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Flexible working
Information about asking for flexible work, and what to do if your employer is changing your hours
Unfair dismissal where an employer is trying to change terms and conditions
Released 11th March, 2010|4,686 Views
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If you are dismissed because you refused to agree to a change in your contract or you refuse to sign a new contract, and you have a year or more of service, you may have a claim for unfair dismissal. If your employment started on or after 6 April 2012, you must have two years of service to claim unfair dismissal.
An employer has quite a lot of freedom to organise his business in the best way he sees fit. If there is less of a need for people doing the type of work that you do, then an employer might seek to dismiss some people by reason of redundancy. Redundancy is a potentially fair reason for dismissal, but if you were unfairly selected for redundancy you might have a claim. If, on the other hand, there is still the same amount of work to do but the employer wants it done in a different way, then there is probably no redundancy situation. If you cannot work in the new way and so you are dismissed, the employer is likely to argue the potentially fair reason for dismissal is “some other substantial reason”. For the dismissal to be fair the employer will have to show that his reasons for making the changes are substantial and reasonable. It is difficult to win an unfair dismissal claim in these circumstances, so you should consider whether you might be able to make sex discrimination claim.You should get advice from, for example, a Citizens Advice Bureau, before making this argument.
If your employer does not dismiss you but you are forced to resign, you may be able to argue that this is a constructive dismissal. If a tribunal is satisfied that you had in effect been forced to resign by your employer’s actions, it will then go on to consider whether the dismissal was unfair. You should get advice before resigning.
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