Reasonable adjustments/hours of work given to someone else is this right ?

[Gerryscarer]

Hello timelord, thanks for the reply, sorry for not answering sooner. My relative has now had her hours changed and they want her to work weekends. They are making it difficult for her. She is in her early sixites and does not go on forums like this so she is asking me to ask for her. To be fair the company only stated 20 hours when she began working there. That was her original contract, but she has had a 2pm till 6pm shift for quite a few years, not long enough to get much of a redundancy at all. she feels like she is being pushed out. I will talk to her more tomorrow and get more info, but she would like to know what to do for the best. Should she or even can she challenge this change of hours without them consulting her, can she object. She doesn't know whether to leave and just retire now or carry on. Its the only bit of independence she has and works during the week, not weekends. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks and best wishes

[Gerryscarer]

Hello Nukecad,

Thank you for replying. Sorry its taken so long to get back to you but i have been busy and we have also had a death in the family that my relative is dealing with (she is going to the funeral and she had to argue for that time off aswell). I think you are right and that they are going through the motions as she has had time off for appointments. Similar to you, this company's manager has left to go to another store and a new manager has changed peoples hours without discussing it with staff. It upset a lot of people, and my relative felt before this change over that they were not taking her condition seriously enough. My relative has reached a crossroads now and does not know what to do. I will talk to her more tomorrow and get some more information. Its going to be a difficult week. Can they change her hours (her contract was only for 20 hours not specific times stated) so just 4 hours a day for five days a week (not weekends) they now want to change this to weekends and she wants to keep her weekends free. she believes like you that they want her out and she is frightened of what they can do. It is the only independence she has left. Many thanks for the advice and no doubt after speaking to her tomorrow i will be back on here after 1pm. Best wishes

[nukecad]

If her contract just says 20 hours and not specific days/times then those 20 hours could be anytime that the manager wants.

Can she find another, similar, p/t job and stick two fingers up at them?
Employers are supposed to be crying out for shop workers because there's a shortage.

My advice would be:

Say that she can't cope with the new hours and ask them to dismiss her on health grounds. (Probably best not to ask in writing).
That gets rid of her stressful situation, she can then look for another job or not at her leisure.
Maybe take a volunteer job somewhere, perhaps a charity shop.
She can then claim UC, if she isn't already, for the couple of years until she reaches pension age.
(TBH that's me now, roll on Feb '26)

[TimeLord]

As Nuke say's it does depend on what conditions she originally signed up for and if they wrote anything about requirements subject to change. But if they want you out it will only get worse, until she quits. But personally I would speak to them and ask them that the hours are not suitable and if they would prefer her to leave or take redundancy. Because there is nothing good about working in an environment that doesn't want you there, lay the cards on the table and see where she stands first.