Fixed Term contract not renewed due to miscommunication regarding positive COVID result

JReacher1

ssbjham said:

My concern is the affect this may have on any references. He graduated from University in May and this is the only job he has since then. I just feel that although I agree  and understand that the main point is the fact that he didn't send the email, at no point was he allowed to state his case officially.

It shouldn’t really affect his reference as he wasn’t sacked. His fixed term contract just expired. 

General_Grant

ssbjham said:

I'm sorry but this may be a long post but I really need some advice :
My son has been working on a fixed term, claims based contract which usually finishes at the the beginning of January and then employees are asked back.. Unfortunately I was sent home from work to self isolate due to being in contact with a positive contact .I then started to feel unwell and sent for a test which unfortunately came back positive so my son had to also isolate.
During this time he had kept his employers informed that he was having to self isolate and that I had received a positive and he had ordered a test and was being tested. (which actually came back positive) This is where it starts to go wrong ,although he had contacted work and gave the names of the colleagues who he had been in contact he sent an email (or so he thought) informing them that he was postitive .It was not until he returned to work that he realised that the email was sitting in drafts. The app said that he had to isolate until 28th (he went to work on 28th) which he showed them when he got to work, however it does say that you have to isolate 10 days from the test or from when you start displaying symptoms so he had been isolating for 14/15 days.
He was sent home as no one was aware of his test result and was told that the manager would contact him to arrange to speak to him but she was currently on holiday. He sent an email explaining all the time lines .He did not hear anything back until last week asking him what shifts he would be available for in the new year, all good we thought but then he received a letter yesterday stating that
"After a thorough investigation relating to your conduct upon receiving a positive COVID-19 test result, the decision has been made not to offer you further employment " He replied saying that he did not know that there had been an investigation and requested the copies of the investigation. The reply was as you are not currently in the employ of ---------------there is no legal requirement for me to provide evidence for this. However in light of your request for information, the following informed the final decision:


The absence of communication with a manager upon confirmation of a positive COVID-19 result

• The absence of communication with a manager to arrange your return to work following a positive COVID-19 test result
• The high level of risk to people and business associated with the two points above
• The approach to communication with colleagues and management upon your return to work

We have a duty of care to protect our employees and members of the public, and as we continue operating within this pandemic we must be able to fully trust our team to follow correct procedures at all times.

Can anyone help please ?

What amount of contact was there?  Did he actually contact them to say he was self-isolating because of your positivity (and at that time named the colleagues) but then failed to tell them he had tested positive too because he did not send an email?

[Deleted User]

For reference concerns I would just keep likes of taxation details - anything really that proves time spent. Whilst it is 2021 not 1981, reference checking should be abolished I do personally feel and there should be another way to prove time in employment, I left somewhere where it would not matter if you worked well for the company 1 year or 6 references are just not written for anyone, I went to work for an expanding family business under the regulator and just explained I couldn’t get a reference, (but with the comfort of knowing my personal tax record info for 2020 would back in showing just one employer) they were fine.  Hopefully he’ll pick up another job soon 

ssbjham

General_Grant - What amount of contact was there?  Did he actually contact them to say he was self-isolating because of your positivity (and at that time named the colleagues) but then failed to tell them he had tested positive too because he did not send an email?
Yes that's correct

Marcon

Deleted User said:

For reference concerns I would just keep likes of taxation details - anything really that proves time spent. Whilst it is 2021 not 1981, reference checking should be abolished I do personally feel and there should be another way to prove time in employment, I left somewhere where it would not matter if you worked well for the company 1 year or 6 references are just not written for anyone, I went to work for an expanding family business under the regulator and just explained I couldn‚Äôt get a reference, (but with the comfort of knowing my personal tax record info for 2020 would back in showing just one employer) they were fine.  Hopefully he‚Äôll pick up another job soon 

References do a lot more than prove time in employment, especially if you work in a regulated industry carrying out regulated activities. No sane employer would cheerfully accept that you 'couldn't get a reference' and rely on your tax record just to show you actually worked somewhere, thus putting their regulated status at risk, if you were being employed to carry out a regulated activity. 

Tokmon

ssbjham said:

My concern is the affect this may have on any references. He graduated from University in May and this is the only job he has since then. I just feel that although I agree  and understand that the main point is the fact that he didn't send the email, at no point was he allowed to state his case officially.

I don't see what he could say even if he was asked to "officially" state his case because it's pretty clear cut that he failed to effectively communicate very important information to his employer so that's a good reason for them to not hire him back on a new contract. It's common sense that if he didn't receive any reply he should have rang them up or emailed again to confirm they had received it.