terminating employment to force acceptance of new contract

[tink123]

DH and all other worker at his work have refused ridiculous change of contract. They had a meeting with their boss to ask for some concessions in new contract and he said he would consider it. Boss then came back with worse contract terms.

No one is going to sign, so now they are all being called into office one by one and if they don't accept they have been told in letter that they may have their contract terminated and then be offered job back on new contract terms.

I know this is most likely legal, but I was wondering where DH would stand in terms of redundancy money if this were to happen. Would he be entitled to statutory redundancy as he may have another job coming up soon anyway,

Your dh's employer cannot unilaterally change the terms of his contract.

What his boss is doing is tantamount to constructive dismissal. I would have thought your dh is entitled to statutory redundancy at the very least. But it does not sound like a true redundancy situation because the role still exists except that the company expects your dh to do it on worse terms. I think your dh might have a (higher) claim for unfair dismissal.

I am not an HR expert, so maybe someone else might come along and shed more light.

What's the change? Is he offering to buy them out of the new contract.

It is a change from Mon-Fri working to seven days a week, night shift, working away when they want you to without any of the monetary incentives. It adds up to a wage drop of about £4000 too.

Does he have a union? My dh is going through the same thing (it is legal) but the fact that the unions are involved has made things much more difficult for the employer and changes have not yet been brought in. Have a look at the following link: www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/EmploymentContractsAndConditions/DG_10037116

he isn't in a union :( other guys might be...

Yes it's legal, if he won't accept the new terms he may find that ultimately he is made redundant. Yes he'd be entitled to redundancy pay.

Well I would disagree that it is definitely legal based on the info from OP. If the job still exists but on worse terms that is not a genuine redundancy situation. If they are needing new roles for a genuine business reason then that is different.

Your dh is not in a union but that doesn't mean he and his colleagues can't still ask for collective consultation and lodge a grievance against the proposed changes.

How many colleagues are affected and what sort of impact on the organisation would it be to have recruit people to fill all their jobs?

AmandaCooper - he might find that he's dismissed rather than made redundant, and not entitled to any redundancy pay.

I worked for a company that went through this; we had people who worked Monday to Friday on 6am-2pm and 2pm-10pm rotating shifts and others on permanent 10pm-6am shifts. That was changed to all of the shopfloor people working rotating 12 hour day and night shifts, 7 days per week. There was some (token) consultation, but ultimately they were given 90 days' notice and had to either turn up for work on the first day of the new pattern or not turn up and be considered to have resigned.

Yes you're right there - if it's a restructure, rather than a redundancy, the employer could dismiss for "some other substantial reason", i.e. he doesn't fit into the new structure.

thanks for replies. It is bonkers they can get away with this. The company is in financial difficulties, just cos one of the bosses managed to lose half million pounds of contracts by the way they treat customers.

DH is thinking of setting up rival business anyway :)

It's not all that bonkers really, businesses need to be able to change terms and conditions sometimes it can be the only way to save jobs in the long term.

Setting up his own business sounds a good option, tink123. :)

I can imagine how upsetting and stressful it is, being forced into new working hours etc.

Maybe there's some room for the company to compromise a little? It sounds like they're not that sort of employer though unfortunately.

When my employer made their changes, it really was difficult for some people. Yes, they already worked shifts, but some of them were in the position of having weekend child access so it was harsh on them.

Given that no one has agreed to the changes, I would give Acas a call.

If no one agrees, the employer might have to have a rethink, but someone's bound to crack first.

I think acas would be a good idea with all the details AS long as they consult with them and give opportunities to make alternative suggestions which could achieve the same aim the business is looking to achieve they can terminate contract and offer re-engagement on different terms. They not considering it to be refundancy as there is still a requirement for the role to be performed but depending on how much is being changed ACAS might disagree.

I work in HR and our co. Are doing exactly the same thing at moment witha large group of people over shift patterns and hrs of work.

tink123 - your DH needs to be careful setting up a rival business.

If a firm can show he solicited customers while he was still working for the firm or took a customer contact list he could be seriously sued.

We have had our suspicions more or less confirmed that DH's company is going out of business, so god knows why they cannot be upfront and tell the staff. I don't see what messing the staff about is going to achieve.

We got a copy of their accounts and they are very grim reading :(

If his company go out of business, is there any reason why DH cannot offer to take them on...

Thanks for all your great advice