Fired and given no reason.

[Scotters]

I have been working at a London nightclub for 9 months. My shifts were originally 3 days a week but became 2 days a week. Thay paid by cheque. I was heading to work yesterday after a 2 week holiday only to be told I was no longer needed because they have made cut backs. But I found out they are in fact lying and have replaced me with someone else. Can I take them to court for unfair dismissal? Or is there anything else I can do?

[jen78]

You haven't been there long enough to claim for unfair dismissal (minimum of a year's service required) or redundancy (2 years).

You could only claim for breach of contract eg not paying all wages, holiday etc.. due, notice pay - it depends on your contract.

If you don't have a contract then there are statutory powers in place which will confirm the position.

[Maypole]

Are you saying you never had a payslip and didnt have a tax code?

It is possible you are therefore self-employed and so yes they can dispense of your services without cause or reason. If you want to take it further there are some tests to determine whether you are actually self-employed or not (regardless of how you were paid) largely to do with how much control you had over your working hours and approach to work etc.

It could still be ruled that you were employed and so were unfairly or unlawfully dismissed. If you DO want to take it further you need to do it within 3 months.

Ill have a look for teh tests I mentioned

[Maypole]

Jen I think thats one year rather than two you're referring to.

But regardless, you can still be unfairly or unlawfully dismissed in your first years service.
Unlawfully if you have been discriminated against in grounds of: age, race/ethnicity, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, disability or religion.
Unfairly if you have been whistleblowing, on jury service, lots of reasons including challenging your employer over some basic employment rights such as H&S

Talk to your citizens advice next week where you can explain the details of your particular circumstance.

[Scotters]

Thank you guys.