An employer can change the contract after proper negotiation even if the employee does not agree to the changes. A change in a contract is like a new contract. To change the contract, the employer must give notice of the change to the employee and must attempt to negotiate the new terms and conditions with the employee.

If the employer and employee/s cannot agree about the changes in the contract, then the employer may decide to go ahead and introduce the changes. If the employer then just accepts the new conditions and goes on working, then the new conditions become part of the contract.

If the employee does not agree to the changes, then he or she can:

• Refer a dispute to the CCMA or Bargaining Council in terms of section 64(4) of the Labour Relations Act. The employee can ask the CCMA to issue a notice toinstruct the employer to restore the terms and conditions which applied before the change took place. The employer must comply with this notice within 48 hours of receiving it.
• Refer a dispute to the CCMA or the Bargaining Council (if one is in that industry) for conciliation. If conciliation fails, than that employee and other employees covered by the dispute may go on strike after giving the employer 48 hours notice of the strike. Remember, individual employees may not strike but can only do so as a collective group. Individuals should refer a dispute to arbitration where an outcome will be adjudged.
• Refuse to accept the changes. If the employer then dismisses the employee it might well be an automatically unfair dismissal, as an employer is not able to unilaterally amend the contract of an employee or employees.
• Choose to stop working for the employer. If the employee was forced to resign, or retrenched or dismissed as a means to get the employee to accept the changes, it will be considered an automatically unfair dismissal. Employers may not use the threat of dismissal as a means to coercing an employee into agreeing to a new contract. (See: Solving Disputes under the LRA)

Note: Where a registered trade union has signed a collective agreement with the employer and where the employer changes this agreement without the agreement of the union, the union and its members can go to the CCMA or the Bargaining Council, if applicable, to claim that the employer has broken the collective agreement. This referral of the dispute will be in terms of Section 24 of the Labour Relations Act.