Easter Sunday and Employees' Rights

GazWhaley

My wife works for Waitrose and is contracted part-time to work Sundays as well as other days in the week; she has one of the 'old' contracts that grants her double time for Sundays, so it's worth it for her to continue this, but this year, the Easter Sunday issue has cropped up again. In previous years, the shop was just closed, everyone had the day off and the employer swallowed the cost.
This year, things look to be very different and the managers are saying that, because the store is closed, anyone contracted to work must change their hours for that day to work a 16:00x22:30 on late fill, re-schedule their working hours to another day or take it as time off, but in my wife's case, the benefit of the double time contract has been turned around and she's being told that if she re-schedules the working day, she will have to work two days to make up for it.
The questions are:
 - Can they insist on her changing her hours for this one day to work the later shift?
 - Can they force her to change her day's work to another day but also to have to work double the hours (I'm assuming if she does change the day, she can work her normal hours, but lose the contracted increment)?
 - Can they insist that people take time off for this one day if they opt out of the other two options?
This is most unlike the Waitrose of old where the benefits of being a partner seem to have been eroded over recent years and the 'partners' are now just partners in name with no benefits at all!

GingerTim

She should speak to her union rep.

TELLIT01

It sounds as if Waitrose have been extremely generous in previous years.  My sister-in-law works for a major clothing retailer and, because she was due to work on Sunday, has had to use one of her leave days!

I suspect the changes at Waitrose have been introduced by the new, and now outgoing or possibly outgone, Chief Exec.  She seems to have done more to upset staff in the short time she has been in charge than all her predecessors combined.

maman

I think she needs to look at her contract about Bank Holidays.

 Christmas 2022 was on a Sunday. Does she remember what happened then? Or any other Easter Sunday in previous years. You say it's 'cropped up again' . What's happened previously? 🤔

Although they do seem to be offering a range of options, I'd have thought any change in her contract should have been negotiated not just announced with a couple of weeks to go. 

EnPointe

whoever is saying she needs to wortk double the hours  seems to have their wires crossed ... The  number of contracted hours hasn't changed , just she wouldn't get the premium hours if she swaps  to a none premium time to make up the hours  rather than take leave 

 there is no change in her contract unless   her contract  specifically states her  contracted hours  to  the minute and has no provision for management to vary   hours ...   which i doubt even JLP would have had