Emergency time off for dependants
Q. Hello could you give me some advice please I worked for a company from April till the beginning of June as a night carer my daughter now lives with me has a high risk pregnancy which I informed them of before I was offered a job. Well in the beginning of June we had to rush her to hospital as we thought she was going into premature labour I was working that night I phoned my employer 3 hours before my shift to explain what had happened and I wouldn’t be in he put the phone down half an hour later phoned me while I was at the hospital telling me I was being sacked as I was unreliable. I’ve had no holiday pay and he sent my p45 can he do this please
A. You are entitled to take time off for family and dependants in an emergency. Clearly this was an emergency and you did the right thing by informing your employer. If you suffer a detriment, such as dismissal, as in your case, it is unlawful and you will have a valid claim against your employer. You have also been denied your holiday pay which is also unlawful, so you have two standalone claims.
You must, as a matter or urgency, contact ACAS. You have three months since the date of your dismissal to make a tribunal claim, but before doing so you must contact ACAS. That will stop the clock for a month giving your ex-employer the opportunity to make any offers to settle the matter (which they would be well advised to do).
Your ex-employer did not follow any procedure in dismissing you which is in breach of the ACAS Code on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures. Failure to follow the Code can attract an uplift of not more than 25% to any award of damages you receive. One final point - Normally you need two years service to claim for unfair dismissal but in these circumstances the qualifying period does not apply.
Statutory Sick Pay ending
Q. Hi sir. My SSP is finished do I qualify for SSP1 from my employer as I work in school they paid me sick pay for 28 weeks. Please guide me. Thanks
A. If you have been paid SSP, but it has come to an end, your employer should complete the Form SSP1 and hand it to you. You will need the form to enable you to claim benefits such as Universal credit, Employment and Support Allowance or Jobseekers Allowance. For further information take a look at the GOV.UK benefits page.
The remainder of the newsletter is for paid subscribers only.
I am covering questions on:
Changing work finish times
Holiday entitlement for bank staff
Shift changeover
Occupational sick pay
New terms and conditions
Appealing a tribunal decision after a delay of time
Overtime rates
Employment status
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