My job being advertised

anewman

Ok well it's not *my* job being advertised, but my partner's so I am asking on her behalf.

She was told informally by the store's manager that people higher up want her gone and have done for a while. I could spend ages discussing the ins and outs, but I think the bottom line is they think by replacing her they can get someone who sells more. My opinion is that the business model itself is fatally flawed and there are numerous examples of other businesses selling the same types of product using similar models going bust. The store she works at in particular is one of the most poorly performing. Common sense dictates you cannot force people to buy something they choose not to.

Anyway, I figure since they are advertising her job they will shortly be looking for a way to give her the boot. If they use the redundancy method then there is a clear case for unfair dismissal - assuming they would accept informal verbal evidence. Would the way to go about that be to contact ACAS?

Also does anyone have any other thoughts on what to look out for?

Thanks in advance for any helpful replies.

anamenottaken

Keep evidence of the advertisement - screenshot, webpage, newspaper, whatever.

leah123_2

I don't think they can actually state Redundancy as a reason because this would suggest that the job your partner does is no longer needed where in actual fact they just plan to dismiss her and get someone else in to do her job.

I think I'm correct in saying that if your partner was made Redundant the employer would have to wait a period ( I think 3 months) before re-employing someone in this job, although I,m not 100% confident on that. But if your partner is in a union they can advise her on this.

Like someone else says tell your partner to keep proof the job was advertised i.e internet adverts and newspaper adverts and also keep a record of any verbal communication your partner has with her boss/bosses in order to back up her situation.

Also from a legal point of view check her employment contract and what it says about dismissal and disciplinary procedure and notice periods on both her part and the employers part.

anewman

Apparently she never signed a contract despite working for over a year there. I don't know why this is, she said she asked about it in February and was told a contract would be sent.

leah123_2

Well if your partner does not have proof of a contract does she have any other proof that she has worked there for example tell her to keep pay slips and any documentation she gets from the company.

Since she has been there for at least a year, they cannot just dismiss her with no good reason for example she could be dismissed for gross misconduct but other than this the company would need to follow appropriate procedure which should have been documented in her contract, which you are saying she never received which is a bit weird since this would not only detail her rights as an employee it would detail the employers and in general set out the working agreement between the two.

In general it would be wise to tell her to record any verbal or written communication she has with her boss on the issue of her job being advertised and in the mean time start looking for another job, this way if she is dismissed she at least has proof of the way they have treated her and in this instance she would have a case for unfair dismissal.

I would tell her to contact her union if she's in one, CAB or ACAS for advise.

Just out of interest are you based in England or Scotland because I know a free law clinic in Scotland which may be applicable if you are in Scotland.

anewman

No Union. In Wales (so effectively England).

leah123_2

Just read her job is being advertised because they want someone who can "sell" more than her. Is she in sales and marketing ? and has she ever been told she is self employed?.

If shes not she can simply ask her employer for training on how to improve her sales technique and at least try to show she is trying to improve in the job so that she can at least try to keep her job because trust me it is not easy getting another one lol!.

Googlewhacker

if they want to get rid of her and she is not performing then they will manage her out on targets, failure to hit targets will create disciplinaries etc etc.

She needs to be very careful. Is she looking for another job already because I cannot believe this isn't causing her stress now and if they start to manage her out it won't get any better.

leah123_2

I agree the failure to meet sales targets will be their excuse to hold disciplinaries and the start of them getting rid of her.Unfortunately she is in a difficult position without a contract as I was in my job and therefore had no legal ground due to also still being on a probationary period.

Good Luck though and like I said before tell her to start or keep applying for another job ASAP.

Googlewhacker

The fact she has been working denotes a contract and these will either be statutory terms or custom and practise terms (if these are better than statutory terms).

anewman

leah123 wrote: »

Is she in sales and marketing ? and has she ever been told she is self employed?.

No definitely not self-employed. I guess the position could be described as a sales assistant, if I say any more it would pretty much give away who the employer is

leah123 wrote: »

If shes not she can simply ask her employer for training on how to improve her sales technique and at least try to show she is trying to improve in the job so that she can at least try to keep her job because trust me it is not easy getting another one lol!.

Although I think the fact they are advertising and she has pretty much been told it is *her* job they are advertising means the decision has been made. Just remains to be seen how they go about executing this. She worked with the employer previously and they made her position redundant (they closed somewhere) she was offered an unsuitable position miles away (presumably so they could say they met their requirements to try re-situate her within the business) but shortly after they were advertising for exactly the same position in the same general area (somewhat annoyingly their adverts always make reference to expansion etc etc). Can't help feeling they will go the redundancy route again and that this time there's more clear reason to complain about unfair dismissal.