Unfair Dismissal ?
Options
Tadman2
Posts: 7 Forumite
Hey Everyone,
Looking for some advice, thanks in advance !
I have been working for a company for the last 7 months, as a Personal Assistant to the companies MD.
To cut a long story short, it has been 24/7 for the last 7 months, with demeaning emails and calls starting around 6.30am every day including weekends lasting up until midnight some times.... I have been tasked with traveling across the globe along side my MD and had next to no time off over the last 7 months.
Struggling with the above, last week I was signed off by my doctor with stress/anxiety and exhaustion. I was given a sick note to cover me for 4 weeks. I advised work I was taking a sick day on the Monday and then followed it up with my doctors sick note on the Tuesday...
This was accepted by the company but of course my MD was furious and was desperate to know exact reasons , I politely declined to comment and handed my sick note in.
I received an email on the Thursday (Less than 48 hours after the sick note) stating I had been instantly dismissed as TRUST had been broken.... this was due to I had left myself logged into personal email account at work which showed over the last few weeks I had made some applications for other jobs. The letter dismissing me accused me of attending interviews (which I have NOT).... The company have now dismissed me and are refusing to pay me any form of notice. My contract states that I am due 2 months notice paid. Personally after speaking with friends they have suggested that if work had any concerns then they should have taken me down a disciplinary route, where a fair hearing would have been heard and a decision made based upon the evidence , not instant dismissal which I think is against contract as I have not committed gross misconduct ?
I have been emailing back and forth with my company trying to get my 2 months pay ( I would even be happy with 1 Month to tide me over until I get another job) but they are refusing to back down.
What I would like to know is....is it even worth continuing to fight or take them to court ? Am I just throwing good money after bad ? Should I just cut my losses now and move on....
Thank you for your help!
Looking for some advice, thanks in advance !
I have been working for a company for the last 7 months, as a Personal Assistant to the companies MD.
To cut a long story short, it has been 24/7 for the last 7 months, with demeaning emails and calls starting around 6.30am every day including weekends lasting up until midnight some times.... I have been tasked with traveling across the globe along side my MD and had next to no time off over the last 7 months.
Struggling with the above, last week I was signed off by my doctor with stress/anxiety and exhaustion. I was given a sick note to cover me for 4 weeks. I advised work I was taking a sick day on the Monday and then followed it up with my doctors sick note on the Tuesday...
This was accepted by the company but of course my MD was furious and was desperate to know exact reasons , I politely declined to comment and handed my sick note in.
I received an email on the Thursday (Less than 48 hours after the sick note) stating I had been instantly dismissed as TRUST had been broken.... this was due to I had left myself logged into personal email account at work which showed over the last few weeks I had made some applications for other jobs. The letter dismissing me accused me of attending interviews (which I have NOT).... The company have now dismissed me and are refusing to pay me any form of notice. My contract states that I am due 2 months notice paid. Personally after speaking with friends they have suggested that if work had any concerns then they should have taken me down a disciplinary route, where a fair hearing would have been heard and a decision made based upon the evidence , not instant dismissal which I think is against contract as I have not committed gross misconduct ?
I have been emailing back and forth with my company trying to get my 2 months pay ( I would even be happy with 1 Month to tide me over until I get another job) but they are refusing to back down.
What I would like to know is....is it even worth continuing to fight or take them to court ? Am I just throwing good money after bad ? Should I just cut my losses now and move on....
Thank you for your help!
0
Comments
-
You applied for jobs using your works email account? REALLY??0
-
Assuming that you can prove that your notice period is two months...Hey Everyone,
Looking for some advice, thanks in advance !
I have been working for a company for the last 7 months, as a Personal Assistant to the companies MD.
To cut a long story short, it has been 24/7 for the last 7 months, with demeaning emails and calls starting around 6.30am every day including weekends lasting up until midnight some times.... I have been tasked with traveling across the globe along side my MD and had next to no time off over the last 7 months.
Struggling with the above, last week I was signed off by my doctor with stress/anxiety and exhaustion. I was given a sick note to cover me for 4 weeks. I advised work I was taking a sick day on the Monday and then followed it up with my doctors sick note on the Tuesday...
This was accepted by the company but of course my MD was furious and was desperate to know exact reasons , I politely declined to comment and handed my sick note in.
I received an email on the Thursday (Less than 48 hours after the sick note) stating I had been instantly dismissed as TRUST had been broken.... this was due to I had left myself logged into personal email account at work which showed over the last few weeks I had made some applications for other jobs. The letter dismissing me accused me of attending interviews (which I have NOT).... The company have now dismissed me and are refusing to pay me any form of notice. My contract states that I am due 2 months notice paid. Personally after speaking with friends they have suggested that if work had any concerns then they should have taken me down a disciplinary route, where a fair hearing would have been heard and a decision made based upon the evidence , not instant dismissal which I think is against contract as I have not committed gross misconduct ?
