2 years continuous service and other issues

[Gary1968]

Good evening all i would be grateful for some advice regarding my wife. She started work as a teaching assistant with an agency and was often placed at a local special school near to our house which was convenient for all concerned . In the spring of 2017 the agency asked my wife to apply for a permanent role at the school as they wished to take her on as staff. She filled out a school application form in July 2017 and was accepted to start at the beginning of September 2017. The agency said that their policy of transfer of staff from agency to permanent was something I believe to do with the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 with regard to how they collected their fee so for the first 12 weeks the agency paid her wage through a contract for services whereby she wasn't a permanent member of staff at the agency but supplied to the school. From day 1 she had access to the internal staff data system and confidential student information, all internal documents and Ofsted information etc. She also attended all staff meetings which temp staff usually don't and was listed as staff on the internal system. There was no visible difference between how she was treated than other permanent staff. She received an email in the first week asking her for bank details etc so that the school could pay her directly when she transferred to them at the beginning of December 2017. We got married at the end of September 2017 and she was asked to fill out a special leave form by the school principal which was granted and had no contact with the agency from the day she started on the 4th of September. Her school contract states that her continuous service started on 4th December 2017. Now here is the fun bit ! We have been going through ivf the last few months and the school have been making things difficult re time off etc so she has been going to work even when the doctors have said she needed rest after ivf cycle treatment as she didn't want to lose her job. She was told last week that they would not be renewing her contract for a 3rd year due to the implications of a recent Ofsted report and lack of funding. Although all her appraisals have been good and the head teacher said that it was not her fault, as she had been there less than 2 years they had to let her go but won't put it in writing, as he doesn't have to explain why . 2 days later she miscarried and found out that the ivf was not successful but her consultant believes that stress and worry and working when she should have been resting could have contributed to it, but our main issue is where she stands now. Having researched on the net there are cases whereby people have argued at employment tribunals that their continuous service should include time as a temp as there was no visible difference between their job as a temp and permanent staff. If so she will have worked 2 years at the end of her second year contract and be entitled to not be unfairly dismissed . I would be most grateful for any views as my wife has had a very distressful week and I am trying to find a solution. Kind regards and many thanks for reading my very long post

[ULA]

I am so sorry to hear about your wife’s miscarriage and the stressful situation she is facing at the moment.

What will be a key factor in this situation is whether or not the contract for services that your wife was working under when she was temping for the school had an “entire agreement” clause and a statement to confirm that there is no employment relationship between the temp and the end user i.e. the school. So that will need to be checked.

The other issue is that the contract of employment with the school clearly states her start date as 4 December 2017 for the purpose of continuous service. However, other factors that need to be taken into consideration is whether she was treated during that Sept to 4 Dec period as if she was a permanent member of staff in terms of the control and direction and the requirements on her to report for work. This may serve to weaken the position of the school.

Was there any break between your wife finishing as a temp and the 4 Dec start?

[alexwyatt]

Good evening all i would be grateful for some advice regarding my wife. She started work as a teaching assistant with an agency and was often placed at a local special school near to our house which was convenient for all concerned . In the spring of 2017 the agency asked my wife to apply for a permanent role at the school as they wished to take her on geometry dash as staff. She filled out a school application form in July 2017 and was accepted to start at the beginning of September 2017. The agency said that their policy of transfer of staff from agency to permanent was something I believe to do with the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003 with regard to how they collected their fee so for the first 12 weeks the agency paid her wage through a contract for services whereby she wasn't a permanent member of staff at the agency but supplied to the school. From day 1 she had access to the internal staff data system and confidential student information, all internal documents and Ofsted information etc. She also attended all staff meetings which temp staff usually don't and was listed as staff on the internal system. There was no visible difference between how she was treated than other permanent staff. She received an email in the first week asking her for bank details etc so that the school could pay her directly when she transferred to them at the beginning of December 2017. We got married at the end of September 2017 and she was asked to fill out a special leave form by the school principal which was granted and had no contact with the agency from the day she started on the 4th of September. Her school contract states that her continuous service started on 4th December 2017. Now here is the fun bit ! We have been going through ivf the last few months and the school have been making things difficult re time off etc so she has been going to work even when the doctors have said she needed rest after ivf cycle treatment as she didn't want to lose her job. She was told last week that they would not be renewing her contract for a 3rd year due to the implications of a recent Ofsted report and lack of spanish dictionary funding. Although all her appraisals have been good and the head teacher said that it was not her fault, as she had been there less than 2 years they had to let her go but won't put it in writing, as he doesn't have to explain why . 2 days later she miscarried and found out that the ivf was not successful but her consultant believes that stress and worry and working when she should have been resting could have contributed to it, but our main issue is where she stands now. Having researched on the net there are cases whereby people have argued at employment tribunals that their continuous service should include time as a temp as there was no visible difference between their job as a temp and permanent staff. If so she will have worked 2 years at the end of her second year contract and be entitled to not be unfairly dismissed . I would be most grateful for any views as my wife has had a very distressful week and I am trying to find a solution. Kind regards and many thanks for reading my very long post

She had a very distressful week. I hope she will get better soon.