An apprentice has been awarded £24,000 for unfair dismissal after he was sacked before the end of his apprenticeship contract.
James Lloyd joined Federal-Mogul Sintered Products Ltd in August 2000 as a maintenance technician on a four-year apprenticeship programme.
But a Birmingham tribunal heard that the manufacturing firm dismissed him after three years due to his alleged poor attendance record.
The tribunal ruled that Lloyd, who had signed a ‘modern apprenticeship pledge’, was wrongfully dismissed before his apprenticeship was completed. It also found that the Coventry-based company had not conducted its disciplinary hearing fairly.
Lloyd was awarded £20,000 compensation for the breach of his apprenticeship contract, and £4,000 for unfair dismissal, icCoventry reports.
Fiona Monk, a solicitor at Coventry Law Centre, who represented Lloyd at the tribunal, said: “The size of this award should send a warning signal to employers to think very carefully before terminating the employment of any apprentices.
“Young men and women who commit themselves to apprenticeships do so in the belief that they will be trained for a trade or profession, and it is quite appropriate that they get additional protection from the law to ensure that they are not treated unfairly.”