Liverpool passport staff sacked after contract error
 

Four passport workers in Liverpool were sacked after it emerged they had been given permanent contracts by mistake.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...yside-12839778

I`m not sure I fully understand all of this. If I`m reading this right then they have only been sacked because they had the wrong contract and not for anything they had done.
So are the jobs actually still there and are they now going to employ more temps. It just doesnt seem to make sense to me.

Re: Liverpool passport staff sacked after contract error
 

Im surprised its legal. Couldnt they calim unfair dismissal or something ?

Re: Liverpool passport staff sacked after contract error
 

That's what I thought. If this is legal, then what's stopping other employers from retro-actively changing contract terms if they want to get rid of someone, by simply claiming that an error was made?

Re: Liverpool passport staff sacked after contract error
 

i think they could ,of corse a lot depends on if they were sacked or made redundant ,entirely different things and one which people can get confused with .
An employer cannot just sack someone without warnings or a serious breach in company rules

Re: Liverpool passport staff sacked after contract error
 

It must be illegal surely?

We dont have the contracts here but the only cop out I would think is there may have been a XX day cancellation clause eg. they could cancel the contract within first 30 days or something. Otherwise its classed as a sacking and for someone who has worked there 2 years they should be able to take legal action now for wrongful dismissal.

Unfair dismissal is as follows.

To me it looks like they can take the employer on for unfair dismissal if the new contract had no get out clause, if it did have a get out clause but the fact they didnt revert back to a temp should still allow for wrongful dismissal claims.

Since they mostly young people I expect some over confidence from the employer that none were going to take action. Now its hit the news, at the very least I expect people will be offering them legal help now.

This has highlighted how messed up our country is with jobs tho, that so many jobs are not 'proper' jobs where you are employed for decades by the same company but more temp jobs that expire and can only last a few weeks.

Re: Liverpool passport staff sacked after contract error
 

I was just thinking about this. Are Passport staff employed by the "Crown"? If so it could be that the rules are different to the rest of us. Like the "Armed Forces". Maybe I'm wrong.

Re: Liverpool passport staff sacked after contract error
 

From the news article

Quote:

But despite undergoing interviews, under civil service rules they should have been offered temporary and not permanent employment.

Re: Liverpool passport staff sacked after contract error
 

so there is no permanent civil servants in the country? its a temp only policy, seems very bizarre and then the question is of course if that overules employment legislation.

Re: Liverpool passport staff sacked after contract error
 

From the BBC article.

Possibly a civil service rule to prevent nepotism?

Re: Liverpool passport staff sacked after contract error
 

I havent looked into this more myself yet, and it be interesting to see a legal point here.

But if I were to employ someone by accident its tough luck to me, I have to deal with that decision as at that point i have entered a contract with the worker. Generally the law should supercede any company policy.

So the ? here for me is if the civil service is excempt from normal employment laws.

Re: Liverpool passport staff sacked after contract error
 

If you go through the civil service recruitment process and are employed as a civil servant, then you can have a permanent contract to work as one. But if any civil service department requires additional support it is only allowed to recruit non-civil servants on a temporary basis. IIRC the upper limit is five years. I have done contract work for the civil service and have seen people move on after that period of time even though their projects were ongoing, simply because they were not allowed to have more than five years' continuous employment as a temp in the civil service.

---------- Post added at 10:36 ---------- Previous post was at 10:32 ----------

Edit ... Looks like the limit is 2 years in this case. I guess it may change depending on whether the posts are at a managerial level or not.

Re: Liverpool passport staff sacked after contract error
 

Chris yeah that is fine, however these people who moved on were not entered into new contracts first.

One situation is simply moving on a temp, no problem.
The other is giving someone permanent employment and then just cancelling it.

The latter breaks the law. (I think).

Re: Liverpool passport staff sacked after contract error
 

It may just be a condition of this particular scheme

Which I presume is meant to provide jobs for deprived communities, but which strikes me as an odd scheme anyway.

Anyway, I just can't see how it can be legal for an employer to simply rip up a contract because it was issued in error. If this is legal something needs doing in my opinion.

Re: Liverpool passport staff sacked after contract error
 

It might be legal because of regulations relating to the operation of the Civil Service - as I said, it is well known amongst those of us who do freelancing for the Government that there is an upper limit.

However, the way in which this case was handled was awful.

Re: Liverpool passport staff sacked after contract error
 

I wasn't complaining about the legality of an upper limit to the length of temporary contracts. I was questioning the legality of ripping up a contract that was drawn up in error. It makes a mockery of the contract which is supposed to be a legally binding document. If they were issued a permanent contract, and the employer wants to get rid of them, they should file for redundancy and the associated payouts rather than saying that the contract isn't valid as appears to be the case here. What value is there to a contract when it can simply be revoked?

Re: Liverpool passport staff sacked after contract error
 

But a contract is not an absolute document - it is only legal if it is drawn up according to the Law. If the law says that non-Civil Servants may not be offered permanent Civil Service employment, then a permanent contract cannot be legal.

Re: Liverpool passport staff sacked after contract error
 

There is an upper limit due to civil service policy.

However the civil service is just an employer like everyone else as far as I am concerned unless I see some legal evidence saying otherwise (may be the case but havent found anything saying so yet).

eg. I could have a company policy of the same, every employee temp only max 2 years employment, but if I then give a worker a permanent contract, that policy means nothing. The law would overide me if I tore up the contract stating company policy as reason and I would most likely be forced to re employ the person at a tribunal or give out large compensation.

Company policy doesnt make something legal, eg. if I had a company policy people could deal heroin on my shop floor, it doesnt make it legal.

---------- Post added at 16:20 ---------- Previous post was at 16:19 ----------

Thats the if I am on about, however I have looked and not seen anything specific in law that mentions it. Granted I havent looked in detail or maybe not looked in the right place but I have tried to find it.

Re: Liverpool passport staff sacked after contract error
 

Fair points, all ... the truth is I don't know if the limit is enshrined in law or not. As we're talking about the Civil Service, it might well be so ... on the other hand it may not be. It would be difficult to say with certainty whether these sackings were legal without clarifying this small but vital point ...

Re: Liverpool passport staff sacked after contract error
 

Re: Liverpool passport staff sacked after contract error
 

the contract in question here though is possible to full fill ,so i don't think that would apply .

I agree that the contract should stand in law and normal employment law should apply in this case .