Termination of modern apprentership??

mumsonline_2

Can anybody tell me if this is correct.
My son is on a modern apprenticeship welding course and we have just received a letter yesterday advising he has lost his place due to unauthorised absence.

He started in July, had two days holiday in August was off for two days in September as he had a minor operation but the training centre was given all the documents from the hospital to cover this.

He normally does a 26 and three quarter hour week at the college but recently they have been moving premises so sent the trainees out on work placements which he worked 38 hour week but with no extra money.

I booked a family holiday for October (I really didn't want to leave a 16 years old at home alone ) the college weren't very happy but said if he completed his four week placement it wouldn't jeopardise his place on the course but some of the days would have to be unpaid leave - which was quite acceptable to us.

Before we went on holiday he was advised to return to his placement when he got back as the training centre still wasn't ready( something fishy going on there - no one knows where the new place is even new starts have not been given details, their website shows the old details , just doesnt add up) he did this last Friday as planned but was sent home as there wasn't enough work.

That weekend he got food poisoning and was off Monday and Tuesday he phoned in sick to his work placement on Monday but didn't make a phone call Tuesday, or call the training centre. He went back to work as normal wednesday Thursday and Friday. Friday they Sent him home again saying they weren't busy enough - the whole time he has been there there has been very little to do!

Then this letter arrives telling him he is no longer on the course.
As far as I can see only mistake he has made is not phoning in sick on the Tuesday and not phoning The training centre.
Can they terminate his place because of this?


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CFC

If he was in full time employment he could be sacked due to this, so I can't see why it would be any different as an apprentice. Does the letter give the option of appealing or not?

AP007

Yes in most workplaces you may have in the particulars that you have to call in each day you are sick before a certain time and no one else must do it for you unless you are in a hospital bed!

marybelle01

More than two weeks absence, authorised or not, and paid or not, is an awful lot of time to be off in your first three months of work. Some of it may be holiday, and yes, you may not like to idea of leaving your son behind when you go away - but it's still an awful lot of time off in the early days of a formal training apprenticeship. They may not have said as much, but I can't see how this wouldn't have affected their decision. As others have said, not phoning in to an employer for even a single day off sick (or even phoning in to an employer saying you are sick) could have exactly this result - employees don't have a lot of rights now for the first two years of employment.

There ought to be a right to appeal - as an apprentice your son probably has a few rights that workers don't have! But at the very least I would suggest that if he decides to appeal he addresses his attendance record as a whole and makes sure that they understand that he won't be continuing this unfortunate pattern. Either way, it is a hard lesson to learn, but perhaps one best learned whilst he is only 16 and at this early stage when it can both be corrected and where other chances will be available to do so - you have to prove yourself at work, and you have to make sure you know and follow the rules assiduously, and few employers are understanding of loads of absences in the first few months.

And as his mum, whilst I fully understand your reticence in leaving him at home on his own, you need to understand that he is approaching adulthood, and as an apprentice he is a "junior worker" and his responsibilities lie towards his employer / training provider because they now have a massive influence over his future and his ability to stand on his own two feet and progress in the world of work.