Unfair Dismissal?

LegacyUser

Going unregg'd for this. I'll keep it as quick and concise as possible.

Started my contract in June 2015. Probation period of 6 months, which can be extended to 12 months maximum.

At Christmas, my manager told me that all new employees were having probation extended to 9 months as standard; it was nothing to do with my performance and I had no reason to worry.

In March, my manager informed me my performance WAS an issue and they were concerned. I've since improved my performance.

Last week (with our HR person leaving) I found out that the probation period is a maximum of 12 months and my probation was extended at Christmas due to performance issues. HR person absolutely disagreed that I could have been told the story above.

My manager since met with me and said she was trying not to demotivate me, which is why she was not truthful in the Christmas meeting about the reason for probation extension. Nobody else had theirs extended either.

Question: As I've been lied to over my performance and my probation extension, do I have any sort of recourse if the company decide not to pass my probation at the end of May?

Nody

Not really, no. Most rights only kick in after 2 years.

_Brian

Start looking for a new job.
You'll have no comeback at all under two years.
You don't mention of there Is a solid paper trail regarding what was between you and your manager but honestly you admit above your performance wasn't good enough.

Look for a new job and put in good performance from day one.

Understand that sometimes weak managers don't like to face hard conversations, be mindful of this.

screamer

Very grey area. If your performance was the issue why did she lie? If it was the problem then she should have helped to put a performance improvement plan in place with milestones for you to achieve. You can certainly make a complaint but as someone else said it's shaky ground.
Did they extend again at the end of the 9 months if not it's more difficult to get rid of you after 10 months.
TBH sounds like a bad company I'd be looking around.

the_syco

They're keeping you on probation (on paper), blaming your bad performance (on paper), with verbal warnings that you can't back up.

IMO, you should start looking for a new job.

Irish_Elect_Eng

As others have mentioned, sounds like your manager is not comfortable with conflict and was just hoping for the best, that you would improve on your own, which was not likely if you thought that everything was Ok.

And they are correct, there is nothing you can do really in relation to the lack of feedback, any confusion or even if they were lying. Unfortunate, but during probation, they don't need to even try hard to make up a reason for letting you go. :-(

This really comes down to a simple question:

Do you want to (or have to) stay in the job?

If yes, then you have 3 months to convince your manager and HR that you can make the grade by bringing your performance up to expectations. To do this you will need to work with both HR and your manager to set a goal that they will be happy with.

If not, then start your job search. You can probably do better with a manager that has the confidence to give direct and actionable feedback.

factnee

I'm very concerned at some of the earlier posts here -they are completely wrong. The unfair dismissals legislation applies after 1 year of service, not 2 years as a couple of other posters have stated.

So if you are still in employment in June and they decide to dismiss you without following procedure, you will have a valid case for unfair dismissal and could be awarded up to 2 years salary.

livedadream

Nody wrote: »

Not really, no. Most rights only kick in after 2 years.

incorrect, Unfair dismissals kicks in as you put it after 12 months continuous service.