Q And A
Ask the expert: upping my hours
When I returned to work after 9 months maternity leave my company agreed to me working 3 days a week with the opportunity to review this on both sides. I did these hours for 10 months with no issues whatsoever. Then upon my annual review I was asked to up my hours and do 4 days a week due to an increased workload in the department. I agreed on the proviso that these would be my permanent hours going forward. I am now into my 6th month and have just been informed that the company now wish me to work 5 days a week (nothing in my role has changed). As I have carried out this role perfectly well on a part-time basis for 16 months now, do I have a case to argue that the position should remain part time?
Answer by Anna Docherty
Your employment contract , while not necessarily written down, has implied that you are doing a 4-day week. If your employers want to change your hours to 5 days per week, then that is a substantial change in your contract and requires your consent. If they try to unilaternlly impose the changes then they would be breaching your contract and you might well have a legal claim for breach of contract and potentially for sex discrimination too.
You should arrange a meeting with them to discuss this and try and understand why they need you to do your job in 5 days. They may have valid reasons. If they refuse to discuss it then you should lodge a Grievance to force your employer to respond formally. If your employer thinks the job is going to grow then they need to discuss dividing the role up or perhaps a job share.
Anna Docherty has been working in the human resources field since 1993 in both blue chip companies and small companies. Since 2006, she has been an HR Consultant for Docherty HR. To contact her for a private consultation, email her on dochertyhr@btinternet.com. Her website is www.dochertyhr.co.uk.
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