Would I have grounds to claim constructive dissmissal

gettingtheresometime

Mickey154 wrote: »

Again thanks for your replies. But I am shocked and find it hard to believe that you are all siding with my employer and think what she is doing is acceptable. Ozzuk I can't believe what you are saying. your saying that it's ok for a employer to reduce your hours to zero instead of sacking you, to force you out of your job so they don't have to sack you there for getting out of any legal trouble. That's shocking and a big loop hole.

So if any employer wants to get rid of employee they don't have to sack them they can just reduce there hours and force them out. So no need to sack staff any more and no unfair dismissal cases to worry about.

All of you seem to be saying that employees have no rights and can be treated like dirt and that's fine employer can do this it perfectly fine. Employees are worthless. It's a joke.

Oh and guess what I've not been paid. I was meant to be paid last Friday but no pay recieved. I was promised my pay would be in this morning but nothing. Now she is saying she won't pay me as she wants all money for her self. Her words not mine.

I guess you are all going to say that there is nothing I can do and that this is acceptable too and perfectly legal and that I should walk away and accept loosing over a months wages. Even if I get a new job quick I still have to wait a month or more for first pay. How do I pay bills and keep a roof over my family's head.

Not one of you have answered any of my actual questions or given me any advice. Just siding with my employer and telling me to move on.

I guess I should just move on then and loose my wages. After all I have no rights so there is nothing I can do.

She is treating you very badly - no one has said any thing to the contrary - but not illegally and unfortunately for you they are two different things.


As for wages yes you can sue her for them but I guess then you may find you are literally put on zero hours.


What everyone has said is that it sounds as if she's running the business into the ground either intentionally or unintentionally. If the standard of the food is that bad no one will come back again and I guess, especially in these days of tripadvisor etc, she's hardly going to get word of mouth recommendations.


With regards to the pension how long have you paid into it? I seem to remember that if it was less than two years (though that might have been two yrs of service I can't remember exactly now) you could have the return of your personal contributions less tax ie you wouldn't have the contributions that the employer might have made. If it was greater than 2 years, you had the choice of effectively freezing the pot (which would include the employer contributions) or transferring them to a different scheme. However my knowledge is probably out of date so the best course of action would to be to ring up the pension provider and ask, hypothetically, what your options would be.


If you and the sous chef are a good team have you thought about opening up a rival establishment?

getmore4less

How much holiday have you been getting?

What holiday pay have you been getting for that holiday?

Ozzuk

Mickey154 wrote: »

Sportsarb thank you. You are right. I only came on this forum as I thought Some one might have been in a similar situation in past and might be able to offer some advice. But was wrong and have Just wasted my time.

Ive made a appointment to see a employment lawyer on Wednesday. My wife's dad has lebt us money to pay for it. Hopefully I will get some proper advice then.

I won't bother posting back here again

To be clear...it is terrible how she is treating you, I feel for you, but as I said, if you want to take action pay for advice - because on the face of it the hours stuff is unfair, but not illegal in my unlearned opinion.

I also think zero hours contract are appalling - but you agreed to it, so those are the terms you are working under.

Personally, I hope you do find something that will support your case, I think it is unlikely, but good luck to you.

TBagpuss

Mickey154 wrote: »

Again thanks for your replies. But I am shocked and find it hard to believe that you are all siding with my employer and think what she is doing is acceptable. Ozzuk I can't believe what you are saying. your saying that it's ok for a employer to reduce your hours to zero instead of sacking you, to force you out of your job so they don't have to sack you there for getting out of any legal trouble. That's shocking and a big loop hole.

So if any employer wants to get rid of employee they don't have to sack them they can just reduce there hours and force them out. So no need to sack staff any more and no unfair dismissal cases to worry about.

All of you seem to be saying that employees have no rights and can be treated like dirt and that's fine employer can do this it perfectly fine. Employees are worthless. It's a joke.

Oh and guess what I've not been paid. I was meant to be paid last Friday but no pay recieved. I was promised my pay would be in this morning but nothing. Now she is saying she won't pay me as she wants all money for her self. Her words not mine.

I guess you are all going to say that there is nothing I can do and that this is acceptable too and perfectly legal and that I should walk away and accept loosing over a months wages. Even if I get a new job quick I still have to wait a month or more for first pay. How do I pay bills and keep a roof over my family's head.

Not one of you have answered any of my actual questions or given me any advice. Just siding with my employer and telling me to move on.

I guess I should just move on then and loose my wages. After all I have no rights so there is nothing I can do.

I don't think anyone is siding with your employer or saying that what she is doing is acceptable.

What we are saying (indeed Polgara said it explicitly) is that someone behaving in ways which areunfiar or unreasonable or not good practice, and someone behaving in ways which are unlawful and give you a legal way of getting redress, are not the same thing.

I think you might find it helpful to talk to ACAS, and then to an employment lawyer, who will be able to advice you about whether you would be likely to be able to claim constructive dismissal (and what ypu need to do before resigning if so)

In relation to your health issues, you may have a claim but I suspect that you would have to prove that she was negligent - so either that there are specifc H&S rules about what is required regarding extrator ans / ventilation which she has breached, or that you have reported the issue and she hasn't done anything to remedy it. Either way, you would need to show that she had been negligent and that that caused your health issues.
That's something you will need to get advice about.

It sounds as though she is an unplesant person and a bad employer, but that doesn't automatically mean that she has acted unlawfully.

I still think that your best bet is to try to get a new job as soon as you can, and in the mean tim, get some proper advice and follow it.

Marvel1

If you left, anything you can report to the FSA for surprise visit?

I would leave the rep is on you as the chef if the food is bad. I use to visit a restaurant a few times, lovely steaks, one time I went it was bad - found out the chef left and a new chef in, tried again a second time - not been back since.

pinkshoes

The OP didn't get the answers they wanted so has said they won't be posting again.

OP, if you are still reading replies, then just because people don't agree with you, doesn't mean they aren't offering good advice.

Life is short. Yes, your employer is treating you unfairly, but as you are on a zero hours contract it is not illegal. You are therefore wasting money on legal advice.

Put your CV out there, get another job and move on with your life.

My dad had an emergency quadruple heart bypass many years ago. The company who he has worked for for 25 years dismissed him for therefore being incapable of doing his job rather than supporting him. A legal case would have been stressful, so I am glad he chose to move on.

sportsarb

I think the OP has done what made sense and is going to get professional advice. There will be things in law that aren't known to people on here, there will be aspects of the case that haven't been teased out but that someone who knows what to ask will be able to tease out.

Masomnia

I think you're doing the right thing in getting professional advice OP as this is far from a straightforward case. Quite right to say that what is writing is not as important as the actual facts of the relationship ie if neither of you treat it as a ZHC then it isn't really, and a tribunal would not see it that way either.

You can use that to your advantage though. If you did find a new job you can just leave and start work elsewhere, after all if it's a genuine ZHC you've got the right to turn down any work that is offered to you. So I think it would be wise to decide which way you want to play it and stick to it.

TELLIT01

Mickey154 wrote: »

I won't bother posting back here again

Sadly, all too common when somebody doesn't get the answer they want. Rather than accepting the reality of the situation they blame the messenger.

Takmon

Mickey154 wrote: »

I won't bother posting back here again

That's a shame for you because your financial situation outside of work is dire and you could learn a lot about budgeting and building up an emergency fund from this forum.