Hello

i was recently let go from my position as an ICT technician, a role which i have done succesfully for the last 17 years.

I started the new job in June this year, leaving a job which i loved but wasnt well payed. At the end of August i was called into head office for a meeting about my 3 month probabtion which was coming to an end. In the meeting i was told that i had not performed as well as they had hope and would not be continuing to employ me and that he was taking advice from an external company (who incidentally were coming in and starting to look after the IT at the start of September)

Now i found this quite unbelievable, as ive said ive been in this line of work for 17 years and never had any complaints about my work. and have several references to back this up.

To me it stinks of a set up as the last 3 month have been the busiest in the companys year and i was taken on to cover these months with no intention of the role becoming permanent at the end of the 3 months.

I have proof that in my 3 months with the company things on the IT side have improved considerably.

Im just looking for any advice or recomendations on what my best course of action would be, i have already spoken to ACAS and the told me that i cannot take my former employers to tribunal as i was only there 3 months.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

ACAS have said everything there is to be said.

Unfair dismissal requires two years service.

At three months they are not required to provide you with even a reason for dismissal, never mind doing it fairly.

There is nothing you can do.

Others on this site are more knowledgeable on employment law. To my knowledge, if you have been employed less than 2 years, you can't really do too much about this. Even if they are wrong about performance issues and they simply had no intention of employing you more than a few months, i am not sure you can do much.

Obtain some agency work while looking for a permanent role and put this bad experience behind you. Even if you had a legal basis to sue them, the amount involved might not be worth it and you then have a record of suing an employer. Not sure how that might look to future employers. Can be a small world out there !

Sadly have to echo everything above. One of the main dangers in starting a new employment is the fact that you only accrue certain rights after two years service - namely the right to take an employer to a Tribunal for Unfair Dismissal (other than where the dismissal is due to a protected characteristic - sex, race, religion etc)

Unscrupulous employers, those looking to make cuts to costs, knowingly take on staff for short periods with no intention of permanency etc will often use this simply to reduce headcount. A probation has very little legal standing and merely gives an excuse to said employers rather than to simply say 'we don't want you any more'. They could though quite literally take you on with no probation and tell you at any time during the first two years that your tie is the wrong colour/don't like your aftershave/think you are weird and the end result is the same - everybody is effectively on a two year probation and providing they don't dismiss BECAUSE you are black/white/gay/straight/Christian/Sikh/old/young/female/male/pregnant etc then there is nothing that you can do

Sincerely hope that you manage to find alternative employment. This stinks, and no doubt you feel incredibly angry, but you are one of many that this happens to!

For the sake of completeness, the two year rule does not only apply to discrimination. It also applies in cases where the dismissal arises from a protected disclosure; certain dismissals relating to health and safety; dismissals for asserting a statutory right; dismissals relating to trade union activity and/or trade union membership (including refusal to join a union); and participation in a protected industrial action.

as they appear to have followed a procedure for the dismissal and presumably are going to pay you your notice and holiday accrual then nothing else to say.

You may well be right about the reasons but sly though it may be, not unlawful.

If they are bringing on contractors you may well be better off out of there early rather than later. Update your CV to show what you did and how you improved matters for the company and leave it at that. Reason for leaving if anyone asks? Well job made redundant by outsourcing of facilities. Not what they would write in a reference perhaps but I doubt if they would argue about it.