Forced from part time to full time?

[jaabaar]

Hi,

After one year off maternity I have returned and work part time 3.5 days a week, taking half hour lunch instead of one hour and leaving half hour earlier in order to get on time to nursery. I used to work full time.

I have been working part time for one year and a half.

Now my employer is indirectly forcing me to:
Work full time
Take one hour lunch and leave at 5.30 instead of 5 ( i will not get to nursery).

Can an employer do that? Or do I have a say in it?
If I refuse, can they sack me?

Thanks for any feedback.

J

I have tried to compromise and agreed I would work 4 days instead of 3.5.
However the Friday I would like to be off and also I cannot leave at 5.30 as I would not be able to reach my nursery on time.

My DD is just over 2 years old and I would prefer not have her for 5 full days at nursery.

thanks.

Assuming that when you came back after mat leave, that your new hours were drawn up in a contract, no they can't arbitrarily change them.

You say 'indirectly'? Could you explain?

When I was in this position I got some great advice from this working families charity Once my employer realised I'd taken some advice they backed down pretty quickly.

Thank you for your replies!
Beachyhead: Their tone and attitude makes you feel very uncomfortable.
We have had some reduncancies and they want me to work full time so that they can let other people go. I feel that if I dont comply than I will loose my job.

people: No contract on part time hours.

thanks again.

I don't think you necessarily need a contract, by allowing you to work these hours there is an implied agreement. How long have you been doing them?

When you started the new pt working pattern, did they tell you it was a trial?

Presumably they're only paying you for the part time hours? In which case they clearly agreed to them and you don't need a written contract as such. Legally they would be unable to force you to work full time as this would amount to a variation of contract (your contract being implied by the fact you have worked this pattern for a year and a half).

Having said that, it's a practical decision for you if you think the alternative will be redundancy. However, they will need to go through consultation and proper selection procedures, and you'd then get a redundancy payment if you were selected and did leave. You could also challenge it if you felt the selection was unfair.

It's fair enough for an employer to explain that they are finding it hard to accommodate your hours and ask you voluntarily to change them. However it is not fair enough to make you feel bad or awkward for working agreed hours, or to effectively threaten you with dismissal if you don't agree.

Do you have access to a union? I would recommend getting some specific legal advice and also keeping a written record of any conversations regarding this. Might be worth banging out an email to HR / whoever reaffirming your current agreed working pattern and that you are not able to change this due to childcare commitments (and/or suggest your compromise if you would like to increase your hours).

If they indicated this was a trial arrangement, then yes they can rescind it; but they should have a good business reason so to do. (I have to say I can't quite imagine what that reason could possibly be for altering the length of your lunch break).

If the business is in trouble (which your reference to redundancies suggests), then there may well be a stronger case for requiring a FT job (in terms of streamlining, and possibly saving the jobs of others). Also, how far are you able to predict if the current difficulties are temporary, or if the writing is on the wall? If the future of the company is in doubt, then to protect your own interests, looking for a new job (or at least establishing what may be available) may be prudent.