Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer
The slings and arrows of outrageous legislation,
Or to take arms against a sea of employment quibbles… you get the
picture.
It just goes to show that, last week, a law-firm (who
perhaps should've known better) fell foul of TUPE (transfer of
undertakings, protection of employment) regulations when they took
over a rival's contract to provide services to a major building
society. They were left with a £250k hole in their books
(plus costs) after a string of unexpected unfair dismissal claims
from their competitors' staff came through. The long tendrils
of employment law found them because, unbeknownst to them, as they
took over a large contract they were under a duty to also take over
the old provider's employees who had previously been working
on the contract. See
this article for more info.
There is a certain level of absurdity to this. If a
purchaser of services wants to move to a new provider for whatever
reason they may be a tad surprised if they end up dealing with the
same
bunch of people they thought they'd just escaped from.
However, there is a serious problem for firms who take over any
large contracts. If they fail to follow the TUPE steps such
as consulting "meanfully" with employees and dealing with
detriments, they may end up staring down the barrel of a host of
unfair dismissal claims.
If you are taking over a contract from another supplier and need
advice on this, or any other employment issues - either email us:
employment@acumenbusinesslaw.co.uk
or call on 08458 678 978.