Dismissal

Catte93

Hi I hope I have posted in the correct place

My employment started on the 24th January 2017 24 hours a week permanent contract.

I have had a few sick days due to my daughter being poorly, I then attended A & E on the 4th August and my hand was placed in a splint for 2 weeks possible fracture with X-rays to be reviewed by the consultant and was advised not to work I work in the care industry so moving and handling with a splint on and possible fracture was not an option , I obtained a doctors note for 2 weeks and sent this into my employer, I turned out that I hadn’t got a fracture but was referred to physio and told to wear the splint for 2 weeks as I had initially been told. My two weeks off meant that I wasn’t at work for 5 shifts, plus 3 shifts off due to my daughter being poorly not altogether but separate.

Fast forward to 17th October I was due to work that evening and I had terrible toothache and swelling to my face from the night before and was in a lot of pain I rang at 10.30am giving my employer 9-1/2 hours notice that I wouldn’t be in work as I was attending the emergency dentist that evening, I had teeth extracted and was in a lot of pain, bleeding and had visible swelling not the correct state to be attending work and dealing with elderly residents.

I then received a letter dated 17th October stating my employment had been terminated with immediate effect as they had warned me already about my absences.

Basically my Employer called me to a meeting on the 20th August and told me that she had cancelled my permanent contract and changed it to a bank contract

I had no written or verbal warnings just the meeting

I have proof of both my appointments for time off as being genuine and not because I fancied a break as she claimed to other employees

Sorry for the long winded post I wanted to make sure I covered everything. I am wanting to know where I stand with regards to unfair dismissal etc

McKneff

You stand in the dole queue, i'm afraid.
Employers can dismiss you in the first two years without even giving an explanation, unless you are pregnant, or its to do with race.

You can only move on. Sorry .
Did you not see it coming

Catte93

Ha ha thanks I had a feeling
I am more annoyed at the fact that I was off for genuine reasons 😡

Very luckily for me I have another job lined up already but the start date is a few weeks away

sangie595

Catte93 wrote: »

I am more annoyed at the fact that I was off for genuine reasons 😡

Most people are off for genuine reasons. That doesn't mean that they should not be dismissed. Employers, quite unreasonably, expect to pay people for turning up to work. They tend to get very shirty when people don't, repeatedly, in a short period of time. You might want to keep this in mind. Very few employers tolerate high absence rates, whatever the good reason is. Having less than two years service only makes dismissal easier.

Comms69

Catte93 wrote: »

Hi I hope I have posted in the correct place

My employment started on the 24th January 2017 24 hours a week permanent contract.

I have had a few sick days due to my daughter being poorly - those should be parental leave days. And should be no more than 24 hrs realistically. , I then attended A & E on the 4th August and my hand was placed in a splint for 2 weeks possible fracture with X-rays to be reviewed by the consultant and was advised not to work - advised or signed off? I work in the care industry so moving and handling with a splint on and possible fracture was not an option , I obtained a doctors note for 2 weeks and sent this into my employer, I turned out that I hadn’t got a fracture but was referred to physio and told to wear the splint for 2 weeks as I had initially been told. My two weeks off meant that I wasn’t at work for 5 shifts, plus 3 shifts off due to my daughter being poorly not altogether but separate. - Presumably this is 3x8 hour shifts per week?

Fast forward to 17th October I was due to work that evening and I had terrible toothache and swelling to my face from the night before - so why didn't you sort it during the day? and was in a lot of pain I rang at 10.30am giving my employer 9-1/2 hours notice that I wouldn’t be in work as I was attending the emergency dentist that evening - evening? why not morning? all dentists have emergency appointments available, I had teeth extracted and was in a lot of pain, bleeding and had visible swelling not the correct state to be attending work and dealing with elderly residents. - each extraction is different, I've had two. was back in work 10 minutes after

I then received a letter dated 17th October stating my employment had been terminated with immediate effect as they had warned me already about my absences. - Hmm.

Basically my Employer called me to a meeting on the 20th August and told me that she had cancelled my permanent contract and changed it to a bank contract - ah, that makes sense.

I had no written or verbal warnings just the meeting

I have proof of both my appointments for time off as being genuine and not because I fancied a break as she claimed to other employees

Sorry for the long winded post I wanted to make sure I covered everything. I am wanting to know where I stand with regards to unfair dismissal etc

Nope, no claims at all.


Unfair dismissal requires two years continuous employment.

TBagpuss

As others have said, given that you'd only been employed for a 9-10 months, you don't have any recourse.

Also - your daughter being ill is not a genuine reason for you to call in sick. Those days should have been taken as holiday or as (unpaid) emergency parental leave.

Whether it would have made any difference if you have not taken those days, or if you had categorised them correctly and not as sick leave, we can't know, but for future reference it may be worth bearing in mind that a lot of employers would take a very dim view of mis-use of sick leave.

steampowered

I am sorry to hear about this. It does not sounds like you have any unfair dismissal rights.

However - unless you have been dismissed for gross misconduct - you are entitled to receive 1 week's notice (or any longer notice period stated in your employment contract).

As you were terminated with immediate effect you might be able to claim 1 week's notice pay.

I suppose the employer might say they aren't going to pay you notice pay because they dismissed you for gross misconduct. But I think it is probably worth at least asking to be paid for your notice period.

iammumtoone

Picking up the point of parental leave, I thought you had to give notice for this? Please could someone direct to a link where it can be taken without notice?

It is difficult when you have a sick child as you are not sick yourself. My employer has a policy where you can't take holiday for this as you haven't given the required notice, so very interested in my rights for taking parental leave with no notice.

Thanks

EDIT: found the link https://www.gov.uk/parental-leave/entitlement its says it has to be taken in week blocks, and you have to give 21 days notice. https://www.gov.uk/parental-leave/notice-period

jobbingmusician

Yeah, but that's not for emergencies. Try https://www.gov.uk/time-off-for-dependants

And note that the (emergency) time off is to arrange for care to be provided, not to provide care.

iammumtoone

jobbingmusician wrote: »

Yeah, but that's not for emergencies. Try https://www.gov.uk/time-off-for-dependants

And note that the (emergency) time off is to arrange for care to be provided, not to provide care.

Yes I know of that law but like you say its not for days, just enough time to sort out alternative arrangements. In the above posts people are referring to the OP should have taken parent leave when they had few days off due to their child being ill.

So I am wondering where this right to have a few days off comes from? that the OP should have done instead of being 'sick'

Comms69 wrote: »

I have had a few sick days due to my daughter being poorly - those should be parental leave days. And should be no more than 24 hrs realistically.

TBagpuss wrote: »

Also - your daughter being ill is not a genuine reason for you to call in sick. Those days should have been taken as holiday or as (unpaid) emergency parental leave.

jobbingmusician

Yes, I see your point. So the OP should have taken a day's emergency leave when her daughter was ill, in order to arrange care for any subsequent illness. Yes, I know it's difficult, but that's the only way employers can cope. It's not possible to run a business (I imagine) or a charity (I know) if people suddenly go off for days or weeks at a time because kids are ill. (And BTW, I find that this always seems to fall to the mothers. It would halve the problem of excessive leave or at least spread it around more if fathers started doing their share!)