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[chelsea]

does anyone know anything about employment law/working conditions/unions?

 

We've received some shocking news today regarding hubby's job. Some of you may or may not be aware he is a chicken catcher. Has worked for one of the UK's largest leading poultry plants for 18 years who supply most of the major and exclusive supermarkets.

 

They are cutting the catchers pay by over half , putting them on salary - so they receive no overtime or bonus. The company was taken over by another company in Feb this year and this new company are totally usesless - people dont get paid ontime, staff dont receive their payslips, and the company that has taken over are well known for being "cowboys" and running up debt.

 

I just cant comprehend that someone can just come along and cut pay by over half without their being some law/rule to protect workers? We think this company is trying to incurr "forced redundancy" as all these poor people will have to leave and get jobs elsewhere and I think the company have no intentions to pay redundancy as most of the staff have been there for 20-40 years - so it will cost a lot of money.

 

Anyone who can shed any light or recommendations on who we can contact/research would be great.

 

Hubby is a member of the TGWU and apparently they are having a meeting on monday (I wish I could go - im SO angry )

[Tina C]

Oh Chelsea, that is horrible news. I am sorry I don't have anything reassuring to say as I don't know anything about employment law but its good that the union is involved - they will have experienced lawyers who surely will be able to do something to help.

[chickencam]

Try giving your local Citizens advice a ring they may be able to point you in the right direction.

 

I know that there is such a thing as contructive dismissal, when employers make life unbearable for an employee so that they leave, this can certainly be acted upon legally.

 

Good Luck.

[chelsea]

thankyou folks, im going to write all the ideas/suggestions down so keep them coming if you can.

[lizinsa]

Surely this fits under TUPE?

 

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TUPE

 

Sorry I'm not an expert but a member of family was in a similar situation and I remember him mentioning this

[Couperman]

I am no expert and could be wrong but as I understand it a company cannot impose a new contract on anyone unless both parties agree. If they take over another firm then they must adopt the contracts employees have with the previous employer. If they insist on the new contract and the employee won't sign it then I think they would have to make him redundant as per the conditions of his current contract.

 

I am not sure how this all fits in with temporary or contract staff though.

 

Surely it can't be legal to scew people over like that.

 

I am sure the union will know how to tackle it.

 

Sorry to hear this I hope you get it sorted out.

 

I can't help thinking the supermarkets are to blame for forcing suppliers to sell thier produce at impossible prices.

 

 

 

Kev

[chelsea]

Surely this fits under TUPE?

 

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TUPE

 

Sorry I'm not an expert but a member of family was in a similar situation and I remember him mentioning this

 

 

that is brilliant! thanks, im going to print it out. We need all this stuff to fight with.

[chickenanne]

I think the TGWU would be the best people to give advice. However, for what it's worth....

I think the only way the employer could force a genuine take-home pay cut would be to make everyone redundant then re-employ them at the new rate. They would then be obliged to pay redundancy.

- BUT -

Employers can change some terms and conditions easily enough, e.g. it is perfectly OK for them to replace hourly rate with a salary, or no longer allow overtime /pay for overtime.

What they could do, for instance, is to replace (a) an hourly rate for a full time employee, with (b) a salary for a 35-40 hour week. I don't think you could then succesfully claim that they were forcing you to take a pay-cut because working overtime is not something you're entitled to, even if this meant you earned less each week.

So a lot of changes like this aren't as clear-cut as people initially think, and you do have to be careful.

Basically, I would wait to see what the Union say; in the vast majority of cases, you're in a stronger position acting en masse.

I think you're legally entitled to pay slips and definitely to be being paid on time, though how much you can do about short delays etc is a bit debateable in practice.

[chickenanne]

oh, and to add: a further problem is that most peoples employment contracts are not what they think they are - they are, after all, written by the employer and can be fairly general.

[Snowy]

Oh no Chelsea, what a worry!

I agree with Lizinsa - TUPE should apply when a company takes over a another, any staff they also take on should have the TUPE protection, although usually only for a year, but at least it gives you chance to make other plans.

