Partner fired illegally? Advice needed

bonehead903028402

My partner has worked for the same company for almost 3 years now but his boss made all employees register as self employed not giving holiday pay, paternity pay or any other benefits like that.

The company pay 20% of their wages for tax then tell them to claim back expenses at the end of every year.

Until a few weeks ago I thought this was the norm in the construction trade and that everyone was classes as self employed. It has caused us a lot of problems when it come to filling out tax credit forms etc as he gets a wage from his company but we still fill everything out as if he's self employed as I thought that is what he was.

After some research I think that he is actually an employee even though he has no contract etc.

Last year we had a baby and my partner was working nearby, he took 2 weeks off unpaid as was entitled to no paternity through the company when he went back to work he was told the job he was working on had been filled with other workers so was sent to work on the other side of the country only home every second weekend.

When he told his boss how I was struggling being at home on my own for so long with a new born his boss said well would she rather you were signing on, basically threatening him with no job.

He was made supervisor of the Job away but given no training, he works as a heating engineer but has no formal qualifications so was happy with the position as it gave his a pay rise.

That job finished a couple weeks ago and he was moved onto another job.

I wasn't expecting him home today but a couple hours ago he walked through the door and told me he had been fired as the job he was supervisor of had been inspected and there have been a lot of mistakes which he should have been overseeing and that basically it will cost the company £10,000 so his boss has let him go. He has told me that his boss was overseeing the project also so it wasn't just upto him but he thinks he's been made an example of.

Can anyone tell me if this is legal and if there is anything we can do about it.

In my eyes he was set up to fail being given a job he was not qualified to do then fired when it went wrong.

Any advice appreciated as I am very stressed out about this now as we have just moved home to a more expensive house and now this

DomRavioli

If he is self employed as you have stated, then it would be down to the terms of the contract. If the error(s) were seen as gross misconduct then it is perfectly legal, as gross misconduct is usually a contract ending offence for self employed workers.

I can't see anything in your post that would be "illegal"; self employment and employment carry different rules and regulations, but if you are unsure, get your partner to speak to the citizens advice bureau for concrete information.

AbbieCadabra

go thru the employment status checker on HMRC. from what you've explained, I'd be very surprised if he should have been classed as self employed. you can report to HMRC if rules have been broken & they do appear to be taking action on a lot of cases of incorrect self employment at the moment.

obviously if he was an employee, disciplinary rules etc. would have applied & he shouldn't have just been sacked on the spot.

don't know if ACAS could help? i doubt this would be an easy situation to get sorted, but i'd definitely be pursuing it if i were you.

steampowered

What is stated in your contract is only part of the story. If your husband looks, smells and acted like an employee then he will be treated as an employee. Seek legal advice for an unfair dismissal claim.

agrinnall

Because your partner is in the construction industry the normal employee rules do not necessarily apply. I have little knowledge of what the rules are but I'd imagine he comes under CIS, and may well be self-employed by those rules.

AbbieCadabra

I don't think CIS overrides emplyment status rules, if anything, this is something that HMRC have started cracking down on, but this is why formal advice is required in this case.