Change of Contract by Employer

[Barbara4003]

Hi. My employer wants to cut down my working days from 3 a week to 2 a week, thereby reducing my take-home pay. I know my job cannot be done in 2 days a week (I do all the accounting for the company, including VAT, sales/purchases, wages, letters, invoicing etc etc) and there is no-one else at my place of work who can do my job. I have told them I am not accepting the proposal, but don't really know where I stand as to whether they can force this on me. Any help would be very appreciated

[workrewired]

Your employer can terminate your current contract with three days and offer you a new contract with two days assuming they give you your notice period. If they're doing this for valid business reasons then you're unlikely to be able to claim.

You need to be discussing this with your employer and trying to find a solution.

After that you need to make decision whether you want to work the two days or seek new work.

There's a useful section on employment contracts and variations at DirectGov but unfortunately I'm not allowed to post a link.

[elche]

Workrewired is right ... but your employer must have a genuine business reason for the change, and should consult you re the proposed changes. How long have you worked there?

[chesham]

Could it be due to financial constraints? A lot of companies are suffering from the credit crunch, and it could be that they are considering this instead of redundancy? They are entitled to change your contract as above, but that doesn't mean you have to sign it - you will receive a minimum of 28 days notice (i.e. the normal 4 week notice period) to consult and make a decision on whether you accept the terms and conditions. In answer to the question, no they cannot force a new contract on you, but you can choose whether to accept or decline (and subsequently leave) the new terms.

On the other hand (to play devil's advocate) would you question the legality of the contract if you benefited from the change?? 99% of people would not (i.e. 5 days a year holiday more, less working hours etc) but many people first turn to their rights when a company makes changes in order to save money or to straighten out any problems within.

I'm not siding with anyone here, not am I having a go, simply just opening another side of the argument which is rarely heard!

[Barbara4003]

I've been there since the company was formed 22 years ago.

They have told all the staff that they need to cut back on money as the trade has died down a bit, but I know that they aren't that bad off as I do all the accounts for them. They are continuing to take big dividends every month and are planning on giving themselves an increase once they have cut peoples days and hours down.

They said they wanted to cut me down to 2 days a week but when it was payday or cheque writing day, if it wasn't one of my 2 days then they would expect me to come in and do 3 days (with the extra days pay). I just don't think it's fair that they think they can just muck me about like that. I told them that a lot of what I do now wouldn't get done if they cut me down to 2 days and that I would need to find something else to make my money up, so wouldn't be able to be at their beck and call for the 3rd day.

[elche]

As per chesham, "...you will receive a minimum of 28 days notice (i.e. the normal 4 week notice period).."

I’m not criticising any advice given but if you have worked there for 22 years then your statutory minimum notice period upon termination should be 12 weeks. Irrelevant if the contract says less as this is a stat minimum and cannot be overridden

[elche]

A contract ca