Hello I’m new here and new to forums so hope I’m in the right place. I currently work at Asda and ALL colleagues are being moved to what’s called ‘contract 6’. This new contract gives the company the right to change our working days, working hours, shift patterns and departments at any time and with no limit on how many time they can make changes. We have no choice but to sign the new contracts or be dismissed. Now, I have been told by Asda that as carers we CAN have some protection against inappropriate shift changes. I was also told we HAVE to be ‘registered’ as a carer for this protection. This leads to my question, how do I provide proof that I am a carer? (I’ve never heard of a ‘register’ 
) I do not claim carers allowance as my part time wage is over the claim threshold. There are lots of people in this situation, there are at least 15 of us in my store alone! Any information on how to show proof of responsibilities would be gratefully appreciated, thanks.
Hi Matthew … welcome to the forum.
On your behalf , I have searched through the various results produced by … ASDA UK EMPLOYEES TERMS AND CONDITIONS …
an Internet search that has revealed nothing in relation to your enquiry.
Registering as a carer ?
In the dark as much as you … one does NOT need to be claiming Carers Allowance to be a family / kinship carer !
My immediate thought would be your local union rep for clarification.
A little " Odd " that such a well known company has not a clear and consise policy for carers … whereas , for disabled
people , there are sections on their web site that suggest they do all they can to accomodate them.
Employment law … there are degrees of comfort for carers within said law … someone inside ASDA has the job of
ensuring the company does comply with them.
A question of who … usually at the local level … even the store manager perhaps ?
STOP PRESS : GMB UNION UP IN ARMS OVER PROPOSED NEW ASDA 6 CONTRACT :
Five things Asda Colleagues need to know about Contract 6 GMB trade union
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**_A One to One meeting is an official meeting between you and your manager. On Contract 6, the manager will discuss the potential impact of the contract changes on you.
\
- REPRESENTATION - You have the right to be accompanied by a rep to your One to One meeting. You have the right to a postponement if your GMB rep is not available. failing that your Regional GMB Officer.
\- INFORMATION - In the meeting, your manager should come prepared with detailed information to share with you about how the proposed changes will impact on you and your finances.
\- SIGNING DOCUMENTS - You should not sign anything in this first One to One. There is no hurry. The proposed changes would not kick in until November and GMB wants a better deal for you. You may not be asked to sign it there and then, but if you are, you are within your rights (and should) to say no.
\- CAN ASDA FIRE ME FOR NOT SIGNING? - You cannot be dismissed or disciplined in this meeting for refusing to sign a new contract.
\- WHAT IS THE GMB’S POSITION? - The deal we are being offered is not good enough. Asda colleagues work hard to make Asda profitable, and we are angry that such changes could just be imposed. We are continuing to push for a better deal. GMB is going to ballot on the Asda proposals, so watch out for more details. If members are not happy with it, we may be left with no choice but to ballot for industrial action.
If you need further help or support, contact your store rep in the first instance or failing that your Regional GMB Officer._**
Good luck with whatever follows !
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Part time wage over the limit ( £ 123 ) , so not claiming Carers Allowance ?
With a bit of marshalling , there are ways to do BOTH … earn over AND still claim CA.
Just ask !
Ask Asda what proof of being a carer they require? Where can you register?
In the UK there is NO REGISTRATION PROCESS!
Carers Allowance is only available if you work a few hours a week.
I would suggest that you take proof that your WIFE is disabled, and therefore you are classed as “disabled by association” in the Equality Act, and therefore they must “make reasonable adjustments” or else you could take them to a tribunal for “Constructive Dismissal”. Ask Google for information about the “Coleman case constructive dismissal”.
I suggest printing off some of the relevant information on the subject and giving it to whoever insists on the “registration”. Do it very nicely, saying “It might help you to read this”. Hopefully it will then educate the company. Pass on the information to your fellow workers in the same situation.
It’s not that the company are trying to be difficult, they are just ignorant of the relevant rules.
If one goes by what I discovered through Internet searches , BB … a different ball game in 2019 ???
CUK’s take on this from elsewhere on this site :
Your rights in work | Carers UK
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Your rights in work
If you’re juggling work with looking after someone, you’re not alone - there are three million working carers in the UK.
Juggling work and care can be very challenging, so it’s important to find out about your rights.
