tarmac terror

iTrader: (2)

My wife took on some temporary work with a local public body who recruited her through an employment agency.

When the contract arrived it stated that the duration of employment was for 3 months. We assumed the contract would be reviewed and renewed or termined. This was back in November 2007.

Months passed and the contract was never renewed or terminated and she has continued to be payed her salary and expenses accordingly on a weekly basis.

Today she was advised that her contract was being terminated in the next couple of weeks as funding for her post has expired.

Now my questions are this;

Surely there is no contract to terminate as it lapsed three months from its inception date?

Where does she stand with regard to the employers wishes to terminate her employment?

I am looking for an angle here as she quite likes where she works and there will continue to be work avaiable in the area where she is currently employed.

Grateful for your comments....

what would scooby do

IMHO no contract = can be asked to leave immediately, unless the original contract stated it auto renewed if not cancelled.

john_s

iTrader: (1)

Not an expert and it really depends on the wording of her written contract, but I'd suggest it could be argued that by continuing to employ her beyond the temporary contract period, that she has effectively become a permanent employee.

It can't be that she has no contract... there is some form of contract in place, as she has continued to work and they have continued to pay her; the exact details of that is where the "problem" lies.

As she's been there over 12 months, she could not (on a "normal" contract of employment) just be told to finish without there being a selection process - that would amount to unfair dismissal.

It may be that the way her employer is going about it amounts to a selection process...

However, as she has been there less than 2 years, she will not be entitled to any redundancy payment.

MMT WRX

I used to be Site Manager at manufacturing plant where some work was seasonal. When we employed temporary staff from an agency we either had to finish them at 13 weeks and take somebody else or give them a permanent contract. I was told by our HR, that there didn't need to be a physical contract, if they worked beyond the 13 weeks that would be a contract in itself.

However, Toyota, and I think from what’s been in the news recently, BMW Mini, have employed people on some sort of permanent basis but through an agency for many years. They finished them with a couple of hours notice. I'm not quite sure how that works.

I have a relative who has worked at Toyota from day one and his contract is with Toyota. I also have friends who worked for Toyota for many years, doing the same job, being paid directly by Toyota and as far as I know, no other differences to Toyota contracted employees except that they were sourced via an agency.

Recently, when the credit crunch hit, Toyota finished all the agency sourced employees.

There must be some loophole somewhere that’s being exploited.

Get professional advice

jacrobat

ACAS will offer you free advice on this issue

Acas - Regional offices and national teams

jonny_693

iTrader: (5)

AFAIK until you have been with a firm for 2 years you basically have F all rights when it comes to being laid off.

john_s

iTrader: (1)

It has been 12 months for a few years now. No redundancy for less than 2 years service though.

MMT WRX

I think, as john_s has said, there has to be a proper structured redundancy selection process for employees with +12 months service.

They cant just select people they don't play golf with!

ACAS is a good call.