Thank you, ***** ***** the employer is proposing to do will likely amount to a contractual change, even if the payment period is not mentioned in your contract. That is because the frequency would have become an implied contractual term due to being in place for such a long time.
An employer does have the right to change an employee’s contract, although certain procedures must be followed. Ideally they should receive the employee’s consent, although this is not always possible. If no agreement is reached, the employer would potentially look at forcing the changes through. They need to consult with the affected employees first and discuss the proposed changes and reasons for them. They then need to give the employees reasonable notice of the changes, so not just introduce them overnight or at short notice. In your case they should give you sufficient notice to ensure that you have made whatever necessary arrangements there are to cover yourself for these changes, like ensuring direct debits are changed, etc. Finally, they should try and show that this is a reasonable change which was necessary in the circumstances. This last point can be somewhat subjective but in the end if they can justify it that it is needed for business reasons, they would be able to introduce the changes as long as it is done fairly and not at short notice.
There is nothing stopping you from opposing this but assuming most others are open to this idea or it already applies to them, it can result in you being a lonely voice with little power to oppose this I’m afraid.
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