made to leave - do we have a case?

Doodlebug1

Hi all,

Imnot sure if this is the right place to post so i am posting this here and in the redundancy board. just looking for advice regards to my husbands current situation.

He is currently working as a pharmacy manager for a small independant pharmacy company (they have three pharmacies). Heleft his previous job working for a large pharmacy company for this new job as it was closer to home and more pay. There have been a few problems in terms of the guy who owns the pharmacy in that he is docking peoples wages and having to lay people off but on friday implied to my husband that the same will happen to him. Of course my husband was not happy, he left a good job with a large corporation to work for this small company and the incentives was a larger pay packet and being much closer to home (10 mins rather than 1 hour 10 mins). So they agreed that he will leave after working a month. He said in his contract it states that he is on a 3 month probationary period - he is in his 2nd month.
my concern is that the emplyer has no grounds to do this, my husband has gone above and beyond for this employer, working days off, going in when he doesnt need to etc so feel as though 'not being able to afford you' is not good enough reason to dismiss someone from their job - something he should have thought of before he hired him and took him on. Was wondering if we had a case or not? To be honest we didnt even think that we did until FIL mentioned that maybe we should look into it as there should be a better reason for dismissal.
Of course this has put a strain on us, with having a small child and expecting a second in three months, my husband now has the stress of having to find a new job within the month in a already diminishing period of job hunting!
At the moment husband wants to work the remaining month and pursue it after he has left - would others advise this? What should be our next step?

Thank you to anyone who managed to get this far and sorry for the rant - its been an emotional few days (pregnancy hormones taking over!!)

Jarndyce

If I read your post correctly and your OH has only been in post for two months, then you are unable to claim unfair dismissal. You have to have 12 months service - soon to rise to 2 years. Sorry.

Emmzi

I am afraid you do not have a case. No reason needs to be given during the probationary period. In many ways your husband took a gamble giving up employment rights for a shorter commute and bigger pay packet. I'm sorry it didn't work out for him on this occasion.

Best of luck job hunting - best advice is to support him lots by doing internet searches for things he can apply for, and ignore FIL who is giving bad advice.

Doodlebug1

Thanks for the speedy replies guys - thats a shame to hear but oh well - lifes too short to get hung up about these things! Yeah unfortunately the gamble didnt pay off this time - yep will definately be helping him to find something better and will ignore FIL. Thanks for the advise - I really appreciate it!

getmore4less

Did he not check the place out before taking the job?

Doodlebug1

Yep he did, had countless meetings with the owner and various other people involved with the store (including someone in charge of the finance !), he deliberated it for almost two months and they really pursued him, the store it self is very hightech (in terms of pharmacy) with all the latest gadgets and etc, he checked there records in terms of prescription numbers etc and the location is excellent - next to a health centre with a gp and a leisure centre and no competition close by, it ticked al the right boxes, thats why it was a bit of a shock when the owner decided to cut wages and even laying people off but Iguess its the way of recession at the moment. It was a risk to leave a big corporation for a small independant store and unfortunately we will be paying the price for it. live and learn as they say!

heretolearn_2

I can see why you feel upset and annoyed about this. the employer was being rather irresponsible in taking someone on a salary they couldn't afford. But this doesn't break any laws or employment legislation. Never mind the not having any real protection in the first 12 months, needing to reduce the salary bill is a perfectly legit business reason for dismissing someone.

Sometimes things just don't work out as the employer planned. We did something similar a few years ago - took someone on, then a week later had to let them go due to something entirely out of our control - we felt terrible about it but it was unavoidable. They hadn't given up a job though so they were not so badly effected. I'm sure the employer is also feeling pretty bad right now, not that that helps you at all.

jfh7gwa

Doodlebug1 wrote: »

the emplyer has no grounds to do this, my husband has gone above and beyond for this employer, working days off, going in when he doesnt need to etc so feel as though 'not being able to afford you' is not good enough reason to dismiss

I know that you've been given advice on the "claim" aspect of your post, and there's not much your husband can do now... but I waned to pick up on 2 things that seem to be glaringly missing from this discussion.

• Hiring and firing people is a business decision. Just as your DH would have to hand in his notice if his salary wasn't enough to pay your basic bills, a good company must protect its own interests above all else if it wants to remain viable in the long term. Individual managers may feel bad, and they may try to make things as easy as possible if they choose (no questions asked about time off to attend interviews, or allowing employees to take holidays during the notice period, off the top of my head)... but that's extra. Remember - business decisions go two ways.
• If your DH has been going significantly above and beyond for an employer who's having to lay off staff the first month he works there, I would seriously consider my approach to work based on that. Clearly, you want to start out on the right foot with a new employer. But a probation period is also for your husband to see if they suit his needs, again, it's not just one way. Being taken for a mug in the first month is a sure sign that they have unrealistic expectations of their staff (what happens a year down the line? has a favour become the norm?) or that you've allowed yourself to have the !!!! taken out of you. Not a good setup, or viable long term, would be my point.

custardy

Doodlebug1 wrote: »

Yep he did, had countless meetings with the owner and various other people involved with the store (including someone in charge of the finance !), he deliberated it for almost two months and they really pursued him, the store it self is very hightech (in terms of pharmacy) with all the latest gadgets and etc, he checked there records in terms of prescription numbers etc and the location is excellent - next to a health centre with a gp and a leisure centre and no competition close by, it ticked al the right boxes, thats why it was a bit of a shock when the owner decided to cut wages and even laying people off but Iguess its the way of recession at the moment. It was a risk to leave a big corporation for a small independant store and unfortunately we will be paying the price for it. live and learn as they say!

or a great way for some employers to capatalise on the poor jobs market

Doodlebug1

Thanks for the replies guys - honestly it has put alot of things into perspective for us, I passed on all the messages to my husband who was perfectly fine with the results - we didn't have it to begin with so we haven't really lost out on anything.
Heretolearn - I understand they probably don't feel fantastic about the decision either and if we were in that position I am sure we would have had to do something extreme aswell. My only disconcern with the situation is I feel he could have been a little honest about the finances before he took my husband on - I'm sure it wasn't a decision they took lightly or quickly so I am sure they had some inclination before they offered the job to my husband - but you are right - something may have happened that was out of his control. But saying that after my husband worked with a few of his collegues he had learnt that the employer had unfortunately done something similar the year before. It seemed to be atrend - an employee who worked for him who worked as a dispenser was a pharmacist in her own country (but didn't have the qualifications to be one in this country), he made her work unpaid for three months before agreeing to take her on - I understand that was her decision and didn't have to do it but desperation makes people do certain things and I guess I just think morally I don't agree with it. But business is business and isn't personal!

'If your DH has been going significantly above and beyond for an employer who's having to lay off staff the first month he works there, I would seriously consider my approach to work based on that. Clearly, you want to start out on the right foot with a new employer. But a probation period is also for your husband to see if they suit his needs, again, it's not just one way. Being taken for a mug in the first month is a sure sign that they have unrealistic expectations of their staff (what happens a year down the line? has a favour become the norm?) or that you've allowed yourself to have the !!!! taken out of you. Not a good setup, or viable long term, would be my point.'
That was very much what we decided from the first time we heard about it, my husband was becoming increasingly unhappy working for him but the job market being as it were and we expecting our second child soon, bills, mortgage etc we couldnt afford to look elsewhere - the plan was to work for him for a few years albeit unhappily but to learn the business and eventually look to opening his own pharmacy.

And unfortunately instead of making things a little easier for him, they seem to be making things harder we just found out today that he has been asked to cover his other store and doing strange hours (working 7am till 10pm!) - only three weeks left to go...