Bloody demotion

[kendoddsdogsdead]

My employer has decided to demote myself and two other members of staff for no reason other than to save money.

All three of us will still be expected to carry on working the role of supervisor without the title or pay. We will be on the same rate as the other members of staff.

I was sat down and told that I am the only member of staff that smashes sales and targets every month but they need to save a few quid.

This is a multi million pound company.

Is this actually legal? I'm at my wits end and looking for another job

Get everything in writing!

Union?

No not legal

No idea if this is legal but if the demotion goes through do not do anything supervisory. Just coast.

Also - start looking for a job TODAY. They’ve shown their true colours so fuck them.

Big bosses all still get massive bonuses though off the blood, sweat and tears from its staff.

I'm disgusted!

I don't think that is legal at all. Check your contract.
Would probably need to offer you redundancy.
Tell him to get stuffed.
If you are paid the same as everyone else you do the same work as everyone else.
You can't just take a pay cut and carry on doing the same work.
That would make you a dogsbody. And you're not.

If you've been employed more than 2 years, you could argue that it's a constructive unfair dismissal. You'll need to get proper legal advice though.

Contact ACAS

They need to consult with you about any contractual changes, this being one of them. I would look into this further and not sign anything accepting the change. Put it in writing that you’re not happy, it’s not acceptable etc.

I think you should get some legal advice, ACAS, as another poster suggested would be useful.

I’ve never come across this before. I work in HR and we’d normalmy
advise to restructure/transform if cost saving to see where savings can be realised, but still achieving results. It doesn’t sit right with me and if a manager wanted to take this route I’d certainly be consulting with legal to assess any risk/consequences of such action.

In previous places we’ve compensated if we have changed a benefits package, so bought them out of it and given new T&Cs, but this is odd.

It is legal. The JD will be rewritten and reworded. Ive seen this in three jobs Ive been in (blue hip and two public sector employer).

It’s legal to demote but not to give a pay cut for no reason

As Singlenotsingle said the key thing here is your length of service. If you've got less than 2 years I'm afraid there's nothing you can really do.

If 2+ years it MAY be grounds for constructive unfair dismissal. It depends whether they have just announced their proposal with the intention of fully consulting with you about it, in which case they might be acting legally, or whether they have announced it as a fait accompli in which case it's a breach of express and implied contractual terms entitling you to resign and claim constructive unfair dismissal.

I've been here for 5 years. My boss said my work is fantastic and they have no problems with me.

They just need to claw back money on wages for the whole site

As you have more than 2 years' service you have more rights. They are potentially in breach of contract by unilaterally changing the terms, though suggest you check your original contract and any amendments.

You could also review the company's Redundancy Policy (as if they are saying your original role is no longer viable then potentially it is redundant and they should follow the policy - you also have specific statutory rights as an 'at risk' employee which you can look into). I agree with posters above that they should have consulted with you rather than just telling you 'this is what's happening'.

Also have a look at the Reward Policy if they have one, there may be some wording in there that is helpful to you?

Keep copies of all correspondence, email exchanges, notes and dates of discussions etc - they may be useful later. Get your union involved if you belong to one.

I agree with Level75 that you may have a constructive dismissal case, however these can be difficult to prove. I suggest you raise your concerns with the company and give them the opportunity to put this right. This could be via a formal grievance (again, check their Grievance procedure) at which you set out your concerns as discussed on this page. The very fact you are clued up about your potential legal rights could be enough to scare them into doing something to put this right.

If that fails then you can consider the constructive dismissal route. In which case the fact that you can demonstrate you acted reasonably throughout, and gave the company the opportunity to rectify the matter whilst an employee which they failed to take, can only strengthen your case.

Time to take your talent elsewhere! This will be only the start of the fucking you about.

Agree that the Op probably will want to find another job now anyway as her current employer evidently doesn't value its employees. But she asked if what they have done to her is legal and no it probably isn't - so in the meantime can look into salvaging something from this. I would always advise playing the long game.

A future employer may question the reason for her demotion as it may imply issues with her performance, it may reflect unfairly negatively on her? Op have they actually put in writing to you the reasons for the demotion? If not I suggest you ask them to do so - could come in useful later.

Make sure you hold on to performance reviews, positive feedback etc showing you were a great employee.

Op it's possibly this or redundancy. How would you feel about the latter?

I always thought if your job/title was changed by management they had to give you so many weeks notice of the change and during that time pay you at same rate. Ask your union if you are in one or citizens advice

I don’t think it is legal. If you receive the same pay as someone else you should do the same job. They can’t expect you to do more work for the same money. Stop doing the extra work?

I think they are essentially making the role you do redundant and offering you the lower paid role, if you don't want it and there isn't an alternative available you can take redundancy.

I think it is legal if the employee accepts it. If they do not then the company needs to seek alternative options. Ie redundancy.

If her job is at risk then as part of the process they need to consult with the Op BEFORE the decision is made. The consultation would include looking at alternatives to redundancy and if possible agreeing them with the Op.

These may include the things that Bluntness100 and Youtoldme have suggested: moving to a suitable alternative role (though a demotion probably wouldn't be considered suitable) or going ahead with the demotion but ring fencing her pay for an agreed period. What they have done wrong is to unilaterally make this change without consulting with her first.

Bluntness is correct I think. You have to consent to the salary reduction, they can’t just impose it. If you choose to consent you can renegotiate your terms eg reduced hours or reduced responsibilities. If you don’t consent they have to make you redundant.

Do not sign anything

Take legal advice

Record all future meetings on your phone (bring it face down on top of a note book)

Request from HR or dig our from your own records all performance evaluations

Ultimately if you fight this I would work on the assumption/aim of some kind of payout or/and gardening leave and finding a new job elsewhere. It’s difficult to successfully challenge this kind of thing and stay at the company - it tends to leave a bad taste for both parties.