North Ayrshire - new contracts
As reported yesterday, North Ayrshire Council has announced its intention to impose new 'single status' contracts on its employees - but without their agreement to the terms of the new contract.
Normally a contract can only be changed with the consent of an individual employee or, in certain circumstances, the collective agreement of the trade unions.
For reasons the council has failed to explain, so far, North Ayrshire says it will simply impose the new contract - regardless of what anyone thinks - which is hardly the sort of behaviour expected of a public sector employer.
But at this stage North Ayrshire Council has only issued a press release via its web site - the council has not written to employees explaining or justifying its actions - and actions speak much louder than words. So our strong advice to clients is simply to sit tight - and do not sign or agree to anything at this stage.
It is not in your interests to agree to these changes voluntarily - it is better for the council to impose the new contract and only after that has happened - should people then accept that they will be working under new contractual terms.
This will put you in the strongest legal position to challenge the council's appalling behaviour - the same thing happened in Falkirk Council last year - and this led to further legal against the council by Stefan Cross and Action 4 Equality.
Unison has issued a protest letter to members - and is urging them to sign and send the letter to the council leader, David O'Neill. This is a silly and pointless exercise - why send a letter to the council before you know exactly what the council is saying? This is putting the cart in front of the horse, big time!
So, our advice is to sit tight - don't sign anything (even letters from Unison) - await the official letter from North Ayrshire - and once we have been able to study exactly what the council is saying, we will write to all Action 4 Equality clients with more detailed advice.
Remember - there is no need to panic - no one is going to be disciplined or get into trouble for standing up for their rights. So, don't let the council bully you into submission.
Normally a contract can only be changed with the consent of an individual employee or, in certain circumstances, the collective agreement of the trade unions.
For reasons the council has failed to explain, so far, North Ayrshire says it will simply impose the new contract - regardless of what anyone thinks - which is hardly the sort of behaviour expected of a public sector employer.
But at this stage North Ayrshire Council has only issued a press release via its web site - the council has not written to employees explaining or justifying its actions - and actions speak much louder than words. So our strong advice to clients is simply to sit tight - and do not sign or agree to anything at this stage.
It is not in your interests to agree to these changes voluntarily - it is better for the council to impose the new contract and only after that has happened - should people then accept that they will be working under new contractual terms.
This will put you in the strongest legal position to challenge the council's appalling behaviour - the same thing happened in Falkirk Council last year - and this led to further legal against the council by Stefan Cross and Action 4 Equality.
Unison has issued a protest letter to members - and is urging them to sign and send the letter to the council leader, David O'Neill. This is a silly and pointless exercise - why send a letter to the council before you know exactly what the council is saying? This is putting the cart in front of the horse, big time!
So, our advice is to sit tight - don't sign anything (even letters from Unison) - await the official letter from North Ayrshire - and once we have been able to study exactly what the council is saying, we will write to all Action 4 Equality clients with more detailed advice.
Remember - there is no need to panic - no one is going to be disciplined or get into trouble for standing up for their rights. So, don't let the council bully you into submission.
