I was fired!..unfair dismissal?

BossArky

Yes indeedy, to fund my studenty recreational activites I had been working in a chipper/pizzeria down the road for the past 2 1/2 months. I went into claim me pay there last Friday and my supervisor brought me aside and said: "Marcus..I've got some bad news for you...you served the Boss a pizza the other day and you undercharged him for it by 20p so I have to sack you".
My inital reaction was what the ****?!!?!...then I almost laughed in his face..him trying to be all grave and me not giving a ****. Anyway, I was wondering if that is legal or not...I want to sue the *******s now...cos I'm still owed money and tax...and I think that 20p is not a particularly sackable offence....like it was an accident....this guy only comes into the chipper every few weeks..it's not as if he knows me...and I always was fairly friendly, etc to customers.......I think I have a case for unfair dismissal...do I?

When I graduate I'm going to buy the place and sell it to the Arabs. That'll teach them.

SantaHoe

ROFL
Sacked for under-charging by 20p?!
Sounds to me like they were using it as an excuse to get rid of you.
Either that, or they're a shower of scabby wànkers.
I'm not at all sure about the legal side of it, but I can see why you're not taking it lying down.

WhiteWashMan

go in and cause a scene during their peak hours. while holding a conversation with the manager say very loudly how unfair it was that you were sacked for 20p and that you would really like your money and p45.
if they still dont give you your stuff back, then tell them that you are willing to persue legal proceedings.
make it clear that you will not stop.

of course youll prolly be chucked out, but there you go...

C B

i Think (i could be wrong) hat in a case like this you are entitled to one verbal and one written warning before you are sacked.

So sue the ba$tards

LoLth

being a student aren't you entitled to free legal aid?

Consulting a solicitor would be handy and would give weight to your argument.

But yeah, sounds like an unfair dismissal. No warning, no reprimand just "get out".. not even any protective notice!

"do not meddle in hte affairs of students for they are.. well.. lazy and couldn't really give a ****..."

ok, that doesn't work

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Gavin

Don't go in a and make a bloody show of yourself. That will be pretty detrimental to your case.

Go to a solicitor, most SU's will have one for students. Get a soliciters letter sent to them. That will get them moving.

Gav

Bard

Let me get this straight. It's a chipper. You're a student. There's no contract involved, and you're not a member of a trade union.

As far as I can see, "Legs to stand on" = none.

Advice? Chalk it down to experience and move on.

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[This message has been edited by Bard (edited 13-12-2000).]

LoLth

True, I would agree that it is a "move on" situation but,

no leg to stand on? depends,

If he was paying tax, then the chipper was paying PRSI and making a PAYE contribution. Under employee legislation every employee (official that is) is guaranteed a certain amount of consideration in how they are treated. The fact that it is a chipper and that the employee is a student doesn't make any difference, he was still an employee, part time or otherwise. So the employer is bound by law to act in a certain way toward his staff (is sexual harrassment ok because the employee is a student? Or perhaps paying below the minimum wage would be ok?).

However, this assumes that tax was being paid and that the employer had registered the employee.

If not, then while "unfair dismissal" wouldn't be the case, illegal employment could be quoted. An illegal employee would have no insurance or social contributions. If anything goes wrong the employee has no comeback, even if injured. To take on illegal staff (ie. not to register them and to avoid paying PRSI etc) *is* an offence. And the employee , of course, doesn't get a P45 or P60.

In either case, legal proceedings can be drawn out and are not guaranteed success.

So the big question is, "Is it worth the effort?"

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Loomer

I had a situation before where my ex-employer were slack about returning my P45. Go to the tax man and tell them and they will send an inspector who will do a complete review of there accounts which no company would look forward to, also if you werent paying tax you could make an anonymous tip to the tax man - just as satisfying as a brick through the window

Chameleon

What chipper was it? i'm in ul. You are definitely entitled to be paid for work done no matter what but if you aren't tax registered threaten them with reporting them and they'll soon cough up.

LegacyUser

R just go and work th streets the pay good at christmass.

kayos

Well believe me you cann't sue them over your dismissal until your there one year sort of thing there is another way around it and I forget what it is but it never brings much joy. If they are holding out on your P45 pay a visit to your local tax man. Also make sure what they put on your P45 is right if your earned 200 make sure they didn't put down 600 as happend me in one place I let the boss know that the tax man would love to see that and he quikly paid me the extra ). Get some advice from a solicitor but I honestly don't think you have a case.

Kayos

Hobbes

One thing as well. If it was only 20p then there is probably more to it.

No sane person would fire someone for that unless (a) they know they are guilty of something else but can't prove it or (b) they think thier employee is stupid.

Assuming it's not (a) here is what I suggest.

