what are my rights?

Celly Smunt

Hello people,
Basically i've been working in a large pizza chain for the past 6 months and had only 1 day off due to medical reasons.My manager and I have never really seen eye to eye (well rather he has never seen to my eye),he is incompetent,unable to challenge tasks head on,can speak only basic english and refuses to employ staff that are ESSENTIAL!

So today i have had a very bad day,my grand mother hass passed and i must spend time with my family and needed the night off to grieve,i rang him in store this morning and told him the situation which he replied "there is no chance,you have no choice you must come in and complete your hours".In normal circumstances i would have no problem in attending work,in fact i appear 20 minutes early every shift to set myself and the shop up.I have covered for him so many times in trivial situations and even stayed later un-paid at times to help out.After he refused,a family member rang him up again and told him i would not be a able to attend which he then allowed.

This evening then he text me saying "sorry paul from today you will have no more duty due to your irresponsibility",(getting sacked basically),i rang him again which he said "how am i supposed to manage this shop tonight?",i did not leave him with no staff.I told him i was taking this further also.

now onto juicy stuff,last week a man in the shop up and left for pakistan when his family member died and recieved 2 weeks pay and 2 weeks off and i am being sacked for the same reasons.Now is this a form of disrimination? ,because i'm not very well educated on rights in the workplace.

Also i'm just going to add,all the staff in there are his friends,from his country,or live in locality to him,all my hours are getting dropped and all their hours raised is he entitled to pick out one person and modify the hours this way?

He is a bully but i don't know what evidence or how far you could call "bullying",what kind of things would be placed under bullying in the workplace?..

sorry if this is in the wrong area,i've never lurked in these parts before haha

thanks,Paul

Wishbone Ash

pmcmahon wrote: »

i've been working in a large pizza chain for the past 6 months

The Unfair Dismissals Act only protects employees with more than 365 days service (with some exceptions relating to religion, gender, pregnancy etc.).

Unfortunately you don't really have any rights in this situation but, if your version is correct, you were treated very poorly (not that that's any consolation). Your former manager sounds incompetent alright if he has no basic back-up plan to cover.

Could you approach the owner of the business and explain you situation? In saying that, you are probably better off without them.

Mrs OBumble

I suspect that the last poster is right on the mark: approaching the owner is probably the best approach.

You cannot publish the company name here.

The only other option I can think of is to tell the boss that you will tell your friends, and ask them to tell their friends, and that in Irish culture sacking someone because their grandmother died looks very, very bad. Putting it that way may make him re-consider, if the business has enough Irish customers.

AARRRGH

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

The Unfair Dismissals Act only protects employees with more than 365 days service (with some exceptions relating to religion, gender, pregnancy etc.).

This unfortunately is correct.

All you can do is move on and find another job.

Sorry to hear about your grandmother.

becksy

This is bullying in the workplace I'm shocked if employers can get away with that because you only worked there 6 months!!

AARRRGH

becksy wrote: »

This is bullying in the workplace I'm shocked if employers can get away with that because you only worked there 6 months!!

Tbh I'd like to hear the employers side before I start accusing them of being bullys.

Jo King

You can complain to the equality authority. You are being discriminate on racial grounds, possibly also because of religious belief.

_ZeeK_

what an a**hole.

symbolic of everything that has gone wrong in the Irish workplace over the last few years.

fintonie

as the other posters have said your short term there dose not help you,

probably why he was being the way he was knowing you were up the creek without a paddle,

but you do have rights and if you think it was blatant bullying go to your local citizens advice office, they will give you the full low down,

there is always a law to protect employees even though they are under the time served required,

if you feel deeply enough about this and you felt you were not given fair treatment (because he did not see eye to eye with you)

I think you have a reason to proceed, getting in contact with your employer is a good move but be careful with your choice of words.

artful_codger

pmcmahon wrote: »

Hello people,
my grand mother hass passed and i must spend time with my family and needed the night off to grieve

no disrespect, but i never took time off to Grieve for a grandparent dying, i took a day off to attend a funeral but that's all. Unless it was an unexpected, untimely death, i see no need to take time off unless it's for a funeral.

fintonie

artful_codger wrote: »

no disrespect, but i never took time off to Grieve for a grandparent dying, i took a day off to attend a funeral but that's all. Unless it was an unexpected, untimely death, i see no need to take time off unless it's for a funeral.

well you must have a big friend network

AARRRGH

artful_codger wrote: »

no disrespect, but i never took time off to Grieve for a grandparent dying, i took a day off to attend a funeral but that's all. Unless it was an unexpected, untimely death, i see no need to take time off unless it's for a funeral.

I agree with this.

OP - how often did you turn up late for work or request days off at short notice?

Wishbone Ash

artful_codger wrote: »

no disrespect, but i never took time off to Grieve for a grandparent dying, i took a day off to attend a funeral but that's all. Unless it was an unexpected, untimely death, i see no need to take time off unless it's for a funeral.

In fairness to the OP, a death affects people in different ways. It would be unfair to compare you situation with his/hers.

In saying that, I agree with your sentiments. I have never felt particularly close to grandparents, aunts or uncles. Many have died over the past few years and I took a day off work to attend their funerals but it was more to do with respect for their families and my parents rather than for any sense of bereavement.

sdanseo

OP has been treated nothing short of disgracefully! The idea that you can be sacked by text message by someone as idiotic as this guy sounds (most likely OP or even my 2 yo cousin would make a better manager by the sounds of things) sickens me to my gut.