A company cannot materially change your conditions without you agreeing to it. Material change is something which can be measured in monetary terms. For example, taking away medical insurance, holidays, or of course refusing to pay you for x-number of days, weeks, or months, i.e. enforcing unpaid leave on aircrew.
Three options are available to the employee:
- go along with the employer’s proposal;
- refuse to work under the new terms and put the onus on the employer to take appropriate action;
- reject the proposals but to continue to work, under protest, under the new terms, whilst reserving all rights and perhaps bringing court or tribunal procedures in the event that a negotiated agreement cannot be reached
I suspect the recent HR director isn't good enough to know UK employee law. The "we are doomed" message isn't going to cut it either.