Can I be "made" to go self employed? / written warning / reference

L-train

The 12 months should start from the date your employment commenced, not the date the trial period ended.

There are a lot of factors taken into consideration by employment tribunals (should you ever find yourself in such a situation) when deciding whether someone is an employee or self-employed. Control is a major one. If your employer dictates when & where you work, and provides you with the tools to do the job, there's a good chance you're still an employee in the eyes of the law, and therefore you would have the same rights as any other employee (starting from the date your employment commenced, I think, so Jan 2008). I'm not an expert on the subject, so of course you should seek legal advice before acting.

Deefor

Thats one bit of good news at least thanks.
I think they are sort of hoping that Ill just say I''ll go self employed, becasue who wouldn't want to keep some income...But I am still happier to be employed and therefore need to have some "ammunition" to stand firm against them

Unity

Deefor wrote: »

i assume that the magical 12 months doesn't include the two periods of "trial"? It now makes a little more sense as to why had second trial period....DOH!!!!

If you could manage to stall them until the end of January it may well help as they should count the 12 months from the start of your employment rather than the end of the trial period. Perhaps even a sick-note for workplace stress might delay them past the 12 months point and I have no doubt this is stressful for you.

Although - call me cynical - it seems funny they should start all this malarkey just when you are coming up to the end of the twelve month period :rolleyes:;).

L-train

I'm afraid there's not much ammunition to be had. As Unity said, you have no rights as an employee until you've been there 12 months. In other words they can let you go at any time without giving a reason. Once you hit the 12 month mark it will be harder for them to get rid of you if they want to (to save costs or whatever), so if they're thinking they can't afford to keep you on they're likely to do it sooner rather than later. Speak to Acas if you can as they should be able to tell you definitively whether there's anything you can do.

Unity

L-train wrote: »

I'm afraid there's not much ammunition to be had. As Unity said, you have no rights as an employee until you've been there 12 months. In other words they can let you go at any time without giving a reason. Once you hit the 12 month mark it will be harder for them to get rid of you if they want to (to save costs or whatever), so if they're thinking they can't afford to keep you on they're likely to do it sooner rather than later. Speak to Acas if you can as they should be able to tell you definitively whether there's anything you can do.

Yes it's an unfortunate situation, but in this day and age (and I'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong ) - I think the only way you can go to a tribunal before the 12 month period, is if you are claiming either sexual or racial harassment. It's around ten years since I studied Employment Law, so I may be out of date on that .

I'm no militant lefty - but I think it's disgraceful the way workers' rights have been eroded over the last 30 years or so, another Thatcher legacy :rolleyes:.