Skip to main content

Changing terms

As businesses adapt to rising inflation, many are turning to making changes to terms and conditions as a way of achieving cost savings.

As hybrid working continues following the pandemic, there has been a marked increase in the move towards changing terms and conditions to achieve greater flexibility in contracts, including in roles and job descriptions and, in some cases, incorporating lay-off and short-time working provisions. Many employers see that there is value in ‘future proofing’ contracts and policies and having a more agile workforce who are expected to be willing to adapt as the needs of the business change.

As employment terms are negotiated individually in the UK, employee agreement is required to change terms and conditions. It’s therefore important to remember that this is usually a matter for consultation. If more than 20 people are affected, then a collective consultation process may be triggered.

We help employers navigate the legal aspects of making changes to terms and conditions of employment and planning changes to working arrangements.

 

Further reading

Related services

Redundancy

Reducing business costs - alternatives to redundancy

12 September 2022

When businesses run into financial difficulties and need to reduce costs, the knee-jerk reaction is often to consider the scope for job cuts. But redundancies are not a cheap option and, if mistakes are made in the way redundancies are handled, further costs may be incurred on account of tribunal claims.

Court of Appeal overturns injunction restraining employer’s ‘fire and rehire’ exercise

18 July 2022

The Court of Appeal has overturned an injunction preventing Tesco from “firing and rehiring” employees in order to remove their contractual entitlement to enhanced pay. Despite the facts of this case being unusual and extreme, the High Court had been wrong to conclude that Tesco could not adopt its proposed course of action.

Business

Resourcing for 2021: Immediate options for employers

25 February 2021

As we move away from crisis management towards adapting to economic uncertainty and the “new normal”, identifying the best approach to resourcing staff is a business-critical issue. This is the first of a three-part series exploring the resourcing challenges, opportunities and trends we expect to see in 2021.

contracts

Do your contracts and policies stand up to the Covid-19 test?

18 August 2020

The coronavirus pandemic and lockdown have stress-tested employment contracts and policies, with some showing signs of strain. What should you do now to make sure your employment documentation is ready for the post-Covid future?

Back To Top