Can my manager sack me for looking else where?

Question

work for a small comapny 2 years. today recruitment agency put me forward to a company without mentioning who it was for as in a rush. Now found out its for my boss best friends company and he's already been on the phone and told him. Second time this has happened in 2 yrs as such a small industry and recruitment agency's are rubbish!! Can he sack me for looking elsewhere as last time mentioned re-assesign contract if we were not "right for each other"

Answer 1

This would depend on your employment status with the company and also what state you are in. Is your state a "right to work" state? If not, the company can sack you for anything they want without a detailed reason. If so, then depending upon your employment history, the company would need a valid reason to sack you.

Answer 2

Call the Citizens Advice Bureau. They will give accurate information for this problem.

Answer 3

If you are an at-will employee (meaning no contract) then he can sack you for any reason - or no reason. If you have a contract, he could probably fire you if he REALLY wanted to but it would be much more difficult.

Whether he actually will fire you depends on how valuable he feels you are to the team. If you are a very valuable addition he will likely not fire you as it will be very difficult to replace you. If you are just so-so and he can fill your spot with a comparable replacement in a week, you might be in trouble.

If he does see you as a valuable addition, he may use the opportunity to ask you about why you were looking elsewhere - this is a great time to be honest about it. Were you looking for a higher level position? More money? If your boss really doesn't want to lose you, he may be willing to negotiate.

But if you're not considered a valuable addition, you might be out of luck.

Answer 4

No! This is highly illegal! You are clearly not on a probationary period so you are safe in that area. But what you must do is give your 'leaving notice' or he can say to your future employers he sacked you and if you were ever going to take this to a tribunal then you would win if you give your notice. ...and btw Make sure that the recruitment agency is for real because you might find yourself in a dead end!