Staff get documents to sign agreeing to Redundancies, Wage cut, Hours cut & no BH pay

Hello!

Im 5 years emloyed at the company with a contract with empoyer: full time (8h- a day 5-days a week 9.50p/h)

Just before Christmas me and other staff got document to sign from our employer with an action they want to take as the forecast for 2012 is not encouraging and they need to face the future head on .

1.Redundancies.
2.Wage reductions. To cut the hourly rate of all staff.
3.Reductions in hours. This will be implemented immediately and they will be reducing hours which be determined on a weekly basis.
4.Statutory Bank hollidays. With regret they will not be in position at this time to pay for these hollidays for 2012 and will be effective from 1 st of January.

They emphasise that is required that all staff are in agreement otherwise they cant implement same and would therefore be forced to reconcider 1 and 2 above.

Please give me an advise. Is it legal what employer does with us?

I dont want to sign this and I rather leave job to look for another.

And who can tell me what are my statutory options if i want to be redundant?

4 is illegal under all circumstances.

The rest would depend on your contract.

The National Employment Rights Authority provide detailed info - www.employmentrights.ie

Are you a member of a Union that you can refer the matter to ?

Hi 06NP and welcome to aam.

Im sorry to hear about your employers apparent unilateral action just before christmas.

Ive expanded your title a little to more fully reflect your question.

Are trade unions organised in your industry?

Is it possible that the letter represents a kind of opening move in a negotiation?

aj
mod

Hello! Unfortunately im not a memeber of any union yet. But im working on it now. I made a query in NERA im waiting for an answer. Thank you all for answering me !

Assuming you are on a contract, a contract cannot be changed without the agreement of both parties. So they can't change your contract of employment without your agreement.

That said, they can make you redundent, but only if your position is truly no longer required. They can't make you redundant and then give your job to someone else.

Your contract might include a clause saying the company can alter your working hours as required, in which case you're screwed.

They can try to fire you for some imagined offence, but unless they've already got a disclipinary process going, that would amount to unfair dismissal.

It is a very bad idea to agree to reduction in rate of pay.

If you agree a reduction in hours, then you can take steps to ensure that any future redunancy payments are protected. You should only ever agree to this as a temporary measure, and request a review every 3 months to ensure that it cannot be argued in the future that you agreed to the changes.

It is also much easier to get your hours reinstated if things pick up than trying to get a pay rise again in the future.

Also, if your hours are reduced, then you have more time to look for other work, or even just to have for your own private use.