Can My flexible contract be changed after 8.5 years

[dinks]

hello,Can u tell me pls??
14.5 years on company,8.5flexible contract..
Mon -Fri,which states on contract..NO SATURDAYS stated..Never done them..
Company have said i can do my m-f..BUt will have to do saturdays...
Being a single parent with no relatives.....to help... iv appealed explained everything in detail very nicely... but now i see my name is the first on the list for this saturday 20/04/2013...NO reply to my appeal its been over 14 days..
Where do i stand as i wont be in saturday due to my childcare issues..
I understand a contract can be changed but with you and them agreeing...am i right or wrong.
How long for the company to get back to me...Do i have to wait forever and a day for a reply??
Ive done all i can..Dont know where to turn now.seems they r just forcing or trying to force me by putting me down for 1st saturday working in 4 days time.

[Eloise01]

Re: Can My flexible contract be changed after 8.5 years

No, you are wrong - an employer can enfoirce a change in contract. Have you formally written and said that you refuse to change your contracted hours? Because you must do so. If you do not, then you are agreeing to the change.

You have been rostered on in four days, so you do not have the luxury of waiting for them to come back to you about your appeal - you need to speak to your manager right now and tell them that you cannot work on Saturdays and ask why you have nhad no response.

Please explain what you mean by a flexible contract. Have the company explained why this change has been made? It would help if you could explain as much detail as possible.

[dinks]

Re: Can My flexible contract be changed after 8.5 years

hi.. I have appealed the decision that was over 15 days ago....have tried to call her and have had no reply..called my hr department...No reply..
The whole companys hours have been changed to rotas and shifts... Obvously all us mums who cannot cover the saturdays.. as ive not done since i took the flexible contract all these years ago after maternity. They have agreed my mon to fri but they refused my non saturdays... The changes r apperntly due to business changes and structral cahnges.. I was informed that trying to force someone to work a saturday is not a strutral change and that although they can change my contract being a flexible contract due to being a single mum etc... i was told that the changes have to be agreeed by both parties....Only!
Have also been told that the employment act cant remember what year overides them being able to change the days etc..

[dinks]

Re: Can My flexible contract be changed after 8.5 years

My line manager basically said... U will not be turning up he knows that... Was told by staff rep that they will AWOl me then disopline me.. but can they sack me if i dont agree to the changes.

[Eloise01]

Re: Can My flexible contract be changed after 8.5 years

I don't know who has been advising you, but if there is a genuine business need to change the shifts then that is a business justification and yes, they can do it. There are some flexibilities allowed to parents - but in the end this is employment and not social services, and the employers requirements are paramount. Being a single mother does not give you the any rights in employment matters. The employer can enforce cotractual changes for business reasons and no employment act prevents them from doing so. So "no" doesn't cut it, I'm afraid.

That does not mean that you have no rights - but they are far more limited than you have been led to believe. You must have been to work in the last 15 days - where is your manager, why haven't you spoken to them? Why haven't you pushed for an answer?

I appreciate you are upset but you have not answered my questions. What do you think is a flexible contract? What does this mean? Because it has no legal meaning at all! For all I know you are on a zero hours contract. I need information to help you.

[dinks]

Re: Can My flexible contract be changed after 8.5 years

im flexible for them,i work earlier or later as and when they require,When i came back after maternity Hr gave me that contract i didnt ask for no saturdays..
Well u seem to have all the answers..U tell me...Ive told u what they have done... The letter of appeal dont go to my line manager who i work with it goes to managing director... who ive tried to contact... If they r not replying... I cannot do anything about it....Im in surrey they r in Birmingham..I can only keep ringing leaving messages if they choose not to reply???
I was told by a staff rep that u do have rights as a single parent...It counts for something,What u r saying and being quite harsh......Are u a solicitor or an employer??
If the flexible contract has no meaning whats the point of my hr department coming to my house and giving it to me then bcos im a mum ??
And yes i have been to work in the last 15 days but u r bit confused cos as i say the letter dont go to them.

[dinks]

Re: Can My flexible contract be changed after 8.5 years

im flexible for them,i work earlier or later as and when they require,When i came back after maternity Hr gave me that contract i didnt ask for no saturdays..
Well u seem to have all the answers..U tell me...Ive told u what they have done... The letter of appeal dont go to my line manager who i work with it goes to managing director... who ive tried to contact... If they r not replying... I cannot do anything about it....Im in surrey they r in Birmingham..I can only keep ringing leaving messages if they choose not to reply???
I was told by a staff rep that u do have rights as a single parent...It counts for something,What u r saying and being quite harsh......Are u a solicitor or an employer??
If the flexible contract has no meaning whats the point of my hr department coming to my house and giving it to me then bcos im a mum ??
And yes i have been to work in the last 15 days but u r bit confused cos as i say the letter dont go to them.
They are saying these changes are for a work and life balance.. They havent even offered me a work and life balance..

