WallerZero
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| posted on 4/9/16 at 02:35 PM |
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Any HR/Employment Law folk?
So Friday I got called into the meeting room an hour before finishing for the day to be told my contract was being terminated. I have been an employee
at the company since January so only 9 months. I was not given any warning this was taking place nor that my position was under threat. Either way I
have been given my 1 months notice that I do not have to work if I don't want to and will still be paid for regardless. I was a CAD Engineer and
worked on various jobs that came from our Project Engineers.
I was told the reason for my termination was due to my performance being sub standard having gone over the allocated hours on a few jobs however there
was no specifics mentioned. Equally my last few jobs had no hours allocated for the job as it had already been discussed that their estimated hours
method was inherently flawed. At no point in my employment had I been told my performance needed to be stepped up or was performing below a standard
they required as I was still producing work and not having any issues coming back to me.
However I was handed an envelope from HR saying it contained the details they had just spoken about with my contract being terminated. This letter
said the reason was to a restructuring of the CAD team and that my skills set was no longer required. Basically said I was being made redundant
without actually saying redundancy. Now the bit that has plagued me since reading the letter is the fact we have recently (within the last month)
hired 2 more CAD Engineers to the exact same role as me that the job advert (found online and still active) was advertising a salary of £5,000 less
per annum. This took our team capacity to 7 members to only 6 workstations so we were oversubscribed, it was only due to some well timed holidays that
the 2nd new starter was able to being whilst the other way on holiday for 2 weeks.
Overall, feels like a bit of an underhand way to get rid of someone and in both cases (performance & redundancy), the grievance procedures
specified in the employee handbook were not followed at all. I was wondering if there was anyone who might have some knowledge on the subject area
that might be able to give me some advice on what to do.
Cheers all,
http://zachsgbszero.blogspot.co.uk/
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JacksAvon
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| posted on 4/9/16 at 07:04 PM |
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Firstly, you really don't want to work with a company like that.
Possibly not a helpful comment from me.
All sounds iffy, but as you have been with the company less than 12 months you have few rights.
I have just been in a similar situation working as a Manager for a large National Company.
Your best bet is to contact ACAS.
They have been very helpful to some of my colleagues.
Jack
The sickness started in 2001 with a Robin Hood 3A, Prelit Westy,Tiger Cub, Tiger Avon, Tiger R6, 16v Mini, Sylva Fury Fireblade, Westfield Sei,
Mallock Mk11, Fireblade Locost, Tiger Avon, Procomp LA Gold, Mk26 Mallock...........and now a Mk18 Mallock.....LR750, Vandiemen FX02
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richardm6994
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| posted on 5/9/16 at 07:57 AM |
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I have a fair bit of experience dealing with this kind of stuff and unfortunately as you've only been at the company 9 months, you have few
rights in this instances.
It's generally accepted that 9 months is a probationary period (unless stated otherwise) and if you're not up to scratch or they feel they
don't want you anymore (i.e. your not fitting in with the company, they want to re-structure etc....), they can get rid quite easily without all
the red tape normally involved.
Once you've been employed at a company 12 months, you have robust protection from being pushed out the door.
If your job title / job description was 'trainee', then the company should give you feedback / guidance & training on the job......and
if they haven't given you any indication of where you're going wrong as you're doing the job, then Acas may have something to work
with to help you, but I wouldn't hold my breath.
I know a lot of really strict (harsh) companies where if you was employed as a CAD Engineer (not a trainee engineer), you are responsible for your
performance and meeting targets and you shouldn't be reliant on company feedback to tell you where you're going wrong......you are not a
trainee so are deem competent enough to do the job without the company holding your hand throughout your probationary period.
In the eyes of these harsh companies, if you was a trainee, then you would be paid a trainee's wage (minimum) because the company invests time
and resources in holding your hand whilst you do your job. If you're not a trainee, then you'll be on a higher wage because the company
doesn't want to spend time holding your hand.....you're needed to hit the ground and get running as quickly as possible.
I know this is harsh, but it's the reality of the world nowadays. As mentioned above, probably best you're out of the company as on the
flip side, there are some really good companies to work for, who will spend time with new employees bringing them up to the standards required - and
this proves successful for both employer and employee,
Sorry for you predicament, concentrate on the silver lining.
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BenB
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| posted on 5/9/16 at 10:04 AM |
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That sucks! Unfortunately as far as I'm aware in the first year there's little recourse.
The unfortunate fact is that the current system doesn't work well for the employer or the employee. We had two almost identical cases where an
employee made a really quite big mistake at work (both with a background of smaller errors). In both cases when we tried to do an investigation they
went off on "work related stress" (which started by all accounts as soon as we informed them of their suspected error) and after six
months of sick pay resigned and took us to a tribunal on constructive dismissal on account of the stress we caused by pointing out their error. To me
that's wrong- someone screws up (in one case losing the company about 60k) and in return we get taken for a further 20k "sick" leave
and then a 10k settlement to avoid a tribunal??? BTW we did everything exactly by the book in both cases- which of course meant another 10-15k on
tribunal solicitors fees. The annoying thing in both cases is that we really wanted them to stay and just wanted to try and prevent another similar
issue in future!
Unfortunately this now means before the year is up unless we're 100% sure someone is not going to muck up we say adios. So although we have a 3
month formal probation period we often end up extending it to just under a year to protect ourselves. And unfortunately we all muck up occasionally
which means we're really wary of keeping people on.... Most of the time we do keep people on but we're very very cautious. And some
employers have taken it a step further and just routinely make people "redundant" before the year is up and it sounds a bit like your
company is doing this.
The tribunal system overall benefits no-one. 
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WallerZero
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| posted on 6/9/16 at 08:38 AM |
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Thanks for the input guys.
My probationary period was 3 months and as a full CAD Engineer so not a trainee. I felt the performance issue was unreasonable as I had not made any
mistakes nor felt I was working at a standard below that was expected. Their policy states I should have had a verbal warning then a formal meeting to
outline the consequences if my performance didn't improve. None of that happened.
Equally if the true reason is that they have terminated my contract because they've been able to hire cheaper labour surely I should have been
offered the reduced rate first? Again their policy says redundancy is the final option if all avenues have been exhausted.
I am going to appeal the decision purely on principle because they have completely disregarded their own processes regarding the 2 issues. I enjoyed
working there and got on well with everyone. As stated its not the kind of company you want to work for so it would only be to relieve any pressure
for finding a new job elsewhere as urgently.
http://zachsgbszero.blogspot.co.uk/
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Shooter63
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| posted on 16/9/16 at 12:09 PM |
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Not that it will help at all, but I've just suffered the same situation, just got back from holiday and bang out of the blue been let go with a
letter that states " not up to std " etc, no informal chats no letters nothing, as ive only been there 6 months no come back. It has since
come to light that my immediate director has had it in for me since I started there, ( I happen to be good friends with a director from another sector
and he phoned me and told me the truth). The M.D has now been made aware of the truth and said director is now being demoted - 20k salary etc
On the plus side I've just shaken hands with a new company +5k better car and private health
So while 2 days ago I was gutted, today I'm as happy as a pig in ******
The moral of the story, don't let the fuc****s get you down, and believe you are better than them.
Shooter
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