TUPE - notice period - any experts?

[FridayThirteenth]

Struggling to get through to acas so hoping mumsnets hive mind can help!

DH's company has just been TUPEd to a new company.

He's quite senior and so negotiated a 3 month notice period on joining the original company.

On one of the emails prior to the TUPE date, it mentioned a 1 month notice period in the body of the email (this was a general email to all employees). There was a attached a comparison of each companies benefits that were changing, notice period wasn't mentioned.

DH raised this with the person responsible for TUPE at his company who said that the notice period in his contract shouldn't change.

He's had the new contract today and it's 1 month - the new HR is now saying he was notified but there was no other discussion other than the 1 email, after which he was reassured it was just the standard.

To us, this is a reduction in benefit and a huge deal as at his level it can naturally take much longer to find a new position.

Does he have any leg to stand on insisting that his notice period should remain at 3 months?

”He's had the new contract today”

Why is he getting a new contract at all? Under a TUPE transfer all his terms and conditions should remain unchanged. That’s kind of the whole point!

Are the new company offering new terms and conditions as an optional thing perhaps, with some terms being better than existing ones? Your DH could refuse that offer and stick on his existing terms.

Bear in mind that for many people only having to give a month’s notice is preferable to being held to three months. It might not have occurred to them that he’d consider that to be a negative. A longer notice period is only beneficial if he gets dismissed, is he anticipating redundancies?

I’ve been through TUPE and my original contract terms HAD to be honoured.

Ive been TUPE'd twice and my original terms and conditions had to be honoured for two years following the transfer so this seems very strange?

This:
m.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1655

The nature of the industry he's in means it can be a little insecure. They have said they aren't planning redundancies but how can you ever know!

He's had around 6 jobs in the last 10 years (mostly he's left but twice the company has folded), and that is totally standard for the industry so the notice period is a safety blanket.

Yes there is a new contract. There are some additional benefits included but it's being presented as non negotiable to sign?

He's not the only senior manager querying the notice period so hopefully they will consider changing the contract.

Not sure how it would go down if he just said he's keeping his old contact... he's been there less than two years so from what I understand they could just cancel his old one and reissue a new one anyway?

Ah well in that case yes, they could give him three months notice of termination and then offer him the new contract to start immediately afterwards.