Forced changes to working contitions-Is it allowed?

mobo99

Hello all and that you for taking the time to read this an hopfully reply.

We have recently gained a new "experienced" manager at the retail outlet in which we work. Now all is good for me, but one of my work collegues feels as though he is been asked to leave.

Background: My friend has worked for the company for eleven years, eight of which have been at this particular outlet. For those eight years he has always had Saturday and Sundays off as he has a son from a previous relationship and this is the only time she will allow him to see his son. On a rare occasion he would be asked to work a Sunday by the previous manager if we were very short staffed. Other than that those were his working hours.

Contract: His contract states he must work 39 hours, five over seven day of the week, which he does, Monday-Friday.

The new manager has had a meeting with my collegue today stating that he needs to work weekends and that he will not be recieving any more off. My collegue stated that this is not possible as it is the only time he can see his son, to this the new manager replied that if this was not adheared to "next steps" would be taken.

Contact with his son is set by his expartner and she will not negotiate over chainging the days he can see him. My collegue sees his choice as his son or his income-there is only one winner in his eyes.....his son.

Can anyone help?
Does the new manager have a leg to stand on?
Can he do this both morally and legally?
After not working weekends for eight years due to seeing his son is that now part of his contract?
What steps can be taken to help my friend out?

Before you ask my "friend" is not me, just need some help as to what he should do next.

Thanks.:)

DCFC79

As its been 8 years then surely the not working weekends has formed part of his contract as you say

mobo99

Thats what I would have thought, but the new manager does not seem to see it this way.

DCFC79

Im not really sure where he should go next, whether it would be HR or acas,

jdturk

the company can change his contract and force it through but it has to be done in a particular way and could lead the company being taken to an ET (they would lose if they couldn't show it was done for business reasons)

easy

Sorry. don't understand this line in your original post

mobo99 wrote: »

Contract: His contract states he must work 39 hours, five over seven day of the week, which he does, Monday-Friday.
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???????????????

If his contract states he must work these hours over seven days, then technically, that is what he must do, altho it would seem fairer to rota his work so that 1 weekend in four was a weekend off, or whatever.

An employer can't can't just arbitrarily change a contract, and contract terms can be determined by custom (i.e. hisa contract says "work over 7 days", but by custom over 8 years, your colleague has worked over 5 days. Hence, his contract has been modified by custom).

If your colleague is in a union, he should be asking his union rep to help out with this. If he isn't in az union, he perhaps needs to speak to the Citizens Advice Bureau to clarify his position, then put his case to the new manager along with the new manager's boss, or someone from the HR department (if there is one).

Unfortunately, this sort of dispute can be hard to solve, as the new manager can just make life difficult for your mate.

Get your colleague to talk to CAB and get his position clear, before he gets into bother to get the working pattern he wants.

mobo99

Thanks easy, to clarify, his contract states he has to work five days over seven. For me (Ihave no family commitment/children) I have Mon and Tue off week one, Tue and Wed off week two, so oon and so forth. Every five weeks it cycles that I get Fri, Sat, Sun and Monday off. This suits me and I have no issue.

When there are children involved I feel this get more difficult. As my friend has not worked weekends due to family commitment for eight years Is this not now his contract by default?

I have no idea, just asking for advise and help. Thanks to all who have replied so far.

jdturk

mobo99 wrote: »

Thanks easy, to clarify, his contract states he has to work five days over seven. For me (Ihave no family commitment/children) I have Mon and Tue off week one, Tue and Wed off week two, so oon and so forth. Every five weeks it cycles that I get Fri, Sat, Sun and Monday off. This suits me and I have no issue.

When there are children involved I feel this get more difficult. As my friend has not worked weekends due to family commitment for eight years Is this not now his contract by default?

I have no idea, just asking for advise and help. Thanks to all who have replied so far.

If the company is making decisions for business reasons then family commitments rarely come into things, if they are not changing it for business reasons then the company would be uncaring not to think about family commitments that are already in place

mobo99

jdturk wrote: »

If the company is making decisions for business reasons then family commitments rarely come into things, if they are not changing it for business reasons then the company would be uncaring not to think about family commitments that are already in place

Hi, it has been stated by the new boss that he needs people who are flexible and can work when he wishes them to. We are in a sales targeted environment where my collegue who has not worked weekends in a long time(traditionaly the busiest times in retail) has hit his target year on year for the eight years he has been at this store. He has been in the top three sales people year on year. What benefit for business reasons could there be? Any ideas.

DVardysShadow

mobo99 wrote: »

Hi, it has been stated by the new boss that he needs people who are flexible and can work when he wishes them to. We are in a sales targeted environment where my collegue who has not worked weekends in a long time(traditionaly the busiest times in retail) has hit his target year on year for the eight years he has been at this store. He has been in the top three sales people year on year. What benefit for business reasons could there be? Any ideas.

There must be loads. New boss showing how macho he is, and er ... that's it.

mobo99

DVardysShadow wrote: »

There must be loads. New boss showing how macho he is, and er ... that's it.

Flexing those muscles real good! Called another collegue in to the office yesterday, told him "it was not working", hand your resignation in and I'll give you a glowing referance, if not we`ll do it the hard way.

What a guy, what a guy, someone to look up to, respect, follow and inspire to be, what a guy............:rotfl: