Dismissed as "unsuitable employee" after nearly 3 months

theyiddo

Someone I know has just been sacked as an "unsuitable employee". She worked for a company since May this year, and it was agreed they'd pay her May & June wages together at the end of June.

June came and went, and no wages. She chased up the owner, he promised the 1st week in July....this came and went, no wages, then promised the next week....etc, until finally they were paid at the end of last week.

At the same time though, they sacked her for hassling them over the payment of her wages, stating she was an "unsuitable employee".


Does anyone know where she stands legally, as they had absolutely no problems with her standards of work, and she has received no verbal or written warnings from them?

Thanks.

woody01

No leg to stand on i am afraid.
Unless there was discrimination involved (which doesn't sound the case), anyone can be binned in their first 3 months of employment without reasons given.

Pete111

Woody is correct insofar as she is likely to have been in her contractual probation period which is usually 3 months for most companies.

Even if she were not (or the company did not put one of these in her contract) she has no right to unfair dismissal as she has not been employed for 1 year.

Other than the discrimination angle (which seems remote given your post) the only other chance is to claim that no proper process was followed. However, the prevailing view within industry is that dismissals during probation can usually be made without resorting to a formal process as detailed in the (recently updated) version of the Statutory Dispute Regs.

Some companies do call a formal meeting to reach a decision + allow an appeal etc in probation if they are feeling ultra cautious - I tend not to bother as it is probably overkill for most probationary dismissals

Harsh on your friend however - in a perfect world complaining about not being paid should not be a sackable offence but her level of protection under employment law is likely to be limited here.

P

maninthestreet

Sounds like she is better off out of that job - any employer who deems an employee 'unsuitable' for chasing up pay that has not been paid to them is not someone I would want to work for.

Any

So they didn't want to pay her wages and she still wants to work there?

Sorry, but why?????????????

They can let her go without notice in the first 3 months (as long as stated as probationary period) and so could she. That is the idea of probationary period.