Renegotiating Contract of Employment
Discussion
The scenario is that you have been working for your employers for over 6 years. Your Chief Executive decides to remove himself from the UK and live abroad, employing a Director to take over the day to day running of the company.
In the 6 years that you have been with the company, you have risen to the ranks of Head of Department, with a £60k salary and a contract of employment that stipulates 3 months Notice to terminate employment/contract by either side.
The new Director starts bringing in his own cronies/contacts, with long term employees, managers, head of departments starting to leave.
Then the Director approaches you, and informs you that you will no longer be Head of Department, and that your new title/position will now be a “Manager”, answering to another Head of Department.
The possibility is that the Director is attempting to secure his own position within the company by getting his own cronies/staff around him, thereby forcing staff to leave/resign.
If realising that there is a recession out there, with high numbers of unemployment, and that you have a family to support, mortgage etc. etc. , that whilst you don’t like the situation you have been placed in, the £60k will stop you from resigning.
If there is an attempt to remove you from the company, then the 3 months termination of contract does allow you some breathing space, but what if there is an attempt to renegotiate both your salary (down) and the length of Notice either side has to give to terminate contract of employment. Then what are your rights and how do you go about securing your position.
In the 6 years that you have been with the company, you have risen to the ranks of Head of Department, with a £60k salary and a contract of employment that stipulates 3 months Notice to terminate employment/contract by either side.
The new Director starts bringing in his own cronies/contacts, with long term employees, managers, head of departments starting to leave.
Then the Director approaches you, and informs you that you will no longer be Head of Department, and that your new title/position will now be a “Manager”, answering to another Head of Department.
The possibility is that the Director is attempting to secure his own position within the company by getting his own cronies/staff around him, thereby forcing staff to leave/resign.
If realising that there is a recession out there, with high numbers of unemployment, and that you have a family to support, mortgage etc. etc. , that whilst you don’t like the situation you have been placed in, the £60k will stop you from resigning.
If there is an attempt to remove you from the company, then the 3 months termination of contract does allow you some breathing space, but what if there is an attempt to renegotiate both your salary (down) and the length of Notice either side has to give to terminate contract of employment. Then what are your rights and how do you go about securing your position.
Any "substantial" changes to your contract must be by mutual consent. Both notice period and salary would be covered. If the company were in dire straits and you were asked to consent to a pay cut, you might have to agree if it were "unreasonable" for you to refuse. It doesn't sound like that is the case. However if he wants rid of you then, in time, he will make it happen. Either by making your life hell, or catching you out on minor infractions (the kind that everybody does, like using email for personal purposes etc). Similarly if you went through a full cycle of warnings etc for poor performance on your part, eventually you could be demoted or dismissed.
The one thing I don't know is what the rules are (if any) about changing your job role. I'm guessing that so long as your salary is untouched this is legal, but someone else may know more. Why is it that he made this change? Given that he still has to pay you, it seems like a big deal just to secure his own position, as you put it. Have you had some disagreements? Maybe he genuinely thinks the company has a lot of dead wood, including you? It seems unlikely to me that he'd simply inform you of your new position and not tell you why.
The one thing I don't know is what the rules are (if any) about changing your job role. I'm guessing that so long as your salary is untouched this is legal, but someone else may know more. Why is it that he made this change? Given that he still has to pay you, it seems like a big deal just to secure his own position, as you put it. Have you had some disagreements? Maybe he genuinely thinks the company has a lot of dead wood, including you? It seems unlikely to me that he'd simply inform you of your new position and not tell you why.
It will be much, much easier for you to get a similiar job if you start looking now. If you wait until you are unemployed, then you will end up taking a big cut (both salary and title).
Start looking for another job at 09:00 tomorrow morning. Don't worry about the rights and wrongs of the situation.
Don
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Start looking for another job at 09:00 tomorrow morning. Don't worry about the rights and wrongs of the situation.
Don
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Thank you all very much for your replies, very much appreciated.
The situation does not involve me personally, but my son’s girlfriend, who finds the same both intimidating and humiliating, particularly the latter where she now finds herself working alongside staff she both interviewed and took on for the company.
She spent today updating her CV, and both collating and downloading company data, the same that might help her in future employment.
Again thank you all for your replies.
The situation does not involve me personally, but my son’s girlfriend, who finds the same both intimidating and humiliating, particularly the latter where she now finds herself working alongside staff she both interviewed and took on for the company.
She spent today updating her CV, and both collating and downloading company data, the same that might help her in future employment.
Again thank you all for your replies.
Wings said:
She spent today updating her CV, and both collating and downloading company data, the same that might help her in future employment.
That sounds very ominous. Taking company data is a big no-no. This in itself could be grounds for dismissal, and certainly using it in another company could get her into a lot of legal bother. It may also be easier to track than she might think.Gassing Station | Jobs & Employment Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff