unfair dismissal

[ketchupkid]

hi i have a friend who has just been sacked from her job. she has crohn's disease which she will have for the rest of her life as there is no cure but the illness tends to come in bouts so she is fine most of the time. recently she had a very serious attack and has had to have a few months off work. throughout she supplied her manager with doctors sick notes but then this week out of the blue her manager came to the house and questioned her about her illness and when my friend thought she would be well again. my friend said she was getting better but couldn't give a definate date. they then said they had no choice but to sack her. to us this doesn't sound particularly legal and any advice would be hugely appreciated as we dont know what action to take. her manager says she has 7 days to appeal against the decision by writing a letter to the main manager but if they've already decided to sack her i'm not sure what good that will do. thanks for your help

[Siamsal]

The company must follow its internal procedures and the terms of the contract of employment, but unfortunately, the essence of the answer is 'yes, they can do this'.

It is worth submitting an appeal, if she is confident she can return to work soon, and maintain attendance.

[dazf]

i have chrons as well,,,
so i understand what has happened to ur friend and i also know that this stress does not help.

she should go to the Citezen advz bureau, from what i know i do not think that it is legal for any employer to give the employee the sack just for being sick and especially if she also gave doctor notes to them every week or month...

she might be able sue them for unfair dissmissale.
but i blv she will have to have been employed by them for at least 2yrs...

get her to send a letter in for appeal as this will help if she does go down the line of sueing.

hope it all goes will...
darren
[email protected]

[Cennet]

Your friend needs to get some legal advice from her union, if she is a member, her local Citizens Advice Bureau or Law Centre or the Acas Helpline on 08457 47 47 47

[themas]

This can be complex and she should certainly get advice from the CAB. The employer may be guilty of breaching the disability discrimination legislation. She could also ring the Disability Rights Commission helpline (08457 622 633) and talk to them.

She needs to do something rapidly. She should certainly appeal as soon as possible (although I don't think a 7 day time limit for that is reasonable or enforceable). There is a strict time limit for going to an Employment Tribunal and a grievance procedure to go through first - CAB can advise.

[cascarelli]

She needs to read her contract of employment carefully as many will contain a clause allowing the employer to terminate the employee's employment if attendance does not reach a certain level. This will vary from company to company but the principle is quite common.

Without seeing the contract it's impossible to say whether the company has acted legally or not.