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A Guide to Employment Tribunals

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Can my employer reduce our wages due to Covid-19? LocalSolicitors.com

Can my employer reduce our wages due to Covid-19?

If you are successful in making a claim for unfair dismissal, an employment tribunal will work to recover any financial losses that you may have suffered through the incident. The amount of money that you receive will not be a set figure and will be determined by a variety of factors based on your personal circumstances. This will involve the tribunal investigating your case fully to ascertain what financial amount you should be awarded as a settlement for your claim.

The factors that the tribunal will consider when calculating what you are owed will include:

 * Loss of earnings - this will include loss of any salary or regular payments that you would have otherwise received had you continued in employment
 * Loss of pension contributions - this includes any regular pension commitments that you had observed but have since stopped upon your dismissal.
 * Loss of bonuses. If you would have received a bonus during the time that you were not in work, the employment tribunal may include this in the settlement.
 * Promotions. If it is believed that you have missed out on a likely promotion or increase in salary through the case, the tribunal will look to reflect this in the settlement figure that they propose.
 * Compensation. The employment tribunal may award compensation to you for the suffering caused by the incident.

It is important to be aware that you should not be penalised in the future for having brought the unfair dismissal claim to the tribunal and should you return to your previous position, you should not be treated in an adverse manner because of the case.

How much compensation will I receive if I make a successful unfair dismissal claim?

An employer is entitled to make a change often known as a ‘variation’ to an employment contract if:

 * there’s something in the contract that allows the change [https://www.acas.org.uk/changing-an-employment-contract/check-if-the-contract-allows-a-change]. This is commonly referred to as a ‘flexibility clause’ or ‘variation term’.
 * the employee agrees to the change [https://www.acas.org.uk/changing-an-employment-contract/consult-employees-to-agree-changes]
 * the employee’s representatives agree to the change [https://www.acas.org.uk/changing-an-employment-contract/when-a-trade-union-can-agree-changes](for example, a trade union)



An employer canforce a new contract on employees [https://www.acas.org.uk/changing-an-employment-contract/when-changes-are-not-agreed], although this should be a last resort and could lead to legal action.

The contract would need to be checked to see if such a clause exists and whether it is clear and specific about what can be changed. If the contract is absent of such a clause then the employer and employee would need to agree to the change before it can go ahead.

Changes can be agreed verbally or in writing, but they do not always have to be in writing. However, when a change is made to an employee’s pay then this must always be in writing and the employer must do this within a month of the change taking effect. 

If the contract does not allow for any variations to be made and you do not agree to the reduction, then your employer might be breaking the contract's terms and conditions and therefore may be in ‘breach of contract’. 

Should you require further information then please do contact Summerfield Browne Solicitors on 0800 567 7595.

I have had my salary cut by 10% this week (with  immediate effect) due to the coronavirus and uncertainty

Can my employer reduce our wages due to Covid-19?

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