Please Help! Change to Part-Time contract regarding INSET

Hi all,
My school has given all part-time staff a letter which states that they must attend all inset days, regardless of the days they work.
We have raised it with the Union, but nothing has been resolved, and I resigned from the Union earlier this year (regretting this now!).
I have now just been issued a contract which states that Inset days must be attended for no extra pay. This is a change from my previous contract which did not specifically mention Inset days.
So, if I don't normally work Mondays, I still have to go in, unpaid, for a whole day. This means that I can't go and get a job in another school on that day, and I'll also have childcare to organise.
What can I do? I've asked to meet with the Head but I'm pretty sure I won't get anywhere, as this has been going on for more than a year.
Any advice is gratefully received!!

 

If you are at an independent school, they can change the terms of your contract

 

They can't unless there is an agreed term to that effect and the agreed changes are reasonable. Normal contract rules apply: neither party can unilaterally vary a contract of employment.

 

Then it is Very Naughty and acting unlawfully.

See below - neither party can unilaterally change the terms of a contract of employment. If there is a term in the contract which says that the employer can make reasonable variations to the contract, they need to be specific and reasonable.

Oooh...I feel an unlawful deduction of earnings complaint coming on. You must not just go along with this or you may be deemed to have agreed to the changes by your conduct. You can acknowledge the changes 'under protest' while you try to sort out the mess, but you cannot work under protest long term.

I say you don't and I'm not scared of your Head.

1) Smack the back of your hand for not renewing your union membership.
2) Check your home insurance to see if by any chance you hav legal insurance included (may do).
3) Go to your local CAB and ask if there is an employment specialist in the area to take up the complaint for you.
4) If you are really without help, message me and I'll be happy to see whether I can do anything through CAB.

 

Thanks so much for your reply-food for thought....the issue is that I seem to be fighting a one-person battle, but I'll follow it up - I don't want to let it lie!
Thanks again

 

When you say it has been going on for more than a year...do you mean you have been attending INSETs for more than a year and are only now thinking "Hang on a moment, this isn't ok"?

 

I don't think they can legally require you to go in to work unpaid. Also, if you work part time and had a second job on those other days, you couldn't just not go to your second job.

 

Exactly!

 

It would seem strange if they could, as you could theoretically work elsewhere on Mondays, and they could presumably ask people to come in at midnight on Sundays.

 

Trouble is that if no other part-timers are objecting s/he might be scared about displeasing the head and losing her job. From what I read on here, some managers seem to count on this.

 

Discrimination to victimise a part-timer for asserting her statutory rights. If dismissed, it's automatic unfair dismissal.

However - give us some credit! We are good at approaching employers first and couching it in gentle terms of 'I'm sure you won't have realised this but...'

I only get heavy and stroppy when employers don't behave reasonably!

Good cop, bad cop time!

 

The new contract is pretty brutal, in that it says that changes can be made to it 'at any time', giving 'notice' only for 'significant' changes (i.e no consultation). If we just go ahead and sign it, then it'll hardly be worth the paper it's written on as they will just be able to add or remove clauses.

Luckily, the other part-time staff are on the case now and hopefully things will start to move in the right direction for everyone.
What gets me is that we do so much extra stuff for the school out of goodwill - getting this contract is quite de-motivating.

 

A contract that effectively says "but we can change this" is not a contract, as far as I can see. I think those of your colleagues who are in a union should get their unions to look at it. I would be refusing to sign until I had had some legal advice on its legitimacy.