Contractual redundancy pay if TUPE'ed?

[BrassicaBabe]

Hi

I'm facing nearly certain redundancy in September. It's just a case of which company issue the P45. It's a probably TUPE situation. We're not getting much information. But it seems that my current company is fighting hard to argue that we are in scope for TUPE and we will transfer to the other company. The other company if fighting hard that we are not in scope.

The long and short of it is that no-one wants us and come September we will be out of work.

My contract does not mention redundancy. It does talk about "standard terms". There is a separate redundancy policy. The redundancy policy says "For employees on standard terms, who have completed a minimum of two years
service, redundancy pay will be two weeks basic pay for every complete year of service, capped
at 20 years"

If I get TUPE'ed to the other company how likely am I to receive these enhanced payments? Or could i get stuck with statutory?! I've got 20 years plus service!!!

Is there anything I could/should be doing in advance of September? Can legal advice/help make any difference at all? Or is it all in the hands of the goodwill of the receiving company?

I've been TUPE'ed at least twice before in my 20 years, but it's never been as bad as this. It really seems like this (offshore) company didn't bank on having UK employees to deal with at all :-(

[prh47bridge]

Your company's redundancy policy is part of your terms and conditions. If you are TUPEd to the other company they will have to honour it.

[BrassicaBabe]

@prh47bridge, thanks. I appreciate your response. As you can imagine it's a stressful time! How can I be certain that a separate policy is part of my Ts&Cs when nothing is referenced in my contract? It would be a huge relief because 20 years in a professional role is a long way from the statutory payouts!!

[prh47bridge]

Given that this is a published policy, it is clearly reasonable for you to believe that you have an automatic entitlement to enhanced redundancy pay from your current employer. That means this is an implied term of your contract regardless of whether or not it is mentioned in your formal contract.

If the transfer goes ahead I would suggest that you make sure to bring this up during the consultation. The risk is that the new employer isn't aware of this policy and hence doesn't know that it is required to make enhanced redundancy payments, especially as it is offshore and possibly not fully conversant with UK employment law.

[BrassicaBabe]

Thanks. That's kind.

Our current company isn't U.K. based and neither is the company we're transferring to. It's a sodding nightmare! What I know about TUPE can be written on a matchbox, a small one, but I fear it's more than these guys!!