Employer's right to revoke part time arrangement at any time?

[susanita]

Hi there
Been a few years since I posted. Have a couple of questions about letter from HR about change to working hours. Basically I've been working 3 days a week for last couple of years. Due to financial situation, now work an extra day. Taken HR about 5 weeks to come up with letter with new hours and I now see the following:
"We would like to ensure as far as possible that we retain a degree of flexibility regarding this new arrangement to allow for coverage during holiday periods and to accommodate changing business needs.
The company reserves the right to revoke this arrangement at any time in response to changing business needs"

I'm not very happy about the last sentence. Where do I stand with this? Does this mean that I can sign this letter today
and then the company says I need to go full-time next week? Is this a standard clause in part-time contracts? I assume this refers to me going to full-time rather than going back to 3 days?

Also my children are 6 + 4, any flexibility involves childcare issues - nigh impossible to get extra cover.

I have some 'issues' already with my employer and I'm just concerned about what I'm signing if I sign this.

Thanks

I wouldn't sign it personally.

I have seen this before in shop contracts where it basically gives them right to extend your hours over busy periods and tbh there is not much you can do about it.

I work p/t now (not in shop) and I don't have that in my contract - though occasionally they ask me if I can do extra (but it is up to me).

Hopefully someone with HR/employment practice knowledge will come along, but I wouldn't sign it if you can't be flexible. Whatever promises they make - oh we won't actually ask you, etc, because if they do demand (For whatever reason) you to do extra hours and you can't that could lead to trouble.

Hi susanita

The reserving the right to revoke in response to changing business needs is a fairly standard sentence, and I would say the arrangement they are talking about reserving the right to revoke in this instance is the increase from your customary 3 days to 4 days. I can't see they could suddenly make you go full time so I wouldn't panic about that.

Could you ask for a bit more detail about what they actually mean by 'a degree of flexibility to allow for coverage during holiday periods and to accommodate changing business needs'? I think it would be reasonable to ask for a discussion with your manager about what that actually might mean in reality. It may just be a standard sentence they bung in every contract, but I would just have a chat and ask what they actually mean by that one.

Also, have a look at your original contract - you may find those sentences are already in there and are not in fact new..

Thanks
No that last sentence isn't on any previous contract - it's new. The request to be flexible has been on before but I always added the fact that I'm reliant on childcare.

I suspect if the request to be flexible has always been on there, they have just had a look at all their various clauses in contracts and contract variations and rephrased that one to tighten it up. So the actual impact on you on a day to day basis may be negligible.

Have a chat with whoever (someone who will be honest with you )and just ask about what that bit actually means in a day to day sense, and you can add the reliant on childcare bit in again as well assuming you sign it.

Hi, as far as I can tell the last sentence is farily standard (as expert Flowery) has mentioned! The new contract is just that - a new one. If they did want to revoke the new arrangement then you would go back to how it was before. Also, it is worth bearing in mind that even if employers wish to change the terms of a contract then it is prudent for them to discuss the changes with the employee as any variation of contracts can lead to problems.

I work 2 days PW and my contract says something like we have the right to vary your hours and days to meet the needs of the company.

I was recently in a situation where my boss wanted me to increase my hours and I lost count of the number of times he quoted this clause to me.

I contacted my union and a legal charity working for working parents and they both said that this was unenforceable if the reason you didn't want to change your hours was because of childcare commitments.

I never got the company to admit this was the reason, but somehow once I had pointed this out to them, they found another way to meet the business' needs. Before that, it was accept the change or be made redundant.

I will try and find the link to the charity. They should be able to advise you if you should sign and if you do, what the real effect of it is.

working families web site

If you scroll down on the right hand side, there's the number for a free legal helpline.

I found them incredibly helpful.

Thanks perpetualworrier - very useful site.

I wouldn't worry about that line. I was asked to be flexible when I went down to 3 days but have never had to change or increase my days over the last year or so of being back at work. They will normally get in a temp to cover in the first instance.