Changes to a contract
Advice
Your employer may make changes to your contract via a ‘flexibility clause’ or a ‘variation term’, these are usually fair and reflect the particular quirks of the job itself, for instance: -
- Changing your work hour’s – for example, if working outside on a farm you may need to change hours to make use of natural light;
- Specific duties – If something unexpected turns up and you need to take on extra duties; or
- Fringe benefits/perks – when an employer includes a bonus scheme or changes the perks/benefits associated with the job.
Flexibility clause
You should check the wording of the clause to see what they may change. The wording of the clause must be specific. This means that there should be no areas in which you are unsure of what you should be doing. Even if a flexibility clause is included, it is a good idea for the employer to discuss it with the employee before making a change. If there is no flexibility clause in the contract, the employer and employee would discuss and agree before the change can go ahead.
Getting agreement
The employer and employee both need to agree to any changes made in the contract.
Making the changes
Once the changes have been agreed on, the employer needs to present the varied terns to the employee for confirmation of acceptance.
Changes that are not agreed
When a change cannot be agreed on by both sides there are several things you can do: -
- State you’re working under protest, this shows the changes have not been accepted but you are willing to continue working while a solution is sought;
- Refuse the change, question the reasoning behind the change and ideally suggest (in writing) other solutions; and
- Try to agree on a mutually acceptable solution.
Dealing with problems
If a problem arises regarding changes to a contract without an agreement or there has been a breach of contract, both sides should try and solve this informally or begin the process of mediation.
How we can help
We would take instructions from you to negotiate terms with your potential employer on your behalf, points we would address are detailed in the section “Negotiating contract terms”. To gain our assistance you need to open a case, this is done by taking advantage of our free consultation service, activated by the link at the top of the page, should you wish to start a case the caseworker will send you the suitable payment link.
Please note your caseworker can only give generic advice, their role is to prepare your details for handling by our legal team and to act as your point of contact, they will also issue you with your Password and PIN, these will be needed to log onto your client dashboard. From your dashboard you will be able to manage and view every aspect of your case, upload documents, images, files etc.