To expect to be paid for my lunch hour

[TheoriginalLEM]

My employer has recently sold out to a corporate. We have all been TUPEE'd over and are, so far, staying on our original contract with is far better than the contract from the new company.

I was due to train for a professional qualification in the field (this isn't without issue for personal reasons) and because this would result in a change of job role, I would be required to change to the new contract.

As I said, my current employment package is generous. We have an hours lunch break, paid. I am aware that this is not the case more often than not. I would lose about £40 a week if I lost my lunch breaks (I work four days).

If I change to the new contract, I have been told they are not able to reduce my wage ( I am currently paid very well for my position). Currently, upon qualification the new company actually pay newly qualified staff just under what I earn now so there is no financial incentive, but professionally I want to train.

BUT I can't afford to lose £40 a week.

Can they change my lunch break payment, if they are not allowed to reduce my wage? A colleague who was working v part time has just gone over to them and she no longer gets a paid lunch break, however she did not have a contract with the original employer so was starting from scratch.

This will be pivotal in my decision to train, so need to know where I stand - any thoughts?

I don't think it's an indulgence but a perk that can be taken away. There are totally valid reasons for being paid for lunch but if you generally think that you are onto a good thing, you probably are. The best way to go forward is to negotiate well. OP may be better off preparing her argument for paid lunches, or getting perks elsewhere that make up for the lost lunches. That's more constructive advice than people just telling her she's lucky.

I think you need proper advice from, say, ACAS. I am not an employment lawyer but have been involved with some TUPE situations. I would understand that the point is not whether it is usual to be paid for your lunch break in general, but whether this payment in your job is treated as forming part of your terms and conditions of employment - I think probably it is so can't be taken away from you post TUPE (and by the way I don't believe TUPE obligations are time limited either). The question then is whether if you train and get a new job the same deal would be honoured and I think that is a more difficult question to answer so on this you should get proper advice. But I would think that doing the training should be worth it because it will give you access to jobs in other companies even if this one doesn't work out.

If you apply for and take up a new role with the same company, then TUPE will not prevent the Company changing your current terms and conditions. It only prohibits changes being made 'because of the TUPE transfer'.

If you were remaining in the same job then it would be much more difficult for them to harmonise terms and conditions to remove your paid lunch break.

So if the perk was, say, flexible working you'd all just be telling her how lucky she was and get in the real world.

Also just to clarify, there is no set period of time after which you can have your terms and conditions changed, or after which you can be made redundant. Changes to terms and conditions can be made at any time provided that (I) this is permitted by your contract and (ii) the change is not being made because of the transfer of your employment to the new co. As another poster said, redundancies can be made at any time provided that, if they are because of the transfer, they are for an economic, technical or organisational reason. If for example you stay in your current role and your contract states you will be paid for your lunch break then they cannot change that without your consent at any time. If they feel that they cannot afford this they can terminate your employment and offer re-engagement on the new terms, but that is very difficult to justify without risking unfair dismissal claims.

Yabu. No one I know in any field gets paid a lunch break. Not even firefighters or paramedics. Catch a grip

Does anyone have flexible working? A company car? Free tea and coffee?

Tupee means bugger all, I'm pretty sure terms and conditions can be changed after one day. My lunch hours certainly aren't paid, although I work through them 4 days out of 5.

Thank you for fighting my corner Stealth. The paid lunch breaks were just one of our benefits. We weren't offered things like cycle to work, private healthcare etc so it was one of the perks, oh and we had decent tea and coffee. Now we are lucky if we get a fecking pot of nescafe! That's the difference between the corporate world and working for a small company that cares about its employees I guess.

Thank you for all the replies, some of which have been really useful.

It was never really about expecting to get paid for my lunch break, it was about weighing up whether I am willing/able to forgo some of the benefits that I have enjoyed, and come to rely on over the years.

If you do the training will you be worth more to the company?

Could you negotiate a wage increase that would cancel out the loss of your paid lunch?

