Wage cut after two years after TUPE

Puma88

Been in my job 6 years now, 4 years at my previous company and now 2 years at the company that bought them and brought me over.

The new company are now proposing that they are going to drop the wages of anyone transferred over to be inline with the company pay structure.

Can they do this and do they need to give us notice?

Can I reject the pay cut and will this trigger a redundancy if so?

A concerned employee...

paddedjohn

You can reject their terms and be finished up but it won't be redundancy

kazmeister

TUPE only applies on the day the company transfers over. If they wish the new employer can the next day give you notice to change your contract and there is little you can do (unless the majority are in a union then you can get them to negotiate on your behalf). After a period of time if they have people doing the same job on two different rates of pay it can be classed as 'unfair'.

basill

When I was last TUPE d the company paid for us all to have legal advice to ensure we all understood what we were signing.

It was explained that under TUPE our terms and conditions must remain the same for a "reasonable" period of time. Reasonable could not be precisely defined but my legal rep suggested it could be as little as 6 months to a year.


B

Madkittykat

I would get proper advice.

Changes are void if the sole or principal reason for the change is the transfer itself or for a reason connected with the transfer unless that reason is an Economic, Technical or Organisational (‘ETO’) reason entailing change in the workforce. Tupe is fraught with difficulties and a lot of employers get it wrong, the fact that two years have passed is immaterial if he change is connected just to Tupe, but it can prove difficult.

Saying that are they reorganising the whole workforce? how long would it take for the wages to harmonise if there was a pay freeze? Have they tried anything else to cut costs?

ohreally

Taylor v Connex South Eastern EAT/1243/99, the EAT held that an employee dismissed two years after a transfer could still claim protection under TUPE. His employers wanted him to agree to a change to his terms and conditions, to bring them into line with those of other workers. He refused and was dismissed. The EAT ruled that the dismissal was automatically unfair because it was related to a TUPE transfer.

anamenottaken

I've just Thanked Madkittykat and ohreally because I agree that the law protects you beyond the second day following the transfer!