Help please!

chelbel1981

I apologise if this isn't the right forum

My H2B has just come home with the news that his firm are telling everyone on Monday that they have to take a 5% pay cut. :eek:

He has a contract so can this be done if he doesn't agree???

Does anyone know what happens next???

We are getting married in October this year and are really counting on his wages to prop up the budget

Googlewhacker

In short yes. They need to go about it the right way but if the business can show a proper business reason for this then come an ET they will be able to show why they needed to enforce the cut.

They are probably doing this so not to make someone redundant is my guess

Talk to ACAS to see what they say as well.

Googlewhacker

The only time they cannot change the money is if it takes him below NMW

Googlewhacker

Reasons why the contract can be changed on the link below

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/EmploymentContractsAndConditions/DG_10028079

What you can do if you disagree with the changes

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/EmploymentContractsAndConditions/DG_10037116

Unless the bosses are doing it when the business is still doing well I would personally think hard about kicking up a fuss. However I would ask that the bosses have a clause that it is reviewed on a 6 monthly basis and if the company is doing better that the pay is reviewed back to the normal scale

chelbel1981

Googlewhacker wrote: »

In short yes. They need to go about it the right way but if the business can show a proper business reason for this then come an ET they will be able to show why they needed to enforce the cut.

They are probably doing this so not to make someone redundant is my guess

Talk to ACAS to see what they say as well.

Thanks for replying, what does ET mean.

He's in the building trade.

What happens if he doesn't agree will they make him redundant???

Googlewhacker wrote: »

The only time they cannot change the money is if it takes him below NMW

It won't take him below

Googlewhacker

ET= Employment tribunal

Have a read of those links, call ACAS and make your decision from there but as you know the building industry is not in the greatest of shapes at the moment

SarEl

chelbel1981 wrote: »

Does anyone know what happens next???

Yes. The advice you have had is correct - employers are doing this in many places and getting away with it, as they justify the cut as an alternative to laying people off. Basically, if someone agrees they continue to be employed. If someone does not agree the employer must serve them notice and offer them a new contract to run from the day after the old one finishes. If they refuse the new contract they are deemed to have resigned (so no refundancy pay is due). Provided that the employer does this then any claim for unfair dismissal is unlikely (in other words, it isn't definite, but probable) to succeed. This is especially the case if a large number of the other staff accept it. But providing the employer follows the correct process, tribunals have upheld much larger pay cuts in the last year or so. The employers position is virtually unassailable if they also offer a review, as has been suggested above.