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On a zero hours contract and told boss are unavailable, is this a problem?
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In order to claim JSA, you must be available for work and actively seeking work.
It sounds like you are committing benefit fraud.0 -
I would say that unfair dismissal in a case like this is unlikely but not impossible.
Aside from the exclusivity clause, you'd have to show a tribunal that your employer was not treating it as a casual arrangement and that therefore you should be considered an 'employee' in law. I imagine that this is what your lawyer is getting at when s/he states that you should not be turning down work, as it will difficult to argue that it is not a casual arrangement when you yourself are treating it as such.“I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled.” - P.G. Wodehouse0 -
I would say that unfair dismissal in a case like this is unlikely but not impossible.
Aside from the exclusivity clause, you'd have to show a tribunal that your employer was not treating it as a casual arrangement and that therefore you should be considered an 'employee' in law. I imagine that this is what your lawyer is getting at when s/he states that you should not be turning down work, as it will difficult to argue that it is not a casual arrangement when you yourself are treating it as such.
And so far the OP has not demonstrated that there is an exclusivity clause.0 -
Don't you understand they don't have to dismiss you they can just give you zero hours work every week from now on. You can't take them to court for giving you no work because it's in your contract that your guaranteed zero hours each week.
So what will you and your lawyer do then ?
I only heard from them again 12 weeks from that date, when they sent me a letter saying my role was no longer required due to structural changes. On NYE the last day I worked, I was 6 days short of working there 2 years.0 -
Ok. I have to establish two things am I a worker or an employee. If I am an employee on zero hours then I have rights. (Spoke to ACCAS yesterday.) They also fire and re-hire everyone in the New Year and if it's more than ten days or more then it's up to a judge to decide if it's really continuous service. I have really worked there over 5 years. Where would I find if I am an employee or worker on my contract? What part?0
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I just briefly looked through my contract-
it is worded as- Employee details
Period of employment.
Is this wording proof that I'm an employee and not a worker?
I guess if I am it's then up to a judge to deem whether the two week gap between hiring and firing people working at my language school is classed as continuous employment. The company does this to everyone though so surely a judge would throw out the company's argument that it's not continuous. There are lots of people who have their contracts terminated on December 16th this year then started again in early January; people who have worked there 4 or 5 years.
How about myself continuing to make myself unavailable though? I have done it now for 3 weeks, as soon as I get on the NEA Programme am planning to make myself available.
My boss wants me in for a 'chat' about Performance next week, but not about my unavailability. Is the key to just not sign anything ?0 -
How are you not understanding this - even if you are an employee (which you're not, but lets just hypothetically accept your argument) you are on a zero hours contract, just like you can refuse all work, they can refuse to give you work.0
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I just briefly looked through my contract-
it is worded as- Employee details
Period of employment.
Is this wording proof that I'm an employee and not a worker?
I guess if I am it's then up to a judge to deem whether the two week gap between hiring and firing people working at my language school is classed as continuous employment. The company does this to everyone though so surely a judge would throw out the company's argument that it's not continuous. There are lots of people who have their contracts terminated on December 16th this year then started again in early January; people who have worked there 4 or 5 years.
How about myself continuing to make myself unavailable though? I have done it now for 3 weeks, as soon as I get on the NEA Programme am planning to make myself available.
My boss wants me in for a 'chat' about Performance next week, but not about my unavailability. Is the key to just not sign anything ?
Normally a gap of a week or more is sufficient for the employment not to be continuous.0 -
How are you not understanding this - even if you are an employee (which you're not, but lets just hypothetically accept your argument) you are on a zero hours contract, just like you can refuse all work, they can refuse to give you work.
Exactly.
Debating the difference between worker and employee is totally irrelevant unless the extra "rights" are actually useful.
OP, you need to address this point first. As Guest says, in your situation what tangible benefit would you get from establishing employee status?0
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