Hello,

The employer cannot unilaterally do this as the opt out has become part of your contract and they cannot bringin new policy to change the terms of your contract without your consent.

I suggest you raise a written grievance about this and say that you are opposing the proposed changes.

They may then agree to keep the opt out, or they would need to terminate your employment contract and issue you with a new one.

Hope this helps

Assuming that due to the time this policy has been in place it has become an implied contractual term, there will be certain options open to the employer in order to withdraw or amend it:

1. By receiving the employee’s express approval to the changes (not always necessary if there are collective agreements in place, which have been negotiated by a recognised Trade Union and which is the employee is bound by).
2. By forcefully introducing the changes (called unilateral change of contract).
3. By giving the employee notice to terminate their employment and then offer them immediate re-engagement on the new terms.

If the employee agrees to the changes then that would usually put an end to the matter.

If the changes are introduced forcefully then the following options are open to the employee:

1. Accept the changes, start working on the new terms and not take the matter any further.
2. Start working on the new terms but making it clear to the employer (preferably in writing) that they are working ‘under protest’. This means that the employee does not agree with the changes but is only working them because they are forced to. In the meantime try and resolve the issue either by informal discussions or by raising a formal grievance. At the same time, the employee can bring in a claim for breach of contract in the civil courts or, if the changes relate to a reduction in pay, a claim for unlawful deduction of wages in an employment tribunal.
3. If the changes amount to a fundamental breach of contract (i.e. a change that affects at least one of the key contractual terms, such as pay, place of work, etc.) the employee may wish to consider taking the final step of resigning and claiming constructive dismissal. The resignation must be done without undue delay so as not to give the impression that the changes had been accepted. The claim must be submitted in an employment tribunal within 3 months of resigning and is subject to the employee having at least 1 year’s continuous service.

Finally, if the employment is terminated and the employer offers re-engagement on the new terms that could potentially amount to unfair dismissal. However, the employer can justify the dismissal if they had a sound business reason for dismissing an employee who refuses to accept the variation in terms. If no such reason exists, the employee can make a claim for unfair dismissal in an employment tribunal. The same time limit of 3 months to claim and the need to have 1 year’s continuous would apply.

Sometimes employment contracts may try to give the employer a general right to make changes to any term of the employee’s contract. As such clauses purport to give the employer carte blanche to change any term of the employment relationship, so as to evade the general rule that changes must be mutually agreed, courts will rarely enforce such clauses. Nothing but the clearest language will be sufficient to create such a right. Any attempt to rely on such clauses will still be subject to the requirement of the employer to act reasonably and in the spirit of the mutual trust and confidence relationship it enjoys with its employees.

Please press Accept for the advice given so far. I can then continue providing further advice and guidance as required and answer any specific questions you may have. Thank you

Hi, yes I certainly understand the impact top take home pay this will have but it does not stop them from actually doing this and implementing changes. If that happens it would then be down to you to challenge their actions and seek redress. Of course the more of an impact this will have on your pay the better your rights are likely to be, especially if there is no obvious reason for the changes, such as an urgent need to reduce expenditure by the company.

One option for them to alleviate this issue and try to prevent any action by the employees is to offer some form of compensation for this, which whilst may not necessarily exactly match the losses suffered, can be used to soften the blow. But again, they can't be forced to do that and can simply bury their heads in the sand and let the employees try to resolve this by taking formal action against them. Some companies do it knowing that their employees are unlikely to do that in their masses and only a few may actually challenge this formally.