Employment dismissal

Moonriver99

Hi

I just want to know if there are any rights in regarding employment protection for this girl i know.

Today she was told her contract would not be renewed. She would be let go. Think the contract was three months. The reasons were: absenteeism and then to cover themselves "she wasnt at the standard they expected her to be.

The job was with a recruitment agency. My friend got through all the interviews and was offered a contract of three months and given a starting date. The starting date was delayed through her managers personal issues and she was due to start two weeks later. Unfortnately she came down with an illness and advised absolute two weeks rest. She approached the person who employed her to renegotiate starting date. They just said she had to start after her two weeks off sick and that was it.

She did that. She shadowed someone and did what she was told. Sometimes the manager would tell her she could leave early. She never queried it. She did everything well. There was no clear standard she had to be at. She thought it was all part of the learning process. And there was no hint she waa doing the wrong thing. If she had thought that or being told she was behind standard she would have effectively pulled her socks up. Shes a brilliant worker.

So now she has been let go, they compensated her two weeks which apparently isnt normal. They didnt specifically say the illness was the problem but that her absenteeism(two weeks) was the problem. When she said she couldnt help she was ill and that the company had also set her back two weeks by the managers delay they then jumped and said she wasnt "up to standard."

I know this girl. She is a brilliant worker. But was gotten rid of or not informed in anyway she was not doing the right things. Ive looked up legislation. Apparently employers do not have to give a reason. Is this right. I believe its discriminatory due to illness. But they switch the reasons quickly saying she wasnt doing well.

Any advice would be helpful.

davo10

If she had a fixed term, three month contract, then there is no obligation to renew it. They didn't even need to give her a reason why they weren't renewing it. The UDA does not apply and your friend wasn't discriminated against due to a disability, she doesn't have one, she was just absent for two out of the twelve weeks employed.

zimszimer1

If it's a larger organisation, it might be worth checking her contract of employment or contacting HR department to ask if they have an appeals process in place. If a member of a HR team was already involved a more senior HR rep will be asked to review it. In the interest of fairness, they may hear her out.

Moonriver99

Thank you for the replies. That was what i thought. Unfortunately the rights of an employee are pretty disgraceful imo. I know this girl. She is a great worker. She smashed the interview stages had no experience and beat out people who had loads. Id say something if she missed a target or her performance was bad but she was told to shadow someone apart from missing two weeks to a potential bad illness she worked well. It annoys me because she had no guidance or no notice to do something differently.

It was a big company. And im surprised they treat their employees that way. I bet they lose money by firing genuinely good people that never get the chance to shine. Imagine all the lost money. My friend was not given any indication that anything was wrong.

Anyway i will take your advice and tell her to go to human resource dept. Thank you

Waste of time expecting HR to do anything for her.

She was sick for the first two weeks of a 3 month contract. It's harsh, but they're not doing anything wrong and to be fair, that's exactly the kind of thing HR departments in big companies watch out for!

Your friend may be a 'brilliant worker', but if she left early when it was suggested she could (watch now while people go mental at the mere suggestion this was a bad idea) and didn't actively look for feedback on how she was doing or what she could do better, especially having given such a poor initial impression by going sick, it isn't a surprise that the contract wasn't extended/renewed.

In her shoes, I'd have been early, stayed late, looked always for something else to do that could show how valuable I could be as an employee. Being a brilliant worker is simply NOT enough.

Nothing personal. I'm sure if she's as bright and hard working as you say, she'll be able to take on the lessons and blitz the next probationary contract she gets.

Moonriver99

I understand where you are coming from absolutely but personally its hardly poor impression if you come down with a serious illness. Its not a valid reason for poor performance. I would like to think anyone would have a little bit of humanity cos after all you yourself could be struck down with an illness just like that. But to be fair you wont understand until it happens.

Not that she was bogged down by her illness. She went back before she was even better. Her manager wanted to leave early because he had a new baby. And he delayed her starting date because of that too. She did ask all those relevant questions, what she could do. She is highly competent. Look youll continue on your view until you fall ill or suddenly cant work and then will reverse your decision. Until then, youll think its okay to be treated like that.

Dont worry on the way out of being let go someone saw she was upset. They knew her from a previous meeting.she was a solicitor and said she would see if there was additional work at her firm. Thank god there are people in the world with a compassion.

I guess she has never been let go. Be nice to give compassion

Jim2007

Why was she expecting that the contract would be renewed? Was the position presented as anything other a short term requirement?

Moonriver99

Jim2007 wrote: »

Why was she expecting that the contract would be renewed? Was the position presented as anything other a short term requirement?

Yes, they told her she was going on a training course overseas. But for the first few weeks she would be shadowing the manager and her actual training would take place outside of that office and be over a six week period.

She did four interviews over a one month period before starting. Unfortunately there is not much she can do. They do reserve the right to leave her go without a reason which is unfair but the law.

skallywag

Just to clarify OP, if she was employed on a 3 month contact, and this contract was not renewed, then she was neither 'dismissed' nor 'let go'. Any employer is perfectly within their rights to let such a contract expire without giving any reason. There is no violation of any employee rights associated with this.

I also do not consider such an arrangement as unfair. You learn a great deal about an employee within the first months, as does the employee re the employer, i.e. things which simply cannot be brought out at the interview stage, regardless of the number of interviews. Even in the case of most permanent contracts there is normally an initial probation period, after which either employee or employer can terminate the relationship without justification or a required notice period to be worked.

TheDoc

JayZeus wrote: »

watch now while people go mental at the mere suggestion this was a bad idea
.....

In her shoes, I'd have been early, stayed late, looked always for something else to do that could show how valuable I could be as an employee. Being a brilliant worker is simply NOT enough.

I wouldn't go mental, but if the second part there is what would be required, then I'd suggest your friend dodged a bullet.

All that stuff is a myth imo, and from practical experience just nonsense. I know its a "thing" in certain sectors / careers but its pretty few and far between.

If a company is rating it's employees ability based on posturing and impression rather then actual metrical data, well...

Bandana boy

It is not discriminatory to use data like absenteeism in making a decision
Pretty much every company out there will take a 15% absenteeism rate in your first 3 months as immediate discontinue.

You make a lot of assumptions on how well she performed in her time there. Unless you were there you cannot know that , her Manager made the call that all things considered it was best for the company to walk away. While there is bad managers in every company on the balance of probabilities it is more likely that your friend was not up to expectations for this company.

Good advice would be to learn from it , to do a better job in her next company or expect the same result . I see this with a lot of graduates these days who expect all their training , work day relationships in a new company to be spoon fed to them and when they get feedback that they are taking too long to get up to speed they blame all around them. Take responsibility for your career it is yours not anybody else's.

Or she can make no changes on her side assume the company made a wrong decision and be surprised when the same thing happens again.