[alham]

Re: Can My flexible contract be changed after 8.5 years

Hold on, if you have a staff rep that means that there is union recognition - how many employees are there in the company? Have the changed hours 'been through the negotiation process with the workforce?

[Eloise01]

Re: Can My flexible contract be changed after 8.5 years

im flexible for them,i work earlier or later as and when they require,When i came back after maternity Hr gave me that contract i didnt ask for no saturdays..
Well u seem to have all the answers..U tell me...Ive told u what they have done... The letter of appeal dont go to my line manager who i work with it goes to managing director... who ive tried to contact... If they r not replying... I cannot do anything about it....Im in surrey they r in Birmingham..I can only keep ringing leaving messages if they choose not to reply???
I was told by a staff rep that u do have rights as a single parent...It counts for something,What u r saying and being quite harsh......Are u a solicitor or an employer??
If the flexible contract has no meaning whats the point of my hr department coming to my house and giving it to me then bcos im a mum ??
And yes i have been to work in the last 15 days but u r bit confused cos as i say the letter dont go to them.

Getting arsey with me is really quite a positive way to go about getting help. It is difficult enough to make any sense out of your illiterate "text speak" posts; you fail to answer the questions that you are asked, then demand rights that you do not have.

I do not give a damn what your staff rep said. There are no rights attached to be a single parent. Ther are some entitlements attached to asking for flexible working adjustments attached to parents, but it is a right to ask for flexible working, not a right to get it! Nor is that particularly relevant right now since it has nothing to do with changing contracts, which the employer can do, and which is something entirely different - which I have also asked you about and you haven't answered.

There is no such thing in law as a flexible contract, so insisting on telling me that you have one or that HR came to your house and gave you one is of no assistance at all. I have now asked you twice to exlain the terms of your contract and you haven't done anything except repeat meainingless drivel and flexible contracts which does not help me understand what your contract actually says because there are no such things as flexible contracts.

You have staff reps / union officers - have you asked them to follow up your appeal letter? Surely they can get a response?

Oh, and if you can stay late as required and come in early as required, who looks after your child when you do that? Or during school holidays - do you only work term times?

And no, I am neither an employer, nor am I a solicitor. It really isn't any of your business what I am, and doubly so since you will not help yourself by answering my questions. For your information, however, I am two things - a retired employment law barrister; and out of here until you get a better attitude about answering questions from people who are trying to help you. I don't get paid to do this, I don't have to do this, and I certainly don't enjoy dragging information out of people who claim to want help but will not go as far as answering questions to help themselves. You are not the only parent around here you know, and while I was spending yesterday trying to drag information out of you, I also happened to have a daughter missing in Boston who frankly is far more important to me than your problems, so you are damned lucky that some people have a commitment to helping others that supersedes the selfishness of posters who expect and demand the answers they want to hear based on information which is useless to providing any answer at all.

[wales01man]

Re: Can My flexible contract be changed after 8.5 years

Again Eloise you have found time to advise an OP who wants the advice but doesnt want to hear what is correct somepeople dont deserve your help,But please dont stop offering it in the future many will gain from your expertise,
Hope everthing is ok with your daughter

[Eloise01]

Re: Can My flexible contract be changed after 8.5 years

Yes sorry I should have said, she is fine. But she was volunteering at the marathon and I knew she was located near the blasts. She wasn't that close to either bomb but got knocked down in the panic and has a few minor cuts and grazes and someone trampled on her ankle. Because the phones were jammed though, nobody could get through to her until the early hours of the morning, so all we knew was where she was and that there were dead and injured. Tragic though it was, it seems that most injuries were sustained like hers in the panic, rather than through the bombs.

[basa48]

Re: Can My flexible contract be changed after 8.5 years

Again Eloise you have found time to advise an OP who wants the advice but doesnt want to hear what is correct somepeople dont deserve your help,But please dont stop offering it in the future many will gain from your expertise,
Hope everthing is ok with your daughter

Echoed 100%.

Eloise, you give the best advice I have seen on any forum bar none.

I really hope your daughter is A OK.

[wales01man]

Re: Can My flexible contract be changed after 8.5 years

Thank you Eloise glad shes safe i cant imagine how you felt not knowing

[Eloise01]

Re: Can My flexible contract be changed after 8.5 years

Thank you Eloise glad shes safe i cant imagine how you felt not knowing

Believe it or not I still ache all over! I have aches in places I didn't know could ache!

[jon1965]

Re: Can My flexible contract be changed after 8.5 years

Dinks
I really would listen to Eloise, on employment law she really does know her stuff.
She has been asking you questions to try and get the whole picture but you are unwilling or unable to answer them.

I understand that you are frustrated and that being told you should have done things or that your opinions are wrong can be hurtful but as I said please trust Eloise on this one