Should i accept the 4 days work and 20% pay cut ?

sdyson31

I have been in the job for over 3 years now.
Few months ago, I was told that i will be TUPED over to other company because company has outsourced the IT work to third party company. The transfer process has already been started but the start date has not been decided yet, it could be around Aug this year.
Now my company is asking me to work 4 days a week with 20% salary cut because of the virus and economy situation.
I asked HR about the consequences of not accepting the new change and they said they can't impose any changes and there are no consequences.In reply, i asked them if my contract can be terminated if i don't consent to the agreement. HR came back saying that’s not the intention, this is a voluntary request to help the business manage through a period of global uncertainty and there is no pressure on me to accept it.
My question is, is there any legal binding to what HR told me? They can still go ahead and terminate my contract with notice or furlough me.
I have been asked to make a decision by tomorrow while i am off work for a week. 
(Due to my financial situation i did ask my company to review my agreement and reduce the salary cap to 10% but they didn't accept it)
This is a massive global company worth over 20 billion dollars so they are not going bust.
I would have accepted the new change if i was staying with the company but since they have dumped me to other company with no future i am very keen to decline the new agreement.
I think there are only 3 possibilities if i don't consent to the new change;
- Nothing will happen and i will carry on working 5 days a week with full salary
- I will be furloughed (i will be losing more)
- My contract will be terminated with notice 
Any advice would be helpful here.

Dox

sdyson31 said:

This is a massive global company worth over 20 billion dollars so they are not going bust.

You mean like Enron, General Motors and Kodak were never going to go bust...

Your job still exists, so you can't (at least not legitimately) be furloughed. Nothing to stop HR deciding to fire you if you don't agree. You might well be able to claim unfair dismissal, but it would take goodness only knows how many months (or years) to get a hearing at an employment tribunal, with no guarantee of success.

BrassicWoman

I would ask that the reduction in time and salary have an end date on it, at which point you revert to normal; and a confirmation that any redundancy would be based on full pay, not reduced pay. And then I'd sign, and spend a little less, because right now, why would you paint a target on your back?

sdyson31

New change will be reviewed after 3 months. Deadline was yesterday and i have not replied to HR yet.
I will ask about redundancy on actual contract.
Over 90% of employees who are part of the TUPE process have declined the new change. They felt they have been undervalued.
Yesterday HR told me, there is no pressure on me to accept the new terms but if they don't get many YESes then they will look at other options.
Less than 5% employees have been rebadged so i think 90% would definitely say yes  because they are staying in the company.

middleclassbutpoor

are you being asked to work 4 days and be paid 80% of the full time salary or are you being asked to cut hrs to 4 days and be paid 80% of these new hours?

sdyson31

middleclassbutpoor said:

are you being asked to work 4 days and be paid 80% of the full time salary or are you being asked to cut hrs to 4 days and be paid 80% of these new hours?

Whats a difference ?

Dazed_and_C0nfused

sdyson31 said:

middleclassbutpoor said:

are you being asked to work 4 days and be paid 80% of the full time salary or are you being asked to cut hrs to 4 days and be paid 80% of these new hours?

Whats a difference ?

80% of 4 days is only 64% of a full 5 day week.

sharpe106

My question is, is there any legal binding to what HR told me? They can still go ahead and terminate my contract with notice or furlough me.

Why would it be legally binding? They only said that was not the intention. They can’t fire you just for not signing it and they can’t furlough you without your agreement. But if they need to make people redundant they can.

I have been asked to make a decision by tomorrow while i am off work for a week. 
(Due to my financial situation i did ask my company to review my agreement and reduce the salary cap to 10% but they didn't accept it)

This would set alarm bells of to me, as you said the was no pressure to accept it they are just looking to cut salaries due to the current economic conditions. A cut of 10% would be a cut so why is it not enough for them?

This is a massive global company worth over 20 billion dollars so they are not going bust.

Plenty have gone bust, but even if the company still exists and is profitable that does not mean they can’t make people redundant.

I would have accepted the new change if i was staying with the company but since they have dumped me to other company with no future i am very keen to decline the new agreement.

I probably would think the same. But then having a extra day off for next few months and a bit less pay could be worth it for longer term job security.

I think there are only 3 possibilities if i don't consent to the new change;
- Nothing will happen and i will carry on working 5 days a week with full salary

Probably most likely as they do not seem to be forcing it through, they will look at other areas to cut costs

- I will be furloughed (i will be losing more)

Probably unlikely they would have already thought of that first and have decided against it for whatever reason. As furloughing a few employees would have given them the savings they were looking for.

- My contract will be terminated with notice 

I don’t think anyone can say or no to that.

 If it was me and in the current climate knowing they were looking at cutting costs and that I would be part of a new company in a few months I would accept it and enjoy the extra day a week with my family and not have to worry about if they are going to make me redundant or not. Cutting down 20% for a few months whilst might not be nice is achievable.