned in as my son has not been well and I couldn't get childcare. My manager hung up on me so I sent a text also. They are extremely short staffed at the moment so I understand her frustration.

Later in the day she phoned me to sack me, iterating that it wasn't due to being off but due to my performance and not being a good fit with the team.

However, I passed probation and have had praise on my work before. This is the first I've heard of any issues with my work so no previous warnings or anything like that.

I have to serve my notice which is not going to be fun 🙄.

I'm wondering if it's worth pursuing legal advice? I have no proof whatsoever that it is due to taking leave.

But they would have prove your performance was not meeting expectations?

Sounds dodgy as fuck. They can't sack you for taking emergency leave to care for dependents, although they don't have to pay you and would expect you to solve the issue for the next day. So either they should have already put you on a PIP for being unreliable, or they have never mentioned anything and are happy so far in which case they can't just sack you.

As you’ve been there less than a year, you can’t claim unfair dismissal. But you may be able to claim discrimination in that they’ve sacked you because you’re a mother of children. I’d suggest calling ACAS in the first instance.

https://www.gov.uk/time-off-for-dependants
.Read through this carefully then call ACAS, as they shouldn't sack you for taking the time off in an emergency.

Sadly they can still sack you without fair reason as you've only been employed for 9 months. This is one area the government has promised to change, but the bill isn't in place yet.

Being a parent isn’t a protected characteristic, unless DC is disabled, then I believe that offers extra protection.

Its also two years service needed for full rights, unless dismissal is a breach of the Equality Act or for enforcing a statutory right.

Might be wrongful dismissal if they haven’t followed their disciplinary procedure even though you haven’t worked there for two years. If they haven’t followed the correct ACAS Code of Practice I believe you can claim an additional 25% from them.

DO NOT HAND IN YOUR RESIGNATION! You want them to fire you. Try and get her to confirm in email that she’s firing you due to your performance and not because you were off.

Look out your contract and any procedures they have so you can find out what they haven’t done that they should have. Keep your emails brief and open-ended which will give them the opportunity to implicate themselves.

Oh, and ACAS!!!

You have been there less than 2 years, sadly there is nothing you can do.

Do you want to work your notice? It's odd to be sacked for poor performance and then be expected to work, and a huge risk for them to have you around with access to systems etc still.

you can be sacked without protection for first two years

Have there been any other absences? Was it for a day or longer?

I didn't think you worked your notice if sacked??

Why do people answer on these threads if they are not lawyers? Half of these responses are incorrect.

Sorry to hear this! There is some good advice here for under two years, it sounds like you can claim unfair dismissal as it relates to parental leave.
https://pregnantthenscrewed.com/unfair-dismissal/
I think they also have a helpline. Good luck!

I thought parental leave was to enable parents to plan in advance, unpaid leave in blocks of 1 week. Phoning in the day of absence is not parental leave. Perhaps dependent absence - a short time to sort out care. If you have never taken time off before, being dismissed seems harsh.

Not sure what legal recourse you think you have. Within two years’ service they can let you go except on discriminatory grounds. What is the policy for emergency carers’ absence, did you follow it? It is not parental leave as that needs to be booked in advance.

If you are female, this could be classed as indirect discrimination and you can make a claim. Absolutely go to ACAS for advice. You can then appeal the dismissal and see if you can get a settlement out of them. I think realistically they are not the employer for you so I wouldn’t advise you try to get reinstated.

I think any tribunal would see beyond any doubt that this was someone simply not wanting to accommodate your emergency leave. Its actually called time off for dependents (not parental leave, which is a planned event) . Emergency time off for dependents is a statutory right. Please ring acas for advice. You can take them to tribunal. Lots of managers do not realise this is a statutory right. So you would have a automatic unfair dismissal because the employer has breached your statutory right.

Would someone believe their story that you are sacked for performance reasons? No!!!
You passed probation.
The first you heard of your performance and poor fit was after you asked for emergency time off.
You had no meeting to discuss performance or fit, you had no one to accompany you. This would again be automatic unfair dismissal if you had 2 years service, but i have a feeling this could also be discrimination on the basis of a protected characteristic... Your sex (you are a mum, the burden of emergency childcare tends to fall on women).

so please please ask for advice from acas 0300 123 1100. I think this could be automatically unfair dismissal, and also discrimination, they will know for sure, and they talk you through it all, its not hard, and there is a time limit of three months less one day , so do it asap. It doesnt cost anything. This injustice stinks! You could receive a high level of compensation for the automatic unfair dismissal, the discrimination and the deceit involved.

I was refused emergency time off, which i appealed, but i wasnt sacked, so this is how i know all of this. Acas were very helpful. I got everything ready to take it to tribunal, just gathered information. It took 3 months but they acknowledged they had made a dreadful mistake (they only caved because they knew i had everything lined up for tribunal.).

Im so sorry, its very upsetting, but please do speak to acas who can help you. Once you have spoken to acas, you may even be able to ring hr and tell them what acas have advised, and you might get your job back (theres been an awful mistake, that manager should not have said that) as they should have a pretty good idea of what amounts tribunal will involve........ and it would be much cheaper to keep you on staff and not be publicly ridiculed for their behaviour.

It sounds like you've taken dependant emergency leave rather than parental leave.

Being sacked for taking such leave is a category of "automatically unfair dismissal", meaning you don't need the usual two years' service.

You say you don't have proof but (1) the reason they gave you for dismissal (performance and fit) doesn't really stack up given you've passed your probationary period and received praise; and (2) the proximity of you taking the leave and then being dismissed is very suspicious.

There's some more information from ACAS here - www.acas.org.uk/time-off-for-dependants.

I'd call them tomorrow. And maybe see if you can speak to an employment lawyer on an initial free call.

Its automatic unfair dismissal if you have suffered a detriment for asserting a statutory right (requesting emergency time off for dependents). This is from day one of employment, no minimum two years service required.

Sorry, ive just seen the bit where you are working your notice.........despite being sacked. Please ring acas.

I see a lot of posters have given you bad advice. This must affect so many women....... So i think its important for us all to know our rights. These are authoritative and reliable sources below

https://workingfamilies.org.uk/articles/time-off-for-dependants-leave/

https://www.acas.org.uk/time-off-for-dependants

Yes, this will be another indicator to anyone scrutinising that OPs performance cannot be that bad or they would be walking her out straightaway! Its also a sigh that they trust her!!

That’s good news!

I’ve always been told nothing you can do..

I know! And this is the legal board.

People just hear ‘you can be sacked for no reason if you have less than 2 years’ service’ and regurgitate it, with no knowledge of how unfair dismissal clams actually work. There’s a whole long list of automatically unfair reasons for dismissal.

Thank you very much for all your advice. Lots to think about here. It's highly suspect that they're suddenly so concerned about my performance but want me to carry on working another month. I'll start the job hunt then contact acas. I believe I have 3 months to action a claim.

Edit : yes, it was dependent leave not parental leave. Got my terms mixed up 😅