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Dismissed for raising a grievance - please help!

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  • Dismissed for raising a grievance - please help!

    Hello, I would be really greatful some advice from fellow lawyers or anyone with some knowledge on employment laws please.

    I initially started my role in the Coffee shop of a garden centre, but was quickly moved over the the Garden Centre after two shifts. After having worked there a few months, my mum then got a job at the coffee shop department where i had initially started. At 17 years old, i was never given a contract of my true hours or told in advance when i would be working, or when i would have a day off. My hours changed all the time and i never had a set pattern to follow - despite being in college at the time. During the summer i worked more or less full-time and often worked 14 day periods with no day off. The manager was often rude, would criticise continuously and lie to make you look silly. Although this bothered me, i did not take any action initially.

    holiday entitlement:
    My manager was incredibly vague on my holiday entitlement and due to my irregular hours gave me no help in working it out, and i was never notified to how much holiday i had accrued. She has done this to other staff - in order to make it difficult for them to figure out their holiday entitlement so she does not have to pay them for it. I was entitled to more than 4 days holiday, but as a result was unable to take anymore. Is a manager able to do this, and does untaken holiday not have to be paid?

    She had then gone on to lie about having approved my holiday later on in the year (although i was told by my supervisor and other colleagues that she had told them verbally it had been approved). Note, my manager does not have much contact with employees and it is not her normal practice to tell staff, or write to staff or sign slips off.

    She had them called my mum into the office, to say to her 'does your daughter even want to work here even more' after having taken my first ever day off sick in my year of working there - as i suffered from chronic daily migraines for the past few years.

    The grievance letter:
    As a result of the conversation my manager had rudely decided to involve my mum into - considering it was an issue surrounding me - and there was no need to bring my mum into it, i decided to hand in my notice. I stated in my notice my reason for leaving; that i was leaving as i was unhappy with the rude comments made by her and the victimisation of her staff and outright bullying. As set out in the contract, i told her i would give her 4 weeks working notice. As my mum would still be working there, she handed our manager a grievance letter, informing her that she felt bullied at work and said that she hoped the letter would open up dialogue between the two of them and that it could be resolved formally.

    Two weeks into my notice, i am left a letter on my work desk (not handed to me personally) which explains that, that day was to be my last working day and she would pay me up until this day. She had multiple opportunities to give me this letter, but gave it to me on my last day so i was left with no notice. She had therefore breached her contract - as she was refusing to pay me 'payment in lieu.' It was also wrongful dismissal. I wrote her a letter after having left, informing her of this breach - which she then offered to pay me for the rest of my notice.

    However, since my second letter and my mum raising her grievance - the manager ignored her and victimised her further - with no mention of the letter for three weeks, despite my mum taking all steps to resolve things correctly between the two of them. My mum was then called into the office, and sacked on the spot as the manger told her she was unhappy with the grievance letter she had been sent. There was no attempt to discuss the written letter - she was simply sacked. Since she has only been working there for less than a year, my mum is unable to claim constructive dismissal (as she has hired someone to immediately fill her position) or unfair dismissal. Is she able to say that she has been discriminated against for asserting her employment rights?

    Health and safety:
    We believe that our manager had sacked my mum partly because she knew that she would whistle blow on her - after i had sent her a strongly worded legal letter regarding my wrongful dismissal. She brings electrical goods in from home that have been used for multiple years and sells them off as new along with various other serious health and safety breaches. But, since my mum did not at any point mention to Kim herself that what she was doing was wrong - she cannot strictly be a 'whistleblower'?

    I am yet to receive the full pay i am entitled to, and have spoken to ACAS. I just wanted to know if going down the route of discrimination for raising a grievance is a route that we can follow to take her to an employment tribunal for. Or, whether this type of discrimination makes her exempt to the two year rule of constructive/unfair dismissal.

    Any help or information would be greatly appreciated - i have cut down this story quite a bit, because it is ridiculous some of the stuff she has done and i would be here all day - but do please contact me if you want any further information.

    Many thanks,

    A daughter wanting help!

  • #2
    Fired for raising a grievance - automatic unfair dismissal?

    If i have raised a grievance, and then my manager has ignored me for 3 weeks in refusal to discuss my grievance - but then sacked me for my letter - can i claim automatic unfair dismissal (as i have no been there for two years?) In my letter reasoning why she has terminated my employment, she states that she is unhappy with my grievance letter and even admits to having ignored me up until sacking me - with no attempts to resolve the situation.

