Breach of employment contract?

[Kayjd1987]

Hi and good evening

my partner is having an issue with his current employer

his work contract states he will be employed for an average of 42 hours per week calculated over a period of several weeks which will equate to 182 hours per calendar month.

In the last three months of employment he has not reached the 42 hour average or the 182 contracted hours.

His original job advert he applied for also states the 42 hours a week on a four on four off shift pattern. This shift pattern also has not happened.

He has been offered shifts when existing employees have called in sick or not turned up but these are for 12 hour shifts often 2 hours before or one hour into the shift.

They are also not his contracted shifts on his rota. He is currently £2000 down in wages

he has raised two grievances about this as after raising the issue with the management they just kept saying they have put him on as a relief until his job becomes available and he should take the Ad hoc shifts which he never agreed to as we need a static rota which he applied for and stated in his interview and confirmed at the time but they now deny

the first grievance was not answered the second was heard today by his existing management who didn’t have any answers to his issues at all and feel that the six shifts he had on his rota and the ad hoc cover shifts waa a sufficient amount of work for his contract!

We are now facing a pay packet of £600 for
a month with him as the main earner we are struggling

surely this is a beach of contract? His management also said at the meeting that they phoned him to discuss his first grievance this calm never happened, that I even turn down shifts on his behalf which of course I would never do!

[ULA]

The contract, it seems from your post, does not commit to a set number of hours but only an average over a period of time, however is the 182 hours a committed number of hours per month against which your partner's pay is calculated? Is he paid on an hourly rate or an annual salary?

What does the contract state in regard to shift patterns and what is the company’s ability to vary those according to the circumstances of the business given reasonable notice?

When your partner raised the grievances was these in writing?

How long as your partner been employed at the company?

Sorry about all the questions but it will provide some further clarity on the contractual position and help me to provide a more comprehensive answer.

[Kayjd1987]

His contract states word for word

you will be contracted for an average of 42 hours per week calculated over a period of several weeks which will equate to 182 hours per calendar month.

His pay is calculated on hours worked
not a fixed salary per year.

the contract states in terms of variation that they will give him reasonable notice in terms of changes to shifts which he has not received

The grievences were raised in writing through the employment portal they must use after a concert with his manager and text messages didn’t answer his concerns.

He has been working there for four months

[ULA]

Well the contract does state that the average hours he works will equate to 182 hours per calendar month, so in my opinion that is the hours over a calendar month he should be required to work and remunerated according to his hourly rate of pay.

If the contract states reasonable notice be given then it should be more than a couple of hours before or into the shift, although legally "reasonable" is an undefined term.

In regard to grievances when they are raised they should be dealt with in accordance with the company's grievance procedure which should, if it is a fair process, allow for a meeting to be arranged with the person who has raised the grievance in order that they can state their case. This allows for due consideration, maybe further investigation carried out by the company if required, prior to there being any concluded outcome. Certainly not via text messages.