Asked to work less than contracted hours?

[ECCOnoob]

Hi question for a friend:

 

She is employed to work 39 hours a week as in her contract.

 

She has been told today they are over staffed next week and said staff must take a days holiday or unpaid leave there for working under her contracted hours.

 

Doesn't sound right to me. Any one got any advise?

 

FA

 

Back on topic, leaving the trolls to argue the toss over Cameron & Co. Most full time contracts will have a clause in stating the employer 'has no duty to provide the person with work'. Translated this basically means if they are slack/closed/overstaffed or other effecting factors occur they are within their right to enforce a days holiday or unpaid leave. It will be worth checking this. Either way, I would suggest they just take the day off.

 

Circumstances like this are not uncommon.

[GrannyGranny]

No one knows the correct answer unless they have:

 

a. Read her contract and

 

b. Have a pretty good knowledge of Contract Law ie. Solicitor specialising in Contract Law.

 

All the others are just guessing.

[Rupert_Baehr]

The (implied) question in the OP was 'Can they get away with doing this?'

 

Nothing (really) to do with black-letter law.

 

As others have suggested:

 

"Is it better to lose one day's pay in the week leading up to Christmas than to lose 5 day's pay in every week thereafter?"

[Cyclone]

No one knows the correct answer unless they have:

 

a. Read her contract and

 

b. Have a pretty good knowledge of Contract Law ie. Solicitor specialising in Contract Law.

 

All the others are just guessing.

 

Pretty much everyone who answered said that it depended on the contract.

[mc55]

our contracts have a clause included in them to the effect that the company can fix up to 9 days holiday per year- it's to cover shut down periods, but I guess could be used in such a case as the OP.

 

Your friend could perhaps ask for her case to be reviewed if there are other people who have been chosen to work ... or perhaps see if someone else who is working on that day has holidays left would swap with her ??