Is there a minimum notice period that your employer is required to give you prior to the introduction of short time (or reduced hours) working?

The employees in our small company (less than 5 staff) agreed in principle at a meeting in early Nov to reduced hours (there is nothing in our contracts on short time working). The boss has indicated that this will (probably) start in Dec but won’t say what the reduction in hours will be (could be a 4 day week but possibly 3 day week) or for how long they expect the changes to last (although they have quoted legal minimum periods at us).

I’ve done a bit of digging around on this… and the advice usually ends with speak to the CAB.. so if anyone has any experiences or advice that they can point me to that would give me a better understanding of the legalities of the situation, then that would be greatly appreciated.

Errmm – thats a complex one. There are various rules about this sort of thing. But I don’t know them

Have you had a look on the TUC site?

http://www.tuc.org.uk/index.cfm

http://www.worksmart.org.uk/

Thanks will take a look, why do they make this stuff so complicated. 👿 Seems that the term ‘short time working’ is used very loosely in the literature, but actually starts to have a legal defintion if your working hours drop to below 50% as it is at that point you can seek a redundancy payment (even if you are technically not being made redundant).. but then your employer can issue counter notices … and reinstate hours some of your hours etc to avoid this … etc etc..

Daft really … as I’m not interested in getting into a legal battle with my employer, I would just like to know whether I can put some weight behind any question that is seeking greater certainty as to the situation that will be imposed.

If the whole workforce are of similar mind then you do have some power. So you need to establish that. Tehn go to the boss and say something like. ” we are prepared to co operate on the reduction in hours but we want it to be fair. Can you tell us when and how much?” Making it Implicit in that is if he doesn’t tell you you will refuse to co operate thus making his life harder.

If only that would work… boss is a women, secretive, manipulative, divisive and also a bit of a bully. Classic characteristics for a small business! She has now said she will ‘update you on the situation and explain proposals for short time working commencing in December’ but we still don’t know what the level of reduction will be – and it’s likely, I believe, that she will impose different terms on different members of staff.

Hey ho, good to get it off my chest if nothing else – thanks for the advice TJ. 🙂

JOin a union – all of you.

If its only a small business the workforce hold some power – ‘cos with no workforce there is no business.

You’d think wouldn’t you.. woman is so deluded she probably thinks she could run it on a shoestring without us until things picked up…. Self employment beckons 😉