TUPE question

[DuelingFanjo]

DH worked for a company which managed a building (offices) but the building has now been bought in a very quick sale.

He received a letter on 24th saying he was no longer emloyed by the company, his mobile and lap-top were taken and he was told (in the letter) that as of 1st August he will be employed by the new owners of the building - or whoever they employ to manage the building and he will TUPE over on that date.

So... this means he has a week with no access to anything he needs to do his job, is not technically on anyone's payroll.

Is this ok? He has spoken to the new people on teh telephone who say they have a lot of stuff to get through and will be in touch.

It's a bit scary that he's in limbo like this but he says legally they have to TUPe him over... yes?

forgot to add, he is paid until the end of the month.

I shall ask DH he is having the same ishoos atm and will find out Friday who, what etc.

Ill get back as soon as he replies.

Quickly asked him and the old employer would need to pay him.

Is the old employer trying to get out of paying redundancy?

hi,

thanks for the reply. No, I think under TUPE his job is supposed to be safe for 3 months - he will just transfer over to the other company but then they may decide to let him go. I'm just a bit confused about this week, how he's basically in limbo.

It was a very quick sale and it's all a bit odd as my DH is employed to look after the buildings/facilities by the company who used to run (possibly owned?) the building but now there are new owners who presumably will still need all the facilities managed, even during this week when my husband is technically not employed by anyone.

If you haven't looked here, this should answer a few of your questions.
www.direct.gov.uk/en/Employment/Employees/BusinessTransfersandtakeovers/index.htm

It sounds like the communication has been a bit ballsed up.
Basically, Tupe transfers your husbands employment from the date of the sale of the business in which he works. If he is no longer employed by the seller because the sale has completed then from a legal viewpoint he must be employed by the buyer. It may be that the transfer of the business and employment doesn't actually happen until the first, in which case he is still employed by the seller, notwithstanding their letter.
Suggest he sits tight for the moment and sees what happens towards the end of the month.

OK - me again. DH is now apparently employed by the new owners of the buiolding yet has heard nothing. He has made several phonecalls to the company and keeps being told they will get back to him or leaving voice messages but getting no response. The one person he did manage to speak to last week has now gone on holiday for 2 weeks.

He has no phone, no computer and can't do his job.

I have suggested he call Acas. Does anyone know what he should do now? he doesn't even know if he is on a pay-roll anymore.

Ffs. What a ball ache. I was gonna say ring acas. DH gets tupe'd at midnight tonight and our DH's sound like they work for the same company! Its not a car park co that have fingers in other pies is it and are in Manchester is it? Let me know how you both get on?

Is anyone here knowlegable about TUPE please?

DH has been given 30 days notice but thinks they have to employ him for 3 months? Is this true. He's not been there for a year though which may be significant.

They can only give him notice if the job isn't required for commercial/business reasons. For example, if after TUPE they end up with 2 people doing the same job (company had someone doing it and bought another company with someone doing it) and they only needed one person they would need to go through a redundancy process whereby both employees were equally considered. ACAS have some good information on TUPE and when new employers can or cannot end someone's employment following transfer. Sounds fairly iffy to me though.

the reason given is that they want to manage the building 'in-house'. This means they will use someone they already have to do my DH's job. They also say as he has only worked therejust short of a year he will not get redundancy. he has 30 days and that's it. He is about a week shy of one year's service.

acas say they can give him 30 days notice. :(

For redundancy he would need a minimum of 2 years continuous service, so he still wouldn't qualify unfortunately. It's so hard, and it sounds like they have been very poor with their communications with him.

DH has double checked and he has worked for them just over a year (for the old company), unfortunately part of this was with an agency before they made him permanent. Someone has told him it might be unfair dismissal but it depends on what the agency contract states - he was taken on to cover someone' sick and then hired permanently when that person left.

Does anyone know, is my DH able to claim job seeker's allowance even though I am working?

Yeah he can. As you're working he can claim it for 6 months if you're working over 20hours a week. Its called Contributions Based JSA and if he gets it after the 6 months its called Income Based JSA.

Hope you're feeling a bit better and getting things moving.