My Employer wants my wife to quit her job.

[Bhollis]

My employer has asked me to start working weekends and to be on call all the time. I am not able to do this as on the weekends I look after my children while my wife works.

My employer has said that she "may have to think about giving it up" so I can work my new hours.

Am I right in thinking that is a unreasonable change to ask for? Can he also said he needs an answer within 24 hours.

Surely your wife would just tell you to piss off?

@Bhollis

It's his business and wants to start reaping the rewards of owning his own business.

At your (considerable) expense.

He cannot expect you to be at work or on call 24/7, it's not just the money and childcare, but you would never have any time when you could thoroughly relax. Tell him to jog on.

He's taking the piss because he's your cousin and he thinks he can make you do whatever he asks because "faaamily".
Glad you've had some advice from ACAS - hope that you consider looking for another job with a more reputable firm who don't ask for this ridiculous level of commitment from you just so they can take a back seat.

@Fonzytotsy. There IS a contract of employment. It’s verbal but it sets out the ‘implied terms’ of the spoken agreement and is just as legally enforceable as a written one. OP’s employer should at least have given written terms of employment within the first couple of months of the job commencing though.

Presumably he is the soul owner of the business. Currently he works all hours to set the firm up and cover a lot of what needs doing from sales calls, quotes and managing the moves and customer service. He is trying to take a bit of a step back now the company is established.

How is your relationship with your cousin? Is he a bossy twat? or was this a suggestion? If he is asking you to take over most of the day to day managerial work so he can concentrate on quotes and sales, he needs to pay you are fair salary for the work. Surely no one needs to be answering the phone out of hours. Unless there's a lot of international moves most of the calls should be Monday to Friday, the rest can be picked up by machine. Why do you need to do payroll at weekends? Do it on Monday morning. What needs doing at weekends?

Can the two of you sit down and work out how the two of you can run the business together moving forward where you can shoulder some more of the responsibility for a better remuneration, a share in the company etc. Plus get some additional staff if needed or a telephone answering service if he is adamant anyone phoning needs a voice on the end.

Glad you got advice from ACAS OP, but if you follow their advice and his choice is to let you go, please remember that he’s knowingly made the terms of your employment difficult enough for you to give up the job. That’s pretty much constructive dismissal and you can pursue it through an employment tribunal. Might be worth telling him that.

Start looking for another role asap would be my advice! If you have a contract then they can't just change your hours. But in your case as you don't I don't think you have many options at all.

[quote worriedatthemoment]@NotSorry in the uk its law to have a written contract within a few months of starting a job [/quote]
No, it is not. There is no requirement for the employer to provide a full written contract at any time. The employer must, however, provide written particulars of employment setting out the main terms when the employee starts work and must follow it up with a wider statement within 2 months.

The absence of written particulars does not mean there is no contract. There clearly is a contract. The OP works for the employer and gets paid.

Those arguing that the OP is not an employee because there is no contract are wrong. Those arguing that the OP has no rights because there is no contract are wrong. The OP clearly is an employee and has rights. If he has worked for his cousin for 2 years he is protected against unfair dismissal. Even without that service, he is protected against discrimination amongst other things.

I’ve been in a similar situation with the father of my kids. His employer can NOT insist I have to quit my job. They can however fire him or make him redundant if he is unable to do different hours. The implications of firing him depend on his contract and length of employment.

You need a proper job with a contract, and if I was your wife i'd be telling your cousin to do one.
Start looking asap.

The trouble is that the OP has no contract. Without a contract you are slightly actually completelybuggered, OP. Did you not think it would be a good idea to ask for one?

There’s an implied contract because OP has been working the same hours for a number of years. The fact it’s not in writing is irrelevant.

You need a new job with a contract.

Your cousins a knob, sorry.

@sorryiasked

I'm assuming that's a change to your contracted hours? In which case, no he can't insist. Speak to ACAS for advice.

Absolutely.

I am appalled by what your employer said, it is outrageous.

Family or not he cannot say this. You need to stick to your hours or look for another job...

Tbh it’s irrelevant that your wife works weekends any change to hours needs to be agreed and you don’t agree you don’t have to give a reason you just don’t want to work weekends and that’s fine it you have a reason that if you did you wife couldn’t work . Just say no and look for a new job sharpish , you don’t want to work for a company that doesn’t give you a contact as this is what happens.

Your employer has no right to demand that your wife gives up her job so they can change your hours.

How did you fall into this setup of working for your cousin with no written contract? Are you not able to work elsewhere? Do they think they are doing you a favour?

@Ariannah. They can’t make him redundant - with redundancy the job has to have gone altogether. This is not the case as the employer wants to expand on the original contract, so the job is still there - if he fires and rehires for the same job, the employee can sue. Similarly, if the employer places additional terms on the original verbal contract without mutual agreement, he can be sued for constructive dismissal.

Would he demand this of another employee if they WEREN’T family? No. Because it’s unreasonable and illegal.

@pam290358 I am not an expert but I think redundancy is possible under some circumstances without the job being gone altogether. Certainly if someone was employed at 80% fte and the business need was for someone 100% full time, it is legitimate for the business to make the 80%fte employee redundant and recruit a new full time employee if the 80% employee refuses to increase hours. However the OP's case is different because the employer is effectively asking the OP to go from full time to 125% of full time with a measly pay rise insufficient to induce the OP to accept such a change in terms. If the new work pattern was legal (i.e. included 11 hours per day every day and one clear 24 hours per week of not working ar all (including not being on call), 30 mins clear rest every 6 hours on duty, and minimum statutory annual leave) and if the employers could find an alternative employee willing to work for those hours at the salary offered, then I don't think it would be illegal to make OP redundant if they didn't want the new terms and conditions. But there is a process for consultation on changes in Ts&Cs which has to be followed and this employer certainly isn't following that!

@KihoBebiluPute. What you’re describing is not a redundancy situation. If an employee refuses to increase hours or does not agree to a change in terms, an employer cannot simply make them redundant and then hire someone else for the job. Redundancy means that the job no longer exists due to the need to reduce staff or the reorganisation of work/reduction of staffing levels for various reasons. There are exceptions called ‘bumping’ where an existing employee can move into your job and effectively make you redundant - usually as a result of combining roles. However, these cases are very difficult for employers to justify at unfair dismissal proceedings.

UPDATE

Hiya all.

So I wanted to update you all. Firstly I went and got real legal advice. As many of you stated what my ex employer was trying to do does indeed break employment laws.

So I have taken alot of your guys advice and looked for a new employer. So I quit my job and started my own dog training and dog minding service. I got to admit I am kinda happy my ex employer did this as I now have what looks to be a booming business. We already have over 140 one to one hours booked in with clients. We also got 2 people who want us to look after their dogs for 2 weeks each. After nearly 2k worth of setup cost we are now looking at nearly £900 profit already.

So thank you everyone who gave the advice. It really was the best. Thanks again.

My advice would be to find a new job. Working for family is a nightmare been there and won't ever go back.

@lillylemons, my advice would be to at least read the OP’s posts. The latest update of which is the post before yours and explains that he has a new self employed job.