Apprentice dismissal

[Raycas]

Hi all, I am gathering information on behalf of my 17 year old son.

He is 9 ½ months into an apprenticeship.

 

As part of his apprenticeship he is on college day release. He has just received his second quarterly review and has been told that he will be dismissed if his performance at his work place does not improve. His quarterly pay increase was held back.

 

Through out his apprenticeship, and as parents, we quiz him on his day at work, and what he has been doing and taught. It is hard to get information out of a teenager at the best of times. He has said that he is been doing the same task day in day out, but with little training or supervision. He has asked for more training and to shadow another in the work place, but it never happened.

 

The alarm bells never rang as being an apprentice you always carry out repetitive tasks. When he went into the meeting last week he was on his own, and with no representation. Present at the meeting was the manager and a secretary. There is no question of his time keeping or attitude. He was told he was not up to scratch and if thing did not improve, he would be dismissed in five weeks time.

 

Whilst my son was on holiday recently, his manager contacted the college and asked was it possible for my son to continue on level 3 at college with no apprenticeship training at work. My son college tutor made this clear to us. We feel the manager has been planning this dismissal for some time. We feel that the manager does not want an apprentice at the company, so why was he taken on in the first place?

 

From the contract of employment, if we can call it a contract, nothing is mentioned about dismissal. The contract is based on pay increases and term of the apprenticeship.

 

The day after the meeting the manager spent two hours training my son. We will monitor this training as it seems to be unusual. What we feel is the manager is covering his back and trying to prove the point of dismissal.

 

What protection rights are there for apprentices, should my son have received something in writing, and should my son have representation at the final meeting?

 

Sorry for such a long message. Thank you for any advice you can provide. Raycas

Edited August 6, 2012 by honeybee13
Editing in some spacing for ease of reading.

[Surfer01]

As a matter of interest, what sort of apprenticeship is it? Hopefully not at Norton motorcycles and also hopefully someone who knows the laws regarding apprenticeship will be able to give you an answer.

[transient]

As a matter of interest, what sort of apprenticeship is it? Hopefully not at Norton motorcycles .

[Raycas]

Hi Surfer01, thanks for your reply. The apprenticeship is in engineering, hands on, working with machines, but not with Norton. We feel the company does not have a clue with the law regarding apprenticeship. No contract of employment, no training schedule, no writtern warning etc. In view of what is happening, it could be a blessing that he will be leaving. We all have a clear view of how a company should be run which will help with his decision in accepting another appenticeship. We feel he has been used as cheap labour and now he is of no use, and therefore dismiss him. We have done a lot of research in the the dismissal of apprentices and have found some interesting case studies protecting apprentices. To finish, I was the proud owner of an 850 Norton Commando.

[Surfer01]

nice bikes. Why I mentioned Norton, if you do a search on this forum, there is a very similar thread about an apprenticeship with Norton where the apprentice won and got paid out. Input "Norton" and you re sure top find it.

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

Here's a link to the other thread. It's not exactly the same circumstances, but you may get some pointers. We recently heard this case was won.

 

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/showthread.php?336130-Instant-Dismissal-of-Apprentice.-Advice-needed-**-WON-AT-TRIBUNAL-**

 

My best, HB

[honeybee13]

Just bumping this for you in case the thread has been overlooked.

 

My best, HB

[becky2585]

If the apprenticeship was for a fixed duration, there could be a breach of contract claim worth the salaried equivalent of the duration of the contract.

 

Without a written agreement though, there may not be much that can be done. Is there a written agreement with the college or learning provider?

[Emmzzi]

This is not my specialism, but this may help.

 

http://www.abbeylegal.com/Latestnews/NewItems/Pages/Learning%20the%20trade%20%E2%80%93%20the%20law%20on%20apprentices.aspx

 

As a contract of apprenticeship is for a fixed term to enable the apprentice to receive training and obtain qualifications in order to obtain better employment, it cannot lawfully be terminated before the expiry of that fixed term, except in exceptional circumstances.

 

If the employer terminates the agreement early, thereby depriving the apprentice of the training, the apprentice is entitled to claim damages for wrongful dismissal under the contract for the remainder of the fixed-term apprenticeship and also damages for future loss of earnings and prospects as a qualified person. This is still the case even if the apprentice is a poor performer or is having difficulty passing any necessary exams or if he has a conduct problem such as poor timekeeping or a poor attendance record. Even a genuine redundancy situation, such as a downturn in work, would not entitle the employer to dismiss the apprentice early, regardless of length of service.