Instant dismissal today

Boilie

Hi All,

I had a meeting today and was dismissed straight after. I have been in this job for almost four months out of a six month probation. I had a performance review almost two weeks ago and at the end of that I asked my team lead whether I was doing ok and was told yes.
Today I was dragged in to a joint meeting with the team lead (taking notes) and the head of the dept who advised it was a formal meeting. I had no prior warning and was not allowed anybody else with me. I was told my performance was not good enough and that I had disappointed them, I was presented with a letter and sent home.

Any idea if this is all above board?

Perfect2

As you have been there for less than 12 months their is very little you can do about it unless you can prove the company's reason for letting you go was down to a protected characteristic such as race, sex religion etc.

meg72

sosorry have no advice to give but wanted to say I feel for you.this was a terrible thing to happenand just before Christmas too.Do hope you find some thing else soon.

KiKi

Boilie wrote: »

Hi All,

I had a meeting today and was dismissed straight after. I have been in this job for almost four months out of a six month probation. I had a performance review almost two weeks ago and at the end of that I asked my team lead whether I was doing ok and was told yes.
Today I was dragged in to a joint meeting with the team lead (taking notes) and the head of the dept who advised it was a formal meeting. I had no prior warning and was not allowed anybody else with me. I was told my performance was not good enough and that I had disappointed them, I was presented with a letter and sent home.

Any idea if this is all above board?

They can dismiss you for any reason as long as it's not discriminatory in law.

However, they still need to follow correct procedures. What was your notice period? Are they going to pay you in lieu of that? Make sure you are paid your wage until today, your notice period and any holiday owed to you.

Sorry to hear about your dismissal.

KiKi

TrickyWicky

Not much you can do about it really except try to move on mate. Sorry to hear about it as its really bad. There are so many companies out there trashing people like this. I suspect its not actually you but the traditional last in first out thing which so many companies operate in tough times.

Don't take it to heart.

Uncertain

KiKi wrote: »

However, they still need to follow correct procedures. What was your notice period? Are they going to pay you in lieu of that? Make sure you are paid your wage until today, your notice period and any holiday owed to you.

Indeed.

Your notice period is likely only to be a week (the statutory minimum) but it is worth checking your contract and any other paperwork carefully as it may be more. Whatever it is they will have to pay you for it. Notice starts the day AFTER it is issued so they will have to pay you in full for your last day at work.

You continue to accrue holiday during your notice period so make sure they pay you the correct amount owed. Roughly you accrue one day's holiday (just over actually) for each two weeks worked.

magenta22

They probably should have discussed your performance in your review so that you could of had a chance to work on the area's they felt you were lacking.

Uncertain

magenta22 wrote: »

They probably should have discussed your performance in your review so that you could of had a chance to work on the area's they felt you were lacking.

But there is no redress with less than a year's service (apart possibly for breach of contract) but the company is under no obligation to offer a reason at all.

Badger_Lady

Aww, that's bad luck

It is unfair for your boss not to give you any constructive feedback or guidance - so many people use the probationary period as a get-out-of-jail-free card rather than an introduction and training phase, which would be a better use of everyone's time.

It may well even be that they've decided to downscale the payroll and you're just an easy target since you're not yet a 'full employee'.

However it is unfortunately above board and legal, as long as you get all the notice / holiday pay etc that you're entitled to.

Good luck finding an even better job so you can stick two fingers up at the ex-boss!

KiKi

Badger_Lady wrote: »

so many people use the probationary period as a get-out-of-jail-free card

I don't know why - 'probation' means nothing in law unless your T&Cs change after completing it. Anyone can be sacked in the first year for any reason (non-discriminatry), regardless of probation period.

Let us know how you get on, OP.
KiKi

buglawton

No redress possible. It is likely the co just did not have the budget to continue employing you (subtext: a cheap way to get temporary workers and always dismiss them before the trial period completes etc). But they could not bring themselves to be honest about the real reason. If it is a well known co, use a site like Glassdoor to see if other folks experienced exactly the same treatment.