17 yr old dismissed despite not being at fault

phill99

whitewing wrote: »

Give the local council Employment Permit dept a call

And which department is this exactly?

phill99

whitewing wrote: »

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

And what will they do?

agrinnall

Given that she has only worked there a few months (and a great deal less than the 2 years that are now required to gain full empoloyment rights) they can dismiss her for no reason at all unless there is a discriminatory aspect to the dismissal. The charity would probably have been better advised to simply state that she was no longer employed there, giving a reason makes a fight possible, but it's unlikely to be won on legal grounds, so you have to ask whether it's worth the bother, or whether your DSD should just look for another job. Perhaps asking the charity to provide a reference based on her work performance in return for going quietly might be a way out.

Acc72

Hi OP,

It does sound as though there is more to this than has been described (although you may not have been told the full facts ?).

I am not sure how a 17 year old has a higher professional qualification than most of her more senior colleagues, and the reality may be that her manager wanted to get rid of her for some reason and this gave them the perfect escuse.

It still may be worth obtaining copies of the disciplinary procedure, copy of any letters / notes / minutes to meeting etc. etc.

I understand that with a zero hours contract she could get her job back and then not be offered any hours, but she may still be able to get a decent reference.

daska

There really isn't anything else that's pertinent. The rest just gives an understanding of the atmosphere there. Suffice to say that the fact the both DSD and the lad responsible are more highly qualified has lead to resentment, especially on the part of staff (including relations of the people who decided to sack her) who have lost shifts because the manager, quite reasonably, wants to retain his most highly qualified staff. The manager is, however, not willing to risk his own job to defend them.

Unfortunately it's a specialised job and there aren't many opportunities locally.

maninthestreet

Can't be that specialised if a 16 year old is qualified to do it.

daska

Yes, it can

maninthestreet

An immature 16 year old?

j.e.j.

it does sound like a bit of 'office politics' is happening here. Existing employees already resented the OP's step-daughter and her friend and the prank has given them the perfect excuse to get rid of one of them. However that wouldn't explain why they're singling the step-daughter out and not the lad who did it?

If she's been employed illegally (ie they're giving her too many hours for her age) that might be something you could try and hold them for if you speak to the charity concerned. I think as others have said she has very few 'rights' as she's so young and on a zero hours contract and hasn't been there long, so it's more a question of how you can play the situation in order to persuade them that it might be in their interests to let her keep her job..

tommytynan123

daska wrote: »

There really isn't anything else that's pertinent. The rest just gives an understanding of the atmosphere there. Suffice to say that the fact the both DSD and the lad responsible are more highly qualified has lead to resentment, especially on the part of staff (including relations of the people who decided to sack her) who have lost shifts because the manager, quite reasonably, wants to retain his most highly qualified staff. The manager is, however, not willing to risk his own job to defend them.

Unfortunately it's a specialised job and there aren't many opportunities locally.

At the start of the thread that is actually what I was thinking - more underlying reasons. Why DSD? Well human nature dictates that if an office is full of females and 1 of them is 17 but doing far more than the other females = resentment. They can handle an immature 16 old lad, who, by the way, needs to receive a big kick into touch, but not a 'rival' Before the kick ask him to write down what he did and said.
By chance, is the 16 year lad related at all to any of the lynch mob??
I'm not an expert but:
1. Keep DSD and Dad away from the place
2. Take 2 days 'grace' and get DSD to write down everything she can about the incident and any previous snags with the ''older staff''
3. While DSD is doing that Dad can talk to council and talk very politely to the charity to get a feel of the feelings. (Can you record calls?)
4. State your aim to DSD - ''... to get some financial award from them and to find her another post. To get a good reference based on lack of work''
5. At some stage having cracked 1 to 4 but still soon tell the charity you intend taking it further and you intend involving the local press etc.

Keep pressure on until '4' is achieved