daughter given boot, advise please (update 9 sept)

silkyuk9

Hi, my daughter has worked for a nationwide bakery shop for over a year now, initially she began when we saw the advert in the window for a 15 year old to work 15 hours per week and holidays.

As she had never had a job before it was an ideal start. Basically she worked saturday and sunday through the school term and when there was half term, summer holidays etc she did a few more hours through the week.

Anyway, now she has begun college she can only work saturday and sunday again, but this morning she went to work 8am until 2pm, she asked her shop manager if it would be ok to have a weekend off in mid october. At the end of her shift the manager told my daughter who in only 16, that she was fired.

When she came home there was flood of tears and my wife rang the shop to see what the problem was, The manager said that my daughter wanted too much time off and that was it.

Its not right, there are a few questions i would like to ask.

My daughter worked almost every Sunday, basically, this was because she only got £3-60 per hour and the other over 'adults' recieved double time.

We put that point to the manager who said it was unfair but that was the way it worked.

Is that valid that 'adults' receive double time and a 16 year old only gets £3-60 for exactly the same job?

Also can she just get the boot without any warnings or written letters etc.

Ive tried to ring the head office but no one there as its saturday, so i have to wait until monday.

Also, the manager was obviously going to sack her because the off duty which is always filled in did not have any shifts down for her, so the let her work the day then informed her.

Lavendyr

The pay depends on her contract of employment.

If they do not have their own procedures in place (which your daughter should have been advised of), they should have followed the statutory procedure for dismissal. Asking for time off cannot be construed as gross misconduct, so this is the statutory procedure that should apply:

Step 1: The employer must provide a written statement to the employee setting out the grounds for proposed dismissal or disciplinary action. The employer must invite the employee to a meeting to discuss the matter.

Step 2: Aside from precautionary suspension, the meeting must take place before any disciplinary action is carried out. The employer must notify the employee of the decision taken.

Step 3: If the employee wishes to appeal, the employer must put any disciplinary action or dismissal into effect, and then hold a further meeting. The decision of the employer should be communicated after this meeting.

Have a look at the government website, but she should think about further action as they have not dismissed her in accordance with statutory disciplinary procedure.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/ResolvingWorkplaceDisputes/DG_10028111

liney

She would be accruing holiday pay and therefore time off proportional to the part time hours she works. Has she been paid for 'holidays' before? I would question why she could not book this as annual leave. Does she have a contract?

ACAS can be helpful.

silkyuk9

no she did not have a contract of terms and conditions, or how many annual leave she was entitled to?

Being full time workers our selves we should know all this, as we have contracts and know holiday entitlements.

to be honest ive never enquired about her holiday entitlements as im not sure what rights a 16 year old has in a 15 hour per week job.

no doubt we will find all this out when i ring their head office on monday.

alwaysonthego_2

silkyuk9 wrote: »

to be honest ive never enquired about her holiday entitlements as im not sure what rights a 16 year old has in a 15 hour per week job.

Paid holidays from work



If you are under school leaving age you are not legally entitled to paid holiday from work.


If you are over school leaving age, you are legally entitled to paid holiday, in the same way as other workers. If you work full-time, you are entitled to at least 24 days in each leave year. If you work part-time, you will be entitled to a pro-rata amount, depending on how many days you work a week.


To check whether you are over or under school leaving age, see under heading General rules on employment.

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/index/life/employment/young_people_and_employment.htm#paidholidaysfromwork

silkyuk9

my daughter was school leaving age, she will be 17 next april, so she was 16 by the last friday in june as the link above states. So am i right in saying that she dad other rights than a 'young worker'

liney

If she is at college then she must be 'of school leaving age'. I assume she left school this year, and started college in September 2008? This means she was of school leaving age as from the end of June 2008, and should begin accruing holiday from then at least, assuming they won't pay it prior which might not be a given anyway if it's a national company.

Edit to answer last post:

She was classed as a 'Child under School leaving age' until end of June 2008 and then became a 'young worker' if that's what you mean?

silkyuk9

liney wrote: »

If she is at college then she must be 'of school leaving age'. I assume she left school this year, and started college in September 2008? This means she was of school leaving age as from the end of June 2008, and should begin accruing holiday from then at least, assuming they won't pay it prior which might not be a given anyway if it's a national company.

Edit to answer last post:

She was classed as a 'Child under School leaving age' until end of June 2008 and then became a 'young worker' if that's what you mean?

i think so yes.

DCFC79

Thats not on, giving someone the boot just for asking some time off,

Savvy_Sue

By the way, has she applied for EMA, or is the parental income over £30,000?

duchy

I wonder if this company has a policy of dumping employees when they reach an age they qualify for paid holiday ?
Personally I would NOT ring them on Monday except to find out the name of the HR director and would then write a calm letter explaining the situation fully-(start date -amount of time off taken (nil I assume) -extra hours worked in holiday time-date she became a worker rather than under school leaving age-therefore entitlled to paid holiday-description of the day she was fired events-including the rota situation and ask for an explanation.
I would also contact ACAS before sending the letter (which incidently should be signed by your daughter not you so they can't hide behind data protection) for guidence
My bet is the manager had a friend's child up for the position already and used the asking for time off as an excuse.