unfairly dismissed?

[bizzi_bodi]

My brother works for a large company and has worked there for the last 16 months. Twelve months of that was on a agency contract and then he was made permanent.

He has always been a good worker and last month won an award for high achiever.

Lat monday his manager took him to one side and told him that he was not meeting his targets and would be put on a performance plan to be reviewed in a months time...Nothing was given to him writing.

Thursday of that week he was called in to a meeting without prior notice with his manager and a hr rep and was sacked on the spot and escorted off teh building. Reason being he hadnt hit his target.

He has not recieved any letters from the company with regards to the dismissal or right to appeal. He called HR this morning and was told there is no letter and he has no right to appeal..

He wasnt sent any letters prior to this informing him of this.

He was not given an option of taking someone independent with him to the meeting.

He has recieved nothing in writing at all.

And he has been told he has no right to appeal.

Please can someone advise whether the company can do this, and do you think he was unfairly dismissed.

[jellycubes]

My understanding is that his contract with the company is 6 months as the 12 month agency contract wont count. Did he have a contract ? Probationary period ? This is important. I think it will be 6 months employment and could be performance related. Post up again with info if poss. Hope your brothers holding up

[bizzi_bodi]

He had a temporary contract with the agency and due to his hard work, punctalit and performance he was given a permanent contract with a three month probationary period. If it was performance related they didnt even give him time to improve put him on a performance plan on monday and he was out the door on thursday.

Brother is in bits he was out of work for quite a while before he got this job. He is totally depressed hence teh reason whi i am doing this for him.

[jellycubes]

Agreed, very harsh given the reasons they took him on. Because of the time scale of employment there are very little options here. However the contract, what did it state re performance, notice, procedures on performance ? I feel for your brother

[papasmurf1cx]

Hi bizzi_boddi............. My wife and I have just fought an awful battle in the Employment Tribunal. One thing we learned from the experience was to get lawyers on board if at all possible. First thing your brother should do is revert to his union for help if he was in one. If not you could also see if employment disputes are covered in an insurance policy eg Home contents policies often have these contained within them. Check all policies you never know. Failing that is there any prospect of a discrimination angle to the dismissal? (Doesn't sound like it from what you wrote)

 

There are also legal protection insurances that people have which may be the protection I mentioned above but if you don't have that perhaps you could purchase one and then ask questions about the legality of it all. In the past they have talked me through processes much like people on here do now. Of course once you establish the employer did act wrongly your brother could try and go it alone (with prompting from the good will on here.

[bizzi_bodi]

ill have to check through his contract to see what it stated for performance. However when i looked through the disciplinary procedure it clearly states he would be invited to an interview, facts and figures would be provided. He would also be able to take a rep in with him. He would then get a decision in writing and then he would have a right to appeal. However none of this has been followed.

as he is out of work at the moment would he be able to get legal aid?

[bizzi_bodi]

papasmurf1cx...hope your tribunal went well. My brother lives with parents so not sure whether their insurance policy would cover him however will check. I do not think given the size of thecompany they would let this go to tribunal as there is a fear of negative press.

[papasmurf1cx]

Hey you could phone ACAS and ask some questions? http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1461 Also have a look at this site http://www.emplaw.co.uk/content/index?PageTitle=List+of+Cases&startpage=i4.htm the side bars give you some great info.

[bizzi_bodi]

Thanks for this will have a look through...