Advice please

[alsybob]

Hello, I was offered a job in December by a rival company at Ł18000 per annum which I duly accepted and started in January 2014, the company has now informed me 6 months later that I will have to accept a a Ł2000 pay cut as they made a mistake with salary at the time.
Can anyone advise were I stand on this given the short period of employment as i believe they will just manage me right out the door if i do not accept pay cut !!!!

[Harmonica]

Re: Advice please

Unfortunately if you refuse the pay cut, they can just sack you. You've not worked there long enough for protection on the basis of unfair dismissal. It is deeply unfair to do what they've done to you but I'm afraid you have no rights in this instance.

[Mr $quandaŁot]

Re: Advice please

Unfortunately if you refuse the pay cut, they can just sack you. You've not worked there long enough for protection on the basis of unfair dismissal. It is deeply unfair to do what they've done to you but I'm afraid you have no rights in this instance.

I'm not sure if you are entirely right. I think it depends on what the contract of employment says. If it clearly states the salary being Ł18,000 then I would have thought that they would need to honour it.

In any case, citizen advice should be able to assist.

[Harmonica]

Re: Advice please

They would need to honour it and the employee could take them to an ET for breach of contract. However, the cost and time of doing so would probably mean that the employee would find himself out of pocket even moreso than if he just took the pay cut.

If he then thought that after taking his employer to court he could return to his job and it would be a nice place to work then he'd have to think again. They'd just dismiss him.

If you have no legitimate discrimination, health and safety, whistleblowing claims on which to fight any detrimental treatment you've been subjected to by an employer, then you have virtually no rights if you have not been working there for more than 2 years.

[Mr $quandaŁot]

Re: Advice please

This sounds dodgy to me. I reckon the company is just trying to save money wherever they can and find a new starter - with very few rights - an easy target.

Firms don't normally make mistakes like this. Offers normally go through some scrutiny and are approved by the hiring manager and HR.

Whether to accept the proposed pay cut depends on personal circumstances. If the OP likes the job, sees it good for their career development and can afford to take the cut, then this may well be the easiest option.

Other options would be trying to find a new job which, depending on the industry and the location - may not always be easy.

[teaboy2]

Re: Advice please

Yes they would have to honor the Ł18,000 per annum. The contract if written and signed can not be changed without mutual agreement of both employer and employee, meaning any deductions taking the employees annual pay to below Ł18,000 (not including statutory deductions like TAX etc unless the Ł18,000 is sum after tax), with out prior agreement would be a breach of section 13 employment rights act 1998. The employee has a statutory right to be paid the wage stated in his/her contract. Therefore any dismissal as a result of the employee refusing the pay deduction or change of of contractual terms relating to amount of pay, would be automatic unfair dismissal under section 104 of the employment right act 1996, in the sense the employee is asserting his/her statutory right to be paid wages as per his contract. As such the 2 year qualifying period for tribunal no longer applies.

Also the employer can take unlawful deduction of wages to civil court (regardless of length of employment) as a breach of contract claim and reclaim all sums owed to him/her that were unlawfully deducted. And yes civil court would be the cheaper option.

[Harmonica]

Re: Advice please

They have not actually deducted any of his wages as yet so they have not broken the law. But as alsyob says above:

Can anyone advise were I stand on this given the short period of employment as i believe they will just manage me right out the door if i do not accept pay cut !!!!

The reality is that they will just manage him out the door if he refuses the pay cut. The next mistake he makes he'll be gone and it will be "fair". Out of interest, why would civil court be cheaper? Because there are no fees?

[teaboy2]

Re: Advice please

Not because they are no fee's, but because the fees are lower. Off course costs would be involved, but if the employer did unlawfully deduct wages then it would be the employer that would loose in court and likely be awarded all costs against them.

Also if they acted in a detrimental way as a result of the OP refusing to accept the pay cut, and ended up dismissing him, then no it would not be fair dismissal, if he can prove they had it in for him as a result of claiming his statutory right to not suffer unlawful deductions from wages without his consent. Which is not that difficult if he keeps a list of dates about incidents and things said to him.

[Harmonica]

Re: Advice please

Also if they acted in a detrimental way as a result of the OP refusing to accept the pay cut, and ended up dismissing him, then no it would not be fair dismissal, if he can prove they had it in for him as a result of claiming his statutory right to not suffer unlawful deductions from wages without his consent.

You are slightly more optimistic than me. To my mind that would not prevent them from "fairly" dismissing him if his misdemeanor was adjudged to be worthy of dismissal, regardless of whether they had it in for him or not. When you have no protection from unfair dismissal all it takes is for you to have one bad day at work where you might inadvertently use a swear word in front of colleagues/clients then you're out and it is "fair". Your employer only has to wait for you to make a mistake and that becomes the reason for your dismissal.

[teaboy2]

Re: Advice please

if he committed a misdemeanor that was classed as gross misconduct, at a later date. Then yes he could be dismissed for that. But they won't be able to just make up things out of spite and get away with it so easily! But thats only if the OP actually committed an act of gross misconduct at a later date. So hes at no greater risk of being dismissed for an actual act of gross misconduct then anyone else would be. So my view was in regards to making up allegations in revenge for standing up to his/her right not to suffer unauthorised deductions. Which is what i thought you were implying in your earlier post.