Statutory Notice
Discussion
I wonder if anyone can help. I took on a Business Development Manager back in late November 2020. He was remote working as his location is over 100 miles from our offices and was employed of course to obtain new accounts and contracts.
As we have seen absolutely nothing from him we made the decision to let him go last week with immediate effect. He was still in his probationary period and the terms of his contract stated no notice was required.
Since he has left I have looked through his email account and established there was pretty much zero activity there, although he claims the majority of his work was done over the phone. This of course cannot be proved as he used a private phone to conduct his activity.
He is now claiming he is entitled to a weeks notice and due a payment from us. Following my findings I am extremely reluctant to give this man any more money as I feel he has acted extremely dishonestly. As we have already dismissed him, I am assuming we cannot go down the gross misconduct route? I could pay him and get rid of the situation, but it leaves an extremely bitter taste to do so!
As we have seen absolutely nothing from him we made the decision to let him go last week with immediate effect. He was still in his probationary period and the terms of his contract stated no notice was required.
Since he has left I have looked through his email account and established there was pretty much zero activity there, although he claims the majority of his work was done over the phone. This of course cannot be proved as he used a private phone to conduct his activity.
He is now claiming he is entitled to a weeks notice and due a payment from us. Following my findings I am extremely reluctant to give this man any more money as I feel he has acted extremely dishonestly. As we have already dismissed him, I am assuming we cannot go down the gross misconduct route? I could pay him and get rid of the situation, but it leaves an extremely bitter taste to do so!
You had a sales guy, remote working, doing tele sales and he used his private phone? I’m pretty sure you’re in some kind of data breech there? No? He’s calling on behalf of X company but storing numbers obtained in the name of that company on a private phone? Pay him and think of it as fee so he never darkens your door again. And give the next guy a phone 
8IKERDAVE said:
He is now claiming he is entitled to a weeks notice and due a payment from us.
Whilst hindsight may prove the others right, part of me wants to ask him on what grounds he feels entitled to a weeks notice and more money. Could he be right? - ie is there any vestige of legality he may have found, eg from the CAB? Or maybe he's just a chancer.8IKERDAVE said:
I wonder if anyone can help. I took on a Business Development Manager back in late November 2020. He was remote working as his location is over 100 miles from our offices and was employed of course to obtain new accounts and contracts.
As we have seen absolutely nothing from him we made the decision to let him go last week with immediate effect. He was still in his probationary period and the terms of his contract stated no notice was required.
Since he has left I have looked through his email account and established there was pretty much zero activity there, although he claims the majority of his work was done over the phone. This of course cannot be proved as he used a private phone to conduct his activity.
He is now claiming he is entitled to a weeks notice and due a payment from us. Following my findings I am extremely reluctant to give this man any more money as I feel he has acted extremely dishonestly. As we have already dismissed him, I am assuming we cannot go down the gross misconduct route? I could pay him and get rid of the situation, but it leaves an extremely bitter taste to do so!
As others have said just pay him for the week and move on.As we have seen absolutely nothing from him we made the decision to let him go last week with immediate effect. He was still in his probationary period and the terms of his contract stated no notice was required.
Since he has left I have looked through his email account and established there was pretty much zero activity there, although he claims the majority of his work was done over the phone. This of course cannot be proved as he used a private phone to conduct his activity.
He is now claiming he is entitled to a weeks notice and due a payment from us. Following my findings I am extremely reluctant to give this man any more money as I feel he has acted extremely dishonestly. As we have already dismissed him, I am assuming we cannot go down the gross misconduct route? I could pay him and get rid of the situation, but it leaves an extremely bitter taste to do so!
Regarding telephones, there are a number of very inexpensive software solutions out there you could implement that would mean any future staff use the business telephone system from any location with internet access and therefore activity can be accurately tracked. You could also implement a free CRM very easily to force BD employees to log every contact. Just a couple of ideas should you think about trying to hire again under these circumstances.
I think I will follow advice and cut my losses on this one. I think the guy is an absolute chancer to be honest, he approached us and 'sold himself' on the grounds he could open up some big doors and has a number of contacts already.
I've looked into the legalities of it and he is right, after working for a month you are entitled to a weeks notice unless gross misconduct.
The plan was to see how his probationary period went and then set him up properly with a phone, car, etc. The whole process was quite rushed and I was just dipping my toe in the water really. I've certainly learned from this at my expense but it was always going to be a risk.
I've looked into the legalities of it and he is right, after working for a month you are entitled to a weeks notice unless gross misconduct.
The plan was to see how his probationary period went and then set him up properly with a phone, car, etc. The whole process was quite rushed and I was just dipping my toe in the water really. I've certainly learned from this at my expense but it was always going to be a risk.
8IKERDAVE said:
I've looked into the legalities of it and he is right, after working for a month you are entitled to a weeks notice unless gross misconduct.
Ah, bang to rights then. Never mind.He'll be looking for a new employer now, so you could enclose an accurate reference with his final cheque...
Simpo Two said:
8IKERDAVE said:
I've looked into the legalities of it and he is right, after working for a month you are entitled to a weeks notice unless gross misconduct.
Ah, bang to rights then. Never mind.He'll be looking for a new employer now, so you could enclose an accurate reference with his final cheque...
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