Hello first post on the new forum and its a I need some advice type of thread.

My 17yr olds daughters knee (Lizzy) collapsed at work yesterday so she went up the hospital and is now on crutches for the foreseeable future, she works for a national ice cream chain and our other daughter is the manager (Hannah). Today Hannahs area manager told her she had to tell Lizzy to go, as she was only on a temporary contract they say they can just let them go just like that. It does seem rather off and I’ve told her to go down the CAB and ask their advice. But I thought I’d ask the all knowing forum for any help aswell.

You could try speaking to ACAS who should be able to tell you where your daughters stands (no pun intended)

No recourse I am afraid unless she has been employed for more than a year and a day. Pay in lieu of notice as per contract – thats the lot.

if she is an employee then theres no harm in her contacting HR to seek clarification on her terms of employment.
if they have a high turnover of temp staff your daughter may well be able to be taken on again once shes healed.

If, as I suspect, she has been employed for less than 12 months then she has no statutory employment rights (unless she has been discriminated against – which on the info provided appears unlikely).

That being the case, as long as they dismiss her in accordance with any contractual rights to notice then there is unlikely to be any legal recourse. If they didn’t provide/pay appropriate notice then she could potentially claim for breach of contract or wrongful dismissal (essentially the same claim – just depends whether you went via county court or employment tribunal).

Up to a year in employment means anyone can be given 7 days notice with no reason.
Temporary employees can be let go with no notice period.

Might want to check it though as there may be specifics that you haven’t mentioned that are relevant to the case

Was the collapse of the knee due to slipping at work or is it a pre-existing medical condition?

Hi Mark it was a pre existing condition, it looks like its tough titty for her. Hannah has said that if there’s a vacancy when she’s better then she will be able to reapply but thats all there is to it.