TUPE

That the end of your final salary pension, then?

 

Absolutely right, for this purpose and a million others. I can't
believe the number of people who aren't in a union.

 

*snort*

 

In the ID card slot.... or the vending machine.

 

More importantly, where do they stick the PIN?

 

Eek!

 

Little brother works for CSC, he reckons they're alright.

 

Bloke I go to football with works for CSC. He's pretty happy, too.

 

Good God.

 

It will be shared with a slightly wider audience today, as soon as I get
into work.

 

"Consolidation - it's the way forward".

ie. "Ooh look how much money we think we can save."

It's great working when you know that if someone daft enough to buy you/make
a better offer etc comes along, there won't be a second thought about it,
isn't it?

 

It's like suicide attempts - the first one's the hardest.

 

TUPE is a fairly complicated area of employment law and has a number of
seemingly contradictory ET cases appertaining to it. All guaranteed to
muddy the waters, safe to say it's generally not in your favour.

Personally I have little faith in the TUPE regs as a mechanism to protect
the rights of an employee but they're better than nothing and many
employers have come unstuck with them. So here goes (from memory)...

A lot depends on the circumstances of the takeover (I'm assuming you are
being taken over by IBM). Specific *exemptions* are:

° due to transfer of shares

° sale of assets, eg. the sale of equipment.

° transfer of a contract to provide services

° undertakings situated outside the UK

Your protection can be summarised as

° You must be informed and consulted during and after the process
by the old and new employers. Consultation means for the
purpose of TUPE "undertaken with a view to seeking agreement".
Agreement means consent from both parties and not one side
unilaterally imposing its view.

° The new employer takes over any TU recognition and collective
agreements (in force immediately prior to the transfer)

° The new employer takes over the contracts of employees
transfered or should have been transfered.
(there are exceptions)

° You can not be /fairly/ dismissed for a reason connected to the
transfer (but, hey, see the exceptions).

° The new employer cannot unilaterally worsen a term of employment.
(guess what we'll be looking at next.....)

Exceptions

° ETO
If the transfer is due to Economic, Technical or Organisational
reasons then TUPE doesn't apply.

Show me a reason why an undertaking /would/ be transferred that doesn't
trigger the ETO exception.

There is in fact a lot of case law surrounding this but I can't remember
any of it as I haven't been involved in a TUPE transfer (the Railway
privatisation was exempted). But it would be safe to assume that little
is in the employees favour. The TU should be seeking specialist legal
advice to determine any ETO exemptions.

As I said, personally I have little time for this legislation.

 

Yes, but it's also the most productive.

 

Good point. Forgot to mention in my previous missive that occupational
pension rights are not transferred.

However, you may have a claim for unfair (constructive) dismissal if the
new employer does not provide comparable overall terms and conditions,
including pension arrangements. [1]

Again the devil's in the exceptions.

I have a view on constructive dismissal and would certainly counsel
against leaving in the hope of a successful CD claim.


[1] There are statutory and pension trust provisions protecting
the pension earned up to the point of transfer.

 

Haven't got one, never bothered to sign up for the scheme. Have to be in
for two years before it kicks in properly, anything less than that and
they just refund your contributions when you leave. As it happens, the
sale takes place about 6 weeks before my 2-year point, so it makes no
odds.

Seems we're not subject to TUPE as we're not being transferred as assets,
rather the entire company's being flogged off. Hence our employer remains
the same (BBCT, not BBC, though it's debatable just how far that
abstraction goes since my P60 reckons my employer is the BBC at
Broadcasting House!) and we keep the same terms. No FS pension, though.

Rather than see it as an impending disaster, I'm seeing it as a
potential opportunity to put another big firm on my CV without having
to go through the indignity of applying for the position. That said,
it'll be interesting to see how things go once the rationalisations
begin...

 

Strangly I will also becoming Accenture probably 28th June but not
confirmed as yet.

 

isn't that who AndrewR works for?

 

quite a few jobs I've had, you're effectively not allowed to be in a
union.

 

EDS, no?