Help with dismissal

[Dskelly1001]

On 20/06/08 i was told to attend a disciplinary hearing at work which was for my bad timekeeping, (20 occasions of lateness, all within 5 minutes of the start of my shift), 1 occasion of sickness and 1 occasion of unauthorised absence. the main reason was for my bad timekeeping. All of these were due to problems at home which are now solved, finally. I started this job in december 07 so i'm still in my 1st year of employment. At the hearing i was told that the company had decided to terminate my employment. I have never had a review during my probationary period and therefore have never been told that my timekeeping was a cause for concern. had i been given this opportunity i would have made every effort to improve. i was dismissed on friday and received my dismissal letter on saturday morning. I have never had any warnings from my employer but i still skipped all warning stages and was dismissed immediately, even though i know of employees that have been through all warning stages up to their final warning, only to have their final warnings extended when they have comitted an act of gross misconduct again, (i.e. coming to work under the influence of alcohol). At the present moment in time the company is facing financial difficulties and i feel they have used my attendance/timekeeping as an excuse to dismiss me. Have the company done anything illegal or in breach of contract. Also, in my appeal, should i explain the reasons for my bad timekeeping and go for the sympathetic vote or should i have a good read through my contract and try to find a way where they have broken 1 of their own rules to dismiss me? Can anyone give me any advice as i only get 5 days to appeal this decision.

thanks

[vixsta14]

You don't say which line of work you're in, but as far as I am aware the first 12 months of employment are often known as a probationary period to which staged disciplinaries do not apply. Do you still have a copy of your original signed contract with your employer?
If you are planning to appeal you could maybe explain that you haven't recieved sufficient 1-2-1's as mentioned above, if this is the case then you manager would not have sufficient paperwork. Was anything presented to you at time of dismissal and were you given the opportunity to have your say?

[Sidewinder]

Sadly it sounds as though the company have used the fact that you do not have 12 months service as a means of reducing staffing costs. It would appear that they have completely disregarded the statutory minimum disciplinary process and whilst this would normally make the dismissal automatically unfair, within the first year of service you do not have the same level of employment rights. You can however make a case for unfair dismissal in the first year if you believe that their motives are based on your sex, race, religion, sexual orientation, disability or age.

Even if this is not the case, you do have grounds to appeal the dismissal which may give you a very slight chance of success. First of all, the minumum procedures require that you should be given advance notice of any disciplinary hearing, with details of what you are accused of. The notice should warn you of what might happen as a result, and you must be given the opportunity to be accompanied. Also, any sanction taken against you must be fair, and in line with the treatment of other staff for similar misdemeanours.

What does your contract, company handbook or company disciplinary procedures say about disciplinary action? Probably that unless for an act of Gross Misconduct there is a system of warnings. The aim of a disciplinary policy is to encourage improvement without it becoming neccessary to dismiss the employee - how can this be the case if you were never made aware that you were in the wrong? If you have not been afforded the correct disciplinary process as laid out as company policy, then this amounts to a breach of contract.

Certainly worth appealing, although I have to say that unless they are guilty of discrimination there is little chance of success. Even though there might be a clear breach of contract, the cost of bringing action would normally outweigh the benefit.

[Dskelly1001]

hi vixsta.

The line of work that i'm in is factory/production and i'm a production op.

I do still have a copy of my original contract.

I was given my clockings records before the hearing. I was only informed about the hearing on friday morning and the hearing took place on friday afternoon. However, i was absent from work on the thursday (unauthorised absence). Other people were given their disciplinary hearings on the thursday, including 1 person who was dismissed for his attendance and timekeeping but he already had warnings issued on previous occasions and 1 other person who was given a final warning for his attendance, he already had warnings for a different reason.

[poppynurse]

You say that you were off on the Thurs as unauthorised abscence - does this mean you failed to turn up or notify the company?