1. Ask them for a reference.

2. Get someone in a work place to ring them for a reference.

3. Speak to your SU about unfair dismissal.

4. Check and make sure all your tax details are in order. They did pay your PRSI, PAYE, etc?

Panda

*LOL*
Thats hilarious, but you know that the must have had some other reason for this! You have to ask yourself,
A: were u a lazy bugger?
B: did you spit in burgers?
C: ever tell the boss to f off?
ever sleep with the bosses daughter?
E: insult the customers?
F: steal from the till?(more than 20p)
G: sexually harass the girl on the till?
H: deep fat fry a dead rat?
I: none of the above.
J: all of the above.

TwoShedsJackson

There's also the possibility that the employer is a complete <unt. The girl who does the accounts in our place now used to work for a framing company in the basement of Brown Thomas (or Switzers as it was in those days).

She paid her tax, but they simply pocketed her PAYE and PRSI - she had to man the counter from 9.30 to 6 with no break or lunch hour - even trips to the bog were frowned on. They had every imaginable fiddle going with tax - never came in, dumped money into offshore bank accounts, the works.

A mate of mine worked in the Returns department of a well known stationers and book sellers - the boss was a <unt. When they tried to organise a union, SIPTU sent in a guy who it turned out was a great mate of the boss - no union.

he gave them fifty quid between 36 of them (!) to go out drinking at Christmas, that's nearly a whole glass of beer each. In fact he got bone marrow cancer a year later and his employees (read slaves) were so happy they went out on the pi$$ to celebrate.

Sounds nasty I know but this guy was the pri<k to end all pri<ks.

DeVore

Free legal aid and the Small Claims Court are your friends. Bring them in a letter from the college/student solicitor if you can or approach the legal dept of your college for advice.

Once threatened with legal action to reclaim your rightful pay you should find that they pay up as they havent a leg to stand on.

Tom.

BossArky

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Chameleon:
What chipper was it? i'm in ul.</font>

It was Zacs, up by the Lodge.

To answer the rest of the questions about whether or not I was giving them any other reason to fire me ...well I did give the BOss the finger and walk out when I was insulted one time, but that's a different story, they had not sane right to fire me this time, so I'm going to bust them. Only prob is that I haven't been able to get up early enough in the past few days to go into the college and find where the solicitor is.

Da Bounca

give them 20p back and say u found the guy you under charged and he delightedly paid the money u forgot to ask for.
then they simply cant refuse to take u back :P :P

BossArky

Actually what I'm going to do is get one of my friends to go in and ask for the same pizza and see what kind of prize the gnomes behind the counter charge them, and if they charge them the same price as I charged them(plain pizza 12" = £5) I'm gonna rub their faces in it.

On a more humourous note, one of the lads was saying that he is going to go up there one night and ask if he can still get free burgers even though I don't work there anymore

Blitzkrieger

"contact your local citizens advice buro" seem s to be a popular pharse nowadays

Talliesin

An unfair dismissal claim ain't going to happen if you've been working there less than 6 months.

On the otherhand small claims court will sort out the money the owe you easy. It will cost you all of £5.

Victor

OK, I suggest you remove the name of the place you mentioned above or u could be done for libel / slander.

PS Not a good idea to admit you gave your mates free burgers.

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[Nsk]Victor

Lenny

oh yeah Talliesin its changed
the small claims court costs £6 now
and the most you can claim is £1,000

:Oj:

podgeen

marcus,
my advice is go back into them and try and get ur money etc.. if that dont work give the health board a ring. I have a feeling that Zacs wouldnt stand up to a health check......

SheroN

Ring up the gerry ryan show about it...get them to sort it out for ya.....they'll pay up rather than feel the bad publicity.
that's what i'd do...either that or people with studded clubs and chains...

Dotsie~tmp

Write a letter to the Herald, you can be just like the rest of those whiney mad ba$tards. Thx for the laugh.

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Dotsie
ICQ: 44472574
www.dotsies.com
dotsie@dotsies.com

[IAR]Nevermind

ahahahaha though i do only get paid £50 for 24 hours work

Bard

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by podgeen:
I have a feeling that Zacs wouldnt stand up to a health check......</font>

Why not? What basis have you for saying that?

I've eaten there a couple of times when I've been doing consultancy work in Limerick;- the food was fine and the place seemed perfectly clean.

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the fnj

If they sever your contract with out notice you are intitled to two weeks pay. You should press them for it.

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Clan Acid

Baz_

Wheres maximillian (or something like that), he was a law talking dude and he'd prolly know. And then we could let this topic die.

BossArky

just got me tax thingies back from them now, no mention of other moneys that I'm owed...have exams now so I'll chase them up after that I suppose, or else get a job in superdine next door.