HR question re employment

[GoldWithFalmer]

Turning an old adage on its head, ignorance is no defence in the eyes of the law. And as someone else pointed out earlier, unions expect six months membership before offering legal representation. It's called taking responsibility for yourself, but the far left don't want people to think for themselves do they?

Still worth a fiver a month though...
From a Conservative Voter..

 

[NooBHA]

If there is a few of you you only might have to cover one weekend in four not the end of the world.

Thats the Best advice of the day..............................No one can advise you accurately until they know what circumstances they are advising you about.

I am sure you will have some Allardyce/Hasselbank like colleagues who will gladly take all the work you want to pass up

 

[moggy]

Not sure what type of field service engineer you are, but my friend who runs a company servicing, installing and repairing industrial washing machines is currently trying to employ two more, but can't find enough staff.

He doesn't offer weekend call outs, although he has been asked about it by some of his customers.

I work on compacting machines. Previously servicing cnc machines so mainly electrics, hydraulics and pneumatics.
Never worked on white goods but I'm looking now for other work just in case they decide to work weekends

 

[Sussexscots]

Check your contract carefully. to see how your "working week" is defined. If it states that your normal hours are to be worked Monday to Friday, would you normally receive or be eligible for, overtime payments IF you worked on a Saturday or a Sunday? Alternatively, does the contact state that your working week is Sunday to Sunday with hours/shifts as directed by management depending on operational requirements.

If it's the latter, you are probably scunnered as you have agreed to work your required hours on any day as directed by management . If it's the former, and your working week is defined as Monday to Friday, they probably can't force you to vary that. What will likely happen, however, is that if you apply for another role within the company, you'll find that you have to sign a new "seven day" contract which incorporates acceptance of weekend working.

Hopefully they will be enlightened and seek volunteers in the first instance. Collaborative management is always the most effective in my experience.

 

[Wardy's twin]

Gather all the facts, make sure you get a balanced view of what is being offered. Some companies offer good remuneration for weekend working/callout others don't, so whilst you don't do weekends it might be suddenly become very attractive financially and the impact might not be too hard. If you still don't want to do it then sure a) you are marketable b) you know how you can maximise your 'benefits' from being forced out of your job.

 

[Pondicherry]

First let me make clear I am not a legal expert. My understanding of employment contracts is that either side can ask for changes to be made to a contract. There will be a formal process that should be adhered to. After this process has been gone through, both sides then need to agree to the change for it to become effective. If the employee disagrees with the change the employer has two options. They can either say "OK, carry on as you are" or they can terminate your existing contract and offer you a new one (they have to give notice etc). At this point, if you have a least one years service you can claim unfair dismissal but the employer would only have to prove they had a business need for the change (and they had followed due process). I am not an expert but this is the gist of it i believe.

 

[portlock seagull]

Only been in the job about 14 months.
At the moment I work 40 hrs Monday to Friday.
That's in my contract.
There's every chance soon the company will want the 7 of us
(field service engineers that is) to be on call at weekends as they've promised
Some new customers a 3hr response time.
I'm not willing to do this if it happens.
If seems to me they'd have to draw up new contracts etc but can they enforce it?
I'm not sure if I have any rights as I've not been with the company 2 years so probably I'd get dismissed?
Any advice most welcome

You've no real rights before 2 years employment, in short.

 

[Ernest]

Turning an old adage on its head, ignorance is no defence in the eyes of the law. And as someone else pointed out earlier, unions expect six months membership before offering legal representation. It's called taking responsibility for yourself, but the far left don't want people to think for themselves do they?

I wish you'd take responsibility for YOURSELF and get on that plane

 

[Justice]

Thats the Best advice of the day..............................No one can advise you accurately until they know what circumstances they are advising you about.

I am sure you will have some Allardyce/Hasselbank like colleagues who will gladly take all the work you want to pass up

 

[Hampster Gull]

Under the Tories your employment rights are next to nothing unless you're in a union, best bet if you're not is to get in touch with ACAS and get some proper advice

But you have said the last Labour government was like a tory government...

 

[Ernest]

But you have said the last Labour government was like a tory government...

Do you want to go on the LIST ?

