Employment help / advice needed!!

[boybiker]

I know this is a cycling forum but I'm in desperate need of some advice and help about my current situation. I'm hoping someone might be able to shed some light on my situation as to what my options are.

I work for company A and I have been told (in January) Company B will be employing us from April following the Tupe process.

We have been going through a "consultation process" and was told we had two options:

1 - Be employed by company B under the same terms company A was offering us.

2 - Sign a new contract for company B.

Now today I have had a HR meeting and they basically tried to bully me into signing the new contract. They said if I didn't sign the new contract I would no longer have a job come the end of the month. But if I continued to work all of next month upon receiving my first pay packet from company B I would automatically be accepting the new contract.

They have given me a contract at the HR meeting today (for the first time in written format, it was made available on the Intranet before) and it has the wrong start date for employment on it. I told them that needs changing and I need a copy of the employee hand book (which hasn't been made available in any format) for me to consider before considering signing.

Long and short is I dont want to sign company B's new contract because I would loose 4 weeks sick pay. I dont plan to go off sick but I like having the back up if I need it. Can I still be employed by company B on the contract I had from company A ?

Can they get rid of me?

Can they force me to sign the Company B contract to still have a job?

Help me please!!

 

[Matthew_T]

You're lucky. I dont even have a job!

 

[marzjennings]

I know this is a cycling forum but I'm in desperate need of some advice and help about my current situation. I'm hoping someone might be able to shed some light on my situation as to what my options are.

I work for company A and I have been told (in January) Company B will be employing us from April following the Tupe process.

We have been going through a "consultation process" and was told we had two options:

1 - Be employed by company B under the same terms company A was offering us.

2 - Sign a new contract for company B.

Now today I have had a HR meeting and they basically tried to bully me into signing the new contract. They said if I didn't sign the new contract I would no longer have a job come the end of the month. But if I continued to work all of next month upon receiving my first pay packet from company B I would automatically be accepting the new contract.

They have given me a contract at the HR meeting today (for the first time in written format, it was made available on the Intranet before) and it has the wrong start date for employment on it. I told them that needs changing and I need a copy of the employee hand book (which hasn't been made available in any format) for me to consider before considering signing.

Long and short is I dont want to sign company B's new contract because I would loose 4 weeks sick pay. I dont plan to go off sick but I like having the back up if I need it. Can I still be employed by company B on the contract I had from company A ?

Can they get rid of me?

Can they force me to sign the Company B contract to still have a job?

Help me please!!

Some good reading here ... http://www.out-law.com/page-448 and here .... http://www.personneltoday.com/artic...emma-changing-terms-after-a-tupe-transfer.htm

Seems your HR dept is attempting to bully you into a decision.

Your existing contract should be honoured.

Yes, they can fire you, but this would be an unfair dismissal.

They can't force you to sign.

Are they not offering some sort of incentive?

 

[ASC1951]

Boybiker, you don't say how long you have worked for Company A. That matters, because if it is less than 2 years (including your contractual notice period), you would have no remedy if you refuse the new contract and they give you notice.

If it more than two years, you can refuse the new contract. They must employ you on the old one or give you notice. That termination would then be unfair but your compensation could be small and another job could be difficult to come by, so you have to consider whether you want to stand on your rights or still have a job.

As marz says, there is usually some incentive offered to change contracts. Nothing to stop you negotiating your own - for instance, keeping all the terms of your old contract for, say, the next two years.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

Seems to be they way of the world these days. Bullying management that is. Bar Stewards.

Is there a Union rep you could talk with? Or a solicitor?

 

[boybiker]

Boybiker, you don't say how long you have worked for Company A. That matters, because if it is less than 2 years (including your contractual notice period), you would have no remedy if you refuse the new contract and they give you notice.

If it more than two years, you can refuse the new contract. They must employ you on the old one or give you notice. That termination would then be unfair but your compensation could be small and another job could be difficult to come by, so you have to consider whether you want to stand on your rights or still have a job.

As marz says, there is usually some incentive offered to change contracts. Nothing to stop you negotiating your own - for instance, keeping all the terms of your old contract for, say, the next two years.

