Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Recruitment & retention
    • Wellbeing
    • Occupational Health
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise

Personnel Today

Register
Log in
Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Recruitment & retention
    • Wellbeing
    • Occupational Health
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise

Employment lawDisciplineHR practice

Weekly dilemma: demoting an employee

by Personnel Today 9 Feb 2010
by Personnel Today 9 Feb 2010

Q A member of my department keeps leaving work early to pick up her son who has been getting into trouble at school. She is now beginning to miss important meetings and appointments. Although I want to be sympathetic, I am considering demoting her to a more junior and less demanding role. Can I do that?

A Demoting an employee usually involves changing one or more important terms of the employment contract. For this reason, it can only be done with an employee’s agreement. If you impose a demotion without the employee’s agreement, she would be able to make a claim to recover any reduction in her pay. If she was to resign in response to the demotion, she could also claim constructive dismissal.

The only exception to this would be if the employee’s contract allows for demotion as a disciplinary penalty or for poor performance. If so, then it is unlikely that imposing a demotion would be a breach of contract, provided you first followed an appropriate disciplinary or performance procedure.

However, in this situation, breach of contract and constructive dismissal are not the only risk. Employees have a legal right to reasonable time off work to take necessary action to deal with certain situations affecting their dependants. One of the situations to which the right applies is an unexpected incident involving the employee’s child during school hours. The right is to unpaid time off, and employees exercising the right must tell their employer the reason for the absence and how long they expect to be away from work as soon as is reasonably practicable.

Whether a particular period of time off was “reasonable” and whether the action the employee used the time off to take was “necessary” depends on the circumstances of the case. Ultimately, these are issues determined by an employment tribunal, but there does seem to be at least a good chance that the time off your employee has taken would be covered.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

OptOut
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

The law protects employees against suffering a detriment as a result of exercising this right. A demotion would clearly constitute a detriment, meaning that if you do demote your employee then, irrespective of the contractual position, there would be a substantial risk of her successfully claiming for any financial losses flowing from the demotion and an award for injury to feelings.

David Brown, associate solicitor, Simpson Millar

Personnel Today

previous post
MPs want 2:2 minimum degree for teaching career, but prefer MA
next post
Case of the week: Lyons v Mitie Security

You may also like

How to manage workplace investigations effectively

5 Sep 2025

‘Terrible’ Employment Rights Bill returns to Commons

4 Sep 2025

New ‘failure to prevent fraud’ law a ‘game-changer’

2 Sep 2025

PCs removed from firearms unit after Tallia Storm...

2 Sep 2025

Top 10 HR questions August 2025: Conduct outside...

2 Sep 2025

Business confidence grows to post-Budget peak

1 Sep 2025

P&O Ferries boss who steered 800 sackings steps...

29 Aug 2025

Council clerk sacked after trying to ensure his...

29 Aug 2025

Day one rights in the Employment Rights Bill...

28 Aug 2025

EHRC acts on policies flouting law on single-sex...

28 Aug 2025

  • Work smart – stay well: Avoid unnecessary pain with centred ergonomics SPONSORED | If you often notice...Read more
  • Elevate your L&D strategy at the World of Learning 2025 SPONSORED | This October...Read more
  • How to employ a global workforce from the UK (webinar) WEBINAR | With an unpredictable...Read more

Personnel Today Jobs
 

Search Jobs

PERSONNEL TODAY

About us
Contact us
Browse all HR topics
Email newsletters
Content feeds
Cookies policy
Privacy policy
Terms and conditions

JOBS

Personnel Today Jobs
Post a job
Why advertise with us?

EVENTS & PRODUCTS

The Personnel Today Awards
The RAD Awards
Employee Benefits Live
Employee Benefits
Forum for Expatriate Management
Whatmedia

ADVERTISING & PR

Advertising opportunities
Features list 2025

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Linkedin


© 2011 - 2025 DVV Media International Ltd

Personnel Today
  • Home
    • All PT content
  • Email sign-up
  • Topics
    • HR Practice
    • Employee relations
    • Learning & training
    • Pay & benefits
    • Recruitment & retention
    • Wellbeing
    • Occupational Health
    • HR strategy
    • HR Tech
    • The HR profession
    • Global
    • All HR topics
  • Legal
    • Case law
    • Commentary
    • Flexible working
    • Legal timetable
    • Maternity & paternity
    • Shared parental leave
    • Redundancy
    • TUPE
    • Disciplinary and grievances
    • Employer’s guides
  • AWARDS
    • Personnel Today Awards
    • The RAD Awards
  • Jobs
    • Find a job
    • Jobs by email
    • Careers advice
    • Post a job
  • Brightmine
    • Learn more
    • Products
    • Free trial
    • Request a quote
  • Webinars
  • Advertise