Help - New Contract question.

Kit1

Hi
Not sure if anyone can help.

My OH half has just come out of a meeting at work where they are restructuring the company and many people are being made redundant.  
It seems that they are only keeping a few members of staff and expecting them to cover the work - eg my OH is currently in a team of 4 and he is the only one keeping his job so looks like they expect OH to do the work of 4 without any extra pay etc.  They also want OH to work more hours but haven't added any extra pay and when this was queried at the meeting was told they didn't realise they didn't work full-time and they would have to request a form to reduce their hours- they didn't have to fill a form in before so why now?  
Also if the old contract ends at the end of the month and the new one starts at the beginning of the next onw do they have to gibe notice not to return under the new contact?

It is so confusing and all their questions are not being fully answered.  They have no idea who their new boss is going to be and how they are going to do all the work on the new contract that includes things that are not currently in their contract and are being done by someone with more experience and and is trained to do that job whereas my OH isn't trained or qualified in that area and when this was also queried was told it was no part of their new contract and they would learn whilst the other person was still there so that they would know what to do when the other person leaves in a few weeks time.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Wonka_2

The first few hours of shock after the first meeting/announcement are often difficult with conflicting/confusing information.

In order to help/give advice it would be useful to know

How long has he been there ?
Is he currently part-time ? Was this how he was employed or has he requested reduced hours ?
Is he salaried/hourly paid ?

Based on what you've said there may be some confusion on his status but it's very unlikely he's going to be working more hours for the same money (on the downside he may be expected to be working harder during the hours he's there  )

Hopefully the outcome of being chosen to retain his job outweighs the option of being one of the ones who loses theirs

Kit1

Wonka_2 said:

The first few hours of shock after the first meeting/announcement are often difficult with conflicting/confusing information.

In order to help/give advice it would be useful to know

How long has he been there ?
Is he currently part-time ? Was this how he was employed or has he requested reduced hours ?
Is he salaried/hourly paid ?

Based on what you've said there may be some confusion on his status but it's very unlikely he's going to be working more hours for the same money (on the downside he may be expected to be working harder during the hours he's there  )

Hopefully the outcome of being chosen to retain his job outweighs the option of being one of the ones who loses theirs

Thank you for your reply.

He has been there just over a year as permanent as he was working for them through an agency for 10 months before they took him on.

He has worked 4 days a week since day one firstly through the agency and then when the employed him and he made this very clear at the interview and it was agreed that his hours would be 32 hours over 4 days.  The new contract states nothing has changed and he is expected to work 5 full days which has changed and the pay stays the same.  The job is salaried so there is no pay increase and he has pointed out that this is not the same as his current contract and they said they weren't aware that he only works 4 days a week but he has his original letter of acceptance and contract which both state the hours and days he works so how they don't know this vital information is shocking,  The new contract also includes lots of work that is done by the other members of the team which he isn't trained to do and is more inline with a management position again this was pointed out and was told that the new job now comes with more responsibility - almost like if it goes wrong it's your fault even if we haven't trained you and you can now fit it the work of 3 others whilst you are at it.

The team is made up of people who have different levels of experience and some are trained higher than others because they have been there longer.  My other half hasn't been put on any training courses as he has the qualifications to carry out his job but is not qualified to the next level but this doesn't seem to matter to those making these decisions, which is wrong.

So to clarify he is being asked to work 5 days instead of 4 without any further pay and also to carry out the work of the other members of staff who are/were already overworked and haven't enough time to compete the work they already have so how is he expected to complete it without anyone to help him?

General_Grant

Kit1 said:

Hi
Not sure if anyone can help.

My OH half has just come out of a meeting at work where they are restructuring the company and many people are being made redundant.  
It seems that they are only keeping a few members of staff and expecting them to cover the work - eg my OH is currently in a team of 4 and he is the only one keeping his job so looks like they expect OH to do the work of 4 without any extra pay etc.  They also want OH to work more hours but haven't added any extra pay and when this was queried at the meeting was told they didn't realise they didn't work full-time and they would have to request a form to reduce their hours- they didn't have to fill a form in before so why now?  
Also if the old contract ends at the end of the month and the new one starts at the beginning of the next onw do they have to gibe notice not to return under the new contact?

It is so confusing and all their questions are not being fully answered.  They have no idea who their new boss is going to be and how they are going to do all the work on the new contract that includes things that are not currently in their contract and are being done by someone with more experience and and is trained to do that job whereas my OH isn't trained or qualified in that area and when this was also queried was told it was no part of their new contract and they would learn whilst the other person was still there so that they would know what to do when the other person leaves in a few weeks time.

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Kit1 said:

Wonka_2 said:

The first few hours of shock after the first meeting/announcement are often difficult with conflicting/confusing information.

In order to help/give advice it would be useful to know

How long has he been there ?
Is he currently part-time ? Was this how he was employed or has he requested reduced hours ?
Is he salaried/hourly paid ?

Based on what you've said there may be some confusion on his status but it's very unlikely he's going to be working more hours for the same money (on the downside he may be expected to be working harder during the hours he's there  )

Hopefully the outcome of being chosen to retain his job outweighs the option of being one of the ones who loses theirs

Thank you for your reply.

He has been there just over a year as permanent as he was working for them through an agency for 10 months before they took him on.

He has worked 4 days a week since day one firstly through the agency and then when the employed him and he made this very clear at the interview and it was agreed that his hours would be 32 hours over 4 days.  The new contract states nothing has changed and he is expected to work 5 full days which has changed and the pay stays the same.  The job is salaried so there is no pay increase and he has pointed out that this is not the same as his current contract and they said they weren't aware that he only works 4 days a week but he has his original letter of acceptance and contract which both state the hours and days he works so how they don't know this vital information is shocking, The new contract also includes lots of work that is done by the other members of the team which he isn't trained to do and is more inline with a management position again this was pointed out and was told that the new job now comes with more responsibility - almost like if it goes wrong it's your fault even if we haven't trained you and you can now fit it the work of 3 others whilst you are at it.

The team is made up of people who have different levels of experience and some are trained higher than others because they have been there longer.  My other half hasn't been put on any training courses as he has the qualifications to carry out his job but is not qualified to the next level but this doesn't seem to matter to those making these decisions, which is wrong.

So to clarify he is being asked to work 5 days instead of 4 without any further pay and also to carry out the work of the other members of staff who are/were already overworked and haven't enough time to compete the work they already have so how is he expected to complete it without anyone to help him?

Does "restructuring" mean that the organisation has actually been acquired by another company?  This might explain why they weren't, apparently, aware of original terms regarding hours.  

Your question about giving notice refers to "they".  Is the "they" the employing organisation or your OH/colleagues?  If it is refering to your OH not wishing to return under the new contract then the answer is that if the terms aren't acceptable your OH should write saying that they would continue working under protest.  If it is about the company saying that your OH shouldn't return if he is not willing to work to the new contract then, yes, they have to give notice, whatever is required under the contract.  As he has worked there for less than two years (and the agency work doesn't count), then he wouldn't be eligible for redundancy pay, except in the  very unlikely event that there is a separate company scheme to which he could be entitled under his original contract.

Savvy_Sue

Any union involvement? He has the right to a union rep or colleague in his consultation meetings. 

I'd suggest responding to notes of meetings with a statement of the issues: he works 4 days pw not 5, he is not trained or qualified to do all aspects of the work etc.

It may or may not help so job hunting is advisable too ...