Fire and rehire: can your employer force a new contract on you?

Your manager hands you a new contract. Lower pay, fewer guaranteed hours, or nights you cannot work because you have children to collect. Sign by Friday or lose the job. Do not sign on the spot. Save the letter and the contract, put your objection in writing, and contact your union or Acas. The employer’s deadline does not make the change lawful.

What to do before you sign

Ask for the proposal, the reasons and the deadline in writing. You do not have to make a decision while a manager stands over you. But do not ignore the letter: refusing can still put your job at risk.

1. Save the paper trail. Keep both contracts, the letter, rotas, payslips and relevant messages outside your work account. Do not copy unrelated confidential records.
2. Identify the loss. Compare guaranteed hours, overtime, pension, holiday, duties and workplace. A handbook update cutting a carer’s contracted hours changes the deal.
3. Object in writing. Use the wording below before working under imposed terms. Keep proof you sent it. It helps preserve your position, but does not guarantee a claim.
4. Ask for consultation. Request the reasons, evidence and alternatives. Ask whether the employer contacted Acas before raising dismissal. If necessary, raise a grievance.
5. Get someone on your side. Try UNISON for care and NHS support, Usdaw for retail and distribution, Unite or GMB for hospitality, and IWGB for delivery and gig work. Check coverage and help with existing disputes. Other routes include Acas, Citizens Advice and law centres.
6. Count proposed dismissals. Include colleagues who expect to accept re-engagement, not only those refusing. Collective consultation can apply at 20 dismissals at one establishment within 90 days.
7. Record the legal deadline. A grievance or appeal does not stop the tribunal clock. If dismissed, appeal and seek prompt advice about notifying Acas.

This wording is for imposed changes, not a guarantee that signing preserves your old terms. If your visa depends on this employer, get employment and immigration advice before leaving. See losing a visa sponsor.

A Friday deadline is not the law. It is the employer’s timetable.

Can they change your contract without agreement?

Usually, both sides must agree, whether the existing terms were written or verbal. A flexibility clause may permit a particular change, subject to its wording and legal limits. It is not permission to rewrite anything the employer dislikes. See paragraphs 2 and 40 of the statutory code.

The employer must honour contractual notice or the statutory minimum, whichever is longer. Under section 86, employees with at least one month’s service normally get one week. From two completed years, it is one week per year, up to 12 weeks. Refusing new terms is not, by itself, gross misconduct justifying no notice. See notice periods and wrongful dismissal.

Is fire and rehire legal now?

It is not generally banned on 1 October 2026. But notice alone does not make a dismissal fair. The employer needs a potentially fair reason and must act reasonably and follow a fair procedure. Reorganisation can be argued as “some other substantial reason”. That is a legal category, not a licence to cut pay.

Tribunals examine business reasons, consultation, alternatives and harm to employees. Taking the job back does not necessarily stop a claim. Acas explains the fairness assessment. Ordinary unfair dismissal currently needs two years’ continuous service in Great Britain.

The code, in force since 18 July 2024, covers England, Scotland and Wales regardless of numbers affected. It excludes dismissals envisaged solely for genuine redundancy. Breach is not a standalone claim. Tribunals must consider relevant provisions and, in eligible proceedings, can adjust awards by up to 25% for unreasonable non-compliance: upwards for the employer’s failure, downwards for yours. See section 207A. Consultation is not consent.

At 20 or more proposed dismissals at one establishment within 90 days, section 188 requires collective consultation with the recognised union or elected representatives. Re-engagement still counts. Consultation must start in good time, at least 30 days before the first dismissal for 20 to 99 dismissals, or 45 days for 100 or more. An establishment can be wider than one workplace. Failure can mean a protective award of up to 180 days’ pay, doubled from 90 from 6 April 2026, without a two-year service requirement. See collective consultation.

If you sign, refuse, or keep working

Signing an agreed variation can make it difficult to challenge the terms afterwards. “Under protest” does not reliably undo a signature. If you have already signed, preserve evidence of the pressure and seek advice. A later objection does not automatically restore the old terms.

If terms are imposed and you keep working, object in writing and pursue the dispute. Paragraphs 42 to 44 of the code recognise working under protest. There is no fixed acceptance deadline, but continued work without clear objection can undermine your case. An unauthorised-pay-deduction claim needs no two-year service.

Dismissal followed by re-engagement is different. You can take the job back and may still challenge the dismissal. Acas says continuity of service usually survives, though breaks need advice. Ask for written confirmation and appeal against the dismissal.

Constructive dismissal requires a fundamental breach, resignation because of it and no acceptance of the breach. Ordinary constructive unfair dismissal has the usual qualifying-service rule. We would not make resignation your first move: you lose wages while proving the claim. Get advice urgently; delay can also matter.

