New Job, No Contract?

[RJH]

My fiancee has today started a new job at a private nursery.

She has gone on her lunch break a short while ago and has informed me that she will now be paid by cheque on the last day of every month, there are no contracts for any of the staff, and she is unsure of what would happen should she ever fall pregnant (due to the no contract part).


Where does she stand with regards to having no contract and what rights would she have?
Can the employer dismiss her for getting pregnant at any point or is that something that could be taken to court if it ever occured?

She has also said that others there have said there is no official letters to say they are working there, how does that stand?

http://www.theabacusnursery.co.uk/index.html - This is the nursery (if not allowed on here then apologies).

I look forward to receiving some advice.

Thanks,

[stevemLS]

Re: New Job, No Contract?

A dismissal on the grounds of becoming pregnant would be automatically unfair regardless of what had gone between the parties on paper - she would be able to prove on the facts that she had been employed there.

She has the right, under Section 1 of the Employment Rights Act 1996, to be provided with a written statement of the main particulars of her employment within two months of starting work.

If she doesn't receive it, I would suggest that she writes to her employer politely asking for it.

Again, a dismissal on the grounds of asserting a statutory right is automatically unfair.