Employment Law: Company Handbook

[Bman]

Hi All

Im in a bit of a grey area wrt Company Handbooks.

I know that it can make up part of your Terms and Conditions of Employment and in effect is an extension of your Contract of Employment. An employer cannot make changes to an Employee's T&C's without written consent, but is this the same with the Employee Handbook?

Can an employer stick anything in the Handbook that effectively becomes part of everyones T&C's?
Can they change it without notice/approval by employees?
Can they make it so large that no employee in their right mind is going to read it and try and find out what has changed from the last edition?

Seems very sneeky to me.

 

[ttcycle]

Handbooks are informational only as far as I know. Any changes to your legal terms and conditions should be done in consultation with staff. It's important to ascertain whether changes are being made without consultation. If they give out new handbooks - be sure to compare them with the old ones - any changes made that they'd put on there if there are no contests from staff they can argue that it's a deemed contract as there was no objection.

Either way sneaky, if a company wants to change t&c's this way it doesn't bode well.

 

[ASC1951]

Hi All
Seems very sneaky to me.

Not necessarily. Employee handbooks are there to cover all the little bits and bobs which are part of your working environment but which are regularly subject to change e.g. safety procedures, or internet policy, or disciplinary procedures. You can't realistically expect an employer to issue everyone with new individual contracts every time the details of those change.

An employer cannot alter your terms of employment without getting either your express agreement or your implied agreement. You will be taken to have agreed after a lapse of time, but only if the change was brought to your attention. If it is a fundamental change e.g. to where you work, what you do or how much you are paid, that could not be done just by changing the Employee Handbook; it would need separate specific notice to you.