I think they are going to sack me possibly tomorrow and I haven't done anything wrong

[mezeta]

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could tell me what they think I should do.

This morning a woman rang our ofices from a recruitment agency saying that she was returning my boss's call. I put it though and he said “why wont they leave me alone". I thought this a bit strange as he won't normally take calls if he doesn’t want to and he was on the phone for ages. I looked up the agency and sent them a messages saying I was looking for a job in the area and basically described my job. She replied back saying she just had a job that fits that description this morning and that they are looking for someone ASAP interviewing the following week.

Later on a woman came in from the agency asking to speak with him and he took her up to his room she had a brown envelope with her and gave it to him. I later noticed a CV on his desk.

Its obvious they are planning on getting rid of me although I have no idea why as they have not mentioned anything to me at all and as far as I know I haven’t done anything wrong, maybe a few mistakes as I am new and they haven’t been very good at explaining things to me, but nothing to warrant dismissal. I started working here beginning Sept and have not been given a Contract. What do you think I should do?

I would really appreciate replies as soon as possible as I have a feeling they may tell me tomorrow if the woman at the recruitment says they are looking to interview next week

Thank you very much for taking the time to read this.

Mezeta x

[SURFBOY]

What date did you actualy start employment for this company , and were you employed temporary or permanent?

[mezeta]

Unsure of the exact date was prob about the 12th September and Ib was employed on a permanent basis

[electron99]

Some random thoughts.
1. Have you considered that the agency is trying to 'head hunt' your boss trying to get him to accept another job.
2. Have you considered the CV was his and not yours
3. have you considered he wants to employ extra staff, and the CV was a prospective applicants
4.Why did you ring the agency asking if they had any jobs.
5. Why not wait until the worst happens - it may never do.If it does plenty of advice on these forums.

[mezeta]

Thanks for your reply.

1. The agency said they were returning his call

2. He left the CV on his desk, not out of view of anyone or in an envelope and anyone would have noticed it. I did not go looking for it.

3. He is not on for employing extra staff I know this because we are a firm of three people and there is definatley no room for anyone else at this firm, without a doubt!

4. Because I wanted to know if this was the case so I can be prepared if the worst happens, and as far as I can see there is no harm in me just ringing an agency to see what jobs they have availiable in the area.

5. Because I was hoping by posting on this site now that someone might be able to give me some helpful advice on what they thought about this matter and that if they knew if it was ok just to sack someone without mentioning anthing to the person previously if they may have been doing something wrong so that they could put it right. That was why I am asking now rather that to wait around and see.

[SURFBOY]

Did you sign a full employment contract ?

[Ell-enn]

Hi there, firstly - don't panic, you may be jumping to conclusions.
Did you actually see the details on the CV?
How do you know the job the agency told you about was at your place of work and also why do you think it is your job that is available?
Is your job temporary or permanent and if permanent was there a probationary period?

In reality nothing can really be done until something happens - I hope it doesn't and that you have just got the wrong end of the stick.

Please let us know what happens and we will be able to advise you further.

Kind Regards

Ell-enn

[cal37]

As ELL-enn said, do not panic or jump to conclusions. Things like this go on all the time.

They can not just sack you tomorrow, for a start they have to follow the statutory minimum procedures as laid down in the employment act 2002, these apply to all employers. Small employers are no longer exempt.

An employer must set out in writing the reasons for the alleged misconduct. (This can be handed to you but in most cases it’s posted to your home address)

The employee must be invited to attend a disciplinary meeting. (This needs to give you “reasonable notice " this is not in fact defined in law but the code of conduct suggest 24 hrs and this is the excepted norm.)

The employee can appeal. (The time limits to appeal again are not defined but the code of conduct suggest 5 days, most companies use 5 working days)

Failure to follow the standard procedure will amount to unfair dismissal unless the employer can show that the failure to follow the procedure would have made no difference to the outcome. An Employment Tribunal can make a punitive award of an increase in compensation of 10% for failure to comply with the standard procedure, (and this can go up to as much as 50%). A Tribunal can also award up to four weeks pay for the period of time it would have taken to have gone through the disciplinary procedure.
Employers can have their own contractual disciplinary and grievance procedures as long as these are not less than the minimum standards set out by the Act.


You have the right to have a co worker or a union official with you as a witness. (Employment Relations Act 1999)

This all still applies from day one with the company and there is no qualifying period.

[SURFBOY]

Correct me if i am wrong (i usualy am), but does a employee have to work for an employer for 13 weeks before he is bound by employment regulations act ?

[cal37]

Originally Posted by SURFBOY

Correct me if i am wrong (i usualy am), but does a employee have to work for an employer for 13 weeks before he is bound by employment regulations act ?

