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Can employers change working hours?


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HR question? Can an employer change your working hours?

 

Can your company change your working hours if you have a contract saying what hours your work? I.e. Extending the shift pattern to suddenly include weekends? I've had a look on the net but it all seems somewhat vague. Thanks in advance for any information anyone can provide.

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The terms of the contract of employment

 

The rights and duties of both employers and employees are to be found in the contract of employment. They are called terms of the contract.

 

Some of these terms are express terms; that is they are expressly stated, either orally, say at the initial interview, or in writing.

 

The law states that certain express terms must be put in writing and handed to the employee in the form of a written statement of particulars within eight weeks of starting work.

 

Express terms include:

 

pay

hours

holidays

 

There are other contractual terms called implied terms. These are not expressly stated because, in the main, they are fairly obvious to both parties to the contract of employment.

 

Occasionally the courts will imply a term in a contract of employment where an important term has been left out.

 

Implied terms include statutory rights, such as the right to equal pay and duties such as a duty of care.

 

Mutual trust and confidence

 

An important fundamental element of the contract of employment is the concept of mutual trust and confidence. This is also an implied term of the contract of employment.

 

The law recognizes that the employer has a duty to trust the employee and treat him or her with respect and fairly.

 

If the employer breaches that trust and confidence it would normally justify the employee in terminating the contract and claiming constructive dismissal.

 

Custom and practice

 

Some terms may be implied through custom and practice in a particular trade or with a particular employer. For example it may become customary, over a period of time, to leave early on a Friday, or to add an extra day to a Bank Holiday.

 

Sometimes custom and practice is used to interpret an express term, for example "reasonable overtime".

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Can my employer change my contract of employment?

 

A contract of employment is a legal agreement between the employer and the employee. It contains terms, either express or implied, which cannot lawfully be changed or varied by the employer without further agreement from the employee (either individually or through the trade union). Many terms of the contract are, of course varied from time to time, by mutual consent.

 

For example, it is quite usual for pay to be varied, usually increased, on a regular basis. In some cases the contract may contain an express term permitting the employer to make changes from time to time. These changes would need to be reasonable. Where changes are made to your contract the law requires employers to notify you of the change within one month.

 

However, that does not change the fact that an unauthorised, one-sided variation is a breach of the contract of employment. If such a change is so fundamental that it goes to the heart of the contract, it may justify the employee's resignation in protest. Such a resignation, if justified, would be a 'constructive dismissal'

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