Advice on change to conditions

[muddleduck]

Just my luck to post when flowery is off, but I'm hoping that there are some others out there who can advise.

I work in the public sector and within my part of the organisation there have been a number of duties which have been considered to have a particularly heavy workload above what would normally be expected for staff on a particular grade. In theory these duties should rotate around staff but in practice a small set of us have done the lions share. We have been happy to do so because (i) we consider it important work and (ii) we have always been rewarded with a (fairly substantial) additional payment which is referred to as an allowance. These allowances are not mentioned in our contracts but although they are treated in a fairly ad hoc way in practice we have receive the same monthly allowance (with small annual increases) for a number of years.

We have just been told that these allowances will be stopped after xmas and that because they are not part of our contract of employment they were always "subject to review and so could not be guaranteed".

I am very about this not only because of the (considerable) financial implications but because of the implication that this work is not important/appreciated.

While I am reasonably hopeful that we can negotiate a compromise it would be very helpful to know if we have any legal protection. In my view they should either (i) reduce my workload or (ii) increase my salary. It seems mightily unfair to expect me to continue to do the same job for less money.

I am not a member of a union.

Thanks for bothering to read this.

Employers can and do vary contracts. A lot of them are doing things like this in the current recession.

Your only remedy would be to complain that this is a breach of your contract. Suggest you do not threaten to resign. If they still vary your contract then you could resign and claim constructive unfair dismissal, but this is a bit of a drastic step and it is a difficult claim to win. So not a course of action I would advise.

Best course of action might be to try and negotiate and/or make a grievance complaining of breach of contract. As it is a public sector employer this might work.

I suspect the fact that the allowance is not mentioned in your contract is irrelevant if it has been paid for a number of years as it could be seen as established by custom and practice.

This doesn't mean they can't withdraw it though but they will need to go through the same process as required for any other change of contract - there have been threads about this relating to salary cuts etc I think.

Thanks.
What I don't understand is whether this constitutes part of my contract. I have nothing in writing about these payments, but I have it in my head that after a certain time things like this can be assumed to be part of your contract even if it is not actually stated IYKWIM. Did I make this up? Is there a particular time period involved.

I was also under the impression that to vary my contract they need my consent. I know that lots of employers are making such changes to save money, but I thought they needed my consent rather than just being able to impose it without consultation. I guess this returns to the issue of whether it constitutes part of my contract.

I have no intention of escalating things, I just want to have some idea about the legalities so that we can have a well informed discussion rather than just wailing "it's not fair"

Thanks MrsW - that fits exactly with what I thought.

It may well be part of your contract even if it is not in writing, BUT, it may not be regarded by a tribunal as a sufficiently serious breach of contract entitling you to resign. I really would advise you not to do this, but you could say to your employer that you regard it as a breach of contract and call their bluff. They will not know that you do not intend to resign over the breach. So you can put a grievance in to see if that sorts it out, if not, then you will either have to put up with the change or risk resigning and losing a constructive unfair dismissal claim. I really would advise you not to resign over this! If you are thinking of doing this I suggest you get face to face advice from an employment specialist.

Thanks.
As said above I have no intention of escalating this - things like resigning and tribunals are very very far from my mind. I just think it would be very helpful for me to be well informed. What I'd like to suggest is that either they give me an annual increment equivalent to 1 years service so that I am partially compensated for the financial loss or they arrange for the work load to be more fairly distributed. I am fairly optimistic that they will agree to option 1 as option 2 will be VERY hard to do. They are never going to get someone else to agree to do this job now that word is out that we don't get paid any extra

You can still take this to tribunal without having to resign and claim constructive dismissal - you can claim compensation for breach of contract while still employed.

Thanks again for your replies.

AIBU to expect that this is something we can sort out amicably without needing to talk about tribunals etc? I have an excellent working relationship with my line manager - this was imposed on us from above his level.

Yes, you should be able to negotiate a mutually acceptable compromise if your boss is reasonable - just need to bear in mind that, in worst case scenario that your grievance is not dealt with properly you can bring a tribunal case for compensation over a specific issue without having to leave your job and your employer is not allowed to discriminate against you if you take this route. Would obviously be awkward, though, and is best sorted out informally if possible.

Thanks!
We had the conversation yesterday. Nothing in writing yet but I'm pretty optimistic that things will be sorted out.

UPDATE
the big boss has now decided that "HR gave incorrect advice" and the allowances have been reinstated