Partner suspended from work so I am too?

[Blueskyturtle]

After some advice, my partner has been suspended from work, in our opinion unfairly but either way it doesn’t matter really. I also work on a zero hours contract for the same company, although I do the same hours week in week out and have to book time off, so should probably be contracted but that’s a whole other issue. I have now had a call from our boss asking me not to attend work whilst the investigation is underway, and not to contact any colleagues, I asked if I would be paid or not and for this to be put in writing to me. I’ve now had an email to confirm this and it states I won’t be paid. I’ve worked there 18months doing the same hours week in week out. I know they don’t have to offer me hours as I’m on a zero hours contract, but to drop me like this because of my partners situation, is that legal? It certainly feels like they are trying to victimise/ harass us? To top it off they run a chain of public facilities which our daughters attend regularly, and i have been told i cannot attend even at an alternative venue despite things being prepaid and then accepting I am innocent and in no way being disciplined. I’ve been to citizens advice but not got an appointment for a week. Anyone in the know able to offer advice in the meantime?

Call ACAS

Sorry this is happening to you.

Can you say why he's been suspended - it must be something very serious. Is there police involvement?

Thank you I’m calling ACAS on Monday.

I’d rather not say exactly, just incase anyone is lurking, you never know. Its definitely not something the police will be involved in at all. It’s something that is common practice, within the industry, and the company itself, in fact the boss that called me is guilty of it himself. There were certainly other options available rather than suspension, I also think they have sat on this for a major piece of work to be completed by my partner last week, so really they were happy for work to continue as normal the last few weeks despite knowing this so no danger for other staff or the organisation etc.

Yes, this is sometimes necessary, if the presence of a relative could prejudice the investigation of another employee's disciplinary situation and there is no way to get around it.

Usually, you would expect a suspension to be paid, but if you are on a zero hours contract, they may well say that they have no obligation to offer you work, so your usual contracted hours are zero, even though you have commonly been working X hours.

Unfortunately, as you have only been working there 18 months, you don't have any rights to claim anything such as constructive dismissal, and they haven't actually dismissed you, so they don't owe you anything either.

Unless someone comes along with any other ingenious laws that I can't think of, I think they are within their rights to do this and there isn't much you can do about it, sorry.

Thanks Lougle, it wasn’t what I wanted to hear but best to know.
Do you know How long do you have to do the same hours for, for it to be seen as not just a casual basis?
Can you give examples of how I might be seen to prejudice an investigation please? I know it’s tricky not knowing the full context.

I don't think there is a straightforward answer to your first question. Many zero hours employees value the flexibility and would be very upset if they did the same hours for a period of time and then were suddenly told that this meant they had converted to a fixed hours contract.

As for your second question, an example would be where you work in the same place and you might hear information that could get back to your partner which would help him/her mount their defence or avoid the efforts of the investigating officer/team.

Unfortunately "zero hour" contracts often don't give rights against unfair dismissal so I doubt it'd cover suspension and there isn't likely to be any obligation for them to pay you in the meantime.

There is no obligation for your contract to become a permanent one regardless of how long you have been doing set hours, you would have to apply for the position if a permanent one came up or be offered the job outright with a new contract.

I agree with PP about your presence being a potential for prejudice. There are guidelines and protocols that need to be followed to the letter during investigations, even a quick discussion in the staff room with a co-worker could potentially cause issues depending on what was shared or overheard. Unfortunately your presence may be making people uncomfortable (depending on the reason for investigation) which may also be another reason.

I suppose i’ll Just have to suck it up then, life lesson learnt. It’s just adding pressure to get it sorted quickly as our income is down even though my partner is on full pay. Although to be honest I can’t see me going back to this job afterwards anyway so it doesn’t really matter, I can start looking for work immediately.
Out of interest if you are needed on a regular basis, and that requirement is unlikely to change for any reason like seasonal work etc, it is definitely all year round work with no fluctuations would you be able to request a contract after a certain period? I ask as some staff in the same role have a contract from the previous owner, say for 12 hours but actually work 16 hours as they have taken on additional hours under the new employer but the new employer won’t offer contracts for this particular role. If I was doing a similar rope in the future with a new employer I would now want to ensure i was contracted. I’ve been in the industry 20 years and never had a problem, sometimes in contracts droles and sometimes on a zero hours basis depending on my circumstances at the time, but want to make sure protect myself in future.

