QLD I signed a new contract without realising a clause was removed

[Sharni Jones]

Hi guys,

Hoping someone might have some advice for me. A few years ago I negotiated to have a clause added to my contract that meant my employer had to give me an extra week of paid leave each year. Last year, the company changed their trading name and told us we would all be required to sign new contracts with the new business name. We were advised verbally that no other changes to our contracts had been made - they were exactly the same other than the name change. We were asked to simply sign the new contracts and return them. I've since discovered that the new contract I signed actually had this leave clause removed.

My question is - since I signed the new contract, do I just have to suck it up? Or would I be able to argue that it was misrepresentation on their part not tell me they had altered another part of the contract?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[sammy01]

Suck it up. Your mistake... But u can re negotiate to get the extra week back

 

[Rob Legat - SBPL]

You should approach them to discuss it first. It may be an inadvertent mistake that’s easily rectified.

If they don’t agree to make the necessary change, you do have some grounds in misrepresentation on the basis that you asked if the clause was in there and they said it was. It may be a tough argument because you should have checked, which will no doubt be thrown back at you. You’ll likely win the argument, but you’ll need to count the potential costs of doing so and weigh that against that extra week.

 

[Scruff]

Definitely discuss it with them and make sure you have the original contract to show them. But - be nice about it. You should assume at this point that they simply provided the same contract to everyone without checking to see if there were any negotiated clauses in the originals. So give them the benefit of the doubt and treat it as a genuine mistake - there's no need to butt heads unnecessarily.

 

[Sharni Jones]

Thanks everyone! Yep, very stupid mistake on my behalf. Will take your advice and speak to them about it (nicely!).