TUPE- A Guide for Employees
Transfer of Undertaking (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006
outgoing and incoming employers to consult with you and this should be one of the areas where they can allay any of your concerns very quickly.
We are aware that a potential transfer to another employer can be a worrying time for all concerned. This Guide is therefore designed to answer any questions you may have regarding either your transfer to another company or your transfer to Ringway and your rights as a transferring employee.
What if the new employer dismisses me because of the transfer?
TUPE is intended to safeguard your contractual terms and conditions of employment, (including continuous service) in the event that the contract on which you spend the majority of your time, is transferred from one provider to another.
Your new employer cannot dismiss you upon transfer, unless the main cause of dismissal is a carefully defined “economic, technical or organisational” reason, which requires changes to the workforce and that they are acting “reasonably” in treating that reason as sufficient to justify a dismissal. If your new employer does dismiss you for one of these reasons, they must pay you redundancy compensation at the same level as your redundancy terms at the original company. You can still claim for unfair dismissal against your new employer, if you believe that you have not been treated fairly.
But what does that actually mean for me?
Can I refuse to transfer?
If you are covered by TUPE legislation, your terms and conditions of service at the date of transfer are automatically transferred to the new provider who becomes your new employer.
You have the right to decline to transfer. You should inform your current employer of your decision as quickly as possible so that your details can be removed from the list of transferring employees provided to the new employer.
Purpose
What happens to the service I’ve built up with my present company at the date of transfer? Your new employer respects this and the transfer does not break your service or continuous employment. The new employer will ask for evidence of the dates relevant to you in order to ensure that their records are correct.
Often in these situations there may be an alternative role that your current employer wishes to discuss with you. You will then have the choice to transfer or to remain with your current employer in the new role. Should there be no alternative role for you and you still decline to transfer, this will mean your resigning from your current employer.
Can my terms and conditions of service be changed?
What actually period?
Your new employer is obliged to honour your contract of employment, which means that they must maintain your existing pay and conditions of service. In reality there may be occasions when changes are proposed for operational reasons, but these would only be introduced after consultation and agreement with employees and where appropriate, with their union representatives.
The process set out here is the one followed by Ringway and we provide it for guidance only. We cannot guarantee that any other new employer will follow exactly the same route.
What happens to my pension? Your pension entitlements will be contained in your terms of employment. The terms of the contract won by the new provider will usually determine what pension provision must be offered to transferring employees. This is often to offer a pension scheme that is broadly comparable to your current scheme, although sometimes the contract will stipulate specific actions that the new employer must take. You will need to ask what pension you will be offered prior to your transfer. There are obligations on both
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It would be normal practice for the new employer to hold group and individual meetings with all potentially transferring employees. They should then write to all concerned clarifying their individual position with regard to TUPE and the new contract. Throughout the run up to the start of the new contract regular communication is made with all involved parties to ensure that any concerns can be addressed as quickly as possible. Starter forms for payroll will be sent to individuals and all employees set up on the relevant payroll in time for the first applicable pay run.