I've seen a lot of help provided by HR professionals on here, so hoping someone can offer some advice.
Long story...
My partner was advised about 2 months ago that the business she works for is selling up, and that there are two interested buyers. Naturally, there's an element of uncertainty attached but she was assured verbally, that her employment would be protected as part of the terms and conditions of the sale. It's only a small business with the owner and my partner being the only two workers.
Since then the owner of the business has turned up to work infrequently leaving my partner to run the business for her, has regularly criticised her work (despite trusting her to run the business) and is often passive aggressive. It's got to the point now where they can regularly go through a day without the owner speaking to my partner, or doing her best to avoid her. The owner has told several of their clients she has sold the business despite telling my partner that she is not allowed to talk about the sale process. The final straw is that, for the 2nd month running, she has been paid late.
My partner has been employed by the owner for over 4 years, has never taken a day off sick and witnessed three other staff members sacked for drinking alcohol on site, stealing and unreliability. It's fair to say that she's been nothing but reliable and the way she's getting treated is really winding her and in turn me up.
Worryingly, I asked my partner to show me a copy of her contract of employment and she's never been given one.
So could anyone answer the following questions?
1.) What rights does she have without an employment contract?
2.) Does she have any right to ask for written assurances that her position would be safe in the event of a sale?
3.) Is the treatment above enough to pursue a case of constructive dismissal if she felt she had no alternative to leave? (I assume no contract means there isn't a breach so it might be complicated).
We're getting married next year and she's on better money than she could get anywhere else, the only reason she would leave is the treatment she's been receiving and the uncertainty of the sale.
Any help or pointers would be great. We're thinking about speaking to Citizens Advice too.
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But with regard to point two, I believe TUPE applies to businesses of any size. I'd recommend having a read of this: acas.org.uk/media/pdf/d/r/Handling-TUPE-Transfers-The-Acas-Guide.pdf
So that answers your first question.
In terms of question 2, no she doesn't have such a right and for very good reason. The new owner would become her employer and couldn't reasonably be expected to honour such a deal. Nobody's job is safe and redundancy (assuming it meets the criteria) is a fair dismissal. However her terms and conditions would be protected under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 and 2014 (TUPE).
Finally, winning an Unfair Dismissal claim isn't easy - winning a Constructive Unfair Dismissal claim is even harder as the burden of proof would be on your partner to prove that the employee/employer relationship had broken down so fundamentally that she had no other course of action other than to resign. I would advise against this if it can be avoided at all.
There must have been verbal/email exchanges when first employed around salary, notice periods, holiday etc. To defuse the situation it would be reasonable to say "Can I please have my terms of employment written down so that there is no confusion for my new employer"
Besides the only other person there is the owner with whom she would have the grievance. Who's going to hear it?
I've kicked off because other than a P60 a few years back, she has nothing to show she's been paying tax or NI, which could have a big impact on her state pension given the new laws about x years employment and I can imagine HMRC knocking at the door one day.
If we really had to, we could get 4 years worth of bank statements to prove the monthly payments, but it seems a bit flimsy.
Coming from corporate environments myself, I've never seen or heard a business run like this.
There's an office available next door to her business. I've half jokingly said she should set up by herself and take the clients.
I would advise your partner contacting HMRC to check on PAYE payments made by her employer.
Maybe she should do as you say and open up in competition. The absence of a contract means the absence of any non-solicitation or non-compete clauses!!
While, as it says on the tin, it's broadly a state pension checker, it also gives details of your National Insurance history, so your partner would be able to check whether payments have actually been made on her behalf. You never know.....
Edit: @cafcfan has beaten me to it, teaches me to make a cuppa mid-post!
It's just infuriating that we'd sorted out all of our finances for the wedding next year, and she'll likely have to leave a job for a lesser salary through no fault of her own.
If there was a team and not just of the two of them I know she'd stick it out, but it's now at the point where she doesn't want to go to work as it's that uncomfortable. In the 4 years we've been together she's always loved her job.
If she's been getting no pay slip, I wonder if she's been making the payments at all for tax & NI.
What kind of work does she do out of interest, if you don't mind saying?
Again, it's a legal requirement that the employer provide this as part of their year end reporting.
If not, she has some leverage as she can report the business owner for non compliance in a number of areas by the sound of it.
I think she's decided to leave and draw a line under the experience. A shame, because she likes her clients and has made some great friends, but she's not exactly an open heart surgeon and it's just not worth the stress.
Good luck to the pair of you.
If she manages to take most (or all) of the clients her current employer could find herself unable to sell her business and/or sued after the sale of the company.