No they are not under any legal obligation to offer you a permanent contract. All you can argue is that you have become permanent due to custom and practice. It’s similar to the argument that the delivery drivers have used to get holiday pay etc when they are “self employed “.

Unfortunately this is the problem with zero hour contracts- you have no real rights 😬

”I do the same hours week in week out and have to book time off”

This is your argument- that if you do exactly the same hours week in week out, and don’t in practice have the right to refuse to work those hours other than if you book the time off, then by custom and practice your terms and conditions are now that those are your contractual hours. If they would require you to book those hours off, then they are saying those are your regular hours, and by the same token, if they want to suspend you, they should be paying you.

I think you have to start looking for another job, OP. I had a similar situation many years ago, it bloody sucks when you’ve done nothing wrong and you’re simply tarred with guilt by association. Ex-h was suspended from his work at a completely separate venue to where I worked, same chain. They suspended me too because ‘reasons’ on full pay though so I couldn’t really complain. They later fired ex, and while they didn’t fire me, the parent company made my work life difficult in a thousand little ways and the promotion ladder was effectively blocked to me. It was not enough to claim constructive dismissal but in the end I had to leave because I was going nowhere with my ex’s wrongdoing hanging over me.

"This is your argument- that if you do exactly the same hours week in week out, and don’t in practice have the right to refuse to work those hours other than if you book the time off, then by custom and practice your terms and conditions are now that those are your contractual hours. If they would require you to book those hours off, then they are saying those are your regular hours, and by the same token, if they want to suspend you, they should be paying you."

I totally see flowery's argument here. Be aware, though, that if you have only 18 months' service with them, they could well turn around and say "Quite right, sorry. Here's your pay and we're terminating your contract." Because they don't need to justify their reasons before 2 years service (unless they are discriminatory).

”Be aware, though, that if you have only 18 months' service with them, they could well turn around and say "Quite right, sorry. Here's your pay and we're terminating your contract." Because they don't need to justify their reasons before 2 years service (unless they are discriminatory).”

Very true!

What would make it discriminatory?

Discriminatory would be because of your gender, or a disability or the colour of your skin etc,

Right now you're under two years, they can terminate at any time, unless doscrimatory which it appears this is not, and you are on zero hours, so really I'm sorry you've no case here.

”so really I'm sorry you've no case here.”

Hang on, she absolutely does have a case. She hasn’t been dismissed and there’s no indication she will be. All she wants is to be paid for her suspension. Which as those are her regular consistent hours, she has every right to be. If they refuse, she has a potential case for breach of contract/non payment of wages.

Yes, technically they could dismiss her. But if she’s a good worker, why would they? It’s a risk, but it’s wrong to say she has no case.

This sounds awful. Presumably you and your partner will want this to be dealt with quickly, so you can resume earning again. I'd focus on that. Maybe one of the organisations like acas/cab can help. It's worth checking whether you can get legal advice through employee benefits or one of your insurance policies or bank accounts. Money saving expert may have other ideas too.

Regarding your daughters' pre-paid activities. If they refuse that your daughters attend, I think they should offer a refund. I expect your daughters want to continue attending though. Can someone else take them, or can you drop them off outside the building so they enter themselves?
It's awful to be treated unfairly by your employer. Hopefully you can look for something else, and find a better job elsewhere. There's no reason not to look.

Sounds exactly like my DH's workplace. Are you them?? Will deffo show my DH

DH is the manager, and the male concerned was caught on CCTV stealing 10s of thousands of pounds, using it on very expensive holidays abroad, concerts abroad etc despite him and his partner being on low incomes/part time roles. He claims it was an 'error' no mate, I saw the CCTV and I don't work there. You stole clear as day.

His partner was questioned and claims no knowledge, no knowledge at all of where all this money for holidays suddenly came from, yeah right. And she doesn't want any correspondence to her address because he only stays there 'sometimes', no darling, he doesn't, maybe make your social media private but alas too late.

To anyone reading this, don't be sympathetic as there's too sides to every story as people don't get suspended for no reason and the 'victim' is always 'unfairly treated'.

aperson no that’s really not me, thanks though 🙄

APerson people get suspended for no reason all the time and are most often allowed back to work on everything had been cleared up. If the situation you are spouting off about is a case currently under investigation where criminal charges have been/are about to be brought you might want to consider not compromising that case by not broadcasting it all over public forums. Also, not entirely sure about current data protection laws in the U.K. but cctv footage was certainly considered protected data when I lived there and, since you don’t work at that place, your DH might find himself in trouble for contravening privacy laws by allowing you to see it.