Legal assistance with employment law issues

Questioner

I work at a care institution as a night watch. My contract states that my working hours are from 22:45 to 8:45. Last May, after returning from vacation, I was surprised with an email that the company was doing badly and that a solution had to be found. It was also stated that the night watchmen were given their working hours from 21:45 to 8:30. This means that I am there an hour earlier and because I have to go to bed earlier, I will structurally receive a quarter of an hour's salary increase. In addition, I am a single mother and have children who I do not like to leave at this time because they are not yet in bed. Is the employer allowed to do this without really consulting with employers? In addition, it turns out that I work too many hours per week and that this should suddenly no longer be allowed after 5 years. I have a min/max contract of 17.5 hours minimum per week. That is 2 to 3 nights per week and 10 to 14 nights per month. Now I would only be allowed to work 8 per month. I have now been immediately put on inactive status because I am already at the maximum based on my work hours, but to get my salary I had to buy off my hours with vacation hours and use my PBL hours, the rest that was left I had to spend on scanning files, these were still 43 hours. Scanning the company also showed that there are too many people walking around without papers, including me. I got involved 6 years ago because I have a child with autism myself, which gave me enough affinity with the target group. Now that is no longer enough and they are forcing me to do a training course for 3 years. Privately, that is very inconvenient for me and I can't afford it now, the employer only wants to pay for the training, but I also have to work 10 hours a week on assignments, but they don't want to pay for them. In addition, it costs me 1 day of school a week and another 20 hours of study. That is too much for 3 years and not motivating enough to start. Which I did do but had to drop out soon due to private circumstances. The employer called me in for an interview with HMR last week because they thought I was no longer motivated enough and wanted to apply for dismissal because I decided to stop studying. I said that I could understand that to some extent because it was already difficult to combine at home due to the changed working hours. But that I would never apply for dismissal on my own. Now they are throwing it under agreement together so that I would be eligible for the UWV. Can you tell me what I am entitled to and whether this is possible as the employer asks of me?

Lawyer

I believe that your case is too complicated for a short, clear answer. On the one hand, I see an employer who is making mistakes, but you are not entirely blameless in the matter of the training. In principle, the employer is not free to unilaterally change the employment conditions of his employees. This may be different if the employment contract contains a 'unilateral amendment clause' and the employer provides compelling reasons for the change. I advise you to contact an employment lawyer and present this case to him. In principle, with a settlement agreement you are entitled to unemployment benefits. You may be eligible for subsidized legal aid. You can contact one of the lawyers on this website, a legal aid clinic or law clinic in your area or Het Juridisch Loket (0900 8020) or: http://www.juridischloket.nl/Pages/default.asp