Can my employer change my contract of employment?

A contract of employment is a legal agreement between the employer and the employee. It contains terms, either express or implied, which cannot lawfully be changed or varied by the employer without further agreement from the employee (either individually or through the trade union). Many terms of the contract are, of course varied from time to time, by mutual consent.

For example, it is quite usual for pay to be varied, usually increased, on a regular basis. In some cases the contract may contain an express term permitting the employer to make changes from time to time. These changes would need to be reasonable. Where changes are made to your contract the law requires employers to notify you of the change within one month.

However, that does not change the fact that an unauthorised, one-sided variation is a breach of the contract of employment. If such a change is so fundamental that it goes to the heart of the contract, it may justify the employee's resignation in protest. Such a resignation, if justified, would be a 'constructive dismissal'