Employment contract

[daffodiltulip]

Is it legal for a company to put in its contract that they aren't obliged to increase the salary?

[JonathanJ]

In the UK There is no obligation to increase your wages from that you agreed upon when commencing employment, save in one instance. That is where the national minimum wage increases to a level higher than your current wage. Then your employer has to increase your wage to the National Minimum Wage. I understand that there are similar provisions in all EU countries.

In some industries it can be implied into an employment contract that you will get an automatic wage increase each year. Such as a automatic raise on a scale post if you are a local government worker. A clause such as you describe could be used to try to stop this happening.

So to answer your question yes if you are a new employee. If you are an existing employee then an attempt to unilaterally change your contract to include a such a term would be a breach of contract by your employer.

[bonniethomas06]

I second that - very good answer Jonathan J.

[daffodiltulip]

Hello - another employment-related question, if I may.
I've been pointing out deficiencies in a new employee to the manager, who doesn't appear to take them seriously enought to act decisively. This has created, in me, a huge amount of stress. It is clearly pointless talking to this woman and if I have need to tell or ask anything work-related, I will simply contact HR first. The thing I'd like to know is, where do I stand in a situation like this? If I wanted to tell her or HR what I think of the situation, how should I phrase it in a professional way, without it sounding personal? Are there sites or groups that would give the advice?

[MKG]

You haven't really said enough for anyone to judge the situation, Daffodiltulip. Are these deficiencies structural (ie can you point to incorrect procedures etc.) or are you expressing a personal opinion? Do the deficiencies directly affect your own work? Is it part of your job to point out the deficiencies? Is the new employee still under training? Does your company have a formal complaints procedure?

And probably a dozen more questions. More information, please.

Mike

[daffodiltulip]

In a nutshell, she doesn't follow kitchen hygiene rules fully, and she has poor working practice generally - a working system was in place but she decided to do her own thing causing lapses in ordering and other problems and any chances she makes are for her convenience alone without regard to anything or anyone else. It has nothing do do with opinion or what I like or don't like. Things must be a certain way with regards to regulations.

[JonathanJ]

Dear Daff,

The correct procedure is to raise a formal grievance. This initially should be sent to your line manager. Something like the following:-

Dear Manager,

I want to raise a formal grievance over what I see as the correct level of training being given to colleague A. I am raising this grievance because her shortcomings in Procedure, Hygiene etc are causing serious problems in the workplace and as a result is causing increased work and stress to myself. I have attempted in the past to raise this matter informally but the situation has not improved.

Please can you acknowledge my grievance and notify me of a date when we can discuss it further.

Yours Daff

By raising a formal grievance you give yourself protection under the whistle blowing regulations.

PM me if you need any further advice.

JJ

[daffodiltulip]

I thought I'd put what I've already told the manager about these problems in an email "in writing". If the new staff has worked in rubbish places that don't maintain standards and that has been her experience, I'm not sure I'd want to cause trouble for her, however, if still nothing is sorted, I wonder if it would be better to use your letter example to complain about the manager herself, who is not doing her job by not taking the new staff member aside and explaining things properly or offering training, which is what I think she should have done the first time. Would it be a good idea if I simply gave it one more go at informing her by email and mentioned the points all in one go before making it more serious?