New contract

[Macypops]

Went into work tonight (hotel) my boss had hurriedly drawn up a contract, I’ve worked there full time since 2016 and I’ve never signed one before , it says in it ,there are no fixed hours associated with your employment? Also says they reserve the right to lay us off should this be required , any reason she would give a contract on our last shift for the foreseeable future? Thankyou for any advice given*

[D_Pappa]

Hello,

This is not an area of speciality for myself, so I imagine that other members will post more useful guidance. However, as a starting point you are legally entitled to (and must be provided with) an employee within 2 months of their employment start date. The fact that you were not provided with one does not reflect well on your employer, and would be highly relevant if this matter ever results in a claim being raised to the employment tribunal.*

In any case, there always exists a contract between the employee and their employer, whether written or not. It sounds to me like your employer is trying to protect themselves - very late in the game - so that they can sack you / lay you off, given the ongoing Coronavirus situation. At a minimum, I would be very concerned about the timing.*

It is down to you as to whether or not you sign the contract, and I hope you did not do so hurriedly, but I would have serious reservations. Please proceed very carefully. I would consider the fact that you have worked for the company for around 4 years (so are protected from unfair dismissal) and will be able to enforce many aspects of your (unwritten) contract with your employer by relying upon custom and practice, should an issue arise in the future.

If you sign the new contract, you are agreeing to what appear to be revised, and less favourable terms. As it stands, if your employer has paid you a set wage, given you a consistent or minimum amount of work, on a regular and ongoing basis; if that was to suddenly stop, you could argue that your employer was in breach of their contractual obligations.

If the contact has been signed, it is likely enforceable, although you could argue that it you were under undue influence and/or duress; this would invalidate the contract. Of course, the burden of proof is on your demonstrate this.*

You may wish to read the following links as a point of reference:
Citizens Advice - Employment Contracts
Contracts & Agreements
Undue Influence & Duress

These are tough times for us all, both employer and employee alike. However, you must protect yourself and assert you employment rights if you need too. I wish you the best of luck and I hope you will keep us informed.*

[ULA]

I would suggest this is a reaction by your employer to the current situation we are all having to deal with. If you can remember back to your interview were you told any details about your hours of work etc? Have you been on any regular shift patterns, hours of work since you started working there?
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[Macypops]

Hi thank you both for answering my questions, I have not signed the contract and I do not intend to ,at my interview ( which was for kitchen assistant/desert chef I was promised at least 37 hours in winter ,I live in a seaside resort so hours are quite often less out of season but March to Xmas is our busiest time and I often work 50+hours , it seemed strange that she would draw a contract up on our last shift? Where it says job title that is left blank but says she reserves the right to put me on additional/other duties , is a contract supposed to have my job title /role?*
thank you once again

[ULA]

A contract will typically have a job title in it, otherwise it is not clear what job you are being contracted to do.*

There is also often a clause about requiring someone to undertake other/additional duties as the business requires so less concerned about that aspect.

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[Macypops]

Thankyou for replying , yeah I understand about having to do other /additional duties but it made me question it because it doesn’t actually say I have a job title/role or what my actual duties are ? I was employed as a dessert chef and wondered why that was not included?also the timing of the contract? It was given to me and the head chef to sign on our last shift before enforced government closure and we were expected to sign it there and then? It just seems to me that something is amiss but I’m not sure what , anyway Thankyou for your help , one last question though ,could she sack me if I refuse to sign it?

[ULA]

You should have a job title in your contract of dessert chef and if everything was being done properly a job description to go with it.

Your employer should have provided with you with a written statement detailing your main terms within 2 months of you starting so having not done that and given what is currently going on at the moment, I am not surprised you are suspicious of why this has happened now.

Just so you are aware the term in the contract regarding "lay-off" relates to the ability for an employer to offer no work and no pay for what is hoped to be a temporary period of time and is sometimes used in a situation where the employer is trying to avoid the need to make staff redundant.

Timing not great considering you are not working at the moment given the situtation however if you did not signed the contract and continued to work without raising any form of grievance about the terms within a reasonable time then it can be implied that you have accepted the contract. So if you are not happy about things then I suggest you raise it soon via email even though you are not working.*

Your employer may try and dismiss you but since you have been working there for more than two years then they would need to follow a disciplinary process otherwise you could potentially make an unfair dismissal claim.*

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[Macypops]

Thankyou so much , I will see her on Wednesday when I pick my wages up and just wanted to be aware of things before I speak to her , I can’t understand her wanting to lay us off because the government have said they will pay 80% wages , thankyou once again you have been very helpful*

[ULA]

Just a thought if you are meeting with your boss on Wed, could you not ask her if she would consider treating you and other staff members as furloughed so that you would become eligible for the job retention scheme?
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[Macypops]

I did say to her on Friday that the PM had said government would pay 80% of wages ( I didn’t know the term at the time) but her response was what he says and what he does are 2 different things , I txt her this morning and asked about it and she said it hasn’t been put into practice yet it’s just something they are talking about? I replied that I had read you have to apply to HMRC and we have to be furloughed, there will be 4 of us going to see her tomorrow (safety in numbers) so we will have all the information to put to her , Thankyou for taking the time to reply*

[ULA]

What your employer will need to do is the following:
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1. Designate you as ‘furloughed workers,’ and notify you of this change.* Hopefully you will give your consent to this since changing the status of an employee remains subject to existing employment law and depending on the employment contract, may be subject to negotiation.* Appreciate the issue of your contract. So long as you/your colleagues agree then this change to a “furloughed worker” can happen.

2. Your employer will then need to submit information to HMRC about the employees that have been furloughed and their earnings through a new online portal which is being set up for which HMRC will set out further details on the information required.*

Hope that helps for your meeting
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[Macypops]

Thank you for that , I will take a screenshot and show it to her*