Partner given no notice

JoeyW

My partner was called into the office by his boss today to be told he was being let go as and from then. He was given no notice and no reason (he kept asking why him and they kept feeding him full of sh**t about how they needed to cut back, weren't getting much work etc..etc) The thing is he wasn't the last person in and the impression I got from him and others was he was always a damn good worker and never missed a days sick in his four years there. The thing that is killing him the most is he was working away flat out while a few of the boys were standing around chatting when he was called in to be told. We're still in shock.
Is this right he was given no notice?
Where do we find out his entitlements to dole? Will he be means tested because I'm still working?
We have a mortgage so will that be taken into consideration too?
Gosd, it's tough times all round. I know we're only a majority in this situation and it saddens me.

dreamers75

[quote=JoeyW;59491660 The thing is he wasn't the last person in [/quote]


Thats a union thing not actual Labour Law.


Recession is to be used as a tool to motivate or remove certain workers from the company.

Sad but true a lot of bad managers using it to remove staff, by using the recession as an excuse they can get away with it, rather than manage the staff. Labour court seems to be siding with companies of late.


Not much he can do as company will plead poverty dunno about dole , theres a dole forum here somewhere.

JoeyW

Thanks.
He wasn't in a union so no point in trying to find out about that one.
Is he at least entitled to an explanation, bad or good?

He is there 4 years. He entitled to notice. He can bring them to labour court for unfair dismissal. If he is being fired then he needs a reason (he also should have had written warnings etc). If the reason is because there is no work for him them he is entitled to redundancy.

The answer is basically that they can't do this, he has rights and entitlements and he needs to make sure he gets legal advice asap.

is he not on a contract with a minimum notice period etc - after 4 years he should most certainly have entitlement to notice
if there is just no work then he is entitled to redundancy
get legal advice asap!!!

trishasaffron

How long was he working there? If less than 2 years he has few rights but if more than 2 he may be entitled to redundancy.

JoeyW

He got redundancy alright but still no explanation or notice. He's at a loss to know what he did wrong.

testicle

JoeyW wrote: »

He got redundancy alright but still no explanation or notice. He's at a loss to know what he did wrong.

If he was mae reundant, then you hae answered yourself. No work for him.

Sleipnir

Did he get paid for his notice period? You can be called in and asked to leave immediately and they will then pay you for your notice period i.e. you're they are not requiring you to work out your notice period.

They have given him a reason; downturn, cutbacks etc.

Mrs OBumble

JoeyW wrote: »

He got redundancy alright but still no explanation or notice. He's at a loss to know what he did wrong.

If he got paid for a notice period, then it's the same as getting notice.

If the company is using the recession to get rid of people whose face-doesn't-fit, then they're not going to give him any explanation of why him vs anyone else: anything they say could get them into legal trouble.

He didn't necessarily do anything wrong at all: maybe someone doesn't like him, maybe his hourly rate was 5c higher than everyone else's, maybe his name was randomly drawn from a hat, maybe the boss thinks he's ugly. Etc.

If he's been working for four years, then yes, he should be entitled to Jobseekers Benefit based on his PRSI contributions. This won't be affected by the fact that you're working, but he will have to give them your PRSI number and income.

JoeyW

I would have thought he would have been entitled to at least two weeks notice not called into the office and told there and then "pack your stuff, goodbye".
It's just not on. After five years service he deserved a hell of a lot more than that treatment.
He was the only one made redundant also. It's not as though the company was closing down.

AmberWaives

JoeyW wrote: »

I would have thought he would have been entitled to at least two weeks notice not called into the office and told there and then "pack your stuff, goodbye".
It's just not on. After five years service he deserved a hell of a lot more than that treatment.
He was the only one made redundant also. It's not as though the company was closing down.

JoeyW

I don't know if what happened is illegal, but ethically and morally it is outrageous. I hope that wherever your partner's career/job takes him next he will have the good fortune to be working for and with people with some kind of moral backbone. Such individuals do exist.

Good luck.

Sleipnir

JoeyW wrote: »

I would have thought he would have been entitled to at least two weeks notice not called into the office and told there and then "pack your stuff, goodbye".
It's just not on. After five years service he deserved a hell of a lot more than that treatment.
He was the only one made redundant also. It's not as though the company was closing down.

I know someone who was let go from a company in same manner recently who had worked there 14 years.

The problem is that if the boss says "you're being made redundant and you have two weeks to go" and then the person goes back to their desks and continues to work, they could do serious damage if they wanted to.

1.) Companies rarely feel any loyalty or sense of duty to their employees when it comes to redundancy. Certainly don't expect any.
2.) HR departments are there to protect the company, not the employees.

