Employment tribunal - concerns

senwar

Hi - wonder if anyone can advise me here. I've mentioned in a previous thread about this a while back but thought I'd put a new thread on.

Basically I applied for voluntary redundancy in November last year and was accepted in December with a finish date of 31/1/10. In December, I was provided terms that although I was happy with, I thought would have been more. However, it turned out the company advised that I was entitled to their standard (well enhanced) terms, and my previous company, of which I TUPE'd from 10 years previous, were not classed as one of the further enhanced terms companies. Fair enough, and I signed all the paperwork.

On the day before I left I was advised by our someone involved in the TUPE discussions way back that I should be entitled to terms as agreed under TUPE. I raised this issue by email on this day - didn't raise a grievance but asked for further clarification. The TUPE agreement stated the terms were valid for 2 years from contract inception 'at which time they will be reviewed under full consultation'. This never happened, hence the advice to raise this as an issue.

To cut a long story short, the company dispute my claim and say the terms are no longer valid citing the 2 year comment (but ignoring the consultation/review comment). As such I raised an ET1 and had it accepted.

The company have now responded through a solicitor stating the exact same - that the agreement was for 2 years only, but again do not mention anything about consultation and review. If they could provide evidence of when this was done, then fine, but they don't even refer to it. The response has requested a half day hearing (originally a 1 hour one was set up).

Now the other point they refer to is my signing of the paperwork in December, and in all fairness it does say full and final settlement on the paperwork. So, does this completely negate my claim, or given I believe I was given incorrect information at this time negate the signature?

I don't really want to go through the courts and to be honest, don't want the worry and the risk. Part of me feels I should really fight as they're completely ignoring my claim re: the review. As I say if they can provide evidence of when this was done, then fine.

Any advice? Appreciate I should possibly speak to a solicitor but I'm really limited for time at the moment. I'm also awaiting to hear back from ACAS following the companies response.

My main sticking point is the signing of the papers in December, and just wonder if I'm fighting a losing battle because of this?

markandkate

HI I think you should ask the solicitor to produce the documents that he is relying on to say that the two year rule does/ does not apply. At the very least you are running up the company's legal bill!

With regard to the signed agreement you could argue that you signed it based on the representations of the company which turned out ( possilbly to be false) and my them misrepresenting the truth by their conduct they have invalidated the agreement.

The starting point in all of this is getting clarification on what was or was not agreed at the time of the transfer although in general terms if it was a TUPE transfer then you should transfer on the same terms and conditions. If you did not then perhaps you could ask their solicitor to produce the documents that you signed agreeing to the variation in the contract and proof that you knew about the variation.

Ensure that all contact with the solicitor is in writing and insist that replies are too as htey may be produced in the tribuanal as evidence. You should also ask for notes/ minutes from all meetings where you queried hte ammount of payment

senwar

markandkate wrote: »

HI I think you should ask the solicitor to produce the documents that he is relying on to say that the two year rule does/ does not apply. At the very least you are running up the company's legal bill!

With regard to the signed agreement you could argue that you signed it based on the representations of the company which turned out ( possilbly to be false) and my them misrepresenting the truth by their conduct they have invalidated the agreement.

The starting point in all of this is getting clarification on what was or was not agreed at the time of the transfer although in general terms if it was a TUPE transfer then you should transfer on the same terms and conditions. If you did not then perhaps you could ask their solicitor to produce the documents that you signed agreeing to the variation in the contract and proof that you knew about the variation.

Ensure that all contact with the solicitor is in writing and insist that replies are too as htey may be produced in the tribuanal as evidence. You should also ask for notes/ minutes from all meetings where you queried hte ammount of payment

Thanks for your reply. I think the comment re: requesting proof is going to be the initial action I take. They just do now refer to the review at all. If they can provide proof then I will accept it. But as far as I can see, it never happened.

Ive also had a response from the original TUPE rep stating a number of additional points and basically disagreeing with the solicitors response. He's also stated similar re: the terms, i.e. they were accepted based on current information which has turned out to be incorrect. Also, there is a comment in the letter stating the figures are estimates only.

I really hope this can be resolved without the need for court, and feel a little better today if I'm honest. Will certainly take your advice re: requesting info. Thanks again for this

Cheers