Changes in terms and conditions imposed by an employer - case studies

1. You have been employed for two years and work in a warehouse packing clothing for distribution. You are contracted to work Monday to Friday 9-5.30 pm.  Because business is good your employer wants to start opening six days a week instead of five. He tells everyone that from next month all staff will be on the rota to work two Saturdays a month. He is not willing to make any exceptions as he wants to be fair to everyone by getting everyone to do the same. You cannot work weekends as you are a single parent and you have no one to look after the children.

Advice: Unless there is a good business reason for this change you are likely to have an indirect sex discrimination claim against your employer (if you are a woman) as well as claims for unfair constructive dismissal (if you resign) and , depending on the terms of your contract, breach of contract.

Even though there may well be a good business reason for opening six days a week there is probably not a good reason for requiring everybody to work on Saturdays regardless of his or her circumstances. Because the work is relatively low skilled it is likely that he could recruit some Saturday only part-time staff to cover this work if some of the existing staff could not work on Saturdays because of their childcare responsibilities.

2. You work in a call centre doing shifts from 8am – 4pm or 10am - 6 pm. Your employer wants to extend the centre’s opening times to 8.30 pm and proposes a new shift of 12- 8.30 pm which will be worked by everybody on a three weekly rotation. You cannot do that shift except at the weekends when your partner is at home. In the week he does not get home until 7.30 pm so you would have no one to look after the children between 6.30 pm (when their after-school club shuts) and 7.30 pm.

Advice: Again you may have a claim for breach of contract and for indirect sex discrimination (for women only). It is unlikely your employer could justify their reason for this change unless they could show they had fully explored other ways of organising the rota and found all other ways to be extremely difficult to implement. In most cases it would be possible to still run a full service by allowing some people fixed shifts and rotating the others or by recruiting additional staff to cover the evening shift. Some companies also offer self-rostering.

3. You work for a company in northeast London doing administration work. The company moves out to Luton which is 1.5 hours further travelling time than you have at the moment. Your contract doesn’t mention anything about moving to another site.

Advice: Without a mobility clause in your contract your employer cannot make you move to a different site so far away. Because the new place of work is so far from the current place of work, you should be offered redundancy. Alternatively, you may also want to explore the option of remote working, and see whether any of your job could be done from home if you did want to stay with the company. Even if there is a mobility clause in your contract the extra distance may have such an impact on your childcare responsibilities that, if you are a woman, this could be indirect sex discrimination.

4. You are a nurse working shifts and have always had fixed days. Now a new manager has come in and wants you to do nights as well which you can’t do as you are a single dad.

Advice: Unfortunately as a man you can’t use the indirect sex discrimination argument. You should look around to see if any female nurses are being given fixed days. If they are, you may have a claim for direct sex discrimination.

If you are married you may be able to claim indirect marital discrimination. In any case you may have a claim for breach of contract and possibly unfair dismissal if you are sacked for refusing to work nights, or constructive dismissal if you leave.  You could raise a grievance or make a flexible working application (but explicitly on the basis that you do not accept the legitimacy of the employer’s change) if you want to keep your job. You should take legal advice before resigning.