Failed probation

[Guest]

Hi hope someone can advise, my daughter has just failed her final 3 month probation as a bar manager, my concern is she has never been given a contract or job description. They have demoted her to assistant manager taking a 10k pay cut and and reduced her hours by 40 a month . She hasn’t received anything in writing to state why she failed and hasn’t had any probation reviews to discuss any areas of concern and no job description to work too. Her training was done by someone who also put in for the bar manager role but was unsuccessful, I feel she has been treated unfairly And had had 2 major areas that were in place for her to fail. My question is where does she stand ? She left a good job after being headhunted and I feel they can’t get away with this ?

[Amethyst]

Moving thread to the Employment forum xxx Apologies it got missed up here. Ula

[ULA]

Sorry to hear about your daughter. I just need to ask a couple of questions to get a better understanding of the situation.

When did your daughter start working for the company?
Did she get an offer letter at the start/before her employment?
You mention that this was her "

final 3 month probation as a bar manager" has there been another probation period, if so did it get extended and where any reasons given?
How long was her probationary period for?
Who headhunted her to the job - was it someone in the company?
How was she informed that she was being demoted?
I just want to confirm that there was never any meeting to review her progress during her probationary period or at the end of the period?

Sorry for all the questions but answers to these would really help.

Thanks

[Guest]

She started around a year ago working weekends alongside her full time position with another company. The bar manager vacancy became available and during that week she was approached by the owners (3 co owners) to ask if she was putting in for the job. She said she wasn’t but the said she had the right attitude, had fantastic customer service and they really wanted her to put in for it and that the management part would come with the job.
she never received any contracts even when she first started , that was a zero hour contract.
She had a 3 month probation period , there was a weekly meeting once a week with the owners and the assistant manager to discuss what needed doing. After 1.5 months on one meeting they told her the was a hole in the floor and some painting needed doing to cover marks ..she come home and said she didn’t know she was also responsible for the building and maintenance. I told her to ask for a job description and contract which she did but still didn’t receive one. 3 weeks ago in the meeting they told her she had 3 weeks to improve things as there was chewing gum in the ceiling that she needed to get but she couldn’t even reach it. She was told to sack a barman but she said she was doing this properly by following a procedure of verbal warning, then written then disaplinary, which she already given a written. The following week there was a further instance and they messaged her in the management msg group saying we told you to sack him that’s bad management ! The haven’t done any personal feedback just the meetings with the assistant manager there who also had an interview for the job in the first place and was supposed to be showing her the ropes . She had no formal induction or training. The told her the job was too much for her and they were putting her to assistant manager and promoting the present assistant to bar manager. Nothing was documented and didn’t even tell her the areas she had failed and haven’t gave her a failed probation letter which she has since asked for . Sorry for the length of this! .

[ULA]

Thank you for the further information. There are a number of issues here in terms of the way the company has not followed good procedure:

1. Even if your daughter was not given a contract she should have received a ‘written statement of employment particulars’, since her employment contract was expected to last at least a month or more. This isn’t an employment contract but should include the main conditions of employment. This written statement should have been provided within 2 months of the start of her employment.

2. Was your daughter informed either during or at the end of the three-month probation period that that there was to be an extension of her probationary period, the reasons why, how long the extension would be and the expected performance outcomes? From what you have said this seems unlikely. Furthermore, her probation period could only be extended if the employment contract says that they can extend it in any particular given circumstances. Although I appreciate she has not had a contract.

3. If she was not formally notified her probationary period was to be extended, then the company are at fault for not doing so and she would have been deemed to have passed her probationary period at the end of the three months.

4. In the meeting 3 weeks ago was she given any guidance/criteria as to what needed to be improved, other than chewing gum on the ceiling, with details of how they would monitor her performance against?

If the barman had been employed for more than 2 years’ then your daughter was safeguarding the company to ensure that a proper disciplinary process was adhered to in order to avoid any claim for unfair dismissal.

In terms of actions, your daughter could raise a grievance about her demotion, the way it has been handled, lack of process and possibly issues with the probationary period process. However, I would ask your daughter to consider whether, with her experience of the management, does she think that it would result in a positive outcome for her and potential reinstatement.

I appreciate that they should not be allowed to get away with it however on a practical level I think what your daughter needs to consider is whether she wants to remain with a company that handles its staffing matters in this way, even if she did get reinstated. It may actually be the answer to this question that determines what your daughter decides to do next.

[Guest]

Thankyou for your reply. She didn’t have any reviews all feedback of jobs they wanted doing was her assistant manager sat there. There was only one probation review which was her 3 month final review with no extension. They didn’t even tell her what areas she had failed on and has had to ask them for a letter to document it as she is still unaware. I’m angry as they haven’t gave her any training at all , the previous manager had left when she started and he said she could ring him for any help but she was told under no circumstances was she to call him.
She definitely isn’t going to stay she’s had some interviews already and definitely doesn’t want to be reinstated , it’s more about then acknowledging their failings, and now having no option than to only work 30 hrs

[2222]

Thankyou for your reply. She didn’t have any reviews all feedback of jobs they wanted doing was her assistant manager sat there. There was only one probation review which was her 3 month final review with no extension. They didn’t even tell her what areas she had failed on and has had to ask them for a letter to document it as she is still unaware. I’m angry as they haven’t gave her any training at all , the previous manager had left when she started and he said she could ring him for any help but she was told under no circumstances was she to call him.
She definitely isn’t going to stay she’s had some interviews already and definitely doesn’t want to be reinstated , it’s more about then acknowledging their failings, and now having no option than to only work 30 hrs

I think the owners have acted disgracefully. However, there is unfortunately very little your daughter can do about it, as she normally has to work a minimum of 2 years before she can go to the employment tribunal. I suspect the owners know this and purposely keep the staff turning over fairly rapidly, so none reach the 2 year mark. It's an awful way to treat people, I'm afraid, especially young people who are struggling to get by.

[ULA]

I have a feeling the acknowledgement she is looking for will not be forthcoming. I wish your daughter well in finding a new position as soon as possible and if she feels like it she can use her resignation later to point out how they have mishandled her employment and that this is the reason she is leaving.