Clear, practical employment law advice when you need it

Generally, no. Your employment contract is a binding agreement between you and your employer. Any changes to its terms, such as your pay, hours, duties, or place of work, normally require your agreement.

Your employer cannot simply impose changes unilaterally. If they try to, you may have grounds for a breach of contract claim, or in serious cases, a claim for constructive unfair dismissal.

However, some contracts contain flexibility clauses that allow limited changes. The enforceability of these clauses depends on how they are worded and how reasonably they are used. If your employer is proposing changes to your contract, it is important to get advice before agreeing to anything.

You are entitled to a minimum statutory notice period based on your length of service: one week for each complete year of employment, up to a maximum of 12 weeks. So if you have worked for your employer for five years, you are entitled to at least five weeks' notice.

Your contract may provide for a longer notice period than the statutory minimum, in which case the contractual period applies. Your employer cannot give you less notice than the statutory minimum, even if your contract says otherwise.

If your employer dismisses you without giving proper notice (and it is not a case of gross misconduct), you may have a claim for wrongful dismissal, which is a breach of contract claim for the notice pay you should have received.

If you have two or more years' continuous service, your employer must follow a fair procedure before dismissing you. This normally means conducting a reasonable investigation, holding a disciplinary hearing at which you have the right to put your case, and offering a right of appeal. Please note: the Employment Rights Act 2025 will reduce this qualifying period to six months for employees who start employment from July 2026, with claims available from January 2027.

Dismissing you without any process, or with a process that is fundamentally flawed, is likely to make the dismissal procedurally unfair. The ACAS Code of Practice on Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures sets out the minimum steps an employer should follow.

Even if you have less than two years' service, you are still protected from dismissal for certain automatically unfair reasons, such as whistleblowing, asserting a statutory right, pregnancy, or trade union activity.

Start by keeping a detailed record of every incident: what happened, when, where, who was involved, and whether there were any witnesses. This record will be important if you decide to raise a formal complaint.

If the behaviour relates to a protected characteristic (such as race, sex, disability, religion, sexual orientation, age, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, or pregnancy), it may amount to unlawful harassment under the Equality Act 2010.

You should consider raising a formal grievance with your employer. Your employer has a legal duty to take reasonable steps to prevent harassment, and a grievance puts them on notice. If your employer fails to deal with it properly, you may have grounds for a tribunal claim. There are strict time limits, so it is important to get advice early.

A settlement agreement is a legally binding contract in which you agree to waive your right to bring employment tribunal claims in exchange for a payment from your employer. They are common in redundancy situations, workplace disputes, and managed exits.

You should not sign a settlement agreement without first getting independent advice on its terms. In fact, a settlement agreement is not legally valid unless you have received advice from a relevant independent adviser.

Key things to consider include whether the compensation offered is fair given your circumstances, whether all your potential claims are being settled, whether the tax treatment is correct, whether there is an agreed reference, and whether any restrictive covenants are reasonable. Never feel pressured into signing quickly. You are entitled to take reasonable time to consider the offer and take advice.

For most employment tribunal claims, including unfair dismissal and discrimination, the time limit is currently three months less one day from the date of the act you are complaining about. For unfair dismissal, this usually means three months less one day from your effective date of termination. Please note: the Employment Rights Act 2025 will extend this time limit to six months for most claims, although the date this comes into force has not yet been confirmed.

Before you can issue a tribunal claim, you must first notify ACAS and go through early conciliation. The time you spend in early conciliation pauses the clock, but the rules on how this works are technical, so it is important to contact ACAS as soon as possible.

Missing the time limit can be fatal to your claim. Tribunals have a very limited discretion to extend time and will only do so in exceptional circumstances. If you think you may have a claim, do not delay in getting advice.

Constructive dismissal is when you resign because your employer's conduct has made it impossible for you to continue working. In legal terms, your employer has committed a fundamental breach of contract, and you have resigned in response to that breach.

Common examples include a significant reduction in pay without agreement, a serious failure to address bullying or harassment, a unilateral change to your role or duties, or a complete breakdown in the relationship of trust and confidence between you and your employer.

Constructive dismissal claims can be difficult to prove. You generally need to show that your employer's breach was serious enough to justify your resignation, that you resigned because of that breach (not for some other reason), and that you did not delay too long before resigning, as delay can be treated as acceptance of the breach. It is strongly advisable to get advice before resigning.

If you have two or more years' continuous service and you are being made redundant, you are entitled to a statutory redundancy payment. The amount is calculated based on your age, length of service, and weekly pay (capped at a statutory limit which changes each year). Please note: the two year qualifying period for statutory redundancy pay is unchanged by the Employment Rights Act 2025.

Your employer may offer an enhanced redundancy package above the statutory minimum. If so, check whether the enhanced terms are contractual (for example, set out in your contract or a redundancy policy) or discretionary.

It is also important to check that the redundancy is genuine. If your employer is simply replacing you with someone else doing the same job, it may not be a true redundancy, and you could have a claim for unfair dismissal. Your employer must also follow a fair selection process and consider suitable alternative employment before making you redundant.

Your employer can monitor your use of work email and internet, but there are limits. They must have a lawful basis for doing so, and in most cases they should tell you in advance that monitoring takes place, usually through an IT or acceptable use policy.

The monitoring must be proportionate. Blanket surveillance of all employee communications without a legitimate reason is unlikely to be lawful. Your employer must also comply with data protection legislation when processing any personal data obtained through monitoring.

If you believe your employer has monitored your communications without proper justification or transparency, or has used information obtained through monitoring unfairly against you, this may raise issues under the UK GDPR, the Human Rights Act 1998, and potentially employment law depending on the circumstances.

Pregnancy and maternity are protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010. It is unlawful for your employer to treat you unfavourably because of your pregnancy, because of a pregnancy related illness, or because you are on or have taken maternity leave.

You are entitled to up to 52 weeks of maternity leave regardless of your length of service. During maternity leave, all your contractual rights continue except for pay. You are entitled to statutory maternity pay for up to 39 weeks if you meet the qualifying conditions, and your employer may offer enhanced maternity pay above this.

You have the right to return to the same job after ordinary maternity leave (the first 26 weeks), or to a suitable alternative role on no less favourable terms after additional maternity leave. If you are made redundant during maternity leave, you have a right to be offered any suitable alternative vacancy in priority over other employees. Dismissal because of pregnancy or maternity leave is automatically unfair.