Constructive dismissal

[ash]

I work in the care and support field. A while back I visited a service user in his home and experienced a very scary situation. To summarise while I was in his flat his neighbour hammered on his door and then when let in it was clear that there was some feud going on re drugs etc.
I was there for almost an hour before I could leave safely.
Needless to say I haven’t felt confident about visiting service users in their homes as a lone worker since
To sum up I’ve been told there isn’t a role for me In the service. It’s only a part time job but does anyone know if I can challenge this??

 

[BristolEcho]

This sounds dodgy. How have they told you that your services are no longer needed? Were you under contract, or on a zero hour contract? Have you been formally sacked?

In regards to the situation you found yourself in that's incredibly dangerous and I don't think anyone should be expected to go back there, especially alone. It's certainly something I would be raising concerns about and be expecting support from management.

Some questions:

1) What happened after the incident? Was there an investigation?
2) What does your lone working policy stipulate?
3) Was a safeguarding put in place about the concern of the individuals welfare?
4) Is the individual still receiving care?

Hope you're okay too - some care companies are complete and utter rubbish and so I fully expect them not too follow procedure.

Unlikely to be any union support I'm assuming? Even informal locals?

Feel free to private message if needed.

 

[Puddy_Tat]

usual disclaimers, i'm not a lawyer, and it's a while since i've been a union rep...

generally speaking, i'd say your own union rep / branch would be the best place to start. if that's not an option,

part time workers have the same employment rights as full time workers, including protection from unfair dismissal - although this generally only takes effect when you've been somewhere for 2 years.

zero hour contract workers (if that's what you are) have some rights, but i'm a bit fuzzy on this (it really wasn't a big thing when i was a union rep) - there's a bit of a grey area between actually dismissing a zero hours worker and just "we haven't got any work for you this week" until you take the hint.

employers have responsibilities when it comes to the health and safety of workers, and this includes lone workers (BristolEcho has just gone in to a bit more detail on this)

legally, 'constructive dismissal' is a situation where they set you up in a position where you have no option but to resign. i don't think that's what has happened here.

have they dismissed you? and on what basis?

ACAS do have a helpline for employment issues - more here