Being called in next week to discuss going down to 25 hours

[realitybites]

Have been told I will be called in next week to discuss my contract and fully expect to be invited to go down to 25 hours. Is there anything I can do, or should know prior to my interview or do I just let things take their course. Any info welcome.

[TrueBlueTerrier]

Have been told I will be called in next week to discuss my contract and fully expect to be invited to go down to 25 hours. Is there anything I can do, or should know prior to my interview or do I just let things take their course. Any info welcome.

Yes its ultimately your choice - Royal Mail have repeatedly said in the media that they won't force anyone to reduce their hours.

Get a rep involved if your not to sure of the agreements etc - even if its just as a witness its still a good move and will help if there is any confusion later on as to what was or was not agreed.

[pinstripe]

Remember the post by Postman in the News Forum "Buy Down Scam". Ensure that you don't end up on a temporary rolling contract!

[belle smith]

Have been told I will be called in next week to discuss my contract and fully expect to be invited to go down to 25 hours. Is there anything I can do, or should know prior to my interview or do I just let things take their course. Any info welcome.

Yes its ultimately your choice - Royal Mail have repeatedly said in the media that they won't force anyone to reduce their hours.

one word NO your employer can't legally change your contracted hours without your concent!

is there anything i can do

theres fcuk all they can do!!!!

[DGP1]

Have been told I will be called in next week to discuss my contract and fully expect to be invited to go down to 25 hours. Is there anything I can do, or should know prior to my interview or do I just let things take their course. Any info welcome.

Yes its ultimately your choice - Royal Mail have repeatedly said in the media that they won't force anyone to reduce their hours.

one word NO your employer can't legally change your contracted hours without your concent!

is there anything i can do

theres fcuk all they can do!!!!

Do like the kids from Grange Hill and just say no

[realitybites]

I am a bit confused. I have heard of posties in neighbouring offices going down to 25 hours and not being happy about it, with talk of leaving as soon as they can find a suitable job. I don't know the ins and outs of it but surely with union representation they would have stayed on their 35 hour contracts. Does anyone know the way these things go, or has anyone been through the process that could shed some light on it. I should add, I have been with royal mail for one year (come august 4th ), initially had a short contract, 3 or 6 months that was renewed. The last one I had was in April.

[realitybites]

Should have mentioned that our dom called the 4 affected posties into his office the other day and told us that the 25 hour contract was imminent but that we would be given a good 4 weeks notice before we would have to go down to 25 hours. The rep was in the office at the time and said nothing that contradicted this so we are all of the understanding that the 25 hour contract is inevitable!

[DGP1]

Has your duty been reduced to to 25 hours? They can't cut your hours and then pay other people OT to cover the loss of your hours.

[realitybites]

I am currently on a part time contract of 35 hours. Apparently all part timers with less than 2 years service have to accept a 25 hour contract, a case of take it or leave.

[pickaname]

I am currently on a part time contract of 35 hours. Apparently all part timers with less than 2 years service have to accept a 25 hour contract, a case of take it or leave.

Is your contract temporary or permanent?

[realitybites]

Permanent

[POSTMAN]

I am currently on a part time contract of 35 hours. Apparently all part timers with less than 2 years service have to accept a 25 hour contract, a case of take it or leave.

That sounds very dodgy,and you also mentioned that you are on a permanent contract,you need your rep to go to your area rep as soon as.

Please keep us infromed of what happens.

[belle smith]

Permanent

if you have a permanent 35 hour contract, see my earier post. they can't change it without your concent! legally!

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.personneltoday.com/articles/ ... lemma.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The basic position is that an employer cannot vary an employee's employment contract unless there is either a term in the contract allowing the variation, or the employee has expressly agreed to the change. In the absence of either a term or agreement, the most common approach for an employer to take is to terminate the employee's contract and immediately re-engage them on revised terms. Alternatively, an employer may seek to impose the change and rely on the employee continuing to work under the revised terms to establish implied agreement. However, this often leads to a very disgruntled workforce, some of whom may bring claims for constructive dismissal and unlawful deduction from wages, so should be approached with caution.

To vary terms, the first step for the employer is to consult with the employees. If the reasons for the reduced hours and pay are fully explained to the employees, agreement may be reached. Also, if the employer sets out what the consequences of failure to agree will be (ie, potential redundancies), this may assist in reaching agreement.

If no agreement is forthcoming, then terminating and re-engaging the employees involves further consultation. If 20 or more members of staff will be affected, then the statutory collective consultation provisions will apply and the employer will also need to consult with employee representatives.

In the scenario of termination and re-engagement it will be open to a disgruntled employee to make a claim for unfair dismissal, as, despite the re-engagement, there has been a dismissal at law. The employer would then have to demonstrate that it had a potentially fair reason for the dismissal (in this scenario that is likely to be either 'some other substantial reason' or 'redundancy') and that a fair process had been followed.

In reality, where employees can see genuine economic difficulties for the employer, workforce agreement to short-term changes that save jobs in the longer term may well be forthcoming.

http://www.walkermorris.co.uk/content.aspx?id=803" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

LAY-OFF AND SHORT-TIME WORKING

In many ways, statute has recognised the need to avoid redundancies in the procedures surrounding ‘lay-off’. The term ‘lay-off’ refers to a situation where the employer has deprived its staff of any working hours and effectively sent them home for a number of days or weeks without pay – in many ways the perfect solution for many current employers. Laying-off is not the same as redundancy: a laid-off employee has not been dismissed. The employer is not obliged to make any bank-breaking payments to its staff, and remains free to recall staff at any time. An employer need not deprive its workers totally, and may request they work reduced hours. Any reduction to less than half the number of hours they would normally work is known as 'short-time working'.

Before there is a rush of employers shouting “Eureka!”, it is crucial to remember that an employer must have a right to reduce hours and withhold payment, either under the contract of employment, or by express agreement with the employee. There are limited circumstances where this right can be implied, but it is always risky for an employer to rely on the principle of implied terms. To seek to enforce a period of lay-off or short-time working without express agreement would be a fundamental breach of contract and the employee would be entitled to resign and claim constructive unfair dismissal, in addition to statutory redundancy pay. However, provided the pitfalls are avoided, there is no harm in asking your employees to agree to such an arrangement.

The second key factor that must be considered is the statutory regime that underpins the lay-off/short-time working regime. If employees are laid-off for a prescribed length of time it triggers a redundancy situation, and a statutory redundancy payment will be crystallised. Statute permits an employee to make a claim for a statutory redundancy payment if they have been laid-off or placed on short-time working for either four consecutive weeks or a total of six weeks during a 13 week period.

Therefore, even if the workforce have contractually agreed to be laid-off, an employer wishing to reduce the working hours of their employees has two key considerations: either to provide sufficient hours (i.e. more than half of normal) to its staff to avoid the statutory mechanism applying or, should it opt to lay-off staff totally, to carefully observe the constraints on time periods in order to avoid inadvertently triggering a redundancy payment.