Not sure if I’ve been sacked, made redundant or what??

[Aspley]

Hi, I am female, 67 years old and have worked in a clerical capacity without any issues for a small loan firm with 10 or so employees. I work (or worked) 2.5 days a week.
On Monday I was phoned at home on a day off by the business owner if she could come to my house for a chat. I wasn’t told what needed to be discussed but agreed…..I spent the time before she arrived wondering what this unusual visit was all about.
I was told that the company were introducing a new system so that they could move with the times….I already new about this and was due for some trading next week.
She told me she thought I would struggle with the training and questioned my eyesight. I’d had a cataract op a few months ago resulting in greatly improved vision that enabled me to get my driving license re issued.
I was then told not to return to the office and that I would be paid to the end of the month. I was devastated and she left with me still in tears.
I’ve had time to think and it seems that I was
…subject to non compliance with basic employee rights re termination of employment rights
…Treated in an ageist fashion, she suggested a couple of times that I ought to retire
…not given the opportunity to prepare by being giving any idea what the visit was all about
…denied statutory periods of notice.
…treated as if I had a disability.

I am left not knowing if I was sacked, made redundant or just simply had my contract of employment terminated without notice.


Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated…..I am in bits


Sent from the all-new AOL app for iOS

[echat11]

How long have you worked for the company?

Have you received anything in writing?

ULA

[ULA]

Thanks for the tag echat11 the questions you have asked would be really useful to know the answers to and then I can help a bit more.

[Aspley]

Hi, employed by company for 11years 3momths. No correspondence received from employer although I did send a letter summarising the content of the meeting and asking if thay had any further comment. I do have a contract of employment.
this is a real worry although I just cannot see how they could argue that they have done things correctly.

[ULA]

Based on what you have posted, in my opinion they have not done this correctly. Have you had any response to your letter?

If they had wanted to make you redundant then there should have been a redundancy consulation process.
If they wanted to terminate your employment, given your length of service, they would need to have followed a process as well.

In the event of either you would have been entiltled to payments which would have been in excess of what has been offered to you.

The question I have for you is whether you want to try and argue your job back or whether ,given the way you have been treated, you want to ensure you receive the payments that are due to you.

[Aspley]

Hi ULA, in all honesty, what I would like to do after giving 12 years of good service to this company is take them for what I can. They have clearly ageist, they have questioned my ability to take on new procedures. They have not dealt this as they should have by inadequate notice period by not giving me notice of what message was to be delivered. It all seems a case study in how not to get rid of an employee.
Quite honestly I would like to sue them for unfair/constructive dismissal.
thanks for your interest.

[ULA]

This is not an unfair/constructive dismissal claim since you did not resign because your employer has seriously breached your employment rights. Your contract was terminated by your employer so it is an unfair dismissal claim and there may also be a case for adding age discrimination to the claim.

If you do want to pursue a claim then the first thing you would need to do is start the Early Conciliation (EC) process with ACAS, you need to do this before you can move to making an Employment Tribunal (ET) claim. The aim of EC is to try and agree a settlement without having to progress to an ET claim. It amy well be that when your ex-employer realises that they have not handled this very well that they would welcome reaching a settlement but If one cannot be reached then you will be given a EC cerficate number which you need for making the ET claim.

I do not want to put you off but I would be remiss if I did not tell you that pursing an ET claim, particularly if you are a litigant in person, can be a stressful process and you need to start to understand the legal aspects of your case and the Tribunal Rules of Procedure. It is also a slow process given the back-log in the Tribunal system, many multiple claim cases are not being listed for a final hearing until late 2023.

If you do embark on this we can try and support you as much as we can via your thread here on LegalBeagles.

[Aspley]

Well, what an outcome. Registered claim with industrial tribunal. Former employer sent an offer of £4300. Declined and started legal process. Received fur5her offer of £28k and have settled. Quite honestly they did not have a chance of coming out of a tribunal hearing with a settlement of less than £30k so after advice they chose to settle.

[ULA]

Oh that is good news, well done I am so pleased for you.

If it had gone to an ET hearing then the business owner would most definitely have lost the claim.

Wishing you all the best