private medical & Tupe

jles49

I am being Tupe from a private company to public sector (part of nhs)
we were told all our terms & conditions were to transer except pension but this is not the case according to the new employer. I had private medical, phi insurance, life insurance death benefits with my former employer but my new employer says they don't offer these benefits so wont be providing them. I thought under Tupe law they had to honour these as they are part of my t & c's. As there are only a few of us transferring we have had no representation from unions so would be grateful for any advice. Surely they can't pick out the parts of the T & C's that suit them. Thank you in advance

Takeaway_Addict

Conditions transfer at the point of tupe, once past this the company can look to change conditions like a normal company would but risk tribunals.

Would suggest if any of you are in a union you get them to help and if not it might be worth looking at grouping to gether for an hours solicitors fees or check your house insurance for legal cover.

Derwent

What does your old employment contract say regarding those insurances ? There is a general myth about TUPE that all benefits are transferrable but this is not the case in reality. Any benefits which were provided at the old employer's discretion (i.e. not an automatic right) and which were able to be withdrawn by the old employer means that the new employer does not have an obligation to provide them. They can withdraw any benefits that were capable of being withdrawn by your previous employer as it is the same contract. Check the wording of your CoE carefully then get some advice.

Undervalued

Derwent wrote: »

What does your old employment contract say regarding those insurances ? There is a general myth about TUPE that all benefits are transferrable but this is not the case in reality. Any benefits which were provided at the old employer's discretion (i.e. not an automatic right) and which were able to be withdrawn by the old employer means that the new employer does not have an obligation to provide them. They can withdraw any benefits that were capable of being withdrawn by your previous employer as it is the same contract. Check the wording of your CoE carefully then get some advice.

Yes, indeed.

Also, even if they are not discretionary it is still surprisingly easy for an employer to get away with reducing or abolishing such benefits. It is usually possible for them to argue that they have to cut costs and the only alternative would be redundancies. If this happens the employee's only option is ultimately to resign and claim unfair dismissal at a tribunal. (Note it would not be constructive dismissal despite the resignation under these circumstances). In the current employment market a tribunal may well regard the cut in salary (which is what it amounts to) as preferable to redundancy and therefore fair.

As stated above the TUPE should be on the current terms but don't think for a moment that they can't be substantially changed either just before or shortly afterwards.

jles49

All these benefits on my T & C's are contractual benefits.

Undervalued

jles49 wrote: »

All these benefits on my T & C's are contractual benefits.

They may be but, as I said above, it may be easier than you would hope for either your current or future employer to reduce or abolish them.

Yes, the transfer must happen with whatever contractual benefits are in place at that moment but before or after..........