Can my daughter be forced to resign?

TBagpuss

It's pretty much moot since she has given her resignation.

Had she not done so, then of it is zero hours contract then she may just have been able to decline the hours they offered for those weeks.(although equally, they could then chose not to offer her any further hours , or to terminate her contract) 

If she was an employee on a more standard contract then they were entitled to decline her holiday request and would have been entitled to dismiss her if she then failed to show up r told them that she wouldn't be coming in.

The fact that she resigned may make a difference to how soon she will receive any benefits, if she can't get a new job straight away. You may want to check on the benfits board but I think she would need to make a claim ASAP, but that she may be snactioned and not recieve anything to start with. (She may not be able to start the claim until after she comes back from holiday as I thnk you have to be available for work, but again, check on the benefits board) 

marycanary

Isn't it the whole point of zero hours contracts that they are flexible and both sides can pick and choose the hours they work? If the employer wanted to be able to decline holiday requests they should have employed your daughter on a normal fixed hours contract. They want to have their cake and eat it. This is probably a moot point because your daughter resigned, but it shows why working people need good employment rights.

Brie

From a practical point of view it's not uncommon for staff to ask for time off and be refused due to the employer needing to cover the work that's to be done.  I've had to say no numerous times.  And what usually happens that some individuals are ok with this as they hadn't yet made plans, some aren't ok because they've made plans and they escalate their request up the management line knowing it's likely to be ok'd.  And then there's some that say ok and go off sick for that period of time.

Also from a practical point of view I would wonder if the manager who suggested she resign wants rid of her as finding her autistic behaviour difficult to manage.  I'm not suggesting that your daughter is being difficult at all but I've met lots of managers who are ignorant about those on the autistic spectrum and would rather get rid than be educated. 

fuzzything

The OP mentioned they are unable to leave their daughter at home on her own. Are you carers for her?

If her carers not being around means she cannot stay at home, than that would seem to prevent her from being able to be at work (as she has to be living with someone who can care for her).

Her employer giving her unpaid time off for the period she cannot be cared for at home and needs to live somewhere else sounds to me like a reasonable adjustment for her disability.

You might look into an Occupation Health referral on that basis. If things can be progressed along those lines it removes the reason her manager told her she had to resign. 

I fear her manager may dig their heels in and make it very difficult for this to be treated with due consideration for the change in circumstances that originally led to them telling your daughter she had to resign.

Undervalued

TELLIT01 said:

She can't be discriminated against on the basis of her disability, but that is not what is happening here.  She has requested leave and the request has been refused, just as it could be for anybody else who put a request in late.  Setting aside the possible zero hours contract, anybody who decides to take leave when it has been refused would be liable to disciplinary action.  With less than 2 years service, employment can potentially be terminated simply by giving the staff member the required notice.  I don't see that she is being treated in any way differently because of her disability.

The employer is only obliged to make "reasonable adjustments" to try and accommodate her disability. As you say, there is no evidence that they are discriminating as such. In any case if adjustments beyond what is reasonable (for the employer) are required then she could certainly be lawfully dismissed.

Reasonable adjustments don't go anything like as far as many people fondly imagine. Many (most) "decent" employers tend to do far more than the law would actually require to help disabled staff. 

NCC1701-A

One consequence of resigning rather than being sacked is the ability to claim Universal Credit is delayed. Although references and reason for leaving on a CV would read better as resigning than being sacked.

lisyloo

fuzzything said:

The OP mentioned they are unable to leave their daughter at home on her own. Are you carers for her?

If her carers not being around means she cannot stay at home, than that would seem to prevent her from being able to be at work (as she has to be living with someone who can care for her).

Her employer giving her unpaid time off for the period she cannot be cared for at home and needs to live somewhere else sounds to me like a reasonable adjustment for her disability.

You might look into an Occupation Health referral on that basis. If things can be progressed along those lines it removes the reason her manager told her she had to resign. 

I fear her manager may dig their heels in and make it very difficult for this to be treated with due consideration for the change in circumstances that originally led to them telling your daughter she had to resign.

If she can be cared for somewhere else, then why can’t she go to work?

not speaking legally but if I were the employer I’d expect carers to make arrangements for their dependents when they book a holiday, not treat them as an afterthought.

General_Grant

lisyloo said:

fuzzything said:

The OP mentioned they are unable to leave their daughter at home on her own. Are you carers for her?

If her carers not being around means she cannot stay at home, than that would seem to prevent her from being able to be at work (as she has to be living with someone who can care for her).

Her employer giving her unpaid time off for the period she cannot be cared for at home and needs to live somewhere else sounds to me like a reasonable adjustment for her disability.

You might look into an Occupation Health referral on that basis. If things can be progressed along those lines it removes the reason her manager told her she had to resign. 

I fear her manager may dig their heels in and make it very difficult for this to be treated with due consideration for the change in circumstances that originally led to them telling your daughter she had to resign.

If she can be cared for somewhere else, then why can’t she go to work?

not speaking legally but if I were the employer I’d expect carers to make arrangements for their dependents when they book a holiday, not treat them as an afterthought.

You seem to be suggesting the OP, as carer, is treating their daughter as an "afterthought" when actually they were including her in the holiday.  Perhaps the point about making "arrangements" is meant to imply that they, rather than their daughter, who is the employee, should have contacted the employer to request the holiday.

lisyloo

General_Grant said:

lisyloo said:

fuzzything said:

The OP mentioned they are unable to leave their daughter at home on her own. Are you carers for her?

If her carers not being around means she cannot stay at home, than that would seem to prevent her from being able to be at work (as she has to be living with someone who can care for her).

Her employer giving her unpaid time off for the period she cannot be cared for at home and needs to live somewhere else sounds to me like a reasonable adjustment for her disability.

You might look into an Occupation Health referral on that basis. If things can be progressed along those lines it removes the reason her manager told her she had to resign. 

I fear her manager may dig their heels in and make it very difficult for this to be treated with due consideration for the change in circumstances that originally led to them telling your daughter she had to resign.

If she can be cared for somewhere else, then why can’t she go to work?

not speaking legally but if I were the employer I’d expect carers to make arrangements for their dependents when they book a holiday, not treat them as an afterthought.

You seem to be suggesting the OP, as carer, is treating their daughter as an "afterthought" when actually they were including her in the holiday.  Perhaps the point about making "arrangements" is meant to imply that they, rather than their daughter, who is the employee, should have contacted the employer to request the holiday.

If she now has no care available, can't go on the holiday or losses her job then I think that's pretty bad - yes.

Without knowing her needs I wouldn't presume to judge whether they should have dealt directly with the employer, but it's fairly fundamental to make sure people are available before paying for tickets (whether they are dependent status or not).

cheeky-peach

For me, it sounds like you need to establish what's more important long term... keeping the job or going on a holiday, assuming she can't ask for unpaid leave as it would be unpaid anyway? If keeping her job is more important, it may be best to consider if anyone could stay home with her, or if you could move the holiday after achieving an approval for leave.