no end to tupe?

jlemaitre

Has anyone worked in a job where TUPE never ends? I(users partner) thought it should last a certain length then employees should be offered a current contract?

in my workplace its been now 2 years(24 months) on TUPE. A fellow colleague on a brilliant contract was offered to step down to the current contract but those who have a different contract haven't been offered to step up to the current contract.
In the 2 years i have been on the TUPE there has been quite a lot of employees join the team. They're on much better T&C including i believe 8 weeks sick pay and 5 days holiday more than the small handful of us. Not looking for sympathy, but early this year i was pretty unwell and not fit for work, But i still went and struggled as i wont get paid. Most of the workers couldnt understand why i came to work. 

Im sitting here on one of my holiday enjoying my day off but would love to be treated the same as my many colleauges.(come next year I will be the only person on this TUPE in the building we work in due to retirements).

oh_really

TUPE exists to provide you protection, it's done that.

You may need to consider applying for a vacancy with conditions that suit, or do you want to have your cake and eat it?

jlemaitre

this is it. yes whilst im in the job. does it seem right they hire 20 people all new and they have sickness entitlement and 5 days holiday more than me? Id love to have cake and eat it too!

Id also like to point out im one of the most experienced workman within the role. surely a company would want to look after their employees?

I have told them that come next year i shall apply for the vacancies that become open in the summer just so i feel part of the 'team' and fit in. 

Sandtree

TUPE lasts forever, so for example you will always be treated as having become an employee when you started with the original organisation... they cant after 2 years say that TUPE has ended now and so you now only count as a continuous employee from the date of purchase so make you redundant and dont have to pay you anything.

Being on different contracts is nothing to do with TUPE really... its common for companies to change their contracts over time and they may or may not attempt to role it out to all staff or only apply it to new staff joining. In most cases its a case of swings and roundabouts and not that one contract is better in all circumstances. So a former colleague was on a contract with a 10% discretionary bonus whereas his peers had a 20% discretionary but he had a 12 month notice period whereas everyone else had 3 months... you may argue we were on better contracts than he was because of the larger potential bonus but when he was made redundant 2 months later he got an extra 9 months settlement compared to others.

lincroft1710

jlemaitre said:

this is it. yes whilst im in the job. does it seem right they hire 20 people all new and they have sickness entitlement and 5 days holiday more than me? Id love to have cake and eat it too!

Id also like to point out im one of the most experienced workman within the role. surely a company would want to look after their employees?

I have told them that come next year i shall apply for the vacancies that become open in the summer just so i feel part of the 'team' and fit in. 

In employment it does not matter if something seems "right", it only matters that it is not unlawful.


Employers rarely see employees in the same light as employees see themselves. Being one of the most experienced doesn't confer any automatic right to be treated better than other employees. Experience does not necessarily equate with valued employee. Some of the most experienced people I have encountered have been intransigent PITAs in the employer's eyes.


Just be careful that if you are successful in securing one of the vacancies you do not end up with less favourable employment terms. If you are really unhappy working there, start looking elsewhere.


Finally, if you don't expect your employer to do any more than honour the TUPE terms and they have done just  that, you won't be disappointed

Jillanddy

I have told them that come next year i shall apply for the vacancies that become open in the summer just so i feel part of the 'team' and fit in.

What makes you think they'll give you one of those jobs? If they wanted to give you better terms, they could do it tomorrow. Yes TUPE lasts forever- or until the employer legally changes it which they can do with relative ease. Especially if they are giving people better terms! But right now your worse terms are cheaper for the employer and they have absolutely no incentive to improve your conditions. Nor any reason to offer you a job which comes with better terms. 

getmore4less

TUPE only really protects at the point of transfer.

The employer can start making changes immediately with some relatively minor restrictions but they also don't have to make any changes at all like they don't with any other employees.

Takeaway_Addict

jlemaitre said:

this is it. yes whilst im in the job. does it seem right they hire 20 people all new and they have sickness entitlement and 5 days holiday more than me? Id love to have cake and eat it too!

Id also like to point out im one of the most experienced workman within the role. surely a company would want to look after their employees?

I have told them that come next year i shall apply for the vacancies that become open in the summer just so i feel part of the 'team' and fit in. 

Sounds like they don't think you are as good as you think you are?

elsien

You haven’t been offered to change contract, but have you actually asked them? 

Sandtree

getmore4less said:

TUPE only really protects at the point of transfer.

The employer can start making changes immediately with some relatively minor restrictions but they also don't have to make any changes at all like they don't with any other employees.

No, it protects indefinitely, if they want to make you redundant they have to consider your date of joining as when your joined the original company not from the date of purchase etc... in plenty of other countries with lesser protections there is normally a large cull of shared services types because the merged companies dont need double the number of HR or Finance people etc.

Marcon

jlemaitre said:

In the 2 years i have been on the TUPE there has been quite a lot of employees join the team. They're on much better T&C including i believe 8 weeks sick pay and 5 days holiday more than the small handful of us. 

But you don't know....

jlemaitre said:

this is it. yes whilst im in the job. does it seem right they hire 20 people all new and they have sickness entitlement and 5 days holiday more than me? Id love to have cake and eat it too!

Id also like to point out im one of the most experienced workman within the role. surely a company would want to look after their employees?

Based on what you've said, no - or at least not all of them.

There's nothing unlawful about the current situation, so your employer doesn't sound as if they are going to voluntarily improve your T&C. Have you actually asked about improving the sick pay situation in particular, or your contract generally? Simply saying you'll apply for new vacancies is easy enough for an employer to ignore - a direct request should at least get some sort of response, but might not be the one you're hoping for - but at least you'll know where you stand.