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Welcome to the new world of part-time work. From accountants and law firms in the City offering staff four-day weeks, three-month sabbaticals or £10,000 for would-be trainees to take gap years through to the staggering one-quarter of manufacturers reckoned to have cut hours during the recession, we are increasingly being asked to take time out. But if you don't want a pay cut, what are your options?
1. Check your employment contract, says Ann Jay, a senior employment adviser at Cheshire Citizens Advice, to ensure there is no provision for a cut. Assuming there isn't, you have options.
2. You can reluctantly carry on. But be warned: if you do so without raising an objection, you may automatically be deemed to have accepted the new practices of your own volition.
3. Or you could object. "Work the lesser hours, but raise a grievance saying that you're doing this for a couple of weeks and you're working under protest," says Jay. Put it in writing. Hopefully your employer will respond positively. If not ...
4. You could go to an employment tribunal and claim the difference between your normal wages and the reduced wages. Or go to the county court and sue for breach of contract if your claim concerns more than wages.
5. Or you can quit. You can only work under protest so long; eventually you'll have to resign and claim constructive unfair dismissal. A drastic step, but such claims are usually successful, says Jay, if a contract has been breached.
6. Or choose not to rock the boat.
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