However, TUPE does not apply to transfers within the public sector where the employer does not change, such as within the NHS, for example from one hospital to another – the NHS remains the employer. If the answer to several of the above is 'yes', then TUPE is likely to apply. In some cases, just one of these factors is enough for TUPE to apply. Service provision changes This service provision change is sometimes known as contracting out or outsourcing. It also covers situations where outsourcing has already occurred but there is a change in the contractor carrying out those services. An example of this would be where an organisation has contracted out its office cleaning on, for example, a two-year contract. I was a civil servant for 11 yrs before going on mat leave - at the end of my mat leave I stupidly resigned (long story but to work for a friends new business which failed) - so after 9 months or so I approached my department about returning ? They said there were no jobs but they had a few projects they could do with some help on. Well - for the last 4 yrs I have been working at home on what they call a "short notice appointment" basis - basically I fill in timesheets to claim my pay and there is only a weeks commitment required from either party. I have been quite busy - but the projects are the dull ones that no one else wants to do and of course I am totally out of the loop !

TUPE + is not a legal term and is a phrase sometimes used to refer to additional protections that may be available to staff transferring from the public to private sector.An employer cannot normally impose changes - they have to be agreed by the employees or their representatives. Dismissals The problem with pre-transfer dismissals is that, to be fair, there must be an ETO reason entailing changes in the workforce. The reasons must relate to the future conduct of the business. The outgoing employer might not know enough about the future conduct of the business. Therefore, the pre-transfer dismissals may be automatically unfair. Liability for any claims for premature dismissals will pass to the transferee under TUPE. The following information must be supplied at least 28 days before the date of the transfer, although it is helpful to provide it at an earlier stage: Employees’ company pension rights earned up to the time of a transfer are protected, but the new employer does not have to continue an identical pension. After the transfer Martin Lewis: What the Autumn Statement means for you – including wages, benefits, pensions, ISAs, national insurance and more

Employee engagement is ongoing throughout the whole TUPE process. There are specific legal requirements that set out the information that must be supplied, both to the incoming business, the trade union representatives and/or the staff themselves. Your new employer is legally obligated to take on the existing employees of the business. They must maintain the same terms and conditions, except pensions (explained below).TUPE applies to all organisations, regardless of the size of their workforce, turnover, profits and so on, if the part of the business that is being transferred is UK-based. For example, an international business which has its Head Office in New York, will have to comply with TUPE in respect of its employees who work at one of its UK-based factories if it transfers that factory to a new owner. It is common for an employee’s place of work to change following a TUPE transfer. Where the change in location is significant an employee can argue that this is a substantial change in their working conditions to their material detriment and can bring a claim for constructive dismissal. If you are going to be affected by TUPE, your employer and the incoming employer have to follow certain procedures and one of these processes is about how they consult with you. This is known as TUPE consultation, and it is an important step in the TUPE process during which an employer and incoming employer must consult with the employees or their union representatives. TUPE also covers service provision changes where a person ceases to carry out activities on their own behalf and instead the activities are carried out by another person on their behalf (or in reverse). Under changes to TUPE introduced in early 2014, activities carried after the change in service provider must be fundamentally the same as those that were carried out by the person who ceased to carry them out.

This is a matter that should have been included in the consultation and would in theory give grounds to a claim for compensation for failure to inform and consult about the revised arrangements. Only if there is a genuine redundancy situation and an ETO reason involving changes to the workforce can redundancies be made after the transfer. The period of protection afforded by TUPE is indefinite. If the change to a transferring employee’s terms and conditions of employment is because of the transfer, it will be prohibited, even if it occurs some years after the transfer took place. This information must be supplied in writing and basically details the rights and obligations of the employees who will transfer. Employers are able to vary the transferring employees’ terms and conditions of employment in certain circumstances. These are not straightforward and legal advice should always be sought if you are involved in a TUPE transfer and/or wish to change the terms and conditions of the transferring employees.The period of protection afforded by TUPE is indefinite; if the change to a transferring employee’s terms and conditions of employment is because of the transfer, it will be prohibited, even if it occurs some years after the transfer took place.