In Tesco Stores Ltd v USDAW [2024] UKSC 28, on 12 September 2024, the Supreme Court restored an injunction preventing dismissal to strip warehouse staff of “retained pay” promised as permanent. It turned on that contractual promise, not a general fire-and-rehire ban. Show an adviser any promise that a payment is permanent.

Under two years, and if you are not an employee

Two years’ continuous employment is the current Great Britain rule for ordinary unfair dismissal. SI 2026/559 reduces it to six months where the effective date of termination is on or after 1 January 2027.

Certain reasons, including whistleblowing, union membership, pregnancy or asserting a relevant statutory right, can make dismissal automatically unfair without qualifying service. Refusing a contractual pay cut is not automatically asserting a statutory right. Discrimination is separate and needs no minimum service.

A cleaner aged 21 or over offered £11.50 an hour would be below the £12.71 National Living Wage in force from 1 April 2026. Signing cannot waive it. Report underpayment through HMRC’s minimum-wage complaints route and contact Acas about dismissal. Targeting pregnancy or disability may also raise discrimination issues.

Agency staff need to establish whether they are employees and who employs them. They can also acquire equal-treatment rights on basic conditions, including pay, after 12 qualifying weeks in the same role with the same hirer. See agency workers. Genuine self-employment excludes employee dismissal rights, but the commercial contract still matters.

What changes in January 2027

SI 2026/559 confirms 1 January 2027 for the six-month qualifying period and removal of the compensatory cap, by reference to the effective date of termination. Earlier notice can still lead to a January termination. The basic-award limit stays.

The government’s timetable separately schedules fire-and-rehire protections for January 2027, without establishing their exact start day. Those dismissal protections are not operative on 1 October 2026.

Section 28 inserts sections 104I to 104K into the 1996 Act. Once operative, dismissal principally for refusing a restricted variation, or to re-engage you or employ someone else on terms containing one, will normally be automatically unfair without qualifying service. You must have started work. Financial exceptions apply.

What if the employer says the business will go bust?

A private employer must show financial difficulties affecting, or likely in the immediate future to affect, its ability to continue as a going concern. The reason for the variation must be to eliminate, prevent or significantly reduce those difficulties, or significantly mitigate their effects, and the variation must not reasonably have been avoidable. Better margins alone do not meet that test. The exception removes automatic unfairness, not scrutiny of fairness.

Other public-sector employers are tested on financial sustainability of statutory functions. Councils need a qualifying intervention direction involving financial difficulties and financial management or governance. Judicial-review principles govern avoidability in these public-sector cases, not generally private employment. Consultation and what was offered in return still matter.

What if they change duties, move the job or bring in agency staff?

Section 104J covers non-restricted variations. Tribunals must consider reasons, consultation with you and representatives, and anything offered in return. Dismissal is not automatically unfair, and ordinary qualifying service applies.

Section 104K covers dismissal to replace employees with non-employees of that employer doing the same or substantially the same activities, including agency or contractor arrangements. It excludes dismissals wholly or mainly caused by reduced need for those activities. Once operative, it needs no qualifying service after work has started, but has financial exceptions. It is not a blanket outsourcing ban.

1. 18 July 2024Code in force

   Dismissal and re-engagement should be a last resort.

2. 6 April 2026Protective-award maximum doubled

   Up to 180 days’ pay.

3. 1 October 2026Longer tribunal limits

   Six months less a day for most new claims.

4. 1 January 2027Confirmed service and cap changes

   Fire-and-rehire protections are separately planned for January.

Our view: promised protection does not pay the rent. Use today’s rights. A recognised union can bargain before anyone has to fight a tribunal claim. See how unions work.

What a dismissal can be worth

For Great Britain dismissals from 6 April 2026, the basic award uses a capped week’s pay of £751 and has a maximum of £22,530. The ordinary compensatory cap is the lower of £123,543 and 52 weeks’ gross pay. Certain claims, including whistleblowing dismissals, have different rules. From 1 January 2027 the compensatory cap goes, but proven loss still matters.

How long you have, and where you work

Most Great Britain claims about events from 1 October 2026 have six months less a day. Earlier events generally retain three months. Unfair dismissal normally runs from the effective date of termination; wage deductions normally run from incorrect payment. Do not wait for dismissal before seeking advice about an earlier pay cut.

You normally must notify Acas before claiming. Timely notification pauses the clock for early conciliation, but settlement is voluntary. Grievances and appeals do not extend time. Use the calculator and get exact-date advice. Some union or whistleblowing dismissal cases have a seven-day interim-relief deadline. Seek urgent advice.

Scottish tribunal contract claims retain three months less a day for breaches before 9 November 2026; six months is scheduled for breaches from that date. Court contract claims have different limits.

Northern Ireland is outside these reforms and the code. Ordinary unfair dismissal generally needs one year’s service. Use the Industrial Tribunal and Labour Relations Agency early conciliation, with a usual three-month limit. Great Britain award figures do not apply. See nidirect and our Northern Ireland guide.