Dear Reader,

Did you know you could dismiss an employee unfairly without even knowing it?

If you change any aspect of an employee’s job, you could find that in the eyes of the law, you have actually dismissed them…

Check out Charles’ article below for more information on how to avoid being sued for wrongful dismissal.

Now here’s a question for you…

How can you legally change an employee’s employment status?

Recently, a subscriber wrote to me with this question so I thought I’d look into it and share the answer with you.

Here’s the query I received:

“Dear Workplace Helpdesk,

I would like to change one of my full-time employees to a part-timer, and I also have two casual employees that I would like to engage on a part-time basis. Are there any legal requirements I must take into account before I do this?”

Here’s the answer our panel of experts gave me:

“In order to change an employee from full to part-time, you will need the consent of the employee.You should record the employee’s consent in writing and provide them with a new contract of employment.

Similarly, in order to convert a casual employee to part-time, you will need their consent. Ideally, you should also provide them with new contracts of employment.

If an employee does not wish to give you consent, you will not unilaterally be able to make this change, because it would expose your company to a claim for breach of contract and potentially attract unfair dismissal proceedings”.

If you didn’t know, the Workplace Helpdesk is a great service you can access if you are a subscriber to the Employment Law Practical Handbook.

Here’s how it works…

Whenever you have a legal issue at work – however small – and you need to be absolutely sure you’re on a sound footing before acting, just email our Workplace Helpdesk with your query and our employment law experts will get back to you, with an answer, within 72 hours – GUARANTEED.

It doesn’t matter which area of employment law your question relates to – or how insignificant you think it is – by emailing us, you can be 100% sure of the action to take, and you’ll be able to move forward with complete confidence.

But remember, this service is only available to Employment Law Practical Handbook subscribers.

If you’re not yet a subscriber, click here for more information on how you can trial the Employment Law Practical Handbook in your workplace FREE for 14 days.

Until next time…

Claire Berry
Workplace Bulletin

Tags: contract of employment, employee's consent, employment status, wrongful dismissal