Termination Query because of being sick

[active8]

Hi,

I have recently been terminated from an IT contract working for Siemens @ the BBC in Bristol.
The reason for the termination was due to being off sick. The contract did not specify how long you could be off sick before termination it just said that the employer could terminate me for any amount of time being off sick.

I am mainly asking if they legally are allowed to do this?

My Supervisor from the Bristol office I was working in did not find out about my termination until the day after a decision had been made from the head office in Durham and I received confirmation of termination via e-mail from the Recruitment Agency that I was contracted with.

I would like a general confirmation of this about where I stand to be honest and if you think that this should not have been done am I able to fight to get my job back?

My supervisor from Bristol was upset that this had happened and was angry that she had not been consulted by head-office. Everyone there was quite shocked to hear that I was not coming back and they were not even going to replace me either which seems very odd. So they are a man down all because I was off sick for 3-4 days.

When I initially started the job I already had the Flu and asked if I could re-start a week later as to be honest I was not expected @ the Bristol office until the week after and the Bristol Supervisor was off sick as well so it was not very well organised. I was told this sick would not get put on my record but this does not seem to be the case as they have counted a week there as well and put this down as part of the reason.

I am not very happy as this really was my dream job and I was getting on well there and had integrated well with the staff and was told I was doing my job well.

Can anything be done about this?

Thanks

[NotAllThere]

Is this a contract of employment? Who is your employer?

( please note, until your reach a post count of ten, your posts will have to be approved by a moderator, so please be patient )

[Wanderer]

I would like a general confirmation of this about where I stand to be honest and if you think that this should not have been done am I able to fight to get my job back?

If you were a permie then you would probably have a strong case. As a contractor it sounds like they are within the terms of the contract to terminate you as they did. It's unlikely that you have any legal comeback, this is the nature of the contracting business.

However, it seems a bit illogical to terminate a contract for a minor breach such as being off sick for a few days. From what you say, things were going quite well. Your best bet is to speak to your manager and try to find out if there's any possiblity that there was some misunderstanding and you could get the contract back again.

To be honest it's unlikely they will take you straight back though. Clients like to hire and fire contractors, sometimes they need to cut costs in a hurry, other times they just had a bad day and want to beat up on someone. Probably your best bet is to bow out gracefully, tell them that you really enjoyed the time there and to keep you in mind should they require your services at some time in the future.

It's not easy but sometimes you need to take it on the chin and move on.

Good luck!