employment advice

[willow74]

my mate has just been sacked for bad timekeeping and a 'bad attitude'.  He has been there 6mths and passed the 3mth review. He has had no verbal or written warnings. 

He was 'told off' the other day for being 3mins late so i guess that could be classed as a warning. 

Any advice ?

[Miss Zippy]

An employer can only summarily dismiss (i.e. instantly, without former warning) where gross misconduct has occurred, e.g. theft, fraud, violence, attending work whilst under the influence of drugs or alcohol, that sort of thing. Minor misconduct, like poor timekeeping, should be dealt with through the company�s internal disciplinary procedure.  This will involve the employer giving the employee verbal warnings (which are recorded on file) and a final written warning, which must make clear that any repeat minor misconduct (of any kind, not necessarily the kind that is the subject of the disciplinary procedure) will result in dismissal.  Sounds like your friend has been unfairly dismissed.  He/she should seek practical assistance from the Citizens Advice Bureau.  P.S  when you say �bad attitude�, I�m assuming you mean general poor  work performance, rather than displaying a violent attitude to colleagues?  Again, poor work performance is not a reason for summary dismissal (it has to go through the disciplinary procedure).

[willow74]

Bad attitude they say towards doing the best for the company, definately not in a violent way.  He asked for an example of his attitude which they did not give.

He has only been there for 6mths though and i am unsure if they are allowed to do this because its under a year still.  I thought employers were allowed to dismiss for any reason under a year.

[Miss Zippy]

Sorry, in my haste I missed the bit about his length of service.  If he's been employed for less than one year, then he cannot bring a claim for unfair dismissal (there are certain circumstances when you can, but I won't go into them as they're not relevant here).  However, your friend might have a claim for 'wrongful dismissal' - this simply means that his contract of employment was not terminated in accordance with his contract of employment, e.g. no notice period. You do not need to have been employed for any minimum length of time to be able to bring a claim for wrongful dismisal. However, whether your friend wants the hassle of taking it further is another matter. 

[Hgrove]

I am sure unfair dismissal requires one year's service now.

[Miss Zippy]

The min length of service for unfair dismissal is one year; it was reduced from two years in 2000. 

[joko]

Your friend could behave very differently at work than when with you, and may not have told you the full story - unless your 'mate' is actually you ;o)