 

Edited to add: OH has just reminded me you are only protected for 3 months

Edited May 16, 2008 by Guest

[Cate in NZ]

Sorry, I have no advice on this, being incredible ill informed as far as employment law goes, but I'm simply staggered that a company can do this .

 

I do hope that your hubby and his work colleagues can get some good help with fighting this from TGWU.

[chelsea]

but I'm simply staggered that a company can do this .

 

.

 

So are we Kate Chicken catching is not easy, hubby works in terrible conditions, bent over for most of his shift, hands in chicken poo, wearing breathing apparatus and in the summer in really hot chicken houses. We worked out this morning that if he did a 12-15 hour shift (which he does do some days ) he would be earning less than the minimum wage! this company are living in a dreamworld if they think they are going to get people to do that kind of job for that kind of money,

 

im fuming!!

[Tiggy]

NO WAY thats terrible I'm sure they cannot do that, the other posts are right you have more chance of fighting this if you stick together, good luck with your OH meeting surely this is what you pay your union dues for

[Egluntyne]

Appalling news. I am really sorry to hear about it.

 

I sincerely hope that the unions can sort the matter out.

[jackiepoppies]

Dreadful news and an awful worry for you. Times are hard enough as it is what with all the hidden taxes that are being forced on everyone. The only extra thought I had on this dilemma is that if the new company manages to get rid of most of these employees....that will leave them free to employ migrant EU workers 'cos it will be a job no one else wants at those wages!

 

Very good luck and make the union help you!

[Olly]

Sorry to hear this, can't offer much advice but take a look here, it's the TUC website which has some very good practical tips on.

 

Your husband's best bet is to go via the union, I do hope they can do something. Unfortunately contract workers are often excluded from some of the employment protection legislation.

[Paola]

So sorry to hear Chelsea I hate it when big companies think they can just ride roughshod over people and get away with it

[Lesley]

How terrible!

 

I would have thought it was covered by TUPE as well - Carl has recently had a lot of TUPE stuff to deal with, I'll ask him.

[Helly Welly]

I'm sorry i can't give you any practical advice, i know nothing about this sort of stuff. I just wanted to say how sorry i am, i can't believe that anyone with a conscience can do that sort of thing.

 

I really hope the union sorts something out, this just can't be right.

[Tessa the Duchess]

I can't help either Chelsea, but am so sorry that you are having to go through all this rubbish. If that is how they treat their workers, I hate to think how they treat the chickens

 

Tessa

[missuscluck]

Chelsea, sorry I cant offer any advice either, but just wanted to say thats rough and I hope you get some good advice from the union. Dosent sound right at all.

[theherd123]

Chelsea im sorry to hear you and your OH are going through this - very worrying and stressful indeed.

 

I would have thought the unions would know all the 'ins and outs' of situations like this and im sure they will be a great help.

 

Having had to consult with my union recently i couldnt have asked for better help and guidance so i hope your OH gets the same

[surferdog]

Chelsea, I hope the union can sort this out for you - it is just plain wrong.

 

Sadly there seems to be a lot of this about in the Food supply industry. My OH works for a large supermarket (not that one !) and was recently forced to sign a change of contract meaning he has to work every bank holiday, 3 weekends out of 4 and gets allocated holiday which is never in school holiday time. By forced I mean if you signed you were given a 'loan' of £3000 repayable if you left before 5 years and if you didn't sign you were out on your ear.... so between a rock and a hard place if you have a family to support. BUT there was still an agreement of some description - I would be surprised if it is legal for them to just foist this on him. Good luck.

[Guest]

what a worrying time! I hope everyone sticks together (it's times like these when companies try to divide and conquer) and the union can sort it out. Surely it can't be legal!???

 

keeping everything x'd for you

 

xxxx

[chelsea]

thanks for all your kind wishes everyone. (the family are going through a hard time at the moment.) so this job stuff is all we need.

 

We wont go down without a fight though!!

 

hubby's catching team has big meeting monday 9am with one of the big cheeses from the company..so we will see.