Post TUPE change of location

k3lvc

A friend is in a situation where post TUPE changes are being made to contract and needs to understand the options available

Worked for Company A for 2.5 years on mobile/home based contract

Company B takes over and within weeks issues new contract confirming mobile/home based position

4 months later Company B decides with no other changes that all home based roles within 20 miles of Head Office will now be office based. No flexibilility offered but if contract is signed there may be 'some informal flexibility' - financial recompense offered to cover fuel costs for year 1 but nothing after this.

Role is commercial with European travel - plenty of early morning/late night flights with an expectation of being in office for 08h30 next morning

Travel time to office is minimum 50mins by car or 100mins by public transport

Any suggestions on way forward (other than 'look for a new job') ?

agrinnall

Move either closer to the office so it doesn't take as long to get there (although 50 minutes to do no more than 20 miles seems quite slow, so perhaps a faster car might help) or further away so that you can remain based at home.

Ozzuk

Is it a contract change? I'm sure more knowledgeable people will follow but depending on wording/inclusion in your contract I thought home working was a 'benefit' so therefore not necessarily covered under TUPE.

k3lvc

agrinnall wrote: »

Move either closer to the office so it doesn't take as long to get there (although 50 minutes to do no more than 20 miles seems quite slow, so perhaps a faster car might help) or further away so that you can remain based at home.

So a change of T&C's should necessitate a home move ??

The journey is round one of the most congested areas in UK with no shortcut and no better public transport option

Ozzuk wrote: »

Is it a contract change? I'm sure more knowledgeable people will follow but depending on wording/inclusion in your contract I thought home working was a 'benefit' so therefore not necessarily covered under TUPE.

Yes it's a contract change - the previous contract specified 'home based' whereas the new one shows 'office based' (or equivalent wording.

It wasn't a 'benefit' as such to be home based, more a better use of time to link in with required travel in the job

agrinnall

k3lvc wrote: »

So a change of T&C's should necessitate a home move ??

You asked for suggestions, make your question more specific if there are particular answers you are looking for.

Here's another then, rather than driving for 50 minutes, buy a motorbike and reduce the amount of time you spend stuck in the traffic.

k3lvc

agrinnall wrote: »

You asked for suggestions, make your question more specific if there are particular answers you are looking for.

Here's another then, rather than driving for 50 minutes, buy a motorbike and reduce the amount of time you spend stuck in the traffic.

Sorry for the vaguery

What I'm looking for is is this legal/enforcable within (or so soon after) TUPE and how far can it be pushed towards refusing the new T&C's

I've already explained to 'friend' the risks of negotiating too hard only to find themselves lsoing out in the future

If it's all legal etc then they'll have to suck it up (there certainly won't be a house move). Given the journey, the stuff to be carried and the hairstyle then a motorbike's probably not going to cut it but it's being discussed

Andy_L

In this case TUPE is a bit if a red herring. If there'd been no transfer your former employer could have made this change subject to any clauses in your contract and some time for negotiation and notice

k3lvc

Andy_L wrote: »

In this case TUPE is a bit if a red herring. If there'd been no transfer your former employer could have made this change subject to any clauses in your contract and some time for negotiation and notice

But does TUPE give any additional protection - especially if theose affected by the changed are only those who were TUPE'd ?

Andy_L

k3lvc wrote: »

But does TUPE give any additional protection - especially if theose affected by the changed are only those who were TUPE'd ?

Yes/no/sort of. TUPE was watered down last year and the important bit is "Dismissals are no longer automatically unfair because of a
change in the workplace location"

They can't change the contract "just because", there have to be "
"economic, technical or organisational reasons" and any half-way competent employer can probably find them.

Ultimately, what do they want? To keep working from home or get a redundancy package (rather than being fired with nowt)?

k3lvc

Andy_L wrote: »

Ultimately, what do they want? To keep working from home or get a redundancy package (rather than being fired with nowt)?

They want to continue to have a pragmatic flexibility that allows home based working particularly on days before/after international travel i.e. land at Heathrow at 10pm, home for midnight and leaving at 6.30am to be in the office the next morning.

Neither redundancy nor leaving are appealing but the alternative of being taken over a barrel is a bit galling