When his company informed him that they wanted to change his contract, changing his job description and responsibilities Mr Robinson downloaded a letter from the ACAS website objecting to the change in his terms and conditions, yet agreeing to work to the new contract under protest.
The company rejected Mr Robinson’s grievance, and eventually Mr Robinson was summoned to a disciplinary meeting for refusing to work to the new contract. Mr Robinson was summarily dismissed for gross misconduct in refusing to follow reasonable management instructions.
MR Justice Nelson in the Employment Appeals Tribunal (EAT) has upheld the decision of the employment tribunal in Robinson v Tescom Corporation that Robinson was not unfairly dismissed when refusing to work to a new contract that he had previously agreed to work to(under protest).
So how can a worker faced with a compulsory change in contract terms react?
He can:
a) acquiesce in the variation
b) resign and claim constructive dismissal
c) refuse to work under the new terms and wait for the employer's reaction
d) stand and sue - work under protest and seek damages
When facing a situation whereby the company seeks to force a variation in contract terms a worker should think carefully about the above.
If the worker has decided upon rejecting the contract variation he might nevertheless decide to work to the new contract under protest whilst he investigates his options. He needs think carefully about what he is prepared to do before communicating it to the employer(but this should not take long otherwise the worker will be deemed to have accepted the new contract by default).
If the worker has agreed to work to the changed contract under protest and on a temporary basis he must keep his word.
The transcript of this case can be found
Here
© Workrep 10 / 03 / 2008