Change Of Working Hours
Good day,
I am working in a call center as German speaking Call Center Agent. I was hired to work during German office hours which are 09:00-18:00 during summer and 08:00-17:00 during winter due to Daylight Saving in Germany. Now hour Boss has informed us that he wants us to come from 10:00-19:00, which he never mentioned during the initial Job interview. As we are working according to the German timezone we would lose an hour of productivity and also most of us will have problems with transportation due to the new work hours. I would like to know if our Boss can change our working hours like this or if we have the right to stick to our initial agreement on the working hours.
Thank you for your help, it is highly appreciated.
Kind regards
Christina Klügl
Category: Labour and Employment, General
Region: South Africa, Gauteng
1 Answer
Thank you. Your employer has no right to unilaterally change the terms of employment, in this case, working hours without the consent of the other party. The reason is simple- a Contract of Employment is an agreement between two people. If your boss changed the working hours without consultation, it is very well a breach of contract. It may be unfair labour practice in terms of the Constitution and the Labour Relations Act. What you should do is to institute grievance procedure internally to address this important concern.