Job firing advice (me being fired)

[Cozwin]

Okay, I work for a casual work company and they have a rule that if you cancel/can't come without a decent reason three times in 6 months they let you go.

This week I got my second and third while in A n E with my little brother, I have told them this, but because I have no proof in paper they won't accept it and said my P45 will be on its way.

My first no show was my second ever shift, I was not informed of how to get to the venue and when I email them got no reply, also got no information sent to me.

So advice?

[peterb]

Go to a CAB or qualified professional.

[GoNz0]

get a new job by the sounds of it. as its under 6 months they don't really need a reason to let you go so i doubt you can fight it, apart form the fact life would be hell if you kept your job for a fight.

[Cozwin]

Go to a CAB or qualified professional.

I was just hoping for general advice to use against them via email discussions before taking it any further.


Worth noting by my contract does not mention this three strike rule anywhere,

It states my contract can be terminated in the case of gross misconduct.

[Lucio]

If it's in your contract and you agreed to it, I'd be surprised if there's much you can do. Your only recourse would be to request a copy of your brother's admission notes from A&
E to back up your side.

[Cozwin]

If it's in your contract and you agreed to it, I'd be surprised if there's much you can do. Your only recourse would be to request a copy of your brother's admission notes from A&
E to back up your side.

As just said above, nothing in contract about three strike rule.

[peterb]

It is ve4ry difficult to give general advice because the circumstances of each case vary, and there are few people here qualified to give specific employment advice.

I could offer an opinion, but it would only be an opinion, based on limited knowledge of your circumstances and employment law in general. Hence the only advice I can offer is to see someone qualified in this area.

As it is (from your description) casual work, employment law probably gives you less protection. Your best recourse is to try to get details of your attendance at A&E the fact that ypour brother was there, that he needed accompanying, and thast there was no-one else who could attend. Did you notify the company as soon as you could that you wouldn't be attending? Did you follow up the first no-show/late attendance with a written explanation? Did you get a written or verbal warning on the first occasion? Were the definitions of misconduct written into the job description, terms of reference or employment contract? When were you told about the three strike and out rule?

These are all things that may be relevant, as is the type of employment - full time, part time, regular or casual hours etc - which is why - if you are going to fight it - you need proper professional advice.

[Behemoth]

Best advice I can you Cozwin is go to ACAS give them a call on 08457 47 47 47 as I know the CAB will just call them for you anyway.

[Unique]

acas give free and confidential professional advice, so give them a call. they only deal with employment issues whereas CAB deal with everything under the sun and are mainly staffed by unpaid volunteers

a lot more info needs to be provided to give advice, but the following should cover things

how long have you been employed, what are your contractual hours, what type of work is it?

if you have less than a year of service the employer can end your employment for any reason without stating a reason

if you have less than 2 years service you have no rights to a tribunal

the exception to the above is if the reasons for dismissal are either a material breach of contract, or discrimination on the grounds of sex, race, age or disability

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg...type=RESOURCES

employes have the right to time off for dependants

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employme...ys/DG_10026555

i'm getting the impression you have not been involved in formal disciplinary action, thus no investigation, no formal hearing, etc, which isn't good practice, but from what you say, it does suggest you have been employed less than 12 months so there probably isn't much you can do about it

it sounds like you are doing some kind of steward/security job at different venues and it's employment on a casual basis instead of fixed hours, and because you haven't notified them off the reasons for not being able to attend work, they will no longer offer you work on that casual basis, and you had no contractual obligation to be offered any work

it might be one to put down to experience and learn some lesssons from this. ensure when you are offered a job you know where you are going, if your employer doesn't confirm the full details you can use google to look up addreses or ask co-workers. if you are required to miss work then you should advise your employer ASAP with the reasons, preferably in advance or on the day, and not afterwards

[Andeh13]

Sounds like some good advice from Unique there! I would request papers from the hospital showing you attending with your brother, but I think a lot of that depends on how hard you tried to get hold of them/any colleagues.


Might be one down to experience though mate. One of my best mates was let go from a part time job at a coffee shop because of a few mistakes he made, mostly down to lack of experience. Left on alright terms, but the manager said he couldn't risk any more mistakes being made. The guy was devastated (more pride/letting someone down then anything), and he is one of the nicest most caring guys ever...he just wasn't suited to it. Now he is on a very well paid job with Jaguar Land Rover doing vehicle testing.... and he looks back and smiles!

[petercook7]

You can get you A&E notes, just phone them up.

[BerZerk]

Hmmm. Why can't you contact the company when you are not able to come to work?

[Saracen]

It's been a while since I was involved in anything like this and things may have changed, but based on that dated experience, Unique is right and you've got few if any legal rights.

And even if you do have rights, think very hard before exercising them. Suppose you could go a tribunal and did get your job back. What then? It's "casual", so just how committed are they to give you extra work? My guess is, without seeing the contract, that they aren't committed at all. And if they are committed, they'll be looking for excuses to get rid of you anyway.

But worse than that, if you take tribunal action, win or lose, if a prospective future employer finds out you did it, it puts any chances of job offers in serious jeopardy. Think about their position. It's a 'buyer's market' in employment, with high unemployment and more people wanting jobs than jobs. Employees can be fussy. And so, if one candidate has a history of using industrial tribunals and another doesn't, why would they take a risk on a potential troublemaker? That may be grossly unfair, and it may take no account of an eminently valid case, but I can tell you for a stone cold fact it does happen.

Given the nature of the job, is it worth taking that risk? Only you can decide, but I know what I think.


So, personally, and this is opinion not advice, I thnk you have two options :-

1) Try to get confirmation from A&E of your brother's presence. I don't know if they will confirm that, but if they will, my guess is it'll need (depending on age) either your brother's permission or a parents, before they'll even confirm he was there. Data protection act, medical confidentiality, etc. Then, present it to the employer and hope.

or

2) Write it off to experience, and move on. Find other work.

Sorry I can't be more positive, but that's how I see it, based on what you've said.