I have been emailing back and forth with my company trying to get my 2 months pay ( I would even be happy with 1 Month to tide me over until I get another job) but they are refusing to back down.
What I would like to know is....is it even worth continuing to fight or take them to court ? Am I just throwing good money after bad ? Should I just cut my losses now and move on....
Thank you for your help!
Yes you can take it to court - county court is the cheapest route - but at the very least there may be a fight about amounts of pay because unless you have company sick pay, SSP will apply to some of this period. It's not totally easy to predict because of the circumstances of being signed off. But yes, you can and should go for it if that is what you are owed.
With less than two years service fair hearing are irrelevant - notice pay is all it is about, not whether it is fair or not.0 -
NO, I applied with my PERSONAL account as noted above.... but left myself logged into my personal account and work saw it after I had gone sick....0
-
As above, if you can PROVE they have to give you two months notice, then write to them asking for two months pay.
Then move on...
Clearly you were planning to leave, so just find yourself another job in the next two months.Should've = Should HAVE (not 'of')
Would've = Would HAVE (not 'of')
No, I am not perfect, but yes I do judge people on their use of basic English language. If you didn't know the above, then learn it! (If English is your second language, then you are forgiven!)0 -
If you wish to you should pursue the notice pay in the small claims court.
You need to issue a 'letter before action'. You can find templates for this online for unpaid wages/notice pay.
I agree with Sangie there's no unfair dismissal claim I can see, with you having less than two years' service. So the lack of process is irrelevant, unless I suppose you have a contractual right to one... but even in these unusual circumstances you most probably wouldn't win any more than your notice pay anyway. So focus on pursuing them for the notice pay. Chances are they'll pay it as it will probably be more expensive to fight it than to pay you.“I could see that, if not actually disgruntled, he was far from being gruntled.” - P.G. Wodehouse0 -
Even though it was your personal e-mail account, you were using company equipment and internet access ; for an activity which is actually detrimental to their business. It probably has a rule against that, and which says they can check any content. Instant dismissal for Gross Misconduct does sound harsh, but I'm guessing you aren't in a union.
It does seem as if he was working you too hard, but perhaps being signed off and leaving was the only thing which would have stopped that. The alternative might have been 8, 9, 10 or more months ; with an even more serious ending. Think of it as leaving an abusive relationship, where you make a financial loss.
P.S. If you post tomorrow that he felt down a long flight of stairs and broke every bone in his body, I'll claim one of the paranormal prizes for telepathy and psychokinesis.0 -
Using company equipment for personal business can actually be classed as theft. Sounds crazy I know, but it's technically theft of electricity and theft is clearly grounds for instant dismissal on the grounds of gross misconduct. In that situation I'm not sure that any claim for pay in lieu of notice would be upheld.0
-
Using company equipment for personal business can actually be classed as theft. Sounds crazy I know, but it's technically theft of electricity and theft is clearly grounds for instant dismissal on the grounds of gross misconduct. In that situation I'm not sure that any claim for pay in lieu of notice would be upheld.
I think to have any chance of getting away with that argument the firm would need to show that they had a clear and total ban on any any private internet use from work. Even then, unless there were very special circumstances, I suspect they would struggle to convince a court that a first offence could reasonable be treated as gross misconduct.
Obviously with less than two years service they are quite entitled to dismiss the OP but I think in most situations calling this gross misconduct would be seen as nothing more than a device to avoid paying contractual notice.
It has to be worth a carefully worded letter before action followed by, if necessary, a claim in the Small Claims Court.0 -
I'd like to know if we can prosecute cold callers for the electricity used by the answering machine ; or spam e-mailers for the "denial of service".0
-
I'd like to know if we can prosecute cold callers for the electricity used by the answering machine ; or spam e-mailers for the "denial of service".
No!
You certainly can't "prosecute" them as it is not a criminal offence. What you probably mean is can you make a civil claim against them for any losses you suffer? Until they call they have no means of knowing that you choose to have an answering machine or that you have chosen an obscure model that uses a measurable amount of extra electricity to answer a call!
If you have previously told them not to contact you then I suppose in theory, if you have suffered a quantifiable loss, they are liable.
If this is the biggest worry you have in your life then I am very happy for you and perhaps you could tell us what your are on and where we can all get some!0
This discussion has been closed.
Categories
- All Categories
- 343.2K Banking & Borrowing
- 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
- 449.7K Spending & Discounts
- 235.3K Work, Benefits & Business
- 608.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
- 173.1K Life & Family
- 247.9K Travel & Transport
- 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
- 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
- 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards