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Your employer may not be allowed to change your shift pattern if this is written in your contract, so check this. However, your contract may allow your employer to impose changes to shifts if there is a business reason to do so and if there is no breach of contract.
If your employer seeks to alter your shift pattern:
- they should discuss it with you
- you should ask your employer to review the new shift system after a period of time
- if the new change would result in a loss of income and you have childcare needs, dependents or health issues, they should discuss with you how they intend to solve these issues
- you may be entitled to pay protection for a period of time under your employer’s ‘organisational change’ policy.
If, after this discussion, you refuse your new patterns of work, your employer could give you notice to terminate your existing contract and provide a new contract incorporating the new arrangements. If you feel that your employer is acting unreasonably or against local policy this is a potentially unfair dismissal (from your old contract) and a case might be taken to an Employment Tribunal.
What to do next if this happens to you::
If this happens to you, you should seek immediate advice from the RCN. As an RCN member you’ll be backed by the largest in-house team of nursing-specialist lawyers of any union in the UK and we’ll ensure you’re treated fairly. If you decide to take out a grievance, as an RCN member you will be assigned a representative, to help you through every step of this process.
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If you are concerned about staffing levels in your organisation, the RCN can give you advice online or over the phone which will provide you with excellent guidance on the principles to underpin appropriate nurse staffing levels. You will also get support from a local regional office that can raise your concerns on your behalf in your workplace.
For further information visit, the RCN’s guidance on safe nurse staffing levels in the UK (PDF)
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Although your employer may offer you deployment to what they consider to be a suitable alternative role, you may feel that this alternative is not suitable to your particular position. As an RCN member, you will get be assigned a representative to challenge this. Our representative could negotiate with the employer to ensure that the effect on you is minimised. However you should not turn down any offer of ‘suitable alternative employment’.
If you are in the NHS scheme and are moved to a lower paid post through no fault of your own steps can be taken to protect the value of your pension. Your RCN representative will be able to point you in the right direction.
As a member, you will also have access to the RCN careers service to provide you with expert online advice and guidance.
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Your contract of employment is binding on both parties which means that it is unlawful for one party to change the terms and conditions in the contract without the agreement of the other. Any unauthorised one-sided change to the contractual terms is a breach of that contract of employment.
If after this discussion, you refuse your new patterns of work, your employer could give you notice to terminate your existing contract and provide a new contract incorporating the new.
If the ‘breach’ is fundamental to the contract, then as an RCN member you can respond in the following ways:
- accept the change to the contract and carry on working under the revised terms
- if there is a fundamental breach, you can resign and claim you have been unfairly constructively dismissed – this should be a last resort and should not be done without taking specialist advice from the RCN
- you can refuse to work under the new terms. You may be able to bring an unfair dismissal claim if your employer dismisses you. This should also only be considered following specialist advice
- you can stay at work under protest and bring an action for breach of contract.
No one knows what will happen in the future, but it is best to have the support there in case this happens to you. All of these options may seem a bit daunting, but as an RCN member you wouldn’t be alone in dealing with this. You will be assigned a representative for support who will help you every step of the way to get the best possible outcome.
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An RCN officer would help you decide whether you have a case against your employer and if so, you can make a complaint to an employment tribunal and you would get full local support in dealing with this.
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visit www.rcn.org.uk/itcouldbeyou
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