Specialist Employment Law Solicitors
When the business you work in is sold, or your employer loses a contract to provide services to a client, any changes affecting your employment might give rise to a claim. These are often called “TUPE claims” after the law – the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations – which gives TUPE its name.
Warning: the time limits for bringing all employment claims are really short, so you need to take specialist employment law advice quickly.
If the business that you work for is acquired by a new employer, the business might make changes to the workforce after this acquisition has taken place. For example, the board might decide that there are too many employees working in a particular division. The employer might decide to reduce its employees to ensure that the business is running in a profitable manner. Alternatively, your employer might decide that you need to relocate.
In certain circumstances, your employment and employment rights will be protected when there is a change to the business that you work for, or the division that you work in.
If your employer is bought out by another business
If the business that you work for is acquired by another business:
There are specific rules regarding whether your employment, and the terms and conditions of your employment, will be protected after the business that you work for has been purchased.
The rules surrounding this are complex and depend on a number of factors. It will be beneficial to talk to a specialist employment law solicitor if the business that you work for is transferring to someone else, and you want to identify whether the protection applies to your employment.
The following list indicates the factors that might apply in determining whether your employment will be protected, following the transfer of the business:
If the service that you are involved in providing has changed hands:
Your employment, and the terms and conditions of your employment, may be protected in the following circumstances:
Again, there are various criteria that need to be satisfied to ensure that your employment, and its terms and conditions, are protected if one of the above occurs. It will be necessary to speak to a specialised employment solicitor to identify if your employment is protected and what potential employment claims you may have. Examples of the types of factors that might mean that your employment is protected are as follows:
If your employment is protected, this means a number of things:
If you are dismissed in circumstances that the business that you work for is being bought and/or the overall provider of a service is being changed, you might have a claim for unfair dismissal. In fact, if you are dismissed in these circumstances, your dismissal could be deemed to be automatically unfair. This means that your employer will not be able to argue that they acted reasonably in dismissing you. As with ordinary unfair dismissal claims, you will need to have 2 years continuous service in order to bring an unfair dismissal claim.
If you are concerned that your rights have been breached, it is always advisable to speak to a specialist employment law solicitor as soon as possible. Truth Legal might be able to bring a claim for you using a No Win, No Fee agreement or we might be able to use your Legal Expenses Insurance to bring a claim for you at no or very little cost.
Our page on unfair dismissal claims provides further information about these types of claims.
The options open to you differ depending on the type of unfair dismissal claim that you might be entitled to bring.
If you can bring a claim for automatically unfair dismissal, there is no cap on the amount of compensation that you can claim. However, if you are only able to bring a claim for ordinary unfair dismissal, the amount of compensation that you are entitled to can’t be more than one year’s salary or the statutory cap (currently £89,493 for the year 6 April 2021 to 5 April 2022), whichever is the lower.Compensation is calculated on the basis of net loss of earnings and benefits for a certain period of time.
You might be concerned about how you will be able to fund a claim for unfair dismissal arising out of a transfer or change of provision of a business service.
Truth Legal can discuss your options with you.
No Win No Fee Agreement:
One option is that Truth Legal may be able to offer you a “no win, no fee agreement”. We will be able to talk to you about the merits of your claim early on and potential compensation. We will also be able to explain the basis on which we can advise you, so you will have a clear understanding about your legal costs.
Legal Expenses Insurance:
You may have legal expenses cover under a home insurance policy, or other kind of insurance policy, that covers employment claims. It is always worth checking your policies to see if you have this cover. If so, you may be able to use it to fund your TUPE claim. Read our guide on legal expenses insