my employer is making changes to my contract without asking

[pt2537]

Hi,

 

can anyone offer me some advice please.sorry but its a little long winded

 

i have worked for my employer for over 3.5 years and i have been working on a shift system which averages 42 hours per week over a 3 week cycle. my contract doesnt say that im contracted to 42 hours however i understand that as when i took the job i was told this is what i would work and i have worked it ever since this is am implied term of my contract. my first problem is this....

 

my employer out of the blue has decided that they now require me to work a 12 hour shift on a bank holiday(my contract states that where i would normally work on a day that falls on a public/bank holiday i may be required to work my normal shift which in this case would be 7.5 hours) and this would add more hours to my working week and overtime is clearly defined in my contract as NON contractual and agreed by mutual consent. however since i have been working under the terms of a 42 hour week and in addition my company has always until now worked on the principle that if a bank holiday required us to work we would work our normal working shifts and the company would supply additional workers to cover the extra shift, surely my employers need to discuss this with me first before imposing these changes?

 

my second problem is that my holiday is calculated on my average working hours, so in theory i get 168 hours per year based upon 42 hours per week( this is in my terms of employment as well) so for 3,5 years when i have taken a day off work as holiday my employer has paid me 8.4 hours for each day i have taken off which gives me my 4 weeks holiday irrespective of what shift i take off ie if its a 7 hour . 8 hour or 15 hour. anyway my employer has decided to change this and has told me that now if i take 4 shifts over what i call our long weekend as holiday i.e fri 15 hrs,sat 12 hrs,sun 12 hrs mon 8 hrs i would normally been paid 33 hours however my company now say that they are going to pay me the hours i would have worked ie for this weekend i would be paid 47 hrs which means i would only get around 10-13 day holiday per year based on this

 

surely again my employers must talk to me before just going ahead and changing things?

 

i have a grievance hearing about this on monday morning so any help would be great

 

 

thanks

 

 

 

 

paul

[shywazz]

You don't state how many employers this change affects, changes to contracts have to be put to your union before there can be actioned against, 1st port of call would be to speak to your union rep, you will find also that the company can-not impliment any changes untill 90 days notice has been given in writing of such changes, this falls to 30 days dependent on the change. There is also a opt out clause to working more than 48 hours per week, have you signed this, again your union should be able to give more info on the matter, if you are not a member, this site might be able to give you some of the answers you seek, other than that, there are employment depts that deal with such matters, which again the addresses will be on this site.

 

Acas - Home

 

 

This site has assisted me many times over the years, even though i am a union member.

 

Hope all goes well and that the changes benefit you aswell as the company.

[dx100uk]

what is stated on your signed contract copy that you must have?

 

if it is not specific on these points, then more fool you for signing it before it was.

 

however, there appears to be several things that have existed, in mutual agreement, for several months if not years between you and your employer. although not binding [unless written on your contract] they will go toward your favour.

 

this part about holiday could also be used in your favour too.

it must be a written record somewhere and is a clear way to calculate your hours of work retro wise.

 

those should provide you with enough bargaining power to with them to sort these issues out so both of you gain mutual benefit.

 

as the other gent says though...is there a union involved here or more than just you working for them?

 

dx100uk

 

rep county council 25yrs+

[pt2537]

Hi Shywazz & dx100uk

 

Thanks for replying, this issue only regarding my employer making us work overtime affects 3 people as i work in the security industry so it only affects the people who work at my place of work however the change regarding the way that holidays are paid affects the whoole company which is a national firm so probably affects 1000s

 

my contract contains an express term in the way that the company calculates the holiday but it doesnt say how it will be paid,only that i will be paid in the following pay run/month, it just says how the holiday will be calculated. the point is that if the company carry out this they will in effect onlybe allowing me between 10 - 13 days holiday per year , surely this isnt legal?

 

with regards to the working additional hours my contract clearly states that " if a public holiday falls on a day where you would normally be scheduled to work you will be required to work your normal shift for that day" it is my understanding that as i have been working the same shifts for over 3 years if say a public holiday falls on a monday for example and i would on that monday normally work a 7.5 hour shift then i should work a 7.5 hour shift as per my contract .As my regular hours are 42 per week (which i understand can be considered an implied term as it is not written in but has been the case for so long and was agreed on commencement of employment) if the public holiday is forced upon me as a 12 hour shift then it would increase my average hours and my contract states "overtime is non contractual and purely on a mutual agreed basis" so if i am forced to work extra hours surely this is overtime if it is abouve my regular agreed hours and therefore non contractual and i can refuse?

 

unfortunatley im not in a union, may be i should be but i have never needed to be in a union(until now maybe)

 

once again thanks for your replies

regards

paul

[dx100uk]

brilliant.

in terms of the holiday changes,

as several 1000's of people are involved, i would leave it to them to fight it, just make your intentions known - that when it is ratified on a national basis throughout the workforce, you will abide whatever decision they agree to en-mass.

until that time, you will stay as you are thank you. if they try and enforce it locally before a national agreement is reached, then start waving the victimisation flag, that should put them off.

 

i am really not sure on this bank holiday hours bit.

 

there appears nothing in the contract that you relate to that states they cannot do it, but equally, implied or mutually agreed hours have existed for many years.

 

i'm not going to stick my neck out and quote anything , but, i think you do have a point. what are they other three saying that work with you, are they happy with it?

 

get my drift...

 

dx100uk

[pt2537]

Hi Dx100

 

thanks,

 

the others at my works are unhappy and have filed a grievance as well regarding the changes, however the company appears to not care as its took them over a month to get back to us with any sort of comment or written reply.

 

im meeting my employers tomorrow so i will let you know what they say

 

regards

paul

[dx100uk]

you indicate this is a nationwide company.

if you are saying that the nationwide company are the ones that are not playing ball ob this bh hours, then things could get diff.

if however, it is just the local company, i'e your boss and you have not contacted, say the md, i would indicate that you will do so, as well as you are aware none of the affected employees are happy either. say you are all going to write to the national md and inform him of what the local boss is doing.

 

as the other gent says, contact the hr dept nationwide. the more you get these people thinking you are not alone, the more they will doubt how easy it is going to be to enforce it.

 

keep us informed and dont be intimidated.

you have rights that must be met and the agreement should be a mutual decision.

 

dx100uk

[Rhino69]

My company who has not made a profit for over 4 years, last year took on 3 directors and several staff from another company which has declared insolvency. This in itself is suspicious, as both companies had been talking about merging for up to a year previously!

I also believed that a person who had gone bankrupt could not hold a directorship of another company

 

Last month, the workers were called together and told that the Managers and Directors (From the bankrupted company) had bought out the existing comapny which was now re-named.

 

A couple of weeks ago, all workers were given new contracts to sign and were told that it would be illegal for them not to sign!

 

When I was asked to sign my new contract, I refused, saying that my existing contract was valid, and that I did not agree to the terms of the new contract, which took away most, if not all of my rights under the employment act as well as the human rights act.

 

One of the directors tried to force me to sign by saying that I had been illegally employed by my previous employers - strange, as I have been there for over 10 years without any problems.

I told him that if he continued to try to get me to sign a new contract by giving me false or misleading information (Which he had!) or used undue pressure or harassment, we would discuss this at a tribunal!

 

So far, nothing else has happened.

As it is the general consensus amongst most of the workers that the new idiots in charge will make this firm bankrupt shortly, we're just hanging in there!

[topCatDC]

Get in Touch with acas (they are in the phone book )and on line you do not have to sign a new contract .(0 days notice is required to alter any employment contract.( you could sign it but add the words this contract was signed under duress )they cannot stop you doing this but make sure the director also signs and get a hard copy

the directors who were made bankrupt i believe cannot be directors of any company this can be checked by company house (it easier if you have names ) they are also on line .

as for illegally employed they would be breaking the law as when you take over a company you take on all there responsibility's including all employees work contracts

PLEASE contact acas there services are free

I believe what i have stated is correct but if any one know better please let me know I had 2 company's for 25 years

[itsamomentintime]

my old employer used to limit toilet breaks to 2.5 minutes lol