Blummin assholes...dp's notice.

[Shiraz]

My partner has been having probs with his employers for months now (since sept). He sent in a grievance last month to which a HR Manager for another business franchise of the whole group dealt with. She sided with dp's two directors (as she has been known to do before) and recieved a letter on xmas eve to say his grievance has failed and to appeal within 5 days...which we couldnt do as were away and the office was not open until 2nd jan (she didnt really even bother looking into it and said it was all about wages..which it wasnt) and it IS bad....acas and cab advised him he has a case for constructive dismissal.

Dp was told back in December that his notice period was 4 weeks (by the directors of the business franchise he works for).

He went into hand his notice today..they took away his company mobile and told him his notice requirement is now only one week! And his company car is due back on Tuesday but will not give him his money yet or even a date he will recieve it, and he is not to turn in for work over the next week either.

The person who dealt with his grievance has apparently said he is only entitled to a weeks notice (EVEN THOUGH SHE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS PARTICULAR COMPANY)...which leaves us in the shite..as we needed the money to purchase a vehicle as we live in the middle of nowhere with no transport links...how can they be such arseholes. This is the reason dp handed in his 4 weeks notice as the money would atleast get us a vehicle so i could get a full time job to su[pport us until somethng comes up for him.

We've had to survive on £600 or less a month as they were slashing his wages for no reason...KNOBS!! We are 3 months behind on the rent, have had an electric meter fitted...our oil tank is leaking so we have no heating and cannot afford to fill it..i went out 2 weeks before xmas and got a xmas job which pays for the food but that ends in two weeks..not sure i can get there after this week though..it's such a mess.

And i cannot cope anymore..i'm trying not to cry infront of my little girl who was 2 yesterday. And i feel like such a failure...dp has worked bloody hard for them over the past 19 months (they poached him from a very stable job) and hard all his life to get where he is supposed to be...i feel so crap.....i keep shouting at him as i know it's not his fault.

But i think he should ring the head office and expalin to then what this franchise are doing...

Get your DP to see a solicitor or the citizens advice. They can't change his notice period like that... yes his HO probably do need to be informed but I'd get legal advice first.

Good luck x

This is automatic wrongful dismissal as they have failed to give him his contractual notice. He should seek the assistance of an employment solicitor immediately as he will be able to put in a claim to the employment tribunal for wrongful dismissal.

You're not a failure, you're gettinga dvice and being proactive in a situation which is not of your making.

Dh was wrongfully dismissed a few years ago, and one of the worst things for me (bar the financials obviously- I was a few weeks of being due with ds3) was the fact that I was powerless, it was having such an effect on my life but there was nothing I could do.

My DH was still on 'trial period' so we couldn't touch tnhem for the dismissal (he was a cat person they ahd wanted a fog eprson- in an RAC recovery type set up. WTF?) but we DID get them on wrongful witholding of wages as they refused to pay him his notice.

I would get the CAB to arrange a solicitor for you and go from there, that's what we did and we recovered every penny. You may well find (as we did) that they back down sharpish when the letter turns up, but be prepared for problems too (they used to send me threatening letters about how they were going to sue ME for made up reasons, I never even met or spoke to them).

Go for it and get your money. Then put these evil people behind you and smile at yourselves for having the strength to do it.

(Turned out DH's company had been doing this to people for years- hire for a busy period then sack, only paying them a low trial term wage. We were the only ones who ever took action. Go us!)

Shiraz - I posted on your other thread (probably would have been more fitting here). Having been in similar situations myself the absolute worst feeling is loss of control. As hard as it feels you need to fight back to regain the sense of control.

And of course you'll be down about this. Give yourself some slack, its allowed.

That's really awful. I agree with the other poster that he needs professional advice. On top of any constructive dismissal claim that you have already received advice about, he is likley to have a claim for wrongful dismissal and should be able to recoup the money he should have received during the contractual notice period (plus pay in lieu of other benefits such as company car).

I know that this sounds a pain, but he's going to need to put in a grievance about it before submitting the tribunal claim. He needs to ensure that he follows the Dispute Resolution Procedures. See www.dti.gov.uk/er/resolvingdisputes.htm As there are strict time restrictions, I'd advise him to get advice sooner rather than later, particularly for the constructive dismissal claim (and check whether he needs to submit a grievance in relation to that too). The rules allow him to submit a grievance after the contract has ended.