Dismissal...help!

kiri46

Hi everyone.
I started work in a care home and completed my 6 months probationary period which they said they would extend to 9 months due to absences. After I had completed 9 months I had no meeting or discussion to review my employment but my sickness improved dramatically and I have now, at 11 months of employment been dismissed during a period of sickness due to a long term mental health problem which manifests during times of stress (was a victim of domestic abuse recently) My employer said that a self cert certificate was unacceptable and due to my sickness record I was dismissed. (Funny how this meeting that was due at 9 months has all of a sudden been conducted during this period of illness)
I have never been presented with a written contract by the way.

Do I have any grounds for appeal?

Meepster

Not really, if you've been there for less than 12 months they can pretty much get rid of you for whatever reason they like...

And why are you linking to a Pocket Guide on Your rights at work?

GotToChange

Sorry to hear what's happened to you - it seems that one bad thing leads to another sometimes doesn't it?

The truth of the matter though is that you have little comeback if any, even though it seems so horribly unfair that they have done this. There is virtually nothing to protect the employee in the first year and some employers take advantage of this fact. If you want to make them squirm (but you won't really be able to progress it), you could submit a grievance retrospectively and appeal the dismissal - making sure you have read your terms and conditions (if no hard copy, is there a company intranet?) - one reason being that it certainly sounds as though they haven't followed the correct disciplinary process.

I know that you will be advised to "suck it up" and "move on" which is (I suppose) fair although shallow advice. IF you think that going through some kind of process to register with the employer how badly you believe you have been treated will help you, then do it I say - but YOUR HEALTH IS #1 PRIORITY.

x

milliemonster

mwilletts wrote: »

Not really, if you've been there for less than 12 months they can pretty much get rid of you for whatever reason they like...

And why are you linking to a Pocket Guide on Your rights at work?

This is because the post has be copied and pasted from CAG

Meepster

milliemonster wrote: »

This is because the post has be copied and pasted from CAG

Ahhhh I see. Oh well, my answer still stands...

kriss_boy

kiri46 wrote: »

Hi everyone.
I started work in a care home and completed my 6 months probationary period which they said they would extend to 9 months due to absences. After I had completed 9 months I had no meeting or discussion to review my employment but my sickness improved dramatically and I have now, at 11 months of employment been dismissed during a period of sickness due to a long term mental health problem which manifests during times of stress (was a victim of domestic abuse recently) My employer said that a self cert certificate was unacceptable and due to my sickness record I was dismissed. (Funny how this meeting that was due at 9 months has all of a sudden been conducted during this period of illness)
I have never been presented with a written contract by the way.

Do I have any grounds for appeal?

How frequently where you off ill? On how many separate occasions.

Not to blow my own trumpet but I havent been off work due to illness for years, and I know many people in my office who are the same.

Some people I work with clearly abuse the system and appear to be off a lot at predicable times.

bristol_pilot

A single day off sick in the first year of employemt can be enough to get you dismissed. No, you don't have much chance of appeal.

Louise22

kriss_boy wrote: »

How frequently where you off ill? On how many separate occasions.

Not to blow my own trumpet but I havent been off work due to illness for years, and I know many people in my office who are the same.

Some people I work with clearly abuse the system and appear to be off a lot at predicable times.

well lucky you..I fail to see how your point is valid really. The OP has obviously not been as lucky as some people on this board. Just because they have been unfortunate enough to have been ill...

back to point.....you should really have had a contract. They dont sound like they have followed proceedure at all. Sorry to hear about it, its rubbish to lose a job - especially in this climate.

kriss_boy

Louise22 wrote: »

well lucky you..I fail to see how your point is valid really. The OP has obviously not been as lucky as some people on this board. Just because they have been unfortunate enough to have been ill...

And the award for needlessly sarcastic and ignorant post goes to....


My point is relevant because attendance isnt as black/white as you are suggesting. In recent months Ive witnessed a 20 year old colleage signed off for 2 weeks on stress having split up with her boyfriend (she was with him for 3 months). Ive seen others off work because they had headaches, felt sick or didnt get much sleep.

Plus its hilarious how people always seem to round their sickness dates up to the nearest weekend. If I had a pound for everytime Ive heard "I felt better on thursday night but stayed off friday just in case"...

Its a joke.

Louise22

well you dont know all of the circumstances of this particular case, and it is irrelevant that you have never had a sick day.

DVardysShadow

kriss_boy wrote: »

And the award for needlessly sarcastic and ignorant post goes to....

Not to Louise 22, there was no sarcasm there - nor ignorance. However, I think we will all accept that proposing an award which you would win hands down was an innocent mistake, rather than misplaced ego.

My point is relevant because attendance isnt as black/white as you are suggesting. In recent months Ive witnessed a 20 year old colleage signed off for 2 weeks on stress having split up with her boyfriend (she was with him for 3 months). Ive seen others off work because they had headaches, felt sick or didnt get much sleep.

Plus its hilarious how people always seem to round their sickness dates up to the nearest weekend. If I had a pound for everytime Ive heard "I felt better on thursday night but stayed off friday just in case"...

These things happen, but it is not all like that. For me it is heartbreaking to see someone who knows they have mental health issues struggle to carry out a job caring for others when perhaps they need care themselves. Such people can have poor overall attendance records which disguise the fact that day after day they struggle on to hold down a job and when they lose it, they pick themselves up and struggle on to get another job and they just carry on and on staring defeat in the face at close quarters every day.

You cannot compare the people you are talking about with the ones I am talking about and you do yourself no favours by attempting to make the connection.