Friend gets fired from job after three weeks without any warning

alias06

A friend of mine left a good job in a multinational company to take up employment in a small start-up company.

He said when he started in the new company he thought the atmosphere in the office was very strange in that there was almost no office banter and he wasn't sure if that was just the culture of the place or if people didn't get on.

So he was three weeks in the job and one of the senior managers who he had never spoken to before calls him in and tells him he is being let go. At no point had he been given a warning or even any indication that there was any problem whatsoever with his work. My friend questioned his boss on what specifically he had done wrong and his boss clearly looked uncomfortable and couldn't give him any specific example.

When I heard this myself I thought 'there must be something behind this'. So I questioned my friend on this. I asked was there anything that happened during the time he was there that could possibly have led up to this. The only thing he could think of was that the secretary sitting opposite him (she was secretary to the owner of the company) made no effort to talk to him and made no effort to include him in any conversation and again he found this strange but thought no more of it.

He is a polite, friendly and sociable guy by the way and all his friends who have heard about this are incensed that this could happen.

What should he do?

whippet

In the first 6 months of employment the company does not have to give any reason for letting someone go.

There is nothing your friend can do unfortunately.

alias06

Thanks Whippet. That is shocking though. So basically you have no rights in the first six months. You can be fired on a whim just like that?

Pro Hoc Vice

Nothing he can do unless it was one of the Equility grounds, if he was left go because he is gay, a traveller, a different religion etc. Otherwise it just seems like he was not a good fit, working in a multinational can be a world of difference to a startup, sorry to hear he is made unemployed.

Bepolite

whippet wrote: »

In the first 6 months of employment the company does not have to give any reason for letting someone go.

There is nothing your friend can do unfortunately.

I thought it was a year - would you enlighten me please?

jimmycrackcorm

What does his contract of employment say regarding his probation period.

alias06

jimmycrackcorm wrote: »

What does his contract of employment say regarding his probation period.

I think there was a six month probation period.