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Are they allowed to do this?
Former Member
Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
in Work & Study
I dont know if anyone here else works at Sainsbury's but some twat in a office chair decided to change something that has been going good for many years.
In our Department we have roughly about 5 People in the day shift, 3 of these people code check (rotating the products, reducing the products and taking the out of date stuff off) which takes 6-8 hours aday.
The code checkers start early in the morning, about 6-8 in the morning and finish about 2-5 in the evening. the other two start about midday.
We have just had the news dropped on us out of the blue that they are changing our hours (we havent agree'd or signed anything yet) that they all 3 code checkers must start the earliest at 11am within days to save money in giving reductions out to people to early.
Can companies change hours without telling you and especially at short notice?
I know they pay the wages but do staff have the rights to say when we can work? (as in "i can only work 8 till 5 due to transport issues)
Do we have any rights what so ever, what can we do?
In our Department we have roughly about 5 People in the day shift, 3 of these people code check (rotating the products, reducing the products and taking the out of date stuff off) which takes 6-8 hours aday.
The code checkers start early in the morning, about 6-8 in the morning and finish about 2-5 in the evening. the other two start about midday.
We have just had the news dropped on us out of the blue that they are changing our hours (we havent agree'd or signed anything yet) that they all 3 code checkers must start the earliest at 11am within days to save money in giving reductions out to people to early.
Can companies change hours without telling you and especially at short notice?
I know they pay the wages but do staff have the rights to say when we can work? (as in "i can only work 8 till 5 due to transport issues)
Do we have any rights what so ever, what can we do?
0
Comments
Well, yes, your managers have the right to state out your working hours, but it may depend on your contract whether working hours are subject to change or not. If it is clearly stated out in your written agreement/contract that you work within specified hours, it is normally not just anything they can alter without consent. That can be interpreted legally as a breach of contract.
However, if there's no specified hours in there, it could be more complicated, perhaps you could talk to the union of shop employers or similar. It could also be worth checking out the legislation around these issues, as it would probably define the legal framework including allowed working hours and so on.
That being said, it is normally not a very good decision to alter the setting of work before talking to anyone about it even if they have the right to do so. I'd perhaps look for another place if i could.
If you don't have set working hours within your contracts BUT those hours are the way it has always been then you also have some rights because they have become part of understood working practise.
Did you not sign a contract when you started?
Call ACAS on 08457 47 47 47 or Community Legal Advice on 0845 345 4345 to find out where you stand.