News

A driver has lost his constructive dismissal claim against Christian Salvesen after his shift pattern was changed to include Sunday working. Alexander Saville told a Glasgow employment tribunal he had no alternative but to resign after the shift change because it stopped him from attending church. He had received a final warning for failing to comply with the new drivers' rota, after being suspended for refusing to leave when he turned up at his original start time, an hour-and-a-half before he  was due to start his shift under the new pattern. The day before, a Sunday, he had not turned up for work despite being rostered.

Saville had been employed at Salvesen's Belshill depot since 1989, working a fixed shift pattern of weekdays with occasional Saturdays. The change to the drivers' rota, to a rolling week with flexible start times and changing rest days, occurred after the Morrisons takeover of Salvesen's customer Safeway. The shift changes were to meet more rigid delivery requirements from Morrisons compared with its predecessor, Salvesen said. The tribunal dismissed Saville's claim, saying it accepted the shift pattern changes were a business imperative, and that adequate notice and union negotiation had taken place.