Boots the !!!!!!!

[poshman]

any advice on the following please... wife works part time for a large chemist shop chain. They want to change her working hours ( called re profiling ) she works 30 hours per week which include 1 weekend off in 3 her new proposed hours have increased by 1 1/2 hours she only gets off 1 weekend off in 4. one day a week the shift is 11 00 til 20 00

Many of her colleagues have better hours eg 1 in 3 weekends off or no sunday work. although they are not doing the same jobs in the store ( my wife is on health care ) but it still seems unfair

there is no union, no personnel so who does she turn to

Ive suggested talking to area manager, putting in a greivence against the manager, refusing to sign new contract
Have you got any other ideas, she seem to be reluctant to do anything i say

she can obviously resign, but i would rather her fight it out, the reason they give for changing hours is " the needs of the business "

 

[Diyisfun]

If any employer, needs to change the hours worked by an employee they can. I think they will need to demonstrate that it is in the interest of the business. If the staff did not want to take the new proposed hours, they would not be entitled to redundancy,unfair dismissal or constructive dismissal.

 

[luke_vibert_uk]

Way back in my spudent days I worked for Halfords, which at the time was part of the Boots Group.

They offered a staff advice line for all matters relating to pay disputes and grievance issues. Although operated by Boots it was supposed to be impartial and 100% confidential.

Might be worth a try.

I think as with dispute the first port of call HAS to be direct line management be it supervisor/ store manager. Have a clear idea what you are prepared to work and discuss not rant and rage. Going directly to the area manager is not advisable, after all the ones I experienced were too worried about how much Castrol was going out the door.

 

[Nige F]

Castrol Wakefield motor oil ..........Caster Oil, surely from Boots ..........Did you vote Tory some years ago, Poshman.....oh look no Unions

 

[luminaire]

Why not try Citizens Advice Bureau?
They're usually up with employment legislation etc.
Worth a try I would have thought.

 

[Stulz]

Why not phone the Transport and General Workers Union. They may not be able to help direct, but they will certainly be in a position to advise on this matter.

 

[poshman]

Thank you for your ideas guys,

 

[Steve]

any advice on the following please... wife works part time for a large chemist shop chain. They want to change her working hours ( called re profiling ) she works 30 hours per week which include 1 weekend off in 3 her new proposed hours have increased by 1 1/2 hours she only gets off 1 weekend off in 4. one day a week the shift is 11 00 til 20 00

So?

Does she want to swap jobs with me?

 

[Thermo]

no she wont want your paper round crafty!

 

[JOHNBOY42]

She can try and sort this out with her manager and try to put her case forward for personal reasons but not being in a union is bit of a bummer and I am pretty sure any company can change the staffs roster patters with notice which I think its about 13 weeks or there abouts,problem is with all these companys is they have graduates coming in and think they can change the world by looking at employees pay,working patterns holidays,leave overtime ect and then gat a bonus for cocking up poeples lives.........good luck

 

[FredFlintstone]

She could also call ACAS for advice. If anything, much better placed than CAB (and easier to get through to too.

Good luck

Fred

 

[megawatt]

DIYisFun Wrote:

If any employer, needs to change the hours worked by an employee they can. I think they will need to demonstrate that it is in the interest of the business. If the staff did not want to take the new proposed hours, they would not be entitled to redundancy,unfair dismissal or constructive dismissal.

A great example of well meant advice which, unfortunately, happens to be in part incorrect

It is true that employers have the right to make changes to staff contracted terms and conditions if the needs of the business demand it.

It is not true, however, that staff have no right of redress if the changes are of an "unfair" or "substantial" nature.
In these cases individuals have many rights of redress (dependant upon how the employer makes the changes) and CAN make a claim for both breach of contract (unfair dismissal) if they refuse to accept the new TAC's and are dismissed or constructive dismissal if they refuse to take on the new TAC's and resign. There will be no automatic right to redundancy in the case the OP has described.

Quote from employment law:

An employee maintains a common law right to treat himself as constructively dismissed if a substantial change to his working terms/conditions is made to his detriment

Key word is substantial and is the main issue in many CD cases and is why every CD case is different.

The OP has already been given sound advice (contact the CAB) and another useful source of information is the direct.gov site ...

http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/RedundancyAndLeavingYourJob/index.htm

I'd expect that the majority of staff when faced with this dilemma would simply moan a lot but simply go along with it out of financial need or unwillingness to take on a large employer and I'm sure that most large employers use this reluctance to their advantage

Good luck

MW

 

[Softus]

___________________________

Largely good advice from megawatt, but I would question one detail:

Quote from employment law:
An employee maintains a common law right to treat himself as constructively dismissed if a substantial change to his working terms/conditions is made to his detriment

I surmise from the words "employment law" that you're referring to written legislation, for example the Employment Rights Act 1996. However, the words you've used are not a quote from any statute. If you're referring to someone else's interpretation of the legislation, then it would be better not to say that it's a quote from 'employment law'.

As megawatt has already intimated, the changes an employer makes are less material than the manner of notifying and implementing those changes. An employer can justify pretty much anything on the grounds of needing to sustain the business, and as the correct notification is given, in the correct manner, and with the correct minimum notice period, then the employee has no right other than to be disgruntled.
___________________________

She could also call ACAS for advice. If anything, much better placed than CAB (and easier to get through to too.

A highly misleading suggestion - ACAS doesn't give advice in employer disputes. It's just an agency that acts as a go between to reduce acrimonious behaviour.
___________________________
Edited to remove typos.

 

[Stivino]

I was also in that position once upon a time. My dispute centred on the word "detriment". My employer didn't think the changes they wanted to make were detrimental while I clearly thought they were detrimental to me. How can an employer decide what will be to MY detriment? I also discovered that if they want to make changes that one doesn't want, they can give one 90 days notice of the changes and it's done with or without ones agreement.
Oh, I almost forgot, contracts ain't worth a toss.

 

[Softus]

contracts ain't worth a toss.

That's demonstrably untrue.