Not under the employment act 2002, this gives protection from day one.After one month you have more rights but the statutory minimum procedures start from day one.

Normally you need one year's service to be protected from unfair dismissal. However, some reasons for dismissal are automatically unfair, for example if you were sacked because you asked to be paid the National Minimum Wage or the statutory minimum procedures were not followed . If you're dismissed for an automatically unfair reason you can bring an unfair dismissal claim from your first day of employment.

[mezeta]

Thank you for all your comments, they really have made me feel a bit better. I could and hope I am just jumping to conclussions as I have had a bad time just recently and have started to get paranoid about things which I hope is the case but they do seem to be acting differently around me and not joking around as much as usual, hopefully this is just my overactive imagination.

Surfboy: No they haven't gave me a Contract to sign or even mentioned one.

Ell-enn: Yeah I saw some of the details on the CV although I didnt look properly as I didn't really feel it was right of me to be doing so anyway but from what I saw it certainly sounds tailor made to fit the description of what I do.

The reason I have my suspicions is because the Agency has been ringing and calling in the office and my boss is being very secrative about things when he isn't normally like that. Also when I went to get a file from his office he quickly put a file on top of the CV so I wouldnt see it and not long after I had a lady on the phone from the agency returning his call.

It just seems a bit strange that the Agency has a job that had literally just came in that morning and then the Agency has been to our office and we are getting phone calls returning there calls nost of the day.

Also later on in the day just as I was about to leave a fax came through so I waited to see if it was anything important and it was from the Agency asking my boss to sign the Agency's terms and conditions for taking someone into employment.

My job is permanent and there wasnt any probationary period mentioned to me it was understood that I would be working on a permanent basis.

Thank you for your kind words they helped a lot

Cal37: Thank you for your kind works and advice as well it has helped a lot and made me feel a lot better about things.

If I am not wrong about them planning to dismiss me I was just wondering is it alright for them to be carrying on like this with phone calls going backwards and forwards, faxes and people from the Agency coming in? Because obviously I wouldn't be applying for a new job right under their noses so they could see out of courtesy but I was wondering if there is any law that they can't be looking to fill my position why I am still there and then get rid off me once they have found someone? Thats prob the stupidist question you have probably ever heard I'm not really clued up on employment law.

[shywazz]

Sounds like your boss is using the agency incase it gets busy at ur employ over christmas, better to be safe than sorry, having a extra pair of hands on board during busy periods will ease the burden on you or any other person, even if he has took the assistance of the agency, it doesnt mean he will take a worker on, he might just be registering his details for future use should the work load increase or a employee leave......

[cal37]

No there in no law banning them from looking for your replacement. However it may be deemed as harassing almost trying to force you to leave.

If you feel this then put a grievance letter in outlining your concerns.

[advisee]

Originally Posted by cal37

Not under the employment act 2002, this gives protection from day one.After one month you have more rights but the statutory minimum procedures start from day one.

Normally you need one year's service to be protected from unfair dismissal. However, some reasons for dismissal are automatically unfair, for example if you were sacked because you asked to be paid the National Minimum Wage or the statutory minimum procedures were not followed . If you're dismissed for an automatically unfair reason you can bring an unfair dismissal claim from your first day of employment.

You're actually both incorrect. Automatic unfair dismissal under Employment Act 2002 (Dispute Resolution) Regulations 2004 SI 2004/752 requires a year of service in order to claim automatic unfair dismissal for failure to follow the statutory dispute resolution procedures - this link confirms Disclaw Publishing - Employment Law, unfair dismissal, redundancy pay

In the present case, the employer concerned can dismiss this worker (who has less than a years service) without giving a reason, as long as requisite notice is given. This would be the notice period specified in her contract, or as she doesn't have one, then not less than one weeks notice.

If there is no notice given, or not enough notice, then this would become a Wrongful Dismissal claim. Similarly, they would have to pay for untaken notice (which continues to accrue during the notice period itself).

You would be able to claim unfair dismissal if this was linked to a discriminatory factor (sex, race, etc) or if you were a whistleblower or if you tried to assert certain statutory rights.

The reality is that anyone with less than a years' service has a lot less rights than someone who has been employed longer.

Just to clear up some of the other mistakes on here - entitlement to notice starts after a months' employment, not from day one, and thirteen weeks used to be the length of service needed to claim holiday pay (not any more).

Advice to the OP is to continue job-hunting in earnest - hopefully the worst will not happen, but if it does there may be a wrongful dismissal claim to make.

[wino]

Hi Mezeta, I have been wondering how you got on?