A question about : Unfairly dismissed?
Not sure whether anyone can offer any advice or if this post is just me having a rant and getting it all off my chest but here goes
background is my husband started a new job back in May 2014, the company were perfect always saying to him that his work was spot on (night time hgv driver) he did what they wanted and never complained, got the job done and grafted hard. October 2014 after quite a few visits to drs my husband collapsed and was rushed to hospital, turns out he has a rupture gall bladder, they tried to move some of the stones and then caused acute pancreatitus which in turn ended up with him in intensive care unit for 10 days and in total, in hospital for 6 weeks. All the way through all of this his work were amazing. Put him on the higher sick pay as he was one oftheir best workers,i kept them up to date, phoning his manager who said that all they wanted was for him to get better, he was a good lad and they only wanted him back when he was fully fit.
Anyways he returned to work a week before christmas and was told by drs, and he had a note, that he wasnt allowed any heavy duties. They were great about it, still always asking how he was etc......couple of weeks ago his arms swelled up like popeye, turned out he had blood clots in his shoulder so he had anotehr week off work, well he went in on the weds but was sent home and told his health was more important.
Thursday just gone, 5th february they sent him on a double job which he was not capable of doing nor able to do, but cos my hubby is a good fella he did it anyways, friday evening he was called in to work and was made to wait around an hour and half, was then given a piece of paper, no header of the company saying he was called in to a meeting to discuss his performance. HE was then taken into a room with his manager and another guy and was told he wasnt there type of employee and please leave the premises.....in laymans terms, he was sacked!!!!!!!!!!!
now this leaves us in a crap position. He is awaiting a further surgical procedure and cant get another job until this has taken place, as agreed he is quite weak and is limited in his hgv capacity and we are now at a loss as to what to do. I immediately applied for working tax credit but apart from that its just me keeping us afloat.
Not sure if anyone can give advice or whether i just feel better for my rant....i feel gutted for him that he has been soooo dedicated to them and they treat him like this. Thanks. rant over 
Best answers:
- As he started in May 2014 he has been employed for less than 2 years. This means he can be dismissed for any reason except if the reason for the dismissal is as a result of a protected characteristic such as gender, sexuality, race or disability, or for asserting a statutory right.
I suspect (but your husband should speak to ACAS for specific advice) that your husband would not be classed as disabled, and would therefore not be protected. It is of course entirely possible that the company became scared that his illnesses might get to a point where it would be considered a disability, and that they chose to dismiss him before that stage was reached, to avoid being stuck with an employee who might not be able to do his job but who could not be arbitrarily dismissed.
It is very difficult, but on the plus side, you did have the financial support when you most needed it, when your husband was in hospital and in the immediate period of recovery. - I think you leaving a big chunk of information out, what happened when he did this job, obviously something must have gone wrong for him to say that he wasn't capable of doing it.
What does the letter say?
For a company to change their attitude like that something must have happened, which could be something he did wrong and he's not telling you, or even just a new boss who doesn't like him. - What are they going to pay him?
For instance notice pay (which will be at least one week but could be more if his contract entitles him to more than statutory) and accrued holiday not taken as well as work done since last paid? - sorry for not getting back to anyone, been extremely busy at work. I havent left anything out tbh. I have spoken frequently to his bosses at work whilst he was off and was always told that his job stability was not a problem, he was a good worker etc etc. He has been offered a weeks wage, a week in lieu for payment.
His letter was just a two line letter, not on headed paper stating that he would be having a meeting to discuss his performance. There was no date when the meeting would take place but he was taken into another office immediately.
My hubby has spoken to solicitors and he cannot claim unfair dismissal as rightly said earlier by someone else has he hasnt been there long enough. But he can get them on the fact his letter from the hospital stated he needed to be on light duties which the said company agreed to. He wasnt he was kept on his normal duties, to which OH didnt complain about.
Its not the fact that he is now without a job that narks me off. Its the way they had said from October he was safe with his job etc etc. If they had called him in and said, look, you are and have been quite poorly and that that they dont think he can manage the job ie health and safety etc etc ...but they didnt, Thursday he was being commended for managing to get to southampton and back in one shift and within less than 24 hours he is told "your not ****** material" and asked to leave.
On a side note my husband has been in today to drop his uniform off. The main manager who i have spoken a lot to actually went out of his way to talk to OH and asked if he was ok etc...all the lower managers etc wouldnt even look him in the eye!!!!
But, on a final note, i believe that everything happens for a reason, we will overcome this and hopefully when he has his gall bladder operation to get rid of this burst organ....he will get back to full fighting fitness and get a job he will actually enjoy doing.
Thanks for everyones input, it is appreciated and it has been therapeutic to write all this down and get it off my chest - Warmhands - sticlty speaking you can be dismissed for *no* reason -
In your case, it sounds as though either your employee was there for over the 2 years (or 1 year before the rules changed) or that the cautious advice was due to the fact that the specific cirumstances mean that there was a potential issue of your employee claiming discrimination on the basis of disability.
Given that discrimination claims have no upper limit on damages, employers tend to be very cautious about risking them.
Of course, it is good practice for employers to have, and to follow, fair procedures even for staff who are not protected, but it is not a legal requirement.
I suspect that your experience was very specific to its own facts, and not representative of the usual position.
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