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As an employer, there are times when you may need to change the terms of the employment contract. For example, there may be a change in your business or your employee’s responsibilities. However, to change an employment contract, you need your employee’s consent. Otherwise, if you do not gain your employee’s consent, your changes will not necessarily be binding. However, if an employee does not agree to the change, there are some steps you can take to avoid a conflict arising. This article will explain what you can do as an employer if an employee does not agree to a change in their contract.
What Happens if My Employee Disagrees?
You must gain your employees’ consent before changing their employment contract. Otherwise, if you change their contract without their approval, you could face:
- a legal claim for breach of contract;
- damage to your business’ reputation or your reputation as an employer;
- strikes by your staff or alternative industrial action;
- poor long-term working relationships and morale;
- work ‘under protest’, meaning your employees still carry out their job role but disagree on the changes; or
- a legal claim for constructive dismissal.
You should note that where your employees have not expressed that they disagree with your proposed employment contract changes, this may signify their acceptance of the changes.
What Actions Can I Take if My Employee Disagrees?
If you and your staff cannot agree on the changes to their employment contract, you can take the following steps.
1. Have Constructive Conversations
While you may have consulted your employees and their representatives before proposing changes to their employment contracts, you may need to engage in further dialogues. After all, employee resistance to change likely indicates that there are additional points of view you have not considered.
To engage in constructive conversations, you should:
- help your employees understand the reasons for your proposed changes by being honest and open;
- ask questions and listen to responses to understand your employees’ viewpoints;
- be flexible in making changes to your proposals;
- work on each change one by one to keep things more straightforward;
- be prepared for different opinions as this is natural; and
- try to find mutually agreeable solutions rather than those that favour one party.
2. Make Your Proposed Changes More Attractive
Rather than give up on your proposed changes, you could try to find ways to make them more attractive. For example, you can:
- offer to introduce changes gradually;
- introduce a change temporarily; and
- be fair with changes, such as considering its effect on more senior staff compared to newer staff.
3. Collective Bargaining
You should go about contract negotiation differently if you have a collective agreement with a trade union. For instance, you should carry out collective bargaining.
Collective bargaining is a procedure for negotiating with trade unions according to the collective agreement. Once this option has been exhausted, you can resort to directly negotiating with your employees. You should note that you could face an employment tribunal if you do not exhaust collective bargaining.
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Key Takeaways
Getting employees to agree to changes to their employment contracts can be tricky. However, when you cannot get them to agree to the changes, you should:
- engage in constructive conversations, keeping in mind that you should find a mutually agreeable solution rather than one that favours you;
- make the change more attractive by introducing other incentives; and
- carry out collective bargaining according to any collective agreement you have with a trade union.
If you need help understanding what to do if you cannot agree to employment contract changes in England, our experienced employment lawyers can assist as part of our LegalVision membership. For a low monthly fee, you will have unlimited access to lawyers to answer your questions and draft and review your documents for a low monthly fee. So call us today on 0808 196 8584 or visit our membership page.
Frequently Asked Questions
If your employees do not agree to changes in their employment contract, any changes you do make might not have any legal force. Furthermore, you could face a claim for constructive dismissal if the change amounts to a breach of contract.
As an employer, you can find ways to make the changes more likely to be accepted by including additional incentives. If you have a collective agreement in place, you must also exhaust collective bargaining as an option before negotiating with your employees.
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