Urgent Contract advice needed
Discussion
i am a electronics engineer and im a salaryed employee sometimes in our field of work because it all contract work we dont have much to do. we have all been given new contracts with this clause in it
'Short term working layoffs The company reserves the right to immediatley introduce a period of short time working or period of unpayed layoff subject to operational needs'
there are other bits in the contract saying we cant go and work for other companys while we are employed but current employer. so basically if we sighn to this clause they can make us take unpayed leave whenever they want. can they do this? any advice would be greatly appreciated
WVM
'Short term working layoffs The company reserves the right to immediatley introduce a period of short time working or period of unpayed layoff subject to operational needs'
there are other bits in the contract saying we cant go and work for other companys while we are employed but current employer. so basically if we sighn to this clause they can make us take unpayed leave whenever they want. can they do this? any advice would be greatly appreciated
WVM
Exactly what I'd do if anyone tried something like that on with me. I am already a contractor, but I've seen some really dubious 'Contractor Contracts' in my time aswell, like the ones that claim that they own whatever you do even outside of the contracted time, my answer is normally, "You want to own me 24hrs a day? Fine, you pay me 24hrs a day and this is my hourly rate!", the clauses get changed rather quickly or I don't work for the client, simple as that.
Seems unfair to me - they want the option to not pay you, while at the same time want you to sign a 'lock-out' agreement. It's weighted too much in the favour of the employer. I wouldn't sign it.
What astonishes me is the "stupidity of the decision behind it" (kindergarden management). This type of management destroys all goodwill from the employees and is likely to be a major own goal I'd say.
I had a personnel consultant advise me recently to re-issue contracts of employment to all my staff, because some of the rules have changed and I needed to protect myself further. I said to the bloke: "If I was an employee and my boss asked me to sign a new contract of employment, I'd be highly suspicious. Any goodwill that I've generated over the years, which causes people to go the extra mile (work late and stuff) could be lost at a stroke". As such, I told him to bog off.
What astonishes me is the "stupidity of the decision behind it" (kindergarden management). This type of management destroys all goodwill from the employees and is likely to be a major own goal I'd say.
I had a personnel consultant advise me recently to re-issue contracts of employment to all my staff, because some of the rules have changed and I needed to protect myself further. I said to the bloke: "If I was an employee and my boss asked me to sign a new contract of employment, I'd be highly suspicious. Any goodwill that I've generated over the years, which causes people to go the extra mile (work late and stuff) could be lost at a stroke". As such, I told him to bog off.
srebbe64 said:
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I said to the bloke: "If I was an employee and my boss asked me to sign a new contract of employment, I'd be highly suspicious. Any goodwill that I've generated over the years, which causes people to go the extra mile (work late and stuff) could be lost at a stroke". As such, I told him to bog off.
Contracts are a two way street. If sold correctly to staff they do not need to be a deterrent to motivation.
If yours are out of sync with current legislation you may just rue the day told him to bog off.
2 Smokin Barrels said:
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I said to the bloke: "If I was an employee and my boss asked me to sign a new contract of employment, I'd be highly suspicious. Any goodwill that I've generated over the years, which causes people to go the extra mile (work late and stuff) could be lost at a stroke". As such, I told him to bog off.
Contracts are a two way street. If sold correctly to staff they do not need to be a deterrent to motivation.
If yours are out of sync with current legislation you may just rue the day told him to bog off.
That's what he said. But my thinking is that if I re-issue contract every time there's a legislation change I'll be doing it all the time - which is a nonsense. Also, you're right they are a two-way street and I wouldn't appreciate staff coming to me with adjusted employment terms and asking me to agree them.
The real answer is that an employee / employer relationship should be "relational" not contractual. If the relationship breaks down then the contract's not worth a bean. Same as my marriage, which works because of my relationship with my wife and not the marriage certificate. As such, I put my energies into staff relations rather than staff contracts. Works for me, with just 5% staff turnover and a 7 figure annual profits.
2 Smokin Barrels said:
[quote=2 Smokin Barrels]
[quote=srebbe64].
The real answer is that an employee / employer relationship should be "relational" not contractual. If the relationship breaks down then the contract's not worth a bean.
That's naive in the extreme.
Well my naivety is pragmatic, and my loyal staff are earning a fortune - as am I.
I'd rather be Naive and succesful than cautious and poor!
we are currntly on a recruitment drive, i think it has something to do with christmas, we dont shut down over christmas and end up loosing quite alot of money paying people who dont want to use some of thier measly 20 day holiday allowance, i think hes covering his ass so when it comes round to christmas he can make people have the time off if you dont want to use your holiday you can go unpayed etc
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