Place of employment destroyed by fire.... ?employees rights

[des8]

one of my daughters works in a child nursery which was damaged by fire the other night.
( [MENTION=30456]wales01man[/MENTION] probably knows it as it is at Cellan)

They tried opening temporarily in the village hall, but not very successful as they could not rescue any of the equipment due to safety concerns.
Boss has now said they will remain closed until next week at least.
Daughter is wondering if the staff should be paid for this week (not known what sort of insurance the employer carries).
Anyone ( [MENTION=51026]Ula[/MENTION] ?) any advice please.

[ULA]

Re: Place of employment destroyed by fire.... ?employees rights

I believe that if an employer has to temporarily close its business premises at short notice because of unforeseen circumstances such as fire and there is no work available for its employees as a result, this will result in a period of lay-off. Unless there is a contractual right to lay employees off without pay, or employees expressly consent to being laid off without pay, they will be entitled to receive their normal pay for the duration of the lay-off which will hopefully only be until the middle of next week even if it is a temporary solution.

[des8]

Re: Place of employment destroyed by fire.... ?employees rights

Thanks [MENTION=51026]Ula[/MENTION] for that, which is what I half expected but thought to confirm before letting daughter know.

[ULA]

Re: Place of employment destroyed by fire.... ?employees rights

Hope everything goes ok and her employer can get something back in place even on a temporary basis not only for the staff but for the children who attend the nursery.

[des8]

Re: Place of employment destroyed by fire.... ?employees rights

The Care and Social services Inspectorate Wales have been out and inspected and reckon it will be 4 months before the temporary site is approved (no I don't know why so long).
Anticipated rebuild time for the existing premises is 5 to 7 months.

The owner has told the staff they can either have statutory redundancy, or keep their jobs on to half pay for the duration.

I suspect they will all chose half pay, and then go looking for a new job!

[Guest]

Re: Place of employment destroyed by fire.... ?employees rights

Anticipated rebuild time for the existing premises is 5 to 7 months.

The owner has told the staff they can either have statutory redundancy, or keep their jobs on to half pay for the duration.

I suspect they will all chose half pay, and then go looking for a new job!

Many years ago, the pub/restaurant I and my late husband owned was destroyed by an arson fire which kept the business closed for 18 months. I seem to remember our insurance paid the full wages of key staff on the condition they signed a declaration that they intended to return to their jobs when required and would reimburse the money they received if they did not return.

Why only half pay in the case reported on by Des8?

[des8]

Re: Place of employment destroyed by fire.... ?employees rights

Unfortunately I don't know what sort of insurance the owner carries.
It could be very basic and only cover redundancy payment, and she is going to make the difference up from her other business.

[des8]

Brief update:
Nursery rebuilding nearing completion and about to reopen.
Majority of staff stayed on and were paid for reduced hours.
Have now been told that they will be given new contracts.
Daughter tells me copy not yet received but they are being told their employment begins anew with a 6 month probationary period !!!!!!!!!!!
There are apparently other fundamental changes, so I have told her that when the contract is imposed to hand in a letter saying she is working under protest until she has time to study and make a decision on the changes.
The rest of the staff have elected to follow her lead!!

The new contract (for a nursery nurse) is apparently over 40 pages long

[Kati]

The new contract (for a nursery nurse) is apparently over 40 pages long

any chance of seeing a copy of that when she gets it des8 ??

[des8]

of course

[ULA]

Hi Des8 not sure why they are being given new contracts when the nursery reopens. Raising a warning bell with me.

Will be happy to review the contract when your daughter gets a copy.

[des8]

Txa Ula will take up your offer in due course

[des8]

Hi Ula
Got to see the new contract (70 pages) yesterday.
Scanner has gone on blink so daughter has photo'd main pages of concern.
I've had to compress them to send.
Never done this before, and didn't have any grandchildren available to help, so hope they've come through legibly!

looks as if pages have been jumbled ...sorry.
Numbered clauses are the contract.
Alphabetical clauses are from T&Cs

Concerns are around:
General terms & procedures (B) Other employment... is it fair to impose this new condition on part time workers?
(I) training agreement.. there was never a clawback clause for training costs
(Q)Parent relations.... seems harsh that in event of dispute employee is sacked and parents not instructed to remove child!
Clause 5 Prevention of employment by clients seems very restrictive as it is not limited to child care employment
Clause 6 Non competition too restrictive & probably unenforceable as restraint of trade? (see also clause 1).
.

One other concern for my daughter is a restriction on bringing cameras into work (clause R)
Obviously there is a concern where children are involved.
She has a 45 minute drive to work across country, and to remain available for her own children needs to have her phone with her
Up until now they have been permitted to take mobiles into work and leave them in the staff room
They are still allowed to take mobiles in (which mobile doesn't incorporate a camera?) and leave them in the staff room.
However the staff room has been dispensed with and they will now use another room when it isn't in use as a training room (so isn't actually a staff room)
If they want to make a hot drink the staff have to use the director's office.
My suggestion was that mobiles are allowed in, but retained in a locker in the directors office, but we don't know how that will be received..

Finally the nursery is having an open day tomorrow, prior to reopening, and the boss wants the contracts back in signed.
Daughter is signing hers under protest, and including a letter saying that three days is not enough time to study the changes and take advice.
Pragmatically I doubt there is much she can do other than try and have her contract modified a bit.
She could not afford to be without pay while any court case drags on, and employment opportunities are scarce in West Wales

Thanks in advance for any pointers

[ULA]

Hi des8 sorry have not looked at this yet - will try and get a chance later this morning as I need to take a bit of time to go through it.

[ULA]

Had a chance to go through everything now sorry it has taken me so long. Will get the attachment taken off now I have had a look at it as the originator is identifiable.

Firstly, a point for your daughter would be why have they decided to issue new contracts of employment, how much notice was given to then that this was going to happen and what consultation took place?

On the 3 pages of the Statement of Main Terms of Employment – nothing untoward on those.

On the queries you raised:

(B) Other employment... is it fair to impose this new condition on part time workers? It is a fairly standard clause in most contract, even for part-time workers. Employer would want to be sure any series of part time jobs does not contravene the 48 hour Working Time Directives. If your daughter took an evening job and her nursery shifts were early morning she would not be arriving at work tired. How flexible could she be to cover other shifts at the nursery if necessary etc. So, if she did get another job she may need to bear these things in mind and ensure she can show it will not interfere with her current job.

(I) training agreement. there was never a clawback clause for training costs. I would ask your daughter to get a copy of the Training Agreement just so she knows what is says. If this is something new and not in the previous contract then it should have been part of any consultation in advance of the new contracts being given. Training claw-backs are not unusual but they should be detailed and agreed in writing in advance of any training attended where a claw-back is to be applied. The claw back should be over a defined period, on a sliding scale and detail what happens in the event that a final salary does not cover the amount requiring to be clawed-back.

(Q)Parent relations.... seems harsh that in event of dispute employee is sacked and parents not instructed to remove child! It does seem very harsh and I presume not in her current contract. I am not quite sure where this would stand with more than 2 years’ service and there was no disciplinary action being taken resulting in a dismissal for gross misconduct. Although I can image they would argue she signed the contract so knew the situation.

Clause 5 Prevention of employment by clients seems very restrictive as it is not limited to child care employment. Sorry do not have this clause

Clause 6 Non competition too restrictive & probably unenforceable as restraint of trade? (see also clause 1). Sorry do not have this clause

Agree with your sensible suggestion re mobile phones