Any rights here?

[summertimesadness24]

I work for a charity, in my second year of a FTC which gets renewed annually

Manager is saying things like ' not everyone will be getting their contracts re newed' and we as a team feel a bit unsettled

Contracts are up April but he is saying he is recruiting for 5 more roles in another breath ( we think looking at not renewing 3 of us )

Reasons are: face doesn't fit, one is sick a lot ( has lots of ongoing headaches) and the other cannot get to work on time ever - so he's asked us all to now get in the office for 8:45 MINIMUM

Question is can he actually not renew people but then recruit? He says he can and funding doesn't work like that - so he can potentially do what he wants?

I'm pregnant so pretty sure I don't fall into that category and also I'm not late and my works generally good! So I think I'm ok but I'm concerned for my colleagues

Everyone has been there more than 2 years but I don't
Think that means anything?

Is it worth them joining a union?

Thanks for reading x

Non-renewal of a fixed term contract is a dismissal. Any employee with more than 2 years service may have a claim for unfair dismissal. Your manager needs to follow a proper process regardless of whether he is taking on more people.

So can he decide if he doesn't want to renew someone just because' their face doesn't fit'
What would be the reason for the dismissal and what process ?

I think you have misunderstood what that poster was saying - they were saying no, he can't just dismiss someone because their face doesn't fit. He needs to follow a proper process

I'm surprised to hear that tbh as though FTC contractors didn't have many rights

I'm confused by the whole thing tbh
I'm just concerned about the toxic environment of saying that some may not be getting their contracts re newed and blaming funding but yet is recruiting more people
It makes no sense to me

I was asking what the proper process would be ? So could he simply say he's not renewing the contract as the FTC has come to an end? Is what I mean - is that good enough reason?

It depends what you mean by funding. This happens at my organisation because roles are normally tied to a specific funding stream/project. If that comes to an end (and the person has been there more than two years), we go through the redundancy process based on the fact that their role is redundant because they have no more funding. They're always offered the chance to apply for other open roles though.

This is similar that the funding is for that person for 1 year FTC
So scenario 1 was someone started who left 6 months into their role - they weren't replaced
' as there was no funding '
Manager has said some people will be leaving yet is on a huge recruitment

He just wants different people and I'm sure he will get away with it

If he doesn't want someone there why would they want to stay and fight a unfair dismissal

And there aren't any other roles just the exact same job titles so I don't think the people here are safe

If the role ceased to exist, it would be a redundancy situation and he could simply not renew the contract, although he would have to give them statutory redundancy pay. However, as he intends to take on more staff, redundancy is inappropriate unless the new staff are doing a different job.

If he simply says he is not renewing the contract and it isn't a redundancy situation, that is a dismissal, and the employee may be able to claim unfair dismissal. He needs to have a fair reason for dismissal ("face doesn't fit" is not a fair reason, but persistent lateness and excessive time off sick can be) and follow a fair process (inform the employee of the issue in writing, meet them to discuss and, in most cases, give them a chance to improve before making the final decision).

@prh47bridge thank you, and thanks everyone
It's slightly more reassuring then I did feel
Makes much more sense now thank you