Dismiss an employee who has not agreed to a contractual variation and offer re-employment on the new terms

Key points

• Where an employer wishes to change an employee's terms and conditions, if there is no clause in the employment contract authorising the particular change and the employee does not consent to it, the employer may need to resort to dismissing the employee and offering to re-engage them on the new terms.
• The employer must give the employee the required period of notice and must follow a fair procedure in carrying out the dismissal, including meeting its requirements in relation to consultation.
• Employers should be aware of the risk of claims of unfair dismissal from employees who are dismissed in these circumstances, even though they may have accepted the new contract.

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