Variation clause in employment contract

[RQF]

I work for a global company which has recently been taken over. Locally the transfer is being done under TUPE regulations. We have recently received our new contracts and it includes a variation clause the wording of which is as follows

Variation Clause
The Company reserves the right to vary the terms of this contract of employment and the benefits referred to
in it. Any variation will be notified to you in advance of the date on which it takes effect.

Our concern is that the above clause would allow them to change any part of our contract unilaterally. Recently they have implemented a pay cut in certain countries without any consultation with the workforce and my concern would be that a clause like the above could be used to do the same in Ireland.

Our current contracts does not have a similar clause. The company is non unionised.

Is such a clause normal in employement contracts? Would my interpretation be correct that it would allow the employer to change any aspect of our benefits without prior agreement?

 

[jhegarty]

Don't sign it. Get legal advise.

 

[PAH]

I think we are working for the same company (if your old one sounds like a hairdresser and the new one like a sauce company) or we have two different companies in exactly the same situation. If it is not, than just forget what I say about them, but the general information is still valid. There is actually a union in the old company (not recognized, but we still have members). Their first comment about this clause was to question this clause and get it removed. If you joined your old company directly (i.e you weren't outsourced), you most likely have a similar clause as well (it has been on the front of the current terms & Conditions for the last years), but it is not as all-inclusive as the new one (it excluded work-location and salary). I'm not going to sign a contract with this clause for one single reason. The company put it there for a reason, they want to use it at same stage (they claimed in a separate letter that they won't use it for salary or location, but also won't remove it from the contract). Even if this clause would not be enforceable, it probably would mean you had to engage in some legal actions if they ever going to enforce it (and with the threatened pay-cuts, i think it's a high possibility that they are trying to do it). So I'm not going to sign a contract with such a clause in it.

 

[Mpsox]

My understanding is that your current contract (assuming you work for whom I think you work for) actually contains more or less the same clause.

However, the sauce company Hr have confirmed to the works council reps that they cannot change the T&Cs outlined in your contract without you agreeing to it in writing

 

[RQF]

Nothing I've seen so far makes me want to continue with the tomato sauce company.

I've seen the mail from HR however does that have any standing legally? Also while there is a similar clause in the current T&Cs it does not apply to salary. I intend to mail HR asking then to amend my offer letter to include a statement confirming what they have communicated through the works council rep.

 

[PAH]

Nothing I've seen so far makes me want to continue with the tomato sauce company.

I've seen the mail from HR however does that have any standing legally? Also while there is a similar clause in the current T&Cs it does not apply to salary. I intend to mail HR asking then to amend my offer letter to include a statement confirming what they have communicated through the works council rep.

I can't see the email having any legal standing.
please contact HR (everyone should, just to show them that we are not just taking, lieing down), but I wouldn't excpect any changes from them (no-one I know of has gotten more than the mail). However, I think an inclusion of this statement in your contract would be any good, as there would be still the loophole that they could use the clause, to change this statement again. The only effctive way would be, to remove the clause totally, or have two seperate documents (like the original ones) one that is changable and one that isn't.