tupe

lacyw

hi all,
Im after some straight talking advice. The company I work for at heathrow airport has recently just lost its contract, the new contract holder is to tupe us over. There is a 90 consultaion period where we will have group and one on one consultations. I have a few questions that-
Am i still gaurnteed to be in a job after the 90 days
Can my job description and salary change
What does a one on one consultation consist of, am i being interviewed?
Thanks for your time

ValHaller

On TUPE, you remain on the same terms and conditions as with the previous employer. So the easiest way to look at it is that whatever the old employer could do in terms of changing your terms and conditions, the new one can do too. And the new one will be more likely to do it

Linton

Having worked in outsourcing I can hopefully give you an idea of what the consultation could be about. This is from my experience, obviously there things could be quite different in your industry and specific situation....

Look at things from your new employers point of view. They have acquired a new lucrative contract which they will have to perform better and more profitably etc than your previous employer. They have also acquired the people who will do most of the work, at least initially. They will know little about the details of the work so will be dependent on the old workforce. But they know next to nothing about them. So your new employer has significant risks. The sort of things they will want to do is:

a) Find out who the old workforce are and what they do.
b) Reassure the old workforce that their situation is as good or better than previously. If lots of the old workforce left they could have problems.
c) Provide information and answer questions to counteract any wild rumours that always spread through the old workforce in outsourcing situations.
d) Explain how they see things moving forward.
e) Discuss with each employee how they may best fit into the new organisation.

In the industry I was working in, immediately after TUPE things would carry on much the same for a while, with only the senior management being affected, probably replaced as the company would want someone they know to be in charge. The new employer would then want to make changes either as improvements or to bring the TUPEd organisation into line with how the rest of the company operated.

Eventually the TUPEd staff would be merged in with the rest of the company quite often to their advantage in terms of career progression. TUPE can be a valuable source of experienced and competent staff who can be used better elsewhere.

zzzLazyDaisy

lacyw wrote: »

Am i still gaurnteed to be in a job after the 90 days

First and most important question....

When did you start working for this company?

Because all other advice is dependent on your reply.

lacyw

thanks for the reply. I have been employed by this firm for the past 19 months.
kind regards

zzzLazyDaisy

lacyw wrote: »

thanks for the reply. I have been employed by this firm for the past 19 months.
kind regards

That's great. As you were employed before 5th April 2012 you have employment protection.

This means that your contract will transfer to the new employer with your existing terms and conditions intact. It is unlawful for the new employer to make changes to your contract for a reason relating to the transfer. The exception to this is if the new employer needs to make redundancies, but even then they must follow normal fair procedures. There is no cut off point beyond which the new employer can make changes, but in real terms, the longer the period after the transfer, the more difficult it becomes to show that any changes are related to the transfer itself (and not, for example, normal business decisions).

One thing to be aware of - owing to a forthcoming change in the law, from October 2013, TUPE will no longer apply to changes of service provider, with a few specific exceptions. What this means is that if the employer loses the contract, your employment will not automatically transfer to the new service provider. How this pans out in real terms remains to be seen, as many new contract holders will be pleased to have experienced staff working for them when they take over a new contract.

lacyw

Thankyou very much for the reply,
This really has helped put my mind at rest
thanks again