It is a completely **** way to treat people but that's the way it is.

Jo King

He can make a claim for unfair dismissal/unfair selection for redundancy. The employ will have to justify the dismissal and show what criteria were applied in selecting your partner for redundancy. It is obvious that he was working too hard and making a show of his co-workers. They naturally ganged up on him. More than likely they fed false rumours to the boss about him. He will be entitled to Unemployment Benefit based on his PRSI contributions and possible help with the mortgage depending on the household income. Get a solicitor fast.

Blue_Wolf

did he get any redundancy?

Mrs OBumble

AmberWaives wrote: »

I don't know if what happened is illegal, but ethically and morally it is outrageous.

Not necessarily.

There are some industries where it's standard practice that one someone knows they are going, they go straight away. This is because of the damage that they could do to sensitive clients/data during a notice period.

And by letting him go immediately, he can spend the paid notice period job-hunting instead of pretending to work.

Maglight

As your partner has worked for the company for more than 2 years he is entitled to statutory redundancy which is calculated at 2 weeks per year worked plus a bonus week. The weekly payment is capped at €600. In addition he is entitled to be paid his notice period - as per his contract. If he doesn't have a contractually agreed notice period he would be entitled to a minimum two weeks notice based on 2-5 years employment. Assuming he has paid social insurance during his employement he will be eligible for jobseekers benefit. This benefit isn't means tested.

As for being told to go immediately, this is fairly standard practice in a one off redundancy situation. So long as the company is paying his notice period they have done nothing wrong.

It's a hard time for you both. Best of luck and I hope things go well for you.

Saruman

What Maglight said!
When people have been let go where I work, it has been immediate. The reason is, there is little to stop them taking customer records and either stealing the customers themselves if they set up or bringing them to the new job or even selling them which I'm sure happens.

As long as your partner was actually paid for the time then its easier for him to not have to work it and take the time to look for another job.

maninasia

It's not a nice way to go. I've no knowledge of the legal process although it seems he could pursue if he could show that he was being more productive, he might get a pay-off,

The important thing is , don't take it to heart, there's no point wasting time thinking about the reason why as they wouldn't neccessarily tell you the truth. He could be fired simply because the manager is afraid to lose his job....he could be fired because his breath smelled...he could be fired because he's not part of the gang...whatever. The main thing is if he's a good worker he'll do very well 9 times out of ten...believe me. I've worked in lots of companies, each one had a different 'culture' and different issues. Move on.

AmberWaives

JustMary wrote: »

Not necessarily.

There are some industries where it's standard practice that one someone knows they are going, they go straight away. This is because of the damage that they could do to sensitive clients/data during a notice period.

Safeguarding company information is a legitimate business objective.

There are many ways of achieving this objective whilst respecting an employee's dignity.

Using it as a pretext for engaging in conduct like this is not one of those:

He got redundancy alright but still no explanation or notice. He's at a loss to know what he did wrong.

Oasis44

JoeyW wrote: »

He got redundancy alright but still no explanation or notice. He's at a loss to know what he did wrong.

Well the manager who let him go doesn't know much about redundancy law - when a company makes an employee redundant they are entitled to claim 60% of the redundancy monies back from the DETE HOWEVER they must give the employee legal notice which would be 2 weeks in your partners case. They will now not be entitled to claim this 60% back.

Regarding your other queries your partner would be entitled to notice pay, holiday pay and any wages he had not being paid for as well as the redundancy payment (all of these monies are capped at €600 per week and in the case of insolvency payments are taxed)

In terms of being selected for redundancy it must be deemed 'fair' i.e. if he was last in or the weakest member of his team/division that is deemed fair but if not it is deemed unfair. Best of luck with your situation.

Oasis44

JustMary wrote: »

He didn't necessarily do anything wrong at all: maybe someone doesn't like him, maybe his hourly rate was 5c higher than everyone else's, maybe his name was randomly drawn from a hat, maybe the boss thinks he's ugly. Etc.

Letting someone go for ANY of the above reasons is illegal and would be subject to an unfair dismissal claim by the employee BTW.

Mrs OBumble

Oasis44 wrote: »

Letting someone go for ANY of the above reasons is illegal and would be subject to an unfair dismissal claim by the employee BTW.

Firing someone for one of those reasons would be somewhere between marginal and outright illegal.

Choosing who to make redundant for one of them (assuming that someone had to be made redundant anyway) is just fine.

Some posters here seem to think that the world is a fair place, where everyone has a right to happiness. Sorry to break the news, but it ain't.