Employer changing hours while I'm on maternity

[SquidgyMaltLoaf]

As above - they (and their lawyers) reckon they can do this as there's a clause in my contract saying my hours can vary according to the needs of the business. However what they want me to do is very regular and quite different from what I was doing before. There's been no consultation, they just casually mentioned it part way through an email. I don't want to do it because the hours they want me to work are likely to trigger my anxiety and panic attacks (they know this). Any ideas what I should do next? I'll pass the two years' service mark soon if that makes a difference.

Well if you don't have two years service what they can do is just give you notice to terminate your employment and then offer you new employment in the new hours. The only thing would be if there is reason to think they are making this change because you took maternity leave.

Were you working very regular set hours previously or have your hours varied according to the needs of the business before?

They maintain they're not changing my hours because of the flexibility clause. I've always done ad hoc stuff as and when but now they want me to do it every week which is a pretty big change.

Well it's impossible to tell from what you've said whether the change constitutes a change to terms and conditions, but as I said, at this stage in your employment, even if it is, it's very easy to force through if they want to.

Have you told them you think it is a material change in your terms and conditions and asked them what would happen if you refuse to accept the change?

I've told them I think it's a change and they disagree. I pointed out that by that token they could suddenly ask me to work shifts, or all evenings, or Wed-Sun, for instance, and it would all technically be covered by 'business needs', and surely that can't be right. I've not asked what would happen if I refused but as they say it's essential for me to do my job well, I suspect it would go to a disciplinary which obviously is rather avoid! There's never been any complaint about my work and no hint that the hours needed to be changed before I left - it wasn't deemed essential before. The bloke doing my maternity cover does different hours to me and carried on doing those while covering me and they've decided that that works better and they want me to continue it.