 

[Hampster Gull]

Do you want to go on the LIST ?

The list of the enlightened? We havent had a labour government since 1979 according to you. Do you remember what a shambles that era was? The madmen had taken over the asylum

 

[happypig]

I am sure you will have some Allardyce/Hasselbank like colleagues who will gladly take all the work you want to pass up

Where I work there are several approaches to callouts:
1. voluntary. They ring you, you go out if you want to. If no-one wants to go out, it doesn't get done.
2. Retained call out. People are paid a retainer and have to go out if called. On some lists, the retained man is last call, so if no-one else wants it, he has to go; on others, the retained man is called first and has to go.
Callouts are paid a minimum of 3 hours. Overtime rates are 1.4 time mon-sat, 1.75 time sundays, 2.5 time bank hols, 3 times xmas day.

I'd suggest you and your colleagues get together and decide how many of you want it; it may be that you can come up with a rota that suits you all whether you want to do callout or not.
If you can go to management with a workable and sustainable plan and say "this suits us all" they would be fools not to accept it.

 

[Justice]

I sometimes wonder where employees think the money comes from that lands in their bank account every month. In this instance the said company may have landed a new contract to keep their heads above water and thus making sure everyone keeps their jobs, yet you often find you get nothing back from your staff apart from moans and groans if you ask them to go the extra mile on occasion.

 

[dejavuatbtn]

I sometimes wonder where employees think the money comes from that lands in their bank account every month. In this instance the said company may have landed a new contract to keep their heads above water and thus making sure everyone keeps their jobs, yet you often find you get nothing back from your staff apart from moans and groans if you ask them to go the extra mile on occasion.

Yep, a change in a job is better than no job. Who knows, there may be little impact in working hours/times in this case but an improvement in money.

 

[Beach Hut]

I have had two enforced contract changes this year. One was moving pay review from 01st April to 01st July which was immaterial as pay review always late. The 2nd change is capped salary on pensions which means any further pay rises are not reflected in pension, ok at my time of life but unfortunately the reality of a final salary pension scheme. I received part one of the blood money for this to pay for a financial advisor who is not required, the larger lump sum is next June - both taxable.

Both by collective bargaining = it will happen whether you like it or not.

 

[Technohead]

First let me make clear I am not a legal expert. My understanding of employment contracts is that either side can ask for changes to be made to a contract. There will be a formal process that should be adhered to. After this process has been gone through, both sides then need to agree to the change for it to become effective. If the employee disagrees with the change the employer has two options. They can either say "OK, carry on as you are" or they can terminate your existing contract and offer you a new one (they have to give notice etc). At this point, if you have a least one years service you can claim unfair dismissal but the employer would only have to prove they had a business need for the change (and they had followed due process). I am not an expert but this is the gist of it i believe.

100% correct ..... other than the 1 years service part at the end. The coalition government amended the Employment Rights Act 1996 in 2012 to, amongst other things, increase the qualifying period for a claim of unfair dismissal from 1 year to 2 years as part of the governments drive to supposedly "steamline the employment tribunal process".

 

[Justice]

Yep, a change in a job is better than no job. Who knows, there may be little impact in working hours/times in this case but an improvement in money.

Exactly, I think there is more to this as the OP has already started looking for another job without even knowing the on call shift rota could be one weekend in seven if there are seven engineers hardly something to go to the lawyers about.

 

[Bry Nylon]

If customers are demanding a weekend response but no-one is prepared to provide that level of service then it is probably best to start looking for another job anyway. Customers will start placing their business with service providers that can meet their needs and if that isn't your company then the outcome is inevitable.

 

[Fran112]

As a trade union rep the answer is ...........
Your employer can change your conditions of service (contract) providing they give statutory notice of their intention to do so in writing.
There is no requirement to consult with you or a trade union, but most do.
The notice period is one week for every complete year of employment up to a maximum of 13 weeks.
This is most often used when a company changes ownership and is covered at some depth under the TUPE (Transfer undertaking & protection of employees) regulations.
Most companies do the 13 weeks as easier to change everyone's contract at the same time rather than having some on the old and some on the new contract
Sorry, but your stuffed, you have the legal right to refuse the new contract, but we call that resigning.


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