can they do this?

[kneesofnorks]

DP works for a large bank, in thier insurance division. He started there as agency staff last June, working 9-5 and was made permanent a month ago ( was offered the perm position middle of Jan)

in December he was asked to move teams, and at the time he was told he might be asked to work 10-6 occasionally, this was perfect for us as I work 7-3 and he drops the DC's at breakfast club at 8.15, giving him time to get the bus to work for 9, or 10 if hes on a later shift.

He has a new team leader who is on secondment and started after he was made permanent. in the last 3 weeks or so he has: pulled him up in front of the whole team saying his performance was below par - if it is less than other team members it may be related to his dyspraxia, which he has made the manager aware of. As far as DP can tell he is not performing at a lower level than the rest of the team. the TL told him to change the way he was working despite DPs way helping him work faster, as he 'didnt like the way he was doing it' this new way of working slows him down more!

Today he was told that from next week he will be rota'd onto shifts, either 8-4, 9-5 or 10-6. He explained again that he couldnt do 8-4 due to his commitment dropping off the dc's and was told tough, imagine if everyone had an excuse. he explained once again that it wasnt an excuse, I would already be at work and he cant exactly leave two 9 yr olds alone in the school playground fir an hour at 7.15!

he was told that if my work wasnt going to be flexible then neither would they!

hes had texts from colleagues saying how shocked they were at the way DP was spoken to..

dp is on a days leave tomorrow and has been told to expect a text to tell him what time hes expected at work on monday? obviously we're expecting this small penised individual to assert his authority and say he has to work 8-4 next week whick leaves us in a really sticky situation...

how do we fight back against this without jeapoardising DP's job? surely they cant do this to him? understandably he's worried that theyll just sack him!

What does his contract say about working hours and shifts?

If its not specified in his contract, and he is employed for flexible shifts - iirc once you have been working certain hours/shifts for 12 weeks, then they have to give you a certain number of weeks notice to change them. (I think that may be 12 weeks as well - but I'm not certain).

Either way I think they can change his shift pattern, if not by this monday, then within a few months.

Make sure he keeps those texts; they are valuable evidence!
I don't know much about employment law or rights, but I'm pretty sure he has a right to request flexible working to accommodate child care (as do you), as for fighting it, CAB first, then see if he had any kind of "team care" rep or union that could help in work. If his former manger was understanding and is above the new guy then your DP could talk to him maybe? It does sound like singling out bullish behaviour and perhaps discrimination (but hard to prove).
Get everything in writing; if he gets called out again, or told off, have them put it in writing, with a date and signature, even if it's not a formal warning or disciplinary; if anything asking for that alone can sometimes shake up the manger into backing off a little, if not then you have a paper trail.

hope that helps a little; I went through similar with a bullying boss at my old job, unfortunately I didn't know the best way to go about things (hindsight is wonderful), but have come out better for it, despite leaving that job in the end.

Is he in a union?
Suggest he joins quickly if he isn't.