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Hi,
Please could someone advise on this situation?
My son is an I.T supervisor in a firm that has expanded over the past couple of years (they deal with insurance claims). An additional member of staff was required for the busy I.T department, and a young man - who I shall refer to as 'Peter' - was employed on a short term (6 month) contract.
Peter was directly accountable to my son ... who in turn was accountable to a 'line manager' who isn't I.T trained.
Unfortunately Peter was suddenly and without warning dismissed after only 5 months had elapsed. This decision to sack him came as a complete surprise to my son who wasn't consulted about the sacking at all. (In fact, he had found Peter to be a good work colleague who was knowledgeable about the relevant I.T systems, punctual, reliable, and hard-working).
My son made enquires about the reason for Peter's dismissal. He had the relevant work-sheets to prove that Peter had carried out all jobs that he was asked to do, in a timely manner. There was no issue about the standard of Peter's work being unsatisfactory.
So he was surprised to learn that the line manager's decision to sack Peter was due to his "poor communication"! As Peter's 1st line of communication was actually to my son, it seems bizarre that a chap 'one step further up' the ladder of command should have cited "poor communication" as a sackable offence.
Perhaps quite tellingly, the vacancy left by Peter's dismissal hasn't been filled ... the extra work-load has merely been distributed amongst the current I.T staff members.
What I would like to know ... if someone is hired on a short-term contract, but dismissed (without a valid reason) before the end of the agreed term of employment term, does this constitute a 'breach of contract'?
Please could someone advise on this situation?
My son is an I.T supervisor in a firm that has expanded over the past couple of years (they deal with insurance claims). An additional member of staff was required for the busy I.T department, and a young man - who I shall refer to as 'Peter' - was employed on a short term (6 month) contract.
Peter was directly accountable to my son ... who in turn was accountable to a 'line manager' who isn't I.T trained.
Unfortunately Peter was suddenly and without warning dismissed after only 5 months had elapsed. This decision to sack him came as a complete surprise to my son who wasn't consulted about the sacking at all. (In fact, he had found Peter to be a good work colleague who was knowledgeable about the relevant I.T systems, punctual, reliable, and hard-working).
My son made enquires about the reason for Peter's dismissal. He had the relevant work-sheets to prove that Peter had carried out all jobs that he was asked to do, in a timely manner. There was no issue about the standard of Peter's work being unsatisfactory.
So he was surprised to learn that the line manager's decision to sack Peter was due to his "poor communication"! As Peter's 1st line of communication was actually to my son, it seems bizarre that a chap 'one step further up' the ladder of command should have cited "poor communication" as a sackable offence.
Perhaps quite tellingly, the vacancy left by Peter's dismissal hasn't been filled ... the extra work-load has merely been distributed amongst the current I.T staff members.
What I would like to know ... if someone is hired on a short-term contract, but dismissed (without a valid reason) before the end of the agreed term of employment term, does this constitute a 'breach of contract'?
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