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.
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“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.”
