Girlfriend sacked, need advice.

Skully said:
Hi there!

My girlfriend went into hospital Tuesday afternoon and was released earlier today, she informed her workplace that she was in hospital (through her mum because girlfriend was too ill)

Now she has found out that they have fired her saying that they need someone more reliable and who isn't sick all the time.

This was only her third week working there (that's what I'm worried about - them being able to do what they want after a little time) and she loved the job but now nothing.

What can be done? I'm going to give the CAB a ring tomorrow but she's obviously distressed.

Thanks :).
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women and their days off work!
 
You cannot really sue a law firm and you cannot expect to get her job back. If she does one thing wrong they'll "throw the book at her". Promotion prospects would be fairly low too.

I'd find a new job and if they ask, tell them why I was fired.
 
Kemik said:
You cannot really sue a law firm and you cannot expect to get her job back. If she does one thing wrong they'll "throw the book at her". Promotion prospects would be fairly low too.

I'd find a new job and if they ask, tell them why I was fired.
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Its much easier to get a job if you already have one, you don't have to explain why you were sacked - you only have to say you are not being given the development opportunities you were promised.

Alternatively, go on a PR exercise, make her firm look a load of heartless ******** 'I was rushed to hospital, but they sacked me while I was writhing about in agony'. One of the firms who do work for me did that to one of their staff they gave him an extra 3 months pay over the one month notice period to shut him up (about £15k)
 
I'm going to presume this was a chambers rather than a law firm as you said she was a barristers clerk. If it was a chambers she was working at DO NOT go down a legal route with this. Through the inns of courts everyone knows everyone - or at least there's a very good grapevine. If she wants to do clerking elsewhere she does not want whispers started and thus does not want to go to a tribunal over it.
 
Unfortunate situation and whatever the rights and wrongs, to many people a migraine is probably construed as a bad headache so there is unlikely to be anyway back here. Encourage her to get better and move on would be my advice :)
 
Her only real option is to get official documentation from her gb or the hospital, write a letter to the company in question and explain everything in detail, if they request for her to come in, go with her, managers are less likely to get angry/aggressive if someone is with her.

Even though she was only with the company for 3 weeks, everyone has rights to sickness time off, even if your only a new employee and if indeed her sickness was critical and could not be avoided in any way shape or form, then said company would have been in the wrong.

While all employees are entitled to SSP (Satutory Sick Pay), the employer would have had to have been contacted in a manner set out in the contract for her employment.

As mentioned above your best bet would be to contact your local Citizens Advice and ask for help on the matter, providing your girlfriend can come up with official documentation as to why she was ill and subsequently sacked, CAB will be more than willing to help. Don't be afraid to contact them, they are there to help.
 
Don't know how she managed to do it but after the meeting she had with them on Monday she has her job back.

Now we just need to see how they treat her there, hopefully it'll go back to how it was when she first started!

Thanks for all the advice, really appreciated it :).
 
The starting point is to determine whether she has gained the right not to be unfairly dismissed. That right is acquired once the employee has been continuously employed for 12 months.

Less than 12 months and Alan Sugar approach (You're a lightweight, you're fired!) School of Employment Management could be applied. If there is no right ‘not to be unfairly dismissed’, then an employer does not need a fair reason to dismiss and does not have to follow a fair procedure. Any contractual obligations, such as notice periods, should also be considered when adopting this method

However, care should still be taken. Any element of discrimination (whether on the grounds of sex, race, religion, sexual orientation and age), whistle blowing or other such issues tainting the reason behind the dismissal could render it unfair from day one of employment. No minimum period of continuous employment is required in such circumstances.

So in summary yes they can dismiss for any reason not on the grounds of sex, race, religion, sexual orientation and age.

Re SSP, this is only payable for four or more consecutive sick days, payable from the fourth day. (inc weekends)
 
To be honest, if she worked for me I'd cut and run too... she had only worked for a short time and for a good portion of that she has been ill, not a good employee, with the law being the way it is its best to get rid while you can. It may seem unfair but you have to play it based on what you have seen of that person in the probation period.

/edit, just seen your last post *doh* shes been lucky !!
 
So how many days in the 3 weeks did she have off? I doubt if one day in hospital would be enough to do it.

We hired a new guy last year and in his first month he came up with all manner of excuses for having time off. At first we went along with it but then it practically became a game to guess what his next excuse would be. On the 4th week of employment is excuse was "sorry my alarm clock didn't go off" and my boss sacked him on the spot. Unfortunately employees have barely any rights at all in their first month of employment.
 
Skully said:
This is the first time she has been off sick.

She was sent away from work on Tuesday afternoon because she was crying in pain, went to the doctors who referred her to the hospital where she was forced to stay for days after they did an LP on her which prevented her from being able to walk.

I'm not sure what her contract states, I will need to speak to her tomorrow morning in person. She was a bit of a mess on the phone.
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I doubt it was anything personal as in they didn't like her... just look at it this way: you employ someone to do a job in a busy office... that person then goes off sick looking in bad shape and stays in hospital for days. Is it some long-term illness? Could it possibly lead to many more days off, possibly even be a recurring condition?

While it sounds harsh, it's fair enough that they saw fit to let her go within her first few weeks, she gave them a scare and when you need someone to be doing a consistent full-time job, especially in the initial stage of their employment... the last thing you need as an employer is someone with a serious or recurring illness.

That they have taken her back shows that they're not all bad, and were just acting out of the interest of the business. I hope she does well in her new job, second time round. :)
 
Yeh hopefully this time it'll work and at least her probation has been clearly laid out now.

Only problem is that she has taken a £2,000 pay cut, them saying it's because they now have two juniors instead of just her.
 
I wouldn't want to go back to the firm after that kind of treatment!
Your gf deserves better treatment than that but I would look into it more,
maybe someone had something against her ( jealousy?? ) and decided to 'mix' things up a bit??
Anyway I sympathise for her as I know from experience that migraines can be rather crippling at times! although I've never had one that bad!!
Good luck;)
*Edit* oops, didn't read the other page! *mobeus slaps head repeatedly*
Glad things got sorted!!
 
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