British Gas Engineer Sackings

[Hymie]

It seems to me that all of the 1,000 or so engineers who have refused to agree to the change in employment terms will take a case for constructive dismissal before an employment tribunal.
Hopefully a class test case would be considered rather than wasting tribunal time.

Centrica will no doubt argue that the change in terms are minor and so should not lead to successful claims. But Centrica has said that the changes are necessary to protect jobs as it tried to shore up its market position while battling to compete with rivals (and so cannot be considered minor).
If the claims are unsuccessful, the tribunal should indicate what level of salary reduction they consider reasonable, and not considered justification for a constructive dismissal claim.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9470465/Hundreds-British-Gas-engineers-share-fury.html

[aelmpvw]

think they should sack some of the it employees, i haven't been able to access my online account this year . . .

[Bazile]

Funny you should post about this .

There is a guy who lives on our road who is a BG engineer .

His van has not moved from outside his house for months now

Her indoors knocked on his door to asked if he was ok . He said yes .

I am wondering now if he is affected by this situation

[Bazile]

//..Owner Centrica said its annual underlying earnings have plunged by nearly a third amid the pandemic//

[Bazile]

Damn posted before i was ready .

What I was going to say is why would earnings have fallen because of the pandemic .

Boilers and other products don't suddenly stop breaking down or stop requiring servicing . because of the pandemic ?

[woofgang]

there will have been many people who have postponed having new boilers etcet put in. Most of the repair work will have been on their insurance scheme so money they have already got, not "new" money.

[douglas9401]

Their annual boiler safety check included in the plumbing and drains cover turned into a movable feast to the point where I decided to cancel my cover and go with a local guy.
Suddenly gas safety got put down the list of priorities.
Some say they're a shambolic company with a useless website and everything is over-priced.

[Bazile]

//there will have been many people who have postponed having new boilers etcet put in. //

But why would you put in a new boiler anyway , if your existing one has not broken down ?

And if it's broken down , and can't be fixed and requires replacing , you have to replace it

[woofgang]

//there will have been many people who have postponed having new boilers etcet put in. //

My existing boiler is old and limps from repair to repair. I know that some of its components are no longer made so when one of them fails I have no heating or hot water and no choice but replacement. I have chosen to get it renewed before it breaks down so I can control the season I have it replaced and had time to do my research and make a thoughtful decision.

[Everhelpful]

woofgang,anybody but British Gas,plenty of reputable smaller Company's.

[david small]

I have just had a new boiler installed. The installation company informed me that they were very busy indeed.
I had a cancellation appointment two weeks after order and the engineer said they were flat out.

[Bazile]

I can't imagine there are that many people that are thinking about replacing their boiler but who have chosen to delay it because of the pandemic ; thereby putting suck a dent in BG"s revenue

It's more likely in my opinion the costs of their maintenance policies , customer services , causing people to cancel .

After all their service and maintenance cover aren't cheap

[Bazile]

david
Was your replacement boiler through British gas ?

[piggynose]

talking about old boilers, its the wife's birthday next month. lol

[david small]

No Bazile, it is a private company, affiliated with a big name.

[bednobs]

I too have recently left my bg service cover owing to their terrible customer service

[Bazile]

It would appear that BG has chosen their boiler engineers to bear the brunt of the resultant effects, of the dip in revenues

[Togo]

Why does a company need 1,000 engineers for a bit of kit that the Greater Fun Birds insist we have to chuck away pronto to save the Glow Bulls? They can all retrain as car battery changers and so shall workers.

[Togo]

Woof ... steer well clear of a British Gas installation. We had our boiler replaced by a local family business team who were superb. Half the price of BG, and you got to meet the boss. We had a BG contract on our old system and the only time we needed them they let us down on Christmas Eve. Dismantled the pilot light, said that the parts were unavailable, and condemned the boiler. I sourced the parts online, a local registered gas boiler repairman fitted them and we had heating again by the New Year. We cancelled the worthless "service contract" and the boiler ran for 3 years and was still going strong when we decided to change it in the name of efficiency. That was a good decision btw as we have saved something like £90 a quarter in the 2 winter periods since. Every "engineer" that ever called opened a laptop and spent more time trying to sell us an overpriced boiler than they did running basic service checks. The whole company should be investigated for impersonating an institution that once meant something.

[Peter Pedant]

erm it is not constructive dismissal ( you resign because the conditions are or have become too onerous)

and I thought it was straightforward - you cant change their contract without agreement - or else everyone - just every employer would do it ( all the time)

but hey - I am just a pensioner on AB !

[woofgang]

PP I know you are probably right but when i worked in the NHS, I thought the line was slightly different....in order to change someone's contract you had to consult and do it using the proper process but of there were still overiding business reasons to change the contract them it could be changed but again there had to be a proper process.