School bus driver for kids with special needs wants your help

[fluidgeorgie]

I'm after some advice for the wonderful guy who used to drive my son to school.

Before he went on holiday he worked for a company that has a contract with the council to take kids with special needs to school.

When he came back he found himself out of a job. Apparently the employer was having trouble getting insurance for him to drive the minibus. Subsequently he has been offered the odd day as an escort but nothing else and no pay as a result.

All the promises from the employer to sort it out have come to nothing and the temporary replacement driver just happens to be the employers son in law.

He's a widower with no family and he misses driving the kids immensely.

What extra information do you guys need to offer some help and guidance on how he should try to get his job back ?

[Bookworm]

Why is it a problem getting him insurance? Are there restrictions on his license? Was he employed/classified as self-employed (like minicab drivers are)? How long has he been working for that company?

Bottom line is, if the employer doesn't want him back, there's not a lot he can do, but he might have grounds for unfair dismissal, depending on the circumstances, but I gather that's not his main aim.

He could contact the local minicabs companies and find out which ones do have transport contract with the LA, and maybe see if he could get himself a school run that way?

[fluidgeorgie]

Thanks for the response Bookworm.

Apparently its his age. But the employer kept stringing him along saying it was being sorted, only to tell him that he wasn't driving any more after he got back from his half term holiday (and replaced him with the son in law).

I'll ask him about any contract & length of service with the company.

Is there any mileage in approaching the company with the option of reinstating him as the driver on the run or defending a claim for constructive dismissal / age discrimination / anything other law they may have broken.

Would the fact that the contract is with a LA make the employer more conscious of employee legislation and more inclined to abide by it?

[Bookworm]

Maybe, is the only answer I can give you without further info. How old is he?

The problem is that if the employer can show that he did try to get insurance for him and couldn't, or the premium was too high to make economic sense or stuff like that, then your friend doesn't stand a chance from that angle.

Either way, if he is employed, he should be entitled to some form of notice, paid or otherwise, but again, it depends on whether he was classified as self-employed or not, how many hours he was doing, etc, etc... There simply isn't enough info at the moment to be more definite, so if you can give us a bit more, that would help.

[Cellbar]

Surely he has grounds against them for age discrimination? If I were him, I would get ACAS advice straight away as he could have very good grounds for employment tribunal. he should put in writing a grievance under the grounds of discrimination and the fact that he has been given no notice etc., and the fact he has been replaced by a family member. It can't hurt to see what ACAS recommend, self-employed or not, they have not treated him fairly.

[Bookworm]

Not necessarily. Playing devil's advocate here, but if they did truly try to get insurance, and the insurance company refuses to insure him, then what is the employer to do?

[Sidewinder]

Sadly much of the age discimination legislation is pure window dressing and it can be impossible to prove a breach.

Do you know how old he is, or exactly what the arrangement was with the company he has been working for? The fact that he has no pay as a consequence suggests an ad-hoc arrangement which may affect certain rights and remedies.