In this week’s Q&As we have a wide range of issues from redundancy to resignation and cars to contracts. Full access to all Q&As, and the back catalogue, is available to subscribers for the price of a latte each month.
Pay and notice
Q. I started work for an employer Nov 2021mon £36K. In Feb they said they could no longer afford me and offered £24K to which I said no thank you. They then offered £30K which I agreed to (whilst I looked elsewhere). I have never had a contract and the changes have never been put in writing.
I now have another job and have given 1 week notice in writing stating my leaving date as per law (no contract) and they are asking me to work a month ! I really just want to get out of the place, am I right with 1 week and is there anything I can do about the dropping of salary etc?
A. Firstly, I’ll deal with the pay issue. Regardless of whether you had a written contract or not, you accepted the reduction from £36k to £30k so there is nothing which can be done in that regard.
You are only required to give one week’s notice if nothing else has previously been agreed, and with the lack of a written contract your employer will be hard pushed to argue you should work any longer.
Company car
Q. Follow you on tik tok hoping you can offer some advice. I've been offered a job, when I initially took the interview I was told a company car would be made available. I've since been told there is a 9 month wait and I will be required to use my personal car at 19 pence a mile. Until the car is made available. Are you able to help
A. Unfortunately, there is not a lot you can do. 19p per mile is well below the standard rate but there is no set minimum, so your employer can pay what they like for mileage.
You could claim that your employer is in breach of contract by not supplying the car as agreed, but it will be your word against theirs unless you have an offer letter setting out your terms of engagement, which includes the provision of a company car. Even if you had such a document, I doubt your new employer would wish to engage someone taking a breach of contract claim against them at the outset of their employment. I’m afraid that leaves you with the stark choice of using your own car or finding another job.
Additional duties
Q. Hi we have a matrix system at work to see what jobs other employees are trained on, My manager has said everyone factory wide will be trained in stocking and possibly having to undertake this new duty in the future, with no extra pay.
However this is currently part of the manager/team leaders duties, Can my employer enforce this?
A. The first thing to check here is your terms and conditions of employment. It may set out what your duties are, or refer to a separate document detailing such. More often than not there is an all encompassing clause stating that you may be required to undertake additional duties from time to time to accommodate the needs of the business - or words to that effect. So it may be that you are contractually bound to undertake this new duty.
In any event, if there is no such clause,
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