Getting fired from work a week before a year

Hi everyone First and foremost I hope I've posted in the right section, i'm sorry if I haven't.I'm currently working for Royal Mail through an agency and i've been working there for nearly a year now. I started last christmas as a christmas temp and since then i've been working till now. Now that it's nearly a year of working there the boss has decided to fire me and another 40 people.We've been told the work load has been going down but we all know this is not true because christmas is coming up now and the work load is going to go up. The reason why they want to fire us is because it's nearly a year now and they don't want to give us a contract to work there.I'd like to know what my rights are, if there's anything I can do to stay working?

Sorry to hear about this.

I have heard this story quite often. There is a factory in my town that is well known for using the same tactic of firing off all the temp workers (which is nearly all of them apart from line managers and the few skilled labour positions) and hiring them again as new temp workers before a year passes. I would hope this is an illegal practice.

Well the issue with temp contracts and the like is the lack of written rights you have. However, if you are a union member and approach the union representative at your place of work then they would be in a far better position than myself to advise and would help you take action whether that would be strikes or an employment tribunal.

I can only advise to a limited extent.

For more info on your legal rights I would recommend contacting Citizens Advice and your union rep (if you are a union member).

Temp contracts has been one way that employers have been undermining our workers rights and we are seeing the rise of flexible cheap labour. It is a rather disheartening time, but this is really why I must stress the importance of being a union member or organising a union branch at your place of work in future. They are ideally placed to help protect you with representatives to give legal advise and defend you at tribunal.

Wow you lasted this long in a christmas temp job?

Trouble is if you are with an agency they can pretty much fire you or lay you off as they please.

Thank you for your reply. It's a very sneaky tactic, maybe not illegal but one thing for sure is that it's not fair. If it was fair I wouldn't be here posting. This is discrimination is my eyes. I mean why should we be used and abused? It's not nice and we should be treated equally and fairly, just like the contract workers get treated. I'm a human being too.

There is a union thing going on there but i've been told it's only for contract staff. So that is not an option. I will be contacting the Citizens Advice. I greatly appreciate your help (y)

No problem.

You are basically contracted workers in everything but name (minus the contracted rights and dismissal notices...etc). They are using you as legally unprotected workers and I fully agree that this is not right.

I wish you the best of luck.

Is that correct? I mean this is Royal Mail we're talking about, which is government owned. Wouldn't they know what they're doing? I did sign the temporary contract in the begininng. After that i've not signed anything else. So i'm an unprotected worker then, this doesn't sound right! I have a feeling they're going to be in big trouble.

Trouble is if you are with an agency they can pretty much fire you or lay you off as they please.

Can't fire you and it's worth the OP noting that they are not being fired. Firing is a disciplinary procedure. They're just letting you go.

Good point, but I can understand why it feels like being fired in his situation with no notice given.

Hi everyone First and foremost I hope I've posted in the right section, i'm sorry if I haven't.

I'm currently working for Royal Mail through an agency and i've been working there for nearly a year now. I started last christmas as a christmas temp and since then i've been working till now. Now that it's nearly a year of working there the boss has decided to fire me and another 40 people.

We've been told the work load has been going down but we all know this is not true because christmas is coming up now and the work load is going to go up. The reason why they want to fire us is because it's nearly a year now and they don't want to give us a contract to work there.

I'd like to know what my rights are, if there's anything I can do to stay working?

Being fired is a black mark on future applications. Being told there's no more work is just a right royal pain in the arse but future employers will be understanding of it.

I only really mention it to ensure the OP never writes down that they had been dismissed on future applications.

The term you're looking for is 'laid off'.

Surely it's 13 weeks before you're treated as a non temporary worker, not a year?

After 12 weeks in the same job with the same hirer, you are entitled to be treated the same as if you were recruited directly by the company.

But it doesn't stop them sacking you for any reason as long as you've been there less than two years.

You will be entitled to pay in lieu of notice based on the length of service, which if I remember correctly is one week for any period up to and including a year's service, but more than one month

Well one of my local SWP branch members worked for the Royal Mail and the introduction of temp staff like yourself was to undermine workers rights. He was quite open about temp staff being exploited and being used to replace contracted staff as they left. This is most likely the reason why the union would not touch temp staff.

Unfortunately, your legal position is tricky. You were basically perminant staff but they fired you before the law states they had to give you a full time contract which would have greatly improved your legal rights and as such I don't really think you have a leg to stand on for making a case against them...

Still my knowledge of employment laws is limited and I would see what CAB says. I wish you the best of luck.

I have had the misfortune to work on a temp contract before only to turn up to work one day to have the boss turn round and say "What are you doing here? I told Dave to let you go last week" (Dave had started the job a week before he was told to lay me off and was at the same job position as myself with the only difference being he was full time....)

Interesting. What I have heard from a manager is that we've been hired till this day due to contract workers taking too much time off and that's caused the mail to pile up. So they've recruited an extra team to cover them. One thing to note is that Royal Mail always recruit people during Christmas (November-December) due to high amounts of mail. Then they let everybody go by the end of December. This is the only time they've ever let a team of 40 people work for a year.

I would agree but I still think it's wrong to let us go just because they don't want to give us a contract. I mean let's forget about the 1 year rule. I believe it's a case of discrimination.

To the OP. you are classed as a worker and not an employee and as such have less rights. Have a read of the Directgov website for more info;
http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Understandingyourworkstatus/Agencyworkersandemploymentagencies/DG_173252

Is 13 weeks the standard? For us it was 3 months, after 3 months the pay rate went up, and that’s about it. Is it two years now minimum? I thought it was one.

One thing I’d like to point out is that we have not been entitled to any bonuses which the contracted staff are. These bonuses depend on how fast you key, so if you're a fast keyer, the more the efficiency in keying you will receive extra money. I am aware that by law it is stated that after 6 months we are entitled to bonuses but we haven’t been informed of this. Looks like I’m onto something here.

This is wrong. As I said, in week 13, this no longer applies.

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Understandingyourworkstatus/Agencyworkersandemploymentagencies/DG_198921

You are entitled to the same pay, benefits and conditions as though you had been recruited directly.



13 weeks is the standard, as mentioned.

Two years is now the minimum for people who began employment after April 2011. Before April 2011, you gained this protection after one year.

If the contracted staff were entitled to bonuses, then after the qualifying period, you should also - see the link I provided. Give ACAS a call...