No written contract & Short Time looming

tightbarsteward

Hi all just looking for some contractual advice.

The company I work for is experiencing a drop in orders + increase in costs and has started putting people on short time ie 3 days per week down from 5 days. I may be inline for the same. My question is I have been employed continuously with this company since June 2000 working 5 days a week 40 hours per week, but I do not seem to to have a signed contract of employment. I have been through my personnel file & there doesn't seem to be one there either. I dont remember ever signing one or having sight of one.

So Im wondering, from a legal standpoint, can they reduce my hours? And if I refuse to accept the cut in hours what can they do?

Thanks in advance

brownie4583

This is a dicey one pal.
Something similar happened with me some time ago,and i think you don't necessarily have to have a signed contract,this will possibly be through the union,and also after you have done your job for so long then!I'm sure i will be corrected if wrong!
We were also presented with a new contract with 90 days notice and were told by the union we could get 13 weeks notice from the company if we didn't sign it!I left before the date so i don't know how that panned out.

zzzLazyDaisy

tightbarsteward wrote: »

if I refuse to accept the cut in hours what can they do?

Thanks in advance

What they can do is to go ahead and reduce your hours regardless.

The question is more, if you refuse to accept the cut in hours, what can YOU do?

The answer is probably not a lot. As unfair as it is, if the company doesn't have the work, they have to make business decisions.

There are two issues here - the first is the contractual issue which is simple, provided they give you the proper contractual notice, then they can change your contract, and you can choose to accept it or not. If you don't accept it, then you should notify them that you are working under protect as afar as the reduced hours are concerned, and raise a grievance. If your grievance is not upheld and your hours returned to full time, then your only option is to leave (since if you continue to work under the new contract, you will be deemed by your conduct to have accepted it).

If you leave, you can make a claim for unfair dismissal on the basis that the employer's action in terminating the old contract amounted to a dismissal, which you accepted. The question then is whether the dismissal was unfair - but provided the employer followed proper procedures, explained what was happening and gave due notice, and could show a genuine business reason for doing this, it would probably fall under 'some other substantial reason' which is a fair reason in law.

Your alternative might be to negotiate with them to let you go on voluntary redundancy.

But these alternatives mean that you will be out of a job.

Unfortunately there is no mechanism for forcing an employer to allow you to continue working full-time under the old contract (for clarification a contract exists even if it is not written down, but it may be worth asking the HR department or whoever looks after the admin, for a copy of your contract, which may well give the company a contractual right to reduce your hours, if a written contract exists).