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Employment law advice urgently required

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  • Employment law advice urgently required

    Hi all,

    A female friend is about to start a job as a carer in a specialised home for adults with severe learning difficulties. The home is currently unoccupied. Her employer has told her that tomorrow night she must stay in the building alone from 9pm to 7am for 'security reasons'- ie, to guard the premises. She has been told that if there is an intruder or disturbance she should call her deputy manager- not the police.

    She has no security guard training, and has been given no guidance or procedure to follow whilst she completes the shift.


    Surely this is an unreasonable request that she should be able to refuse without repercussions? She has informed me that they have already forced a female colleague to guard the house overnight alone. What are her rights?

    They have justified this by saying they are short staffed, yet at her induction only last week there were a great number of new starters. Another excuse was that other members of the night team had not had their references validated, so would be unable to work.
    I presume that the house and its contents are insured- surely it is not worth the potential repercussions for the company should something happen to her whilst working under these conditions?
    I would appreciate any timely advice, as I worry for my friend's safety should she undertake the duties being asked of her. She is worried that she will lose her job (this is to be her first shift!) and I want her to be fully aware of her rights.
    Hope someone on here can assist. Thanks!
    Tags: None

  • #2
    Re: Employment law advice urgently required

    Hi Natalie,

    I am afraid to say thay your friend does not currently have any employment rights as she has not acquired the required 2 years service. If she refuses to undertake the required duty she could potentially face disciplinary procedure for failing to follow a
    reasonable managerial request or have an contract terminated. Unless she has a genuine reason for not been able to undertake the duty I am afraid there is not a lot that can be done.

    Kind Regards

    NMNP

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Employment law advice urgently required

      Originally posted by Nomoneynoproblem View Post
      Hi Natalie,

      I am afraid to say thay your friend does not currently have any employment rights as she has not acquired the required 2 years service. If she refuses to undertake the required duty she could potentially face disciplinary procedure for failing to follow a
      reasonable managerial request or have an contract terminated. Unless she has a genuine reason for not been able to undertake the duty I am afraid there is not a lot that can be done.

      Kind Regards

      NMNP
      Hey, thanks for your reply. I was thinking more in the sense of health and safety concerns. Are there no laws and regulations governing this sort of work (ie overnight, alone with no security training)? In addition, there are surely health and safety factors at play- if a risk assessment complicit with the Health & Safety Act of 1974 is not carried out prior to her undertaking these duties, surely the employer is breaking the law?

      Thank you

      Comment

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