    Comment


    • #3
      automatic unfair dismissal / garden leave breach -URGANT

      Hello,

      Since raising a grievance, i have been sacked. I handed in my grievance letter, was ignored for three weeks without any effort made to open dialogue or to resolve the situation. In my termination letter, it expressly says that i am being fired due to my letter, and also my manager admits to ignoring me. She has placed my on gardening leave, although this clause is not set out in my contract - so i believe this is a repudiatory breach, and i can claim constructive dismissal? I believe i was sacked and put on gardening leave, so that i would not whistle blow about various dangerous and illegal aspects of the business, i spoke to my supervisor - who then told my manager and in my letter it states that she does not 'appreciate my communications with other members of staff' regarding this. However, i did not ever 'fully' whistle blow and contact a larger authority nor fill out a claim form etc. I have not worked there a year - and would be grateful for any information or advice on the matter.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: automatic unfair dismissal / garden leave breach -URGANT

        Originally posted by inneedofhelp01 View Post
        Hello,

        Since raising a grievance, i have been sacked. I handed in my grievance letter, was ignored for three weeks without any effort made to open dialogue or to resolve the situation. In my termination letter, it expressly says that i am being fired due to my letter, and also my manager admits to ignoring me. She has placed my on gardening leave, although this clause is not set out in my contract - so i believe this is a repudiatory breach, and i can claim constructive dismissal? I believe i was sacked and put on gardening leave, so that i would not whistle blow about various dangerous and illegal aspects of the business, i spoke to my supervisor - who then told my manager and in my letter it states that she does not 'appreciate my communications with other members of staff' regarding this. However, i did not ever 'fully' whistle blow and contact a larger authority nor fill out a claim form etc. I have not worked there a year - and would be grateful for any information or advice on the matter.
        If you haven't even worked there a year, then I'm afraid you wouldn't have a case. To be able to claim unfair dismissal you need to have worked for your employer for at least two years. As an aside, even when you have been there more than two years, it can still be extremely difficult to win a case of constructive dismissal. Sorry if this isn't what you were hoping to hear.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Fired for raising a grievance - automatic unfair dismissal?

          Originally posted by inneedofhelp01 View Post
          If i have raised a grievance, and then my manager has ignored me for 3 weeks in refusal to discuss my grievance - but then sacked me for my letter - can i claim automatic unfair dismissal (as i have no been there for two years?) In my letter reasoning why she has terminated my employment, she states that she is unhappy with my grievance letter and even admits to having ignored me up until sacking me - with no attempts to resolve the situation.
          I have replied to your other thread, you seem to have started quite a few. I'm sorry no-one replied before, the best thing to do when that happens is just to bump up your original thread rather than starting a new one. :bump:

          As I said on the other thread, if you haven't worked for them for at least two years, you can't claim unfair dismissal. Sad but true.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Dismissed for raising a grievance - please help!

            Originally posted by inneedofhelp01 View Post
            I am yet to receive the full pay i am entitled to, and have spoken to ACAS. I just wanted to know if going down the route of discrimination for raising a grievance is a route that we can follow to take her to an employment tribunal for. Or, whether this type of discrimination makes her exempt to the two year rule of constructive/unfair dismissal.

            Any help or information would be greatly appreciated - i have cut down this story quite a bit, because it is ridiculous some of the stuff she has done and i would be here all day - but do please contact me if you want any further information.
            If you have spoken to ACAS, they should have told you what you describe does not constitute discrimination. For reference, discrimination refers to one or more of the following:
            • Age
            • Sex
            • Sexual orientation
            • Gender reassignment
            • Race (including gypsies and travellers)
            • Religion or belief
            • Marital status/civil partnership
            • Disability

            Source: http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/englan...eristics_e.htm

            However, you should still receive the money you are owed, if I remember correctly, you said you'd already spoken to ACAS about this issue.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: automatic unfair dismissal / garden leave breach -URGANT

              You said you had raised a grievance, but think the reason for dismissal was to prevent you "whistle blowing".
              Why do you believe your employer knew you were about to raise concerns about "dangerous and illegal aspects of this business"?
              Were these issues you raised in your grievance letter? Had you discussed your concerns with a senior colleague?
              If you had the two year qualifying rule referred to by FP might not apply,as it may be arguable that you had already reported your concerns and thus your dismissal was unfair

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: automatic unfair dismissal / garden leave breach -URGANT

                You can't be sacked and on gardening leave. Gardening leave is effectively getting paid to do nothing, usually your notice period. If you get sacked you leave immediately. It could never stop you blowing the whistle in any event and neither could being sacked.