Less than two years with company A, I have just over 18 months service. Seems they must know this hence the no negotiations. Why is 2 years service important out of interest?

 

[Cocheese]

Call the Citizens advice dude they should be able to help you out and its free.....

 

[marzjennings]

Nothing I've read seems to show that employment service term matters. Whether it's 2 weeks or 2 years prior to take over.

 

[marzjennings]

Call the Citizens advice dude they should be able to help you out and its free.....

This +1

 

[Sandra6]

Mr6 was in a similar position when the council outsourced the IT provision to a private company.
He chose to work for them but keep his council contract, and some chose to sign the new company's contract.
From that small amount of information I would say it is possible to work for them without signing their new contract, but I'd take some legal advice.

 

[fossyant]

You're lucky. I dont even have a job!

You are a student !

 

[fossyant]

If working for less than two years then you can be dismissed - you get 'slightly' better employment rights after 2 years. Weigh up both contracts and compare.

You don't have to sign it, and TUPE should be applied. What is your current sck pay entitlement, and what is it under the new company ? If you've gone from 4 weeks to none then this is a bit of an issue, but if going from say 6 months to 5 months, then it's not that bad.

 

[ASC1951]

Less than two years with company A, I have just over 18 months service. Seems they must know this hence the no negotiations. Why is 2 years service important out of interest?

It matters because it is the qualifying period for for unfair dismissal and some other employment rights - see http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=3733

If your employer gives you notice, you must be given the longer of your contractual period of notice or the statutory minimum period. If you are given less than that, you can sue for your unpaid notice money. But if you have been employed for more than two years (including the period of notice) you will be entitled to additional compensation for unfair dismissal; or to be reinstated, or various other remedies.

If you are in a union, speak to them. If you aren't, speak to ACAS - also free and much better on this sort of stuff than the CAB. The ACAS website is very good and you will also be able to speak to an adviser.

Based on what you say here, I reckon your legal options are zero. Company A could give you notice to change your contract whether or not they move you to Company B, and your maximum entitlement if you refuse is any unpaid notice money. But I'm not an employment lawyer any longer, and there may be additional factors, so you should speak to ACAS rather than rely on what people tell you on this or any other online forum.

 

[shouldbeinbed]

I know this is a cycling forum but I'm in desperate need of some advice and help about my current situation. I'm hoping someone might be able to shed some light on my situation as to what my options are.

I work for company A and I have been told (in January) Company B will be employing us from April following the Tupe process.

We have been going through a "consultation process" and was told we had two options:

1 - Be employed by company B under the same terms company A was offering us.

2 - Sign a new contract for company B.

Now today I have had a HR meeting and they basically tried to bully me into signing the new contract. They said if I didn't sign the new contract I would no longer have a job come the end of the month. But if I continued to work all of next month upon receiving my first pay packet from company B I would automatically be accepting the new contract.

They have given me a contract at the HR meeting today (for the first time in written format, it was made available on the Intranet before) and it has the wrong start date for employment on it. I told them that needs changing and I need a copy of the employee hand book (which hasn't been made available in any format) for me to consider before considering signing.

Long and short is I dont want to sign company B's new contract because I would loose 4 weeks sick pay. I dont plan to go off sick but I like having the back up if I need it. Can I still be employed by company B on the contract I had from company A ?

Can they get rid of me?

Can they force me to sign the Company B contract to still have a job?

Help me please!!

Your Union, or if you're daft enough not to have one for advice such as this, contact ACAS: http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=1365 basically you're in a TUPE type situation, transferring your emploment to another party.

We've been sailing close to the same at work for a while now, taking advice from all sorts, frankly you're on dodgy ground. Aong with stripping benefits from the system (whilst upping their expenses and second home allowance) our lovely MP's have been quietly removing all sorts of employment rights and restrictions on 'the man' treating you as property rather than a human being. You are now in an exceedingly grey area and need advice from employment professionals not people on a bike forum.

best of luck.

 

[chqshaitan]

Hi Bud,

Check out this forum. I had a recent issue regarding changes in my work place and one of the solicitors gave me some valuable feedback.

Worth checking out.