17 yr old dismissed despite not being at fault

daska

I have a very distressed DSD. A friend at work played a practical joke on her (they are very close but he is quite immature) which has lead to her employers calling her in for a meeting where they informed her they had already written her dismissal letter.

Obviously I don't want to give too many details but in summary:
Employer is a charitable trust
DSD is 17 but has a higher professional qualification than most of her more senior colleagues - to the point that the employer regularly lauded her (and the other employee involved) for their ability and commitment.
She is on a zero hours contract but has been getting several shifts per week, fitting around her A level courses
The joke played on her involved an obscene graphic which she was unaware of until the manager brought it to her attention.
The employee responsible for the prank has not even been interviewed, let alone disciplined for his behaviour, even though he is adamant that he is solely responsible.

I have to admit to being very angry with them as it transpires that earlier this year she was actually doing more shifts per week than legally allowed (she was only 16). Which she went along with because she wanted to work.

I'm not going to claim she's perfect but it does appear to me that the employers have been at minimum very unprofessional in not investigating the incident fully as the nature of it quite obviously implies that she may well have been unaware of the prank played on her.

Any advice? She loves this job, she trained hard for it and she has put in hours over and above what she has been paid for and was recently reassured that she would get regular work for as long as she wanted it.

keyser666

I dont get how they dismissed her when she has not done anything as it seems but the colleague has? There has to be more to it

bluenoseam

keyser666 wrote: »

I dont get how they dismissed her when she has not done anything as it seems but the colleague has? There has to be more to it

This, also you say she worked more hours than was technically legal at 16 and is now 17 - how long has she worked there?

When you say a prank involving a graphic, I can only guess that he's created a graphic, attributed it to her and she's copping flack for it - I would be fighting this very strenuously. Also I would suggest that DSD & this kid start to drift apart in a very swift, unceremonious fashion - like immediately & "never communicate to me again" fashion.

jobbingmusician

Take it from me with over 20 years in the sector - charities are among the very worst employers. (Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence, though.....)

How long has she worked there? Over a year? I don't actually know what sort of employment rights are attached to a zero hours contract, but hope one of the experts on here might tell us. It might be a start if she asks them for a copy of their disciplinary policy, which they obviously have not followed, if they called her into a meeting without prior notification and told her they had already reached a conclusion!!!!!

keyser666

jobbingmusician wrote: »

Take it from me with over 20 years in the sector - charities are among the very worst employers. (Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence, though.....)

How long has she worked there? Over a year? I don't actually know what sort of employment rights are attached to a zero hours contract, but hope one of the experts on here might tell us. It might be a start if she asks them for a copy of their disciplinary policy, which they obviously have not followed, if they called her into a meeting without prior notification and told her they had already reached a conclusion!!!!!

Not an awful lot of rights

maninthestreet

What is a 'DSD' ??

whitewing

Dear Step Daughter.

Give the local council Employment Permit dept a call to check out the situation with them because the charity may not have handled the situation correctly for someone who is not yet an adult.

I don't think it is a simple as I pay you, therefore my contract is with you, when it relates to a youngster.

Also ref her working extra when still 16 years old, double check that because if she is after the school leaving date there may not have been a breach (I can't remember off the top of my head and there are different bye laws for different councils).

daska

There is a little more to it, but really nothing that moves the baseline. Her employers were apparently quite up-front with her and the other 16 year old that they were breaking the law by not giving them sufficient time off, but according to her it 'wasn't their fault' - I don't accept that, the fact is that they didn't recruit enough staff to cover all the supervisory shifts, end of.

And no he hasn't for one moment suggested that DSD was to blame, he has been absolutely clear from the start that she had no knowledge of what he was doing, and he attempted to attend the meeting with her, as requested by the employer, and they refused to speak with him -which we know for a fact because DSD's dad and another person were there to witness it. Fair do's, they would have been absolutely right to call them in separately but his mum took the call so, once again, they can be seen to be completely unprofessional.

She started working there a bit before she took her last GCSE exams in the summer, so not long.

whitewing

I still think her dad needs to speak to the council about this whole situation.

daska

The meeting only happened this evening, not had a chance to speak with anyone yet LOL

Uncertain

How long as she been employed?

Assuming it is at least 51 weeks (plus one week's statutory notice) then she would be able to make an unfair dismissal claim.

The problem with it being a zero hour contract is that they could simply have stopped offering her work at any time so any compensation is likely to be minimal even if she won.

It has been suggested that some aspects of her employment were not legal? Not my area I'm afraid but, if this is the case, then handled with care it might encourage the employer to reach a settlement!