TUPE?

[Goksly]

Ok so just had a meeting with my manager that the company is restructuring and some of the departments are being grouped together into a separate company. The owners of the new company are the same as the old, all terms are stated to be the same. Pension offering (one of the few things that can be "adjusted" going forward) will be the same.

So on the face of it, nothing to worry about. Having done some reading up about it, well there doesn't seem to be any positives - but there doesn't seem to be any negatives either with the exception of perks might not be the same going forward but the company doesn't offer many of them anyways.

Anyone been through it? Anything to be concerned about? I've known the owners for a long time and am fairly comfortable that they're being straight with me. No redundancies planned, I feel my role is pretty safe with the vision of where the company is going etc. But equally I can't help but think that this is a lot of hassle, paperwork, time and money to do so they wouldn't go through all of this for no reason?

 

[Nazbit]

Happened to me.

In general if its from one company to a very similar company that is going to maintain the same service then you're fine and all of your terms are protected (except pension but you're ok in that regard).

However if as in my case you are tuped to a company that wants to offshore the service...

Tupe law was significantly weakened a number of years ago by the removal of the statutory unfair periods and addition of the "Organisational, Economic or Technical" defences to redundancy.

If it's a new staging company owned by the old company my assumption would be that they're packaging you up as a new entity ready for a potential sale?

 

[sigma]

What exactly are they doing? Just a re-org or change of company type?

 

[Goksly]

If it's a new staging company owned by the old company my assumption would be that they're packaging you up as a new entity ready for a potential sale?

Not sure that is the case, at least for the company we're going to become. It's mainly the supporting aspects being grouped, so they wouldn't provide any benefit to another company... However I get what you mean from the other point of view, as it makes the rest of the business fairly streamlined?

 

[Goksly]

What exactly are they doing? Just a re-org or change of company type?

re-org I think... Basically they've been spinning off various aspects of the business for years now, still retaining ownership but standalone businesses. I guess we've got to the point where there is nothing else to spin off except for the main company itself, which will be left and all other aspects spun off instead. The new company I'll be apart of will be a zero profit company.

 

[Nazbit]

From what you've said it sounds ok.

How many people are transferring?

If it's a proper tupe tramsfer you should have a consultation period during which you'll be able to elect reps or be represented by your union. During this period ask lots of questions through the reps, as many as you can think of clarifying all aspects of your terms and conditions and employment situation. Get all of the answers in writing.

The main thing to remember is the spirit of the tupe regulations which is that you should not be worse off as a result of the transfer. So if you think you're negatively affected by anything they propose, challenge it.

This would be my advice to anyone in tupe, bevause you never know whats waiting for you on the other side, but again your particular scenario doesn't sound like a problem to be honest.

 

[peterwalkley]

It *should* be ok but you likely want to check the clock isn't resetting to zero when it comes to your number of years in service. This matters when it comes to redundancy payouts.

It seems a bit weird they are going through TUPE when the ownership isn't changing. What @Nazbit said above about being packaged for sale is the only logical reason I can see as well.

 

[Jokester]

Aye, my client company is going through that process at the moment of shifting staff into a new company in order to sell off the particular bit of the business everyone works for.

 

[llamadal]

It *should* be ok but you likely want to check the clock isn't resetting to zero when it comes to your number of years in service. This matters when it comes to redundancy payouts.

It seems a bit weird they are going through TUPE when the ownership isn't changing. What @Nazbit said above about being packaged for sale is the only logical reason I can see as well.

It's important to make sure you don't have a break in employment from 1 company to another then should anything goes sideways it's counted as continuous employment.

 

[darkgen]

I've been through the TUPE ringer three times with the latest run occurring in 2013. Depending on the scale of the endeavor a "harmonisation" activity may occur quite soon afterwards which effectively looks to consolidate T&Cs across the workforce. This exercise sets to equalize terms across the board, which normally means that for individuals who are on more favourable terms getting penalised.

Anyway; Your years of service should be protected.

 

[Nazbit]

". Depending on the scale of the endeavor a "harmonisation" activity may occur quite soon afterwards which effectively looks to consolidate T&Cs across the workforce. This exercise sets to equalize terms across the board, which normally means that for individuals who are on more favourable terms getting penalised.

Anyway; Your years of service should be protected.

This is true but you wouldn't need to agree to anything that leaves you worse off as your terms and conditions prior to transfer are protected by the tupe regs.

In reality ofcourse there may be pressure, either or the carrot or the stick type, but you can stand your ground.

That said it shouldn't apply here as it's a strange scenario of one company dividing in to separate entities.

 

[Goksly]

Yeah so having read various articles and looking at the advice here I think ultimately there isn't really much to be done - or needed. The terms of employment will be identical and my terms of employment will be a continuation, so no break in service. So the only two options would be to agree and sign, or hand in my resignation. So yeah, I guess if there are any hidden reasons for this it will come out in the wash, but just hope it's all for the right reasons! If you see me post a "look at my CV" post, well you know which way it's gone

 

[neodude]

I'm going to be going through it next April. Losing my Final Salary Pension but I think the new company's pension scheme is still pretty good by today's standards. Time will tell I suppose.

 

[darkgen]

The only aspect of the pension scheme which is protected; at least it was in my case was the percentage contribution from the employer.