Can I ask a question? Covid and redundancy terms

[MrsWicket]

Hello there. The company I work for has been bought out by another (completed yesterday). Today all staff have been sent notice of the start of TUPE, to be finalised mid May. The new company is proposing a change to our redundancy terms under a new ‘Covid19 related changes’ section.
In a nutshell, anyone with 12 months or more service will only get 1 week per year, capped at 12 weeks payment. Myself (and others) are on ONE MONTH for every year, capped at 12 years - can they do this? I didn’t think they could. I’ve worked for my old company for almost 16 years, so this will effect me and my colleagues greatly.
The new company are claiming extenuating circumstances with Covid for this change. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Not sure about TUPE but my existing employer cut redundundany entitlement from a mid-range package to the statutory minimum a few years ago, specifically to save costs. For me, the new redundancy figure was a third of what I was previously entitled to. In the end the change went through, the unions etc could not stop it.

I would check to see whether the weekly amount you mention has a cap as well. Our calculation is capped at around £450 per week.

At the point of transfer your existing terms are protected. But redundancy terms are not always contractual - they can be policy, and therefore subject to change anyway. However, after the transfer an employer can look at changing terms provided they have an "economic, technical or organisational" reason to do so. That is clearly what is happening here. They are consulting change the redundancy scheme and arguing that due to the pandemic the impact on the business is such that they cannot afford to continue the term.

In all honesty, whether that is reasonable or not is up to a tribunal to determine, but given what is happening in the world right now, I suspect that they would be likely to support the employer.