Changing an Employees' Working Hours

In a time where conventional working hours are less favourable,  options like flextime are becoming more standard. However, not all companies are embracing options like working from home or irregular hours, and so some employees may need to make a case for any changes to their working hours. 

Naturally, any changes to an employee’s working hours must be agreed upon by both the employee and the employer. Failure to do so can result in troubles for the employer, as the employee may be entitled to claim a breach in contract. Any changes should be beneficial to all parties involved, so to an agreement both the employee and the employer should understand how to broach and discuss the subject. 

Step-by-Step process for changing an employee's working hours 

If, as an employer, you wish to change the working hours of an employee, there are some steps you must take to comply with employment laws in the UK.  

1 – Review the current employment contract of the employee  

The first step in making any changes to an employee’s working agreement with you is to review their contract. The contract you made, signed, and agreed upon with the employee at the time of recruitment.  

This contract may already address changes to working hours. In which case, it will determine your next steps. If the contract contains any clauses allowing, you to change hours if the change is deemed ‘reasonable’ makes this process easier.  

2 – Consult with the employee directly  

One of the most important steps in changing an employee’s working hours is your discussion with the employee. This conversation could make or break the decision process and could even have an impact on your relationship with the employee.  

What’s important to remember here is that honesty is the best policy. Holding a transparent discussion with your employees and giving them the chance to express their concerns, opinions, and feelings will ensure they feel included in the decision. Afterall, it is their hours that may be changed as a result.  

3 – Seek an agreement that works for both parties  

Once you’ve had the conversation, you should aim to reach an agreement that works for you, the business, and of course, your employee.  

If the employee is not happy with the decision, they may seek support from a trade union or raise concerns. Alternatively, they may even consider leaving their position all together, particularly if they felt their feelings had not been taken into consideration.  

4 – Obtain a written agreement for your records  

With a final decision agreed upon, it is vital that you keep a written record of this decision and change to their employment contract. By doing so, you protect your business by ensuring you have evidence to prove this decision was a shared agreement, obtained by following the correct processes.  

5 – Provide the employee with notice of the change  

As with any change in the business or to an employee’s contract, notice must be given. You simply cannot change an employee’s working hours on a Friday and expect them to adhere to this change by Monday.  

Giving sufficient notice allows the employee time to make adjustments to prepare for these changes. The length of the notice provided can differ depending on the extent of the change. Which we explain below.  

When an employee wants to change their working hours 

If the situation is reversed and an employee wishes to change their working hours, they must first approach their employer with a request.  

If this is a short-term change, such as changing a one-off shift, then the process will depend entirely on what the employment contract says.  

However, if an employer wishes to make a long-term change, the requested is most often required in writing, establishing what they are asking for and why they are asking for it.  

This discussion will allow both the employer and employee to be open with expectations and concerns about any potential changes to working hours. Because of this, both parties may present alternative ideas than those initially proposed, such as changing to compressed hours or part-time working. 

It’s worth noting that some statutory rights may justify a change of working hours, such as not wishing to work on a Sunday. 

Employee rights on a change of working hours 

It is always important to understand what the law says. Below we cover the rights of your employees when changing their working hours.  

Unfair Dismissal 

If changes are imposed without agreement, employees may claim unfair dismissal if the change leads to termination or an untenable working condition.  

Discrimination 

Employers must ensure that changes do not indirectly discriminate against employees with protected characteristics under the Equality Act 2010 . 

Breach of Contract 

Changes made without agreement, from both parties, may lead to claims for breach of contract or unlawful deductions from wages. 

Complying with employment laws and following the correct process when changing working hours is important to prevent complications. If an employee believes the law has been broken, they may follow the internal complaints process or seek external legal advice, resulting in legal proceedings.  

How much notice should you give an employee when changing working hours? 

An employee should be notified whenever their working hours are changed, regardless of whether it was by their own choice or not. An employer’s intention to make these changes is a change of working hours announcement, which is open to a response from employees. 

When discussing the change of working hours, it can refer to two types of changes. 

These can be either a short-term change, such as a shift change, or a permanent one, such as changes made to an employee’s contract. Each has a different legal notice period for a change of working hours. 

The former requires the employer to give the employee 12 hours of notice. The latter must be given to an employee written notification of any changes within four weeks of the decision being made. 

In the event that there have been changes made to a contract without discussion or agreement, these changes to a contract will likely be a breach of the contract of employment. Simple providing a written notice would not make these changes lawful.  

The complications of changing an employment contract  

In regard to employment law on a change of working hours, within an employment contract, there can be ‘variant clauses’. These clauses generally allow minor changes to a contract, yet they must be clear and precise about what they can change.  

If an employer only has these variant clauses to rely on for changes to working hours, an employee may protest these changes.  

Changes to contracts using variant clauses cannot be made without due consideration. An employer has to justify any attempts to change an employee’s contract due to variant clauses, such as if the company or business needs to reduce working hours due to financial struggles.  

If this occurs, the employer needs to follow a fair procedure to utilise changes via variation clauses.  

Changes to contracts may also be discussed due to a change of ownership of the company or business. However, they cannot make these changes without an employee’s consent. This is considered a Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment, or a TUPE change of working hours.  

Any changes due to being transferred to a new employer cannot be made if they’re directly related to the transfer.  

This means that even if the new owner already has an employee in a similar role, they cannot make any changes to the employee’s contract. For example, they can’t reduce your pay because they pay someone who already works for them in a similar role. 

Considering alternatives that benefit the business 

Before making changes to an employment contract it’s beneficial to consider any reasonable alternatives.  

This may include offering company-wide flexible working. Adapting to the needs of your employees by encouraging flexible working arrangements such as working from home or flexi-time.  

You could also introduce trial periods, allowing employees chance to test their new working hours before reaching a final agreement. This often supports businesses in achieving a fairer outcome for both employee and business.  

Other alternatives may include:  

Engaging employees via employee feedback forms. This will determine how employees feel about the idea of their hours changing before proposing the change.  

Reassign employees to other roles or departments where their skills are needed.

Reorganise work duties or redistribute workloads among employees to meet business needs. Without having to change working hours. You may discover the change in working hours was never needed with a simple change to work loads.  

Flexible working requests in 2026 and beyond  

If flexible working becomes a solution for your business or you find more employees are keen to adjust their working hours, it’s important to know how the law is changing.  

Several updates to flexible working rights and procedures will take effect during 2026 under the Employment Rights Act 2025. A consultation is currently ongoing, and further details may emerge as the process concludes. 

More information can be found in our guide. Download here.  

Best practices for changing working hours  

In terms of handling the process in the best way, open communication is advised. Being honest and open to discussion with your employee, no matter who is making the request, is important for transparency.  

As an employer, you should also document any requests and ensure these documents are correctly stored in case they need to be referred to in the future. You never know when said documentation may be required as evidence.  

Here’s how BrightHR can help you!  

It can be difficult for both employees and employers to fully understand changes to working hours. This is where BrightHR’s expertise can provide valuable assistance. Get in touch today for employment law advice or explore our many insightful HR resources. 

Our clients ask loads of questions about changing an employees working hours, so we’ve answered some of the most common ones below. Need more assistance, why not try our AI answer tool. Designed to provide you instant answers thousands of HR and health & safety queries in the workplace. Created by experts, powered by AI!