Employment Law Question

CGolf

Hi guys,

Just wondering if you could help me with a little bit of employment law that I’m preparing for a firm I am interning in at the moment. The part that I need help with is whether an employer can force an employee to take a reduction in salary, where the contract of employment makes no provision for it. From what I can see, under S. 5(1) Payment of Wages Act 1991, an employer is prohibited from making a deduction unless:

An employer shall not make a deduction from the wages of an employee (or receive any payment from an employee) unless—
( a ) the deduction (or payment) is required or authorised to be made by virtue of any statute or any instrument made under statute,
( b ) the deduction (or payment) is required or authorised to be made by virtue of a term of the employee's contract of employment included in the contract before, and in force at the time of, the deduction or payment, or
( c ) in the case of a deduction, the employee has given his prior consent in writing to it.

However, the Terms of Employment (Information) Act 1994 states in Section 5 that:
5.—(1) Subject to subsection (2), whenever a change is made or occurs in any of the particulars of the statement furnished by an employer under section 3, 4 or 6, the employer shall notify the employee in writing of the nature and date of the change as soon as may be thereafter, but not later than—
( a ) 1 month after the change takes effect, or
( b ) where the change is consequent on the employee being required to work outside the State for a period of more than 1 month, the time of the employee's departure.



In Section 3 of the 1994 Act it refers to rate and calculation of pay.

So if anyone could shed some light on my query it would be greatly appreciated. Also, if the employer can force the employee to take a pay reduction, is there a notice period which must be furnished first?
Thanks everyone!

danash

in the case of a deduction, the employee has given his prior consent in writing to it

This is the key piece - you must agree in writing to any change.

This is commonplace in today's environment and many employees feel they have no choice but to agree. The employer cannot unilaterally change your fundemental terms and conditions

crosbie

danash wrote: »

This is the key piece - you must agree in writing to any change.

This is commonplace in today's environment and many employees feel they have no choice but to agree. The employer cannot unilaterally change your fundemental terms and conditions

+1 Effectively any reduction in salary amounts to a re-negotiation of the fundamental terms of the contract of employment and cannot be unilaterally implemented - it is essentially a new contract.

Sangre

No, an employer cannot unilaterally force a pay cut. Its generally accepted my employees in the private sector though as means of avoiding redundancies.