WO toolkit 2012 complete.pdf - GMB

SECTION 5.11
11. Can my employer change my contract?
A contract is a two-sided agreement.It cannot be changed without agreement between both sides.But
some employers look for ways to force changes on workers.
• They might slip a term into a written contract,the Written Particulars or a Company Handbook
‘reserving’the right to change the contract.If you let this go unchallenged,you may find yourself
in difficulties.Your GMB representative can contact your employer to say this is not a term of your
contract.
• They might dismiss you and offer you a new contract of employment,containing the terms they
want to impose.If you accept the new contract(even‘under protest”),you are bound by its terms.
However,because your old contract was terminated by the employer,you can lodge an unfair
dismissal complaint(even though you are still at work).See below for advice on unfair dismissal.
• They might‘unilaterally impose’different terms(without dismissing you).If the change does not
affect the way the contract currently operates(e.g.the employer revokes your enhanced
redundancy pay),you should write to your employer refusing to accept the reduction in terms.
• However the new term might have an immediate impact,e.g.a new shift system.In that case,you
should not continue to work‘under protest’,because that is incompatible with rejecting the new
term.Provided the change is substantial,you can treat it as a dismissal,combined with an offer of
a new contract,as above.So you should write to your employer saying you regard the change as
fundamentally breaching your contract and amounting to a dismissal; that you regard yourself as
dismissed; but that you accept the changes as an offer of a new contract,which you will accept
under protest and in mitigation of your loss.You can then continue to work,while lodging an unfair
dismissal complaint.But this is a very tricky area.Ask your GMB representative for help.
Unfair dismissal complaints are always difficult to win,particularly when they concern the unilateral
imposition of worse terms and conditions.Your GMB representative will consider the following
questions: Did the employer have a genuine business reason for the change(even if you disagree with
it)? Did that reason merit such serious changes to your contract? Did the employer genuinely try to
reach agreement on the changes? Were the changes accepted by a majority of your colleagues?
Special rules apply to changes imposed by a new employer after a Transfer of an Undertaking,e.g.sale
of a business,or contracting-out.A special law known as‘TUPE’,says that such changes are not binding,
even if agreed by the workforce,because European law guarantees the same terms and conditions
under the new employer.Your GMB representative has access to specialist advice on TUPE.
REMEMBER: there may be more than one person affected by this issue.
Consider calling a meeting to advise,recruit and organise.