Bear in mind that if you pay tax and NI, you will only lose 68p for every £1 your salary drops. And a fair proportion of that will be offset by an increase in tax credits and housing benefit, if you get those.

I probably do not think there are a lot of companies out there these days that pay you for an hours lunch, look at it another way,your lucky you had it for that long.

Any time anyone posts a thread like this, it is full of people saying "suck it up", people who are just jealous of the perks other people get in their jobs. The issue isn't whether anyone should be paid for their lunch breaks, the issue is that the OP does, and might have this taken away.

Instead of a race to the bottom in terms of employment rights, and forelock tugging to employers, people should focus on how we can all move forward in society in terms of progressive working conditions. It's amazing how so many people are against anything that is good for workers, seemingly simply because they don't have those perks themselves.

Sorry I can't offer any advice OP, just to say you have my sympathies. That is clearly a lot of money to lose in a month.

Mucky pup do u out have flexible working?

"My current employment package is very generous"

"I am paid a very low wage for my job"

Which is it?

Haven't RTFT but I work a 10 hour shift for the NHS and get half an hour unpaid so is definitely legal.

Bumdishcloths OP has already clarified that she gets paid a slightly better wage than most in her industry, who are paid minimum wage. So it is both.

LEM, give ACAS a call. Some of the advice on this thread (including from posters you have thanked for their "advice") is incorrect. I have worked both sides of the table dealing with TUPE (both acquiring and moving people over) and there's not enough info here to give you specific advice. ACAS can, but bear in mind that they will take the view that any change is unlawful and constitutes a breach of contract - realistically this is not the case where terms are enhanced but this is not straightforward and specific legal advice should be sought when changing terms without an easily demonstratable ETO reason.

Your terms cannot be changed unless there is an Economic, Technical or Operational reason where there really is no other viable option. Often this is things like payroll date (Technical reason - one payroll date per month and same for all staff) or operational (all staff report into one line rather than two).

If they stopped paying your lunch break this may well be a change to your hours and those hours would be protected under the TUPE regs. Would your role change with this new qualification? I.e. Would you be getting a promotion and therefore the chance to negotiate new contract terms? If so, you and the employer can negotiate anything. If not, then why would they reduce your paid hours?

Also, it really doesn't matter whether other posters get paid for their lunch breaks because your employment contract is unique to you. I'm not sure why anyone would post saying they don't get a paid lunch break So what? Hours, pay and other terms and conditions vary hugely. That's not news!

I get paid breaks at work. But if you're coming off your existing contract, then you will be on the new contract. If you don't want to be on the new contract, you need to stay as you are. This is normal when companies get taken over and you are TUPEd.

Only you know if you can afford to lose the money or what the qualification will do for your career in the long term. Personally if there was long term gain to be had I would choose that providing I wouldn’t be in poverty for ages because of it since I have ds to think of.
Will you actually get a full hours break? Where I am we have 2×15min breaks and 1x30min break all unpaid. However it is rare we are able to take it due to being short staffed so our service users would potentially suffer if we had our breaks. We work 12 hour shifts. If you work in a similar way you should try and negotiate a paid break or 30 mins unpaid break. However, if you get a full hour off then you shouldn't expect payment imo.

HR person here. If you stay on your current contract you retain your current pay, benefits, T&Cs etc.

If I've read this right, your employer will allow you to train but only in a new role on a new contract. This means giving up your TUPE protected old T&Cs CD and accepting the new company's pay, benefits and T&Cs - so no more paid lunch break. It's highly unlikely they would negotiate a special break arrangement for you as it would mean your full-time working hours differ from other staff so you have your own special T&Cs.

TUPE transfers are protected indefinitely from change or harmonisation of T&Cs if the only reason for the change is the TUPE transfer itself. That doesn't stop an employer changing the T&Cs of a TUPE'd member of staff for another valid reason.

Google TUPE and ACAS - there's plenty of info out there on TUPE rights.