Advice needed

[matt99]

can any 1 advise me on zero hour contracts. i have been employed full time on a 40 hour p/w contract for about 20 months with a company they have now isued me a zero hour contract under a different company name and have said i cant return to work untill i sign my new contract by tomorow i have just taken 3 weeks off unpaid as they said didnt have any work for me but was handy as 2 weeks of that i coulndt of got alot done with the snow. what should i do sign it and return to work tomorow?

[Yorkshireman]

really thats a decision only you can take , perhaps a call to the acas employees phoneline.

 

be mindful that you have no right to bring a claim for unfair dismissal unless you have been there 24 months..

 

but ring acas

[rooster74]

We had a similar kind of contract on the railways was very confusing try and get someone from your office or HR Dept to explain it all

[ukminch]

Fairly sure he'll fall under the old rules as it only changed last year. Its only you that can decide to sign it or not, id ask myself, are they trying to pull a fast one, or are they genuinely struggling in which case maybe your lucky to have a job at all, changing company name bit sounds iffy tho.

 

Best advise is to get some proper advise!!

[Gray git]

Make sure that they have not written in anything stopping you from working for any1 ells when they dont need you or from doing a bit on your own to make ends meet as you might be better of self employed working as a subby for them.

[felixthelogchopper]

Also bear in mind that to force you to sign a new contract, they need to make you redundant as they are ending your contract ie dismissing you. I think you need to get some proper advice from an independent source rather than the HR section. You can obtain advice from the Citizens' Advice Bureau or you may find a local Law school with a pro bono set up. It is a horrible position to be put in and I suspect there is no real black and white answer. Good luck with it.

[matt99]

thanks for your replies i got intouch with acas, CAB and the job centre didnt want to help ive beed advised to sign it and return it under protest

[WorcsWuss]

Check the company registration numbers, should be on their letter heads new and old.

Also check here: Failure Page [don't worry about the title, it is right!]

 

If the registered number has changed with the name then strictly speaking you are being employed by a new company and they need to properly terminate your employment with the former, and make you redundant.....

I went through something similar when the firm I work for was bought out. I went across to the new firm so did not take redundancy.

 

Don't rush into signing this before you are 100% sure what you're getting into. As pointed out, you may be better off being self employed. What may be happening is they are trying to get staff out the door avoiding redundancy, [which is fair enough, I see this from both sides, times are hard and redundancy pay outs for some could kill a company and put everyone else out of work as well, so if they're on a knife edge, maybe it's for the greater good. Of course on the other hand, maybe it's just senior management looking out for themselves, I couldn't say].

 

So, the way they could be trying this is if they can move you from a decent full time contract with one company to a zero hour with another and a very limiting set of terms this may leave you with no option but to resign to enable you to earn a living, bingo, no redundancy.

 

To me it doesn't sound so good, gut feeling without knowing all the facts is that you should probably go back and tell them you do not agree to the new contract and that you will take statutory redundancy. You will then go self employed and they can use you should they need you.

[matt99]

thanks WorcsWuss and others its looking very suspect to me here is my current employer number 683 44 24 and the new company Company No. 07694543 Nature of Business (SIC):

78200 - Temporary employment agency activities

[WorcsWuss]

Not sure I follow what the company does / what your job is? The plot thickens...!