We've been given 2 days to accept or reject a new contract...without being given the contract to read first. This strikes me as rather dodgy and makes me think that my employers are hiding something. If we don't accept the new contract (without having read it), we'll be penalised 2 days pay and it will be imposed on us anyway (after a pretend consultation, of course).
We have been told that there are two main changes in the new contract, but without any chance to read it we don't really know what changes have been made.
i) Switch from weekly to four-weekly pay, in arrears. So we'll lose 3 weeks pay until we leave the job (1 week in arrears to 4 weeks in arrears) and have to work those 3 weeks without being paid anything. This is obviously a problem for staff on very low wages, because of course we don't have that much money saved. I can borrow the money, so I can work around this change.
ii) Switch from a contracted hours to a contract without defined hours. So we have to work as and when required, with no guarantees. In effect, it makes us all casual workers. No definite number of working hours, so no definite pay. Maybe you can pay the rent next month, maybe not. Maybe you have to work every day this week, maybe you're not allowed to work any days this week. That lack of reliability is a worry when you're already poor.
It is theoretically possible to refuse to agree to (ii), but I'm not naive enough to think it's a real choice. The real choice is sign or goodbye. At best, refusing to sign means never having another pay rise unless you're on less than minimum wage.
The memo presented it in the usual patronising bull, pretending it will benefit us by allowing us a 3% pay rise and making it easier to fit monthly direct debits to pay (an obvious lie, as it's 4-weekly pay, not monthly pay). It's annoying to be patronised like that, but that's to be expected.
So my question is:
Are there any limits to varying employees' working days and hours that are imposed on employers by law?
The memo we were given gave none - complete carte blanche for our employer to vary them any way they liked from hour to hour without any notice. So it appears, for example, that they could make us phone every morning to see if they'll give us any work that day, or extend any working shift during that shift (e.g. you're told you're working 9-3 one day and at 5 to 3 you're told you have to carry on working until 11)...anything they like.
I need answers quickly, thanks to the 2 day limit imposed on us, so I can't go to the CAB or anything like that.
We have been told that there are two main changes in the new contract, but without any chance to read it we don't really know what changes have been made.
i) Switch from weekly to four-weekly pay, in arrears. So we'll lose 3 weeks pay until we leave the job (1 week in arrears to 4 weeks in arrears) and have to work those 3 weeks without being paid anything. This is obviously a problem for staff on very low wages, because of course we don't have that much money saved. I can borrow the money, so I can work around this change.
ii) Switch from a contracted hours to a contract without defined hours. So we have to work as and when required, with no guarantees. In effect, it makes us all casual workers. No definite number of working hours, so no definite pay. Maybe you can pay the rent next month, maybe not. Maybe you have to work every day this week, maybe you're not allowed to work any days this week. That lack of reliability is a worry when you're already poor.
It is theoretically possible to refuse to agree to (ii), but I'm not naive enough to think it's a real choice. The real choice is sign or goodbye. At best, refusing to sign means never having another pay rise unless you're on less than minimum wage.
The memo presented it in the usual patronising bull, pretending it will benefit us by allowing us a 3% pay rise and making it easier to fit monthly direct debits to pay (an obvious lie, as it's 4-weekly pay, not monthly pay). It's annoying to be patronised like that, but that's to be expected.
So my question is:
Are there any limits to varying employees' working days and hours that are imposed on employers by law?
The memo we were given gave none - complete carte blanche for our employer to vary them any way they liked from hour to hour without any notice. So it appears, for example, that they could make us phone every morning to see if they'll give us any work that day, or extend any working shift during that shift (e.g. you're told you're working 9-3 one day and at 5 to 3 you're told you have to carry on working until 11)...anything they like.
I need answers quickly, thanks to the 2 day limit imposed on us, so I can't go to the CAB or anything like that.