                M1

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: automatic unfair dismissal / garden leave breach -URGANT

                  Originally posted by des8 View Post
                  You said you had raised a grievance, but think the reason for dismissal was to prevent you "whistle blowing".
                  Why do you believe your employer knew you were about to raise concerns about "dangerous and illegal aspects of this business"?
                  Were these issues you raised in your grievance letter? Had you discussed your concerns with a senior colleague?
                  If you had the two year qualifying rule referred to by FP might not apply,as it may be arguable that you had already reported your concerns and thus your dismissal was unfair
                  You may want to look at the OP's other threads, this one in particular: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...885#post520885 It doesn't sound like there was anything really dangerous and illegal going on there. Having said that, the post is rather long and convoluted. It looks like both the OP and her mum were sacked and neither had been working there for 2 years.

                  There's also this other thread: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...890#post520890

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: automatic unfair dismissal / garden leave breach -URGANT

                    Originally posted by FlamingParrot View Post
                    You may want to look at the OP's other threads, this one in particular: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...885#post520885 It doesn't sound like there was anything really dangerous and illegal going on there. Having said that, the post is rather long and convoluted. It looks like both the OP and her mum were sacked and neither had been working there for 2 years.

                    There's also this other thread: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...890#post520890
                    I've merged these threads now x
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                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: automatic unfair dismissal / garden leave breach -URGANT

                      Originally posted by FlamingParrot View Post
                      You may want to look at the OP's other threads, this one in particular: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...885#post520885 It doesn't sound like there was anything really dangerous and illegal going on there. Having said that, the post is rather long and convoluted. It looks like both the OP and her mum were sacked and neither had been working there for 2 years.

                      There's also this other thread: http://www.legalbeagles.info/forums/...890#post520890
                      Noted about 2 mins before your post FP, and asked Kati to merge

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Dismissed for raising a grievance - please help!

                        I had blown the whistle on us not having adequate equipment for cooking, and as a result I was left with burns on my hands. I had various conversations with my supervisor where I had sad it was a serious health and safety concern where by the oven was not electrically safe and was essentially 'live' whilst water dripped down the back onto all of our plug sockets. This was only vaguely fed back to my manager, as my supervisor is also afraid of her. The letter that I have been sent states that she is unhappy with my conversations with other members of staff regarding this. Surely I have a case of automatic unfair dismissal - which does not have a 2 yr qualifying period?

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Dismissed for raising a grievance - please help!

                          When my daughter (who initially started the thread) had worked for her, she had been selling electrical goods from home off as new. She left due to her behaviour. My grievance letter was not concerning me being a whistle blower, but the bullying and victimisation. She bribed me with chocolates not to say anything about the burns and they where joking about me 'suing them'. As a whistleblower, she cannot sack me in the manner that she has regardless of how long I have been there, surely?

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Dismissed for raising a grievance - please help!

                            IMO this does look as if it might be a case of unfair dismissal, and if so you are correct that the two year qualifying period does not apply.

                            However your difficulty will be in proving this.
                            You said you had mentioned your concerns to your supervisor, which would constitute whistle blowing.
                            Could you rely on your supervisor to corroborate what you say, especially as you say the supervisor is "afraid" of the manager and presumably still work there?

                            How large is this business? Does it only have the one site, or is it a national outfit?
                            How much autonomy does the manager have? To whom does she report?

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Dismissed for raising a grievance - please help!

                              Originally posted by inneedofhelp01 View Post
                              When my daughter (who initially started the thread) had worked for her, she had been selling electrical goods from home off as new. She left due to her behaviour. My grievance letter was not concerning me being a whistle blower, but the bullying and victimisation. She bribed me with chocolates not to say anything about the burns and they where joking about me 'suing them'. As a whistleblower, she cannot sack me in the manner that she has regardless of how long I have been there, surely?
                              Was this "burns" incident not recorded in an accident book?
                              Do you have any third party witness about this incident?

                              Comment

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