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Many employers experience periods of reorganisation. There may be a need to reduce costs, change organisation or adapt staffing to new market requirements. In such situations, questions may arise as to whether working hours, tasks, level of responsibility or pay can be changed.
If the change is so great that the employee in reality gets a significantly different position or clearly worse conditions, it may be relevant to issue a termination notice.
Change notices can be a useful tool, but they must be handled correctly. If the basis or process is flawed, the result can be conflict, invalidity and significant costs for the organisation.
What is a change notice?
A change notice means that the employer terminates the existing employment contract, while the employee is offered to continue in a new position on different terms. Termination for cause is used when the employer has a real need for change, but cannot implement the change unilaterally.
The boundary between change notice and management rights
The employer can organise, manage and distribute the work within the right of management. This gives the employer a certain flexibility to change the employment relationship. However, the right of management has its limits. If the change is so major that it affects significant parts of the employment relationship, it can no longer be implemented by virtue of the right of management alone. The employer must then go the way of a change notice to implement the change.
How do you carry out a change notice?
It is important to note that the Working Environment Act's rules for dismissal apply in the same way to redundancy notices. This means, among other things, that the legal requirements for case management apply in the same way, including the requirement for discussions prior to termination.
In order for a change notice to be valid, there must also be good cause. As you know, the threshold for this is high. As the consequences for the employee are often less in the case of a termination for cause than in the case of an ordinary dismissal, the threshold for termination for cause will often be somewhat lower than for ordinary dismissals.
Get in touch
For employers, it is important to make an early assessment of what room for manoeuvre the company has. The right strategy can save the organisation time, money and unnecessary conflicts. In the labour law team at Halvorsen, we assist with assessments of management rights, planning processes and conducting discussions. Feel free to contact us for a no-obligation chat about how we can assist your organisation with changes in working conditions.
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