Can they fire me for that and would it be Unfair Dismissal?

LegacyUser

I Started a new job 3 days ago- 3 days into the job i got a phone call in work from my bfs boss saying there had been a accident in work and that my bf was on the way to hospital.My boss let me off and I went to him.He was ok was just a routine check up after an accident and he was fine.

Anyway so im two weeks into the job,This weekend gone my Sister tried2kill herself, It shook me to the core as me and her are very close.I kept bursting into tears and i had every intenion of goin into work today but this morning getn ready for work i broke down again for no reason and as I work in around lots of people(Cafe) i didnt wanna risk a public display.

I canned my boss and explained the sitrustion and told him id be in tomorrow and honestly he seemed very pissed off. Can he fire me for this and If he did would it be unfair dismissal. I never signed a contract and Had not been told anything about signing one

LegacyUser

SORRY

ment to say started the job 2 weeks ago not 3 days ago

Mazeire

Sorry to hear whats going omn OP sounds terrible. I'm a bit confused though as you say in one paragraph that you are there 3 days and the next you say two weeks?

Any way,
I would say it would depend on how things have been going there so far for you. If you are punctual and do your work then you should just get a slapped wrist and that would be it. But when you have no contract, you can be let go on a whim. Such is the joy of working in Cafes and Pubs.

tbh

you might be better off trying legal discussion, or work and jobs. I worked as a manager in a cafe before, and I've had people who had disaster after disaster and were not available to work on a regular basis. As much as I'd like to help, I had my own job to do, and what mattered were having staff on the floor. I probably would have told you that at the moment, I couldn't use you, but once the situation was resolved to come back and see me and I'd see if I could fit you in again. I'm not saying that's right or fair, but just trying to give you an insight into the other side.

LegacyUser

Mazeire wrote: »

you say in one paragraph that you are there 3 days and the next you say two weeks?

yA I TRIED TO EDIT IT BUT THEY WOULDNT LET ME IM THERE TWO WEEKS

Beruthiel

Most jobs will have a probation period of 3 or 6 months, for example.
During that time, you can be let go without any explaination and certainly will get you no where if you go the legal route. Chalk it down and move on.

BaconZombie

An official "probation period" must be issued in writing, so since you did not sign anything your ok on that side, but the boss could find some loophole to fire you on which is not connected to this issue.

Beruthiel wrote: »

Most jobs will have a probation period of 3 or 6 months, for example.
During that time, you can be let go without any explaination and certainly will get you no where if you go the legal route. Chalk it down and move on.

seamus

There's no "loophole" to let you go here, he would probably be well within his rights to do so.

First off, the facts - outside of extremely exceptional circumstances, you cannot make a claim for Unfair Dismissal if you have less than 12 months service. So he could let you go and you can't complain to anyone.

There's no provision in employment law that provides employees the right to time off outside of a few set cases.
The closest thing to what you're talking about is "Force Majeure" leave. This allows an employee to take time off in an emergency where their presence is 100% required, such as the sudden illness of an immediate family member with whom you share a home. The leave is provided to give you time to attend to their immediate needs and to organise someone to take care of your loved one before you return to work.
You may only take 3 days force majeure leave in any given year, which stresses the fact that it's available to you only in an absolute emergency.

Unfortunately neither of your cases would fall into this category, so at best attending to your boyfriend could be taken as annual leave and taking the day off today could be construed as sick leave if you can get your doctor to certify that you were suffering from stress due to your sister, which you could easily do.

An employer has no obligation to provide sick leave and can very much let an employee go if they are continually taking sick leave or have a pattern of taking sick days (i.e. every Monday morning).

There may very well have been other factors that made you think your boss was "pissed off". Perhaps someone else had just rang in sick before you or a supplier had failed to deliver something this morning. Either way, if you turn up tomorrow and explain yourself again to him, I'm sure it'll be fine.

mikemac

Excellent post above by Seamus.
If you are in employment for less than 12 months then it can simple enough for an employer to fire you with just cause.
And in your case, missing close to two days in your first few weeks is serious, people have been fired for less.

You have no right to sick pay unless it's in your contract. Have you a contract, many casual jobs in a cafe/pub/restaurant wouldn't have one.

What you may find here OP is your employer will not sack you. Instead they will hire new staff and cut your hours to maybe 10 hours a week. You will complain and say you could earn more on the dole than your 10 hours a week and you are available for more hours.
Your boss will tell you he has lots of staff and has to satisfy them all and doing the weekly roster is very difficult.
You'll be pissed off and broke on 10 hours a week and quit.
How do I know? Because I've worked in hotels and it was done to me.:(

And to conclude your boss has got rid of an employee he can't rely on (sorry but it's kinda true).
Your sister's incident is probably not an isolated case and god forbid, it may happen again. And while it's a valid reason to miss work it's not your bosses problem.

So yes, if you miss more days in the next few weeks, you will lose your job and as for bringing a case for unfair dismissal, lol!

antoinolachtnai

Strictly speaking, you can bring a breach of contract case against your employer even within the 12 months if there is no probation clause. Probation periods longer than nine months would probably not stand up. The only problem is that you will have to take it in the circuit or possibly the High Court. Not really feasible I'm afraid.

Mr. Incognito

Within 12 months you are not covered by employment legislation- this includes the part time workers act that came in in 2003. Basically, yes he can fire you and no- it would not be unfair dismissal. Sorry,

aye

does it matter if he fires you?
would you really want to work for someone who is not understanding of that?

Mimikyu

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