Can they just change my hours?

welnik

I have just received a letter from my employer stating that our office hours will be changing. We are currently open 9-5pm but they are changing this to 8am-8pm Monday - Friday and making us work 3 hours on a saturday which dont currently have to do.

We are due to meet with personnel to discuss further.

I currently work 21 hours which fit in with having to take my children to school and there is no way I could accomodate working to 8pm. There are no day care places (that I know of) that are open until 8pm. If I didnt have children, it would suit me down to the ground to work from 12 noon until 8pm!

Can they do this? My colleague reckons she has consulted an expert who has said that they cannot make us do those hours because we have children under the age of 5.

Is there anyone out there with experience in this matter?

chatta

Have you looked at your contract of employment it should tell you in there what they can and cant change. Where I work they can change things but have to give me 3 months notice to do it.

welnik

I have worked for the same company for over 10 years and over the years they have changed quite a number of things. A lot of the perks I had have been taken away.

My mother had a problem a few years back whereby they were relocating her and trying to get her to sign a new contract which effectively meant she was starting a completely new job with a new employer. I went to see a solicitor and she said it was a crafty way of getting out of paying redundancy in the future. There were rumours going round that redundancies were on the cards. It would have meant she would have lost 15 years of service. Low and behold she was made redundant 6 months later and luckily she didnt sign the new contract.

As a parent, things can be different. My children are in bed by 7 and can be a bit disturbed when one of their parents doesnt kiss them goodnight. If I have to work until 8pm its going to be a major problem also with childcare. My husband works until 5 or 6pm and I live too far from relatives for them to help me. It could effectively force me to have to give up work or find something else that will work for me and school hours

chatta

Yes it's hard when you have small children, still check your contract anyway. Don't give up though, is there a boss you can talk to as you say you have been there a long time, so they must realise you have children and wont be so easy for you. What about asking others you work with to swap hours round, if there are young people working there they might prefer the later hours rather than start earlier.

needaspirin

You should find some of these useful. Try the ACAS site first.
http://www.acas.org.uk/

Information about family-friendly rights is available from the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC). Its website address is https://www.eoc.org.uk. or, in England, Wales and Scotland, from the Department of Trade and Industry's (DTI) website at https://www.dti.gov.uk/employment.


The DTI has produced a series of leaflets on family-friendly rights. These leaflets can be downloaded from the DTI's website at https://www.dti.gov.uk/employment

Working Families (formerly Parents at Work) helps parents and employers find a better balance between home and work life. It provides information and advice on family-friendly rights (including factsheets) and runs a helpline for families on low incomes, which provides advice on legal rights, benefits available and working family-friendly hours. The contact details are:-
Working Families (formerly: Parents at Work)
1-3 Berry Street
London
EC1V 0AA

Tel: 020 7253 7243
Low income families helpline: 0800 130313
Fax: 020 7253 6253
E-mail: office@workingfamilies.org.uk
Website: https://www.workingfamilies.org.uk

Good Luck!!!

looby75

if they change your hours so drastically and don't give you any leeway wouldn't that be in effect constructive dismissal

From the compactlaw.co.uk site

Examples of Constructive Dismissal can include:

1. Not supporting managers in difficult work situations.

2. Harassing or humiliating staff, particularly in front of other less senior staff.

3. Victimising or targeting particular members of staff.

4. Changing the employee's job content or terms without consultation.

5. Making a significant change in the employee's job location at short notice.

6. Falsely accusing an employee of misconduct such as theft or of being incapable of carrying out their job.

7. Excessive demotion or disciplining of employees.

welnik

Update:

Just been given a letter stating that my hours are changing and they want me to sign it. Its a bit vague though. It doesnt state what hours I will actually work, just that our office hours are changing from 8am to 8pm and that my manager will be working out a rota.

Im just a bit concerned that if I sign this new contact Im accepting the new conditions of employment (which im not happy with!)

Savvy_Sue

Don't sign before talking to ACAS.

heather38

i think that employers have to TRY and consider flexi hours for parents of children under 5 or 16 if disabled but they do not have to offer them, my employer can change my working notice with 28 days notice plus one week for every year of service, they tried to do it once but i got the union involved, is this not an option for you?

tanith

Definately sign nothing without advice either union or ACAS... they have to consider your request for flexible working.... if you should request it...

ohreally

welnik wrote:

Im just a bit concerned that if I sign this new contact Im accepting the new conditions of employment (which im not happy with!)

Whether or not you sign the document put to you, you will be deemed to be accepting any new arrangements if you continue working under the terms of any new practices.