employment rights

[herbie]

.Hi all hope someone can help i work in a shop and have been told by the manager that there will be a staff meeting next week to cut our hours there are 6 of us involved and apparently we all have to lose 3 hour each a week. Can they do that? if so how much notice do they have to give us?.Do we have any say in how and when we lose the hours? Also the meeting is at a time when im not working should i get paid for going?.The shop will still be open the same time as it is now and the manager and her assistant will be covering the hours we lose on there own .Thanks in advance

[THECORBYLOON]

You do not have to agree to the new terms but ultimately the employer can terminate the contract after following the correct procedure to resolve the dispute and giving enough notice as per the contract.

A new contract can then be offered and if you still refuse, that's the end of it and there's no breach of contract because they gave appropriate notice to end the previous one.

Have a look here at the ACAS site, http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=81 6

[Eve]

There's probably not much else they can do as sounds like maybe trade is suffering and they need to cut back.

Sounds like they are trying to be fair in dropping everyone's hours rather then targetting or getting rid of someone.

I'd say that the obvious times to cut staff are the quieter times so they still retain more staff when it's busier.

When it comes down to it they are a business and have to do what is best for the business. I'm sure they will try and accomodate staff if possible but at the end of the day it's all down to economics.

If you're unhappy with the new regime then maybe it might be best to look for another job.

[buildersmate]

Can I just add that they have to give you a minimum of your notice period to implement this.