Zero Hour contract, not sure if employers are being fair

November_rayne

Hi all,

This may be long so please bare with me

I was made redundant in september 2012. In my last few weeks of work the manager of a direct competitor came over and basically said he wanted me to work for him. What he said at the time was that he would give me a zero hour contract with regular hours until another member of staff who was due to leave in the next few months left. I was pretty much happy with that as I had regular work.

I started there in October once my notice period was up. As promised I had regular full time work, and also flexibility as I'm a part time OU student to not work a few days due to assignments and what not. My employer was also made aware that I have a serious medical condition and accommodated me for appointments and hospital stays.

I had a 6 month probationary period and at the time of review they had no problem with my work, attitude & even praised my calming effect on the team but worried about my time off sick. I was actually given a disciplinary in february as I was rushed to hospital for a week and spent most of it on IV morphine. His problem was that I didn't call personally each day even though my partner told them I was there, how long I was expected to be there and yet still called every day for me (even days I was rota'd off) because I was physically unable to and they had records of this.

They extended my probation another three months gave me some forms for a doctors report and I went back last week for another review. Around June I was told that there was going to be a 'temporary regional labour spend freeze' and they were no longer allowed to use zero hour staff until this was lifted. I was the only one in my team affected by this rule and since then I haven't worked.

My consultant sent a two page report, confirming my condition, that I was in hospital on dates I said I was and that I am under the care of three different hospitals for treatment. However my manager said that the report did not cover a time where I was off for a cold and as it wasn't part of my illness he didn't think I warranted being kept on even though the doctor had implicitly stated that I take antibiotics on a daily basis due to a weakened immune system. I argued this point and he said he would pass my comments onto HR and get back to me in a couple of days.

This was a couple of weeks ago and I've heard nothing and he's very evasive when I ask for progress. Only telling me that he recommended me to another branch who need full time staff and he's waiting for them to get back to him (its over an hour commute away from where I am now) What I had noticed when I went there last was that he had taken on TWO new members of staff on 'proper' contracts who have absolutely no experience in the field, one taken on only 2 days prior to our meeting. Yet still he still maintains that he can't fault my work, makes out like I'm an asset to the company but still I can't help but feel like he/my company is being extremely discriminatory towards me.

What could I do to raise this issue because if my work is fine (I'm 6/7 years into my profession so very experienced). The only reason they have would to dismiss me would be for illness which has been verified and backed up by a hospital consultant. I don't know why they would take on unskilled staff when I've been essentially waiting for the freeze to be lifted. So surely this would be discrimination or am I wrong??

I have never had this problem with any other employers so just looking for some thoughts/advice as to how to proceed.

Thank you

sniggings

Sorry to say but they can sack you without giving you a reason, in the first 2 years, add to that you are on a 0 hour contract, means also they can offer you 0 work, so either way they can in effect get rid of you.

Best look for a better employer, sad to say but the Tories are getting rid of all/most employee rights, bottom line, if you have been there less than 2 years you can't fight them.

Brassedoff

Ok, on the face of it, you have no real rights, you were on trial. But, you did everything you could do (from yor side of the story) to keep them informed.

On the face of it, they have failed to make the required adjustment, whether physical, mental or emotional for someone suffering from a disability, albeit short term .

You may wish to refer your case and treatment to an employment rights centre or CAB if you have any local.

Brassedoff

sniggings wrote: »

Sorry to say but they can sack you without giving you a reason, in the first 2 years, add to that you are on a 0 hour contract, means also they can offer you 0 work, so either way they can in effect get rid of you.

Best look for a better employer, sad to say but the Tories are getting rid of all/most employee rights, bottom line, if you have been there less than 2 years you can't fight them.

What rights are those? I haven had three bulletins this year with enhanced changes in favour of the Employee. Such as males being able to now take time off to care for a baby.

Was that just a blind rant at the Tories, who are in a coalition the last time I checked with the Libdems who have

sniggings

Brassedoff wrote: »

What rights are those? I haven had three bulletins this year with enhanced changes in favour of the Employee. Such as males being able to now take time off to care for a baby.

Was that just a blind rant at the Tories, who are in a coalition the last time I checked with the Libdems who have

Blind rant...maybe you're blind yourself as I gave an example, extending the no reason sacking to two years, so not a "blind rant" it's the truth.

Brassedoff

OK, but are we in a coalition government?

There's been no Thather style sickle to the employment laws thank God

It depends on your own interpretation IMHO

However, even as an employer, these heinous zero hour contracts brought in by Tony BLair, need ending. Employers generally know staffing requirements. How no one can sleep at night being on one. It's just not right, is it!

sniggings

Brassedoff wrote: »

OK, but are we in a coalition government?

There's been no Thather style sickle to the employment laws thank God

It depends on your own interpretation IMHO

Yes, are you really suggesting the Tories would be "nicer" without the libs?, come on, I will argue with anyone but lets not argue about stuff we both know as a given.

Brassedoff

sniggings wrote: »

Yes, are you really suggesting the Tories would be "nicer" without the libs?, come on, I will argue with anyone but lets not argue about stuff we both know as a given.

No, they probably act as a light brake, if that. Everyone should be entitled to know what they're to earn each week if they are in that type of job.

The Zero hour jobs are just a charter for bad employers being legally allowed to have their cake and eat it.

sniggings

Brassedoff wrote: »

No, they probably act as a light brake, if that. Everyone should be entitled to know what they're to earn each week if they are in that type of job.

The Zero hour jobs are just a charter for bad employers being legally allowed to have their cake and eat it.

We agree :j zero hours are a big problem but even bigger are the 7 hour contracts etc most times the employee will never do those hours, yet will not be able to take a 2nd job as they will be expected to be availble for "overtime", so tied to an employer offering next to no hours, and some wonder why some people feel the dole offers them more than that.

anarchied

sniggings wrote: »

We agree :j zero hours are a big problem but even bigger are the 7 hour contracts etc most times the employee will never do those hours, yet will not be able to take a 2nd job as they will be expected to be availble for "overtime", so tied to an employer offering next to no hours, and some wonder why some people feel the dole offers them more than that.

This.

Also, OP, I feel for you. I can't offer any help, but the fact that he wanted you to phone in personally is unfortunately quite common unless you can prove that you were completely incapacitated (which it certainly sounds as if you were, and I hope that you're fully recovered). I know that's barely the issue at hand, but how can he have the audacity to say that you may not be ideal for the role because you were ill with a cold (completely normal) and had to be rushed to hospital? those two events are completely separate (I am assuming here)..

I don't know, I have nothing really to add, just sharing my sympathy (and probable ignorance on such issues :S)

Savvy_Sue

The issue is that the OP was on a zero hours contract. And now the employer is no longer offering hours.

As I see it, two choices: keep hoping that finally you will be offered a job, OR write and ask for confirmation of whether or not they still wish to employ you when the freeze ends. (You may know or suspect the freeze has ended, but if you haven't been told officially then you don't know on what terms the new people have been employed - they could be on work programme, interns etc.)

You talk about other branches: that implies that there would be an HR dept somewhere. So could be worth contacting them, especially if you want to raise the discrimination issue. Ask the question: is it likely that you will be offered a job, or not?

Bear in mind that sometimes it's not worth pursuing things: if this manager gives you a disciplinary for not personally phoning in on a daily basis when you're in hospital, you might find that they're really not the kind of person you want to work for long term.