Change to Contract - Notice Period

JamesC3

Dear All,

I hope you are all well. I'm hoping someone can help me - well my wife - with a change to contract her employer wants to implement.

Background
My wife works in a (term time/state) Nursery School as a Nursery Assistant. Last year we moved 25 miles away after buying our first home. Both our children attended the Primary School that is next door to where she works. The eldest one was in her final year of primary school, so as my wife worked there we decided to keep her there with her friends. Eldest one has a local secondary school place for September. We were able to get an n year transfer for our youngest, to a more local primary school to were we now live.

My wife is very good at her job (not just me saying that) and acts as Deputy Manager in Managements absence. Due to the above they are worried about her leaving, whicxh she ultimately will as there is no point travelling all of that way for the salary they pay when both our children will be going to school locally.

Change
The change the School wants to make to her and other staff members contracts is to change the notice period they have to give should they leave. At present they have to give 6 weeks notice regardless of the time of the year they hand their notice in. i.e. if they handed their notice in today, they could leave on Friday 29th July 2022.
They now plan to change this to state that the 6 week notice period only covers term time, i.e. not Summer or any school holidays. So someone handing in their notice today would only be allowed to leave on Friday 9th September 2022.


Old Contract


21. Notice period The amount of notice of termination to be given after the successful completion of the probation period, and if the contract is not being terminated under the employer’s local disciplinary procedures is as follows: By employee: 6 weeks in the case of an Early Years Educator, or one term in the case of a Childcare Manager. By employer: When employee is employed less than two years but outside probation period, 4 weeks. When employee is employed more than two years but less than 12 years – one week for each completed year of service (with a minimum notice period of 4 weeks). When employee employed at least 12 years - 12 weeks notice (maximum)

New/Proposed Contract

21. Notice period The amount of notice of termination to be given after the successful completion of the probation period, and if the contract is not being terminated under the employer’s local disciplinary procedures, is as follows: By employee: 6 weeks term time (i.e. not including any holiday weeks) in the case of an Early Years Educator, or 1 term in the case of a Childcare Manager or Deputy Childcare Manager. By employer: When employee is employed less than two years but outside probation period, 4 weeks. When employee is employed more than 2 years but less than 12 years – 1 week for each completed year of service (with a minimum notice period of 4 weeks). When employee employed at least 12 years - 12 weeks’ notice (maximum).

Question
Our question is, can they do this? I guess they can, as they're the bosses. My wife's been applying for jobs and obviously they are for start dates of 1st September, that is when the local schools would want her to start. BY only springing the news yesterday to her, it sounds like her current employer wouldn't let her leave/start the new job in time though. Surely they should have bought this in more than 6 weeks before the start of the Summer Holidays to give staff an option?

Thank you for any adivce.

Kind regards,
James

DE_612183

I presume the school are asking people to sign a new contract - have they said what will happen if your wife doesn't sign?

JamesC3

Here is the final bit of the letter, with names/school name removed....

We would like to ensure that we meaningfully consult with you and will be allowing 3 weeks for the consultation period. Therefore, if you have any comments to make these need to be received by 8 July 2022. We will then respond as necessary.

If you do not have any comments or questions and are in agreement with the new contract, we would be grateful if you could email xxxxxx as soon as possible and she will prepare your new contract for signing

Undervalued

DE_612183 said:

I presume the school are asking people to sign a new contract - have they said what will happen if your wife doesn't sign?

There is no legal requirement for a contract of employment to be signed - or even in writing! Obviously it is much easier to prove what was agreed if it is but a verbal agreement is just as valid.

Unless she positively rejects the proposed change, by continuing to work and get paid she will be deemed to have accepted it.

Even the paragraph in the OP's most recent post....

If you do not have any comments or questions and are in agreement with the new contract, we would be grateful if you could email xxxxxx as soon as possible and she will prepare your new contract for signing

Is unlikely to trump this if it came to a dispute.

So, if she is unhappy with the proposed new terms she need to contact them making that clear and stating that she is unwilling to accept the change. Then see what they say.

Ultimately though then can impose a change leaving her with only the option of resigning and claiming unfair dismissal (not constructive unfair dismissal under these circumstances, despite her resignation). A tribunal would decide if the change was reasonable or not. If she wins she would get some compensation but the tribunal cannot force the employer to take her back on the old terms.

General_Grant

Are none of the affected staff members of a TU?

I note the change about "term time" applies only to the employee giving notice.  A TU might want to help challenge that as unfair (it's not legally unfair).  They could also object to the short notice being given of the proposed change.

If your wife is fairly sure of getting the local job, she should formally tell them she does not accept the change.