employer trying to change contracted hours

gatsbyforever

I work for a large well known charity as an assistant shop manager starting August 2015. I was contracted to work 22.5 hours a week. Today I was told they had decided they needed to reduce my hours to 15 hours a week. They advised it was no reflection on my work and that a number of other shops were to have the staffing hours reduced. It is no coincidence, I feel, that this ties in with the minimum wage being increased to £7.20 an hour as this means that I, along with most other assistant managers, will get a pay rise. It's not much use getting a pay rise if my hours are cut and I end up worse off than before. As I have only been there a little under 8 months I am not sure what recourse I have. Can I refuse to agree to this change in my contract and are there any other steps they should have taken before unilaterally announcing this? I realise I need to find another job but there are not a lot of jobs round her particularly for a 55year old who has been out of the work place caring for a relative for the preceding 8 years! Any help/ advice would be really gratefully received.

Torry_Quine

As you have worked for under two years they can sack you for any non discriminatory reason so be very careful.

TELLIT01

Your rights are severely limited because you have been with them less than 2 years. Contracted hours can be changed but it normally happens after consultation.
You might also want to remove your employer's name from your initial post. Many employers don't take kindly to internal disputes being aired publicly. The info in your first post makes it very easy to identify you.

molerat

TELLIT01 wrote: »

Your rights are severely limited because you have been with them less than 2 years. Contracted hours can be changed but it normally happens after consultation.
You might also want to remove your employer's name from your initial post. Many employers don't take kindly to internal disputes being aired publicly. The info in your first post makes it very easy to identify you.

And meanwhile in the real world. Consultation usually means you get time to read the letter telling you what is happening !

Not a lot you can do apart from look for another job.

getmore4less

Are they also restricting you working elsewhere and expecting you to be at their beck and call to do overtime?

Are they paying holiday on contracted or actual hours.

With a reduction in hours I would be looking for the flexability to earn other money.

As other have said not much negotiating room.

Gavin83

If they don't reduce hours they'll have to make people redundant instead and seeing as you've only been there 8 months that's very likely to be you and you wouldn't get a payout either. Therefore this is probably the better of the two options.

Welcome to one of the negative aspects of increasing minimum wage.