Legal advice on employment contract questions

Questioner

I have an indefinite employment contract for 23 hours, because of the high number of plus and vacation hours I would temporarily get an increase from 23 hours to 32 contract hours. At the beginning of January I received a letter that my hours had been increased and that all other employment conditions remained unchanged, but no end date was mentioned in the letter. I was very happy that I finally had more hours on contract, because I always worked more hours structurally, so a lot of hours accrual, but it is almost impossible to get time off due to staff shortages. I asked many times if I could get more hours on contract. As of February 24th I will be on sick leave, because I broke my hand in a fall (not during work). Unfortunately, the recovery is a bit slow, so I will be on sick leave longer than would probably be normal. I don't know if this incident has anything to do with it, I'm afraid so, because on April 6th (unfortunately still on sick leave) I received a letter stating that my hours had been reduced to 23 hours. Without any consultation or notification of this. Can my employer just do this, despite the fact that there was no end date in the letter in which my contract hours were increased. I know in the back of my mind that they verbally said that it would be temporary. But I secretly hope that the increase would be permanent.

Lawyer

No, this is not allowed. In itself, the employer's actions are also ineffective, because your rights are determined on the basis of the hours actually worked before the illness. If you have any further questions/problems, I advise you to contact a specialized labor law attorney. He/she is a member of a specialized association. Often the first consultation is free, such as at my office.