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Dismissed for looking for a job?
red22 - 19/9/11 at 05:29 PM

An friend of my daughters works as an apprentice hair dresser, and after becoming increasingly let down by her employers decided to look for another position. She was lucky enough to get an interview at another salon but as it fell on one of her college days she told said college who told her she also needed to inform her employers. Unfortunately after telling them she was informed that she had until the end of September then has to leave.

So a question is it even legal to dismiss someone for looking for another job. Seems slightly harsh if that's the case. If if it is legal should they have followed a set procedure to do this.

Thanks.


jossey - 19/9/11 at 05:47 PM

Not right if you ask me but it's not something I know 100%


omega0684 - 19/9/11 at 05:55 PM

totally wrong if you ask me, i bet a letter from a solicitor saying that she was persuing a case of unfair dismissel would put the willies up the employer!


JoelP - 19/9/11 at 05:57 PM

Would seem like unfair dismissal to me, though her contract of employment may allow for such eventualities. If they want rid for no reason, they have to have a redundancy consultation period. I would suggest that she get some advice, because if they havent followed the letter of the law then the dismissal is automatically unfair. She would either be reinstated or compensated.


Alfa145 - 19/9/11 at 05:57 PM

Check out the ACAS website, covers all things like this.

Also ring a local solicitor that deals with employment law (eg TaylorEmmet) they will give an initial free consultation and discuss points and give you the basics and legal position for free initially in the hope of getting the job of taking it to tribunal.

From my expierence she needs to get everything in writing and sounds like they should have a good case.


blakep82 - 19/9/11 at 05:57 PM

as an apprentice, i think the salon she was working at have been paying a lot of money to get her through college, training and stuff, a lot of money which they would then probably expect she stayed on to help business and recoup some of the money., i think looking for work in another salon is possibly the biggest insult she could give them. not only that shes wanting to leave after they paid a fortune to put her through everything, but that she's intending to go to the competition.
not sure on the legalities, but i think, as an apprentice, she's not a proper full time staff member with contracts and stuff, more of a college student with a work placement, i think they can do this tbh, and they've given a reasonable notice period. think they've probably done everything as they should really. just my opinion though.

though morally and ethically, i feel its wrong, i don't think she can really put a case in. unfair dismissal perhaps, if she was employed as a normal employee, but i'm not sure its the case for apprenticeships

[Edited on 19/9/11 by blakep82]


britishtrident - 19/9/11 at 05:59 PM

The get out for the firm will be something like she was on 6 month trial.
I think the college should be in very deep doodah for this.


StevieB - 19/9/11 at 06:07 PM

It's quite normal for employers to require you work for the firm for a number of years after doing the course otherwise you may have to re-pay the tuition fees.

She should check her contract for this clause first - she may be getting off lightly by just being let go.


red22 - 19/9/11 at 06:11 PM

Thanks for the replies. Thats basically what i was wondering as an apprentice maybe has a different set of rules compared to a full time employee. However she has been working there for over a year and apart from the college course her training has been non-existant which was why she was seeking a position.


plentywahalla - 19/9/11 at 06:21 PM

I have employed people on appprenticeships before and it is quite a commitment for employers. the college fees are only part of it.
You a also have to let the apprentice have the time off to attend, spend time on extra paperwork, give time to assessors for workplace assessments etc.

If I discovered that an apprentice had attended an interview with a competitor I would terminate their agreement as soon as legally possible.


femster87 - 19/9/11 at 06:25 PM

I believe most of this apprenticeship schemes for small companies like that would be government funded anyways. The saloon would be for work experience and the saloon would pay her minimum wage. (that might not be the case) So I dont think they would have spent much money on her apart from her wages and the time of course. Worth checking the details and seeking professional advice


red22 - 19/9/11 at 06:30 PM

I would normally agree with the views that if an employer has an apprentice they expect commitment from the apprentice but this arrangement she has with her employer seems way below what i would call an apprenticeship. It appears that the course is government funded and that the salon then gets a dogs body for 2.50 ph rather than proper minimum wage. The fact that in over a year of employment she has had no other training seems to support this. Just glad its not my daughter in that situation.


MikeRJ - 19/9/11 at 06:37 PM

quote:
Originally posted by plentywahalla
I have employed people on appprenticeships before and it is quite a commitment for employers. the college fees are only part of it.
You a also have to let the apprentice have the time off to attend, spend time on extra paperwork, give time to assessors for workplace assessments etc.

If I discovered that an apprentice had attended an interview with a competitor I would terminate their agreement as soon as legally possible.


My experience is the opposite, apprentices can be, and often are treated as (very)cheap labour. When I did my apprenticeship I was working 4 full days a week (one 12 hour day at college) for an annual wage of under £3700. Still it did stand me in good stead in the end.


DixieTheKid - 19/9/11 at 06:43 PM

Everyone is entitled to one hours free legal aid. I would suggest she books it. Do not leave it for long than 3 months to do so.!


plentywahalla - 19/9/11 at 06:59 PM

quote:
Originally posted by MikeRJ
quote:
Originally posted by plentywahalla
I have employed people on appprenticeships before and it is quite a commitment for employers. the college fees are only part of it.
You a also have to let the apprentice have the time off to attend, spend time on extra paperwork, give time to assessors for workplace assessments etc.

If I discovered that an apprentice had attended an interview with a competitor I would terminate their agreement as soon as legally possible.


My experience is the opposite, apprentices can be, and often are treated as (very)cheap labour. When I did my apprenticeship I was working 4 full days a week (one 12 hour day at college) for an annual wage of under £3700. Still it did stand me in good stead in the end.


I paid apprentices at the minimum wage. I know that legally we need not have done that, but it seemed the right thing to do to get good people.

I don't know where the idea that industry this is 'government funded' comes from.... My experience is that government is 'industry funded'. I certainly never got a penny!


jabs - 19/9/11 at 07:24 PM

take a look at http://www.lge.gov.uk/lge/core/page.do?pageId=3577861 or this http://businessdatabase.indicator.co.uk/dismissal/terminating_apprentices___the_hidden_catch/UKTAPSAR_EU070204/88/search?&t=40&k=61

appears you cannot just dismiss an apprentice and if you do they can "may claim damages not only for loss of earnings for the remainder of the fixed term but also a sum in respect of the value of his loss of future prospects as a qualified person"

but you MUST read the small print of the agreement to see if there is any "get out" clauses

best of luck


Ninehigh - 19/9/11 at 07:25 PM

Yep, read the contract and the employee handbook if the contract refers to it. She should have the same rights as a normal employee but defo get legal advice (and don't go with the person I spoke to, the feeling I got from him is that they could put in the contract that they own your nuts and it's legal)


britishtrident - 19/9/11 at 08:17 PM

quote:
Originally posted by plentywahalla
I have employed people on appprenticeships before and it is quite a commitment for employers. the college fees are only part of it.
You a also have to let the apprentice have the time off to attend, spend time on extra paperwork, give time to assessors for workplace assessments etc.

If I discovered that an apprentice had attended an interview with a competitor I would terminate their agreement as soon as legally possible.



I thought the days of putting apprentices up chimneys were long gone.


WanchaiWarrior - 21/9/11 at 12:51 AM

Happened to me while I was in Hong Kong.

I had an offer letter open on the screen when a director walked past behind me, sacked me on the spot. Was about 4:30pm and I was handed a cheque and escorted out the building at 6pm.

I left HK a month later to come to Brisbane, havent been happier.