PeopleFirst … your rights as a carer in the workplace :
Your rights in the workplace as a carer | People First
ACAS … working and caring :
Hopefully , not another " Book v. reality " scenario ???
Have you had a "Carers Assessment?
Talk to your GP, especially if your caree shares the same GP ( or practice) they should be able to provide some proof.
I did register as a carer at my local GP surgery. All I did was fill in their form and I think its for the surgery use only, not passed to Social Services. They did send my details to the local carers support group, but that was before this GDPR lark. I don’t think they’d be allowed to do that now.
So, like has been said, ask ASDA what proof they require, than check that legally and data-wise you can share that information with them.
Thank you all you wonderful people. I will go back armed with info for my next 1-2-1. It might not prevent me from having to sign this awful new contract but at least I can fight future problems it might cause. The whole proposal seems very inhumane to a lot of us but has now become unstoppable.
Your welcome , Matthew.
At least you have one huge advantage over us.
A trade union that supports you , the worker !
All we , 8.8 million of us , can ever expect to receive is an occasional pat the head.
You now know where we are.
A footnote to this thread :
Thousands protest against Asda's ‘crippling workers with poverty pay’ | Morning Star
Thousands protest against Asda’s " Crippling workers with poverty pay. "
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ASDA has lost the “respect and support” of its staff, trade unionists warned today as hundreds of workers marched through central Leeds in protest at “punitive” contract changes.
About 1,500 GMB union members employed by the supermarket giant marched past the company’s headquarters on Wednesday to oppose the imposition of “contract VI.”
The contract is deeply unpopular among Asda workers as it denies them right to paid breaks and no longer guarantees that some staff do not have to work at weekends.
This has caused particular distress for people with care duties, who say that they are being asked to choose whether to keep their job or properly look after vulnerable family members.
The GMB estimates that about 93 per cent of members oppose the new contract, but Asda bosses have threatened that any workers who do not sign the contract by November 2 will be automatically sacked.
GMB Wales and South West young members’ regional chairman Dean Ismay told the Star: “How Asda are treating its colleagues is disgraceful and disrespectful.
“Many of them have given years of service to this business to ensure it’s profitable and now we are having our hard-earned rights taken away, all in the name of the ‘needs of business.’
“They’re crippling us with retail poverty pay and with retail poverty conditions.
“We were once proud to wear that uniform, but not any more. The business that won awards for how it treated us is long gone.”
Asda was bought by notoriously anti-union US retail giant Walmart in 1999.
A young employee, who asked to remain anonymous, told the Star that management is already “turning up the heat” on workers refusing to sign the contract, saying: “There is blatant trade-union discrimination going on in every Asda up and down the country.
“I’ve seen with my own eyes how workers are being threatened by their managers, being asked to show their union cards, being pressured when they’re tired or in vulnerable positions into signing the contracts, and everyone has heard horror stories from other stores too.
“It can’t go on, and we wouldn’t be taking the problem seriously if we didn’t decide to tackle it head on.”
Shadow justice secretary Richard Burgon, MP for Leeds East, told the rally: “Isn’t it wrong that people who create the profits for Asda have to come to Leeds in the pouring rain to ask that the company that they made a success of for all these years listens to them?
“You shouldn’t have to be here today. It’s wrong that you are treated with such disrespect. You make Asda such a success and they do not listen to you.”
Addressing the crowd, GMB general secretary Tim Roache offered his solidarity to the workers in their fight.
He pointed out that the Waltons, who own Walmart, are the richest family in the world, with an accumulated fortune of about £158 billion.
He said: “When they tell us times are tough, yeah! They are tough for workers, but not for the people at the top.
“They say it is their sector’s norm to impose contracts on their workers.
“But why is there not a way for Asda to show that you can stand above so-called industry standards and show an example to other employers?”
He said: “They tell us that we have to be grateful for £9 an hour. But anywhere the GMB is organising in this sector which would impose these punitive, restrictive contracts — we would oppose them and fight them anywhere.”
GMB regional organiser Keith Dixon said: “It is time that Asda realises that they have lost the respect and support of their workforce and agrees to meet with GMB to negotiate better terms on behalf of the members.”
Yes what Ayjay says. Make sure you register at GP surgery as formal carer and ask GP to confirm it.
**Asda workers stage protests against " Punitive " new contract.
GMB union says contract removes pay for breaks and forces supermarket staff to work bank holidays.**
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Asda workers have staged protests at stores across the country against a new “flexible” contract they say will leave about 3,000 shop-floor staff worse off.
The GMB union said members would face the sack on 2 November if they did not sign the “punitive” contract, which it said removed pay for breaks and forced employees to work bank holidays.
The supermarket chain, which is owned by the American retailer Walmart, said the overwhelming majority of its staff had signed the contract but appreciated some employees found the changes “unsettling”.
Protests took place outside 12 Asda stores from Brighton to Glasgow on Monday as the GMB called on the supermarket chain to offer staff a better deal.
Outside the Trafford Park store in Manchester, one longtime Asda employee said she would lose £400 a year and eight days’ holiday if she signed the new contract.
“I’ve been here over 20 years and the top and bottom of it is if you don’t sign it [the new contract], you’ve got no job,” said the woman, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “I can’t swear, can I, but I feel like I’ve been shit on from a great big height. Loyalty just counts for nothing.”
An Asda spokeswoman said it had consulted with staff on the changes for months and that the 2 November deadline marked the end of a minimum period of notice after which staff would lose their jobs if they did not switch to the new contract.
She said 95% of staff would be better off under the new changes but that those who were not would be given a “transitional payment” specific to their contract.
Handing out leaflets to shoppers, the GMB regional organiser, Giovanna Holt, said the new contracts would mean staff lose paid breaks, have to work bank holidays whether they were contracted to them or not, and impose a four-week notice period where the store can change workers’ shifts.
“People can’t work like that. People have young children, elderly parents, disabled relatives they need to look after. You cannot just drop people at four weeks’ notice and expect people to change their lives round,” she said.
Holt, who worked for Asda for 10 years, said it was an “absolute disgrace” that workers were being told to sign the contract by 2 November or face losing their jobs in the run-up to Christmas.
“This is a good loyal workforce who thought they were part of a family and to treat people like that is just appalling. This is now a minimum wage employer with minimum benefits. And this is a wealthy, wealthy company. It’s an American culture. Everything they do gets reported back into America [and] their culture is being imposed on the company here. It just doesn’t work.”
An Asda spokeswoman said the contract was about “increasing the take-home pay of more than 100,000 retail colleagues” and ensuring everyone doing the same job was on the same terms and conditions.
She said: “We understand colleagues have commitments outside of work and will not be asking them to constantly move the time they work, their days or departments.”
**Up to 12,000 Asda workers could lose jobs amid contract row.
Labour MP lambasts " Shameful " new deal, which union says will leave many staff worse off.**
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Up to 12,000 Asda workers could lose their jobs next week, according to union officials, if they refuse to sign up to a new contract that will hit pay and benefits for thousands of workers.
The deal increases basic hourly pay but ends paid breaks, cuts premium pay on most bank holidays and reduces the number of hours rated as better-paid night shifts.
The contracts, which will apply to more than 100,000 of hourly-paid staff, also forces workers to accept variable shifts between 8am and 10pm and to switch between departments as required.
In August, the company told staff if they did not sign up to the new deal they would leave the business on 2 November.
The deal has been nicknamed the “Martini contract” after the drink’s 1970s advertising slogan “any time, any place, anywhere”.
The pay changes come after Asda group’s profits rose by 13% to £805m last year, while payouts to directors increased to £12m from £9.5m the year before.
Neil Derrick, the regional secretary of the GMB union, said: “Workers can be asked to work wherever, whenever including bank holidays. The flexibility and lack of certainty about when they are working, that’s the killer.
“Asda has recruited a workforce saying ‘come to us we are family-friendly business’ and this contract has driven a coach and horses through that.”
Siobhain McDonagh, the Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden, has claimed in a letter to Asda’s chief executive, Roger Burnley, that approximately 2,700 staff would lose up to £500 per year as a result of the changes, with a further 300 hit even harder.
But the GMB believes at least 6,000 staff could be financially worse off out of 118,000 Asda store staff it says are on hourly pay.
Gary Carter, the GMB national officer, has written to Asda asking it to postpone the contract change and ensure there were no dismissals through negotiations with the union.
“On 2 November, we understand up to 12,000 of your loyal Asda workers will be given the sack – just before Christmas. That cannot be right,” he wrote.
McDonagh described the move by Asda as “shameful”. The MP said: “Of course I welcome any increase in basic pay, but I am completely appalled that such a major high street retailer would use this as a smokescreen to slash the terms and conditions for thousands of their most loyal staff, triggering the redundancy of even more.”
She added: “What an utterly shameful way to treat so many longstanding employees who have given decades of dedication and hard work.”
Asda says 95% of its hourly paid staff will be financially better off under the new contract. It has agreed to top up wages until mid-2021 for those losing out under the new deal.
The new contract increases the base pay rate for shop workers from £8.21 to £9 an hour, excluding premiums based on location or for special skills such as bakery.
It also maintains existing benefits including an annual bonus, share save scheme and staff discount. Asda says festive bank holidays of Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day will continue to be “voluntary” with pay at double time.
The company says the new contracts represent an investment of more than £80m and are not about cost cuts.
An Asda spokesperson said: “We have been clear that we don’t want any of our colleagues to leave us and while the vast majority of colleagues have chosen to sign the new contract, we continue to have conversations with those who have chosen not to, to try to understand their concerns.
“It is vital that we make sure we are prepared to adapt to the demands of our market. Change is never easy but we are determined that Asda remains a sustainable business for its customers and colleagues – now and in the future.”
Asda’s contract change reflects similar alterations at rival supermarkets, which have offset increases in basic wages – partly driven by the annual increase in the legal minimum wage – by removing other perks.
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Competition for workers, amid high-profile efforts by the fast-growing grocery discounters Aldi and Lidl to pay more than the legal minimum, have prompted traditional supermarkets to increase their basic pay.
Sainsbury’s eliminated paid breaks but increased the base level of pay last year. Tesco ditched its annual bonus but pledged to increase hourly pay over the next two years to £9.30, up from £8.40.
**Asda : Workers are " Terrified for their jobs. "
Many Asda supermarket workers face the sack this weekend unless they sign new contracts that include the introduction of unpaid breaks for 100,000 staff.**
Asda workers are 'terrified for their jobs' - BBC News
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Shorter notice
Asda said reports that up to 12,000 of its hourly-paid workers had not yet agreed the new terms were “inaccurate”, but declined to disclose the latest figure.
Under the changes, paid breaks will be scrapped, working bank holidays will become compulsory - although festive holidays will be voluntary - and there will be changes to night shift payments.
Neil Derrick, GMB regional officer for Yorkshire and North Derbyshire, said staff would also be forced to attend work at shorter notice, disrupting the life of carers or people doing the school run.
Leeds-based Asda is increasing hourly pay rates. However, Mr Derrick said it was not the money that mattered for many staff, but the inflexibility of the new working patterns.
“Many staff cannot sign because of upheaval to their domestic life. Others have signed just to get them through Christmas or until they can find new jobs,” he said.
“I’ve not met anyone who thinks they will be better off in terms of working life. There will be a disproportionate impact on women.”
Mr Derrick said the union would support sacked employees in any legal battle against Asda. Labour’s leader Jeremy Corbyn has said he “stands in solidarity” with Asda workers.
" Understand concerns "
This week, Asda announced it would increase employees’ basic hourly pay from April, a move that the GMB said shows the supermarket is desperate to woo over disgruntled staff before the deadline.
The supermarket said it would raise its basic rate for its hourly-paid retail employees to £9.18 from 1 April next year, following an increase to £9 from 3 November.
In London, which has an additional allowance to reflect the higher cost of living, basic pay will increase to £10.31 per hour.
The retailer, owned by Walmart, acknowledged this week’s annual pay announcement for April rises had come earlier that usual.
An Asda spokesman said the new contract “represents an investment of over £80m and an increase in real pay for over 100,000 of our hourly paid colleagues”.
He added: “We have been clear that we don’t want any of our colleagues to leave us and whilst the vast majority of colleagues have chosen to sign the new contract, we continue to have conversations with those who have chosen not to, to try and understand their concerns.”
While Asda accepted that change was “never easy”, it was important that the company adapted to changes in the market and competition, he said.
The company has won backing from former Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King, who used to work at Asda.
He told the BBC that the new retail environment, where the working practices of some online retailers were “almost Victorian”, had made life extremely competitive for traditional firms.
"All legacy retailers - and Asda are one - have some legacy arrangements with their workforce which simply don’t reflect the modern world that we’re in.
“Many online retailers don’t pay their workers anywhere near as well as the mainstream retailers,” he said.
To compete, it was necessary to take tough decisions. “Sometimes you have to do the right thing for the whole business.” >