If there are any HR/legal types on here, could really do with some solid information to back up my argument here at work.

This is a bit long winded, but bear with me! I started work for my current employer back on the 10th October 2011 – as I am aware, after 12 weeks, I should then receive the same rights as if I was employed directly by the company. Near to the start of my employment my eldest son (I have two sons, aged 5 + 4 years old) was diagnosed with type one diabetes. As I don’t have a lot of family, when this was going on I had to take time off work, either being at the hospital with my eldest or at home with the youngest when there was no other way around it. Complications were such that it took a while to find the correct dosages and types of insulin for my sons condition and as such was in and out of hospital, I think (off the top of my head) I had around 4/5 separate days off due to this ongoing issue. Any time that I did have off I covered with my own holidays that I had accrued through my agency to avoid going down on record as sick.

Around 6 weeks ago now, I was made redundant, for one day, with the reasoning behind it due to my time off. A lot of it had been put down as sick even though it was not. I had had TWO actual sick days in the time I have been here, both instances covered with the relevant doctor’s note. The very next day they rang me up and offered me part time hours for now, which I accepted of course (its a well paid job – part time still just about covers me) and since then I have basically picked up as many extra shifts and hours as I can (basically taking all the crap shifts no one else wants). Today I have come in to the news that they are hiring new starters!!!!! After they have just made a good 5 people redundant and dropping a few of us to part time (after dropping that bombshell and leaving us to stew for a day), so understandably I am well and truly fuming, all the stress and messing around just to stay on top of things, working the most ridiculous hours etc, now instead of offering the full time shifts back to people that they dropped down they are just hiring new staff!! I am so annoyed by the whole situation and the way it has been handled its ridiculous, each one of my team leaders have stated it has nothing to do with my job performance as my stats are really good. I feel like I have been messed about no end, now have been left to the side to struggle even though I have bent over backwards for the company. A lot of that time should have been down as parental unpaid leave am I correct? Everything I have looked at online has pointed to that fact, it just beggars belief that companies can get away with things like this. What can I do? Anyone else experienced similar situations? Is it worth me pursuing? Or would that just end with me losing my job altogether and not getting the full time hours back which I want? Any help will be appreciated, apologies for the long winded post!

Cheers!

If it was racism, sexism, etc. then you might have a case but for anything else there’s not much you can do. If you’ve been there less than a year you’ve got very little comeback.

YOu might well have been unfairly dealt with but with less than a years service yuo have no recourse to a tribunal so its hard to do much about it

Its always jobs that are redundant not people so they cannot make you redundant and then employ someone else to do your job. sound like a bunch of shites as employers

http://www.tuc.org.uk/tuc/rights_main.cfm

http://www.adviceguide.org.uk/england/work_e/work_rights_at_work_e/basic_rights_at_work.htm

They make a role redundant not you

If they have recruited for the same role within 6 months of redundancy then they are in trouble – is it the same role/same contract/same hours/duties etc or is it a “new” job.
It seems clear they have done this deliberately [IMHO] whether they left some evidence I dont know

You have next to no employment rights though till 2 years and I am not sure re redundancy

Clearly they are poor employers

What paperwork do you have re redundancy

doesn’t matter just read you are aware of the 12 week new rules regs

tjr666,

Sorry to hear of all those stress …

Don’t waste your time trying to fight them.

Well, if you are capable why not become a contractor? Negotiate for certain package … there you go your own boss.

Put it this way if they do not have any sort of compassion for your time off due to your child then what hope do you have with them?

They only look at the £££-money-cost-£££ and nothing else …

Talk to them give them a contract they cannot refuse and get the money in first …

Plenty of low lives working in organisation nowadays … I am facing a few at the moment … is kneecapping legal in UK?

Are you on a Temporary Workers Agreement and recieve parity for pay and benefits?

Or are you on a Swedish Derogation Contract of Employment?

did they really make you redundant? i very much doubt they did, and you dont make people redundant for sickness, its the role thats redundnat as others have said. unless you have the paperwork that says you were made redundant then it dont look good for you.

also if you have the paperwork that says you were made redundant then they i believe they cant actually reemploy you for 4 weeks anyway as they made you redundant, they should also have redeployed you.

sounds like you may have been on a zero hrs contract, paid when you work only.
its possible that they agency were trying to avoid giving you the same rights as others? pay, conditions etc after 12 weeks. but sunds like you all ready hit 12 weeks.

you also have a statutory right to unpaid dependance leave, though its possible that justified or not all your time off for whatever reason was perceived as not good for business so let you go, until they needed the cover again…