My Daughter was Sacked from her Job after One Month for Being Late for Work

Question: My daughter has been working as a receptionist and for past month and really enjoyed her job. However, on Monday morning she overslept but rang in straight away to let her employers knows that she would be late to work. It was then that she was told to take day off and that the Manager would be in touch with her about what happened. He doesn’t actually work in office, so she had trouble getting in touch with him and tried for days to get hold of him. She left dozens of voice messages and texts to find out what was happening. When he did finally return her calls he said she hadn’t bothered to contact him, and that it didn’t matter now as somebody else was due to  start her old job on Monday! To add insult to injury, he then said if the new starter doesn’t work out, they’d consider taking my daughter on in her old job again. Can he even do this? She is devastated as she really enjoyed this job and is gutted she lost it.

Answer: No. He still had to go through the relevant periods of notice and warnings etc. She can try to claim but after such a short period of employment is not likely to get much. The way I read your question is that she didn’t go in to work on subsequent days, having been told not to go in on the Monday. If that’s the case then she hasn’t done herself any favours I’m afraid. It may well have been that on the Monday her jobs had been reassigned to others for the day but they would expect to see her the next day. She may be able to get someone from ACAS to act as intermediary and I would advise her to talk to them first. Remember though, if she is hopeful of being re-employed by the firm they will not be happy if she is threatening to sue for unfair dismissal.

If she really thinks that there is a chance that she will get her old job back and she really wants it that badly, it may be just as well to accept the current situation, write the manager a letter explaining how it was a misunderstanding and that she had tried to contact him, assure him of her commitment and dedication and ask for a chance to prove herself. Then just keep following it up with regular letters or calls reiterating her enthusiasm for the company and asking if another vacancy has arisen yet.

If an employer does not follow the minimum procedure then an employment tribunal may judge the dismissal ‘automatically unfair’. Compensation will increase or decrease – by between 10-50% – depending on whether the employer or employee failed to adhere to the new law.”

This minimum procedure applies to all employees, probationary or otherwise, regardless of length of service, hours worked etc. as she has worked there for less than 2 years her claim is almost certainly limited to just the statutory amount due under contract.

Consult Hylton-Potts, the experts who offer fixed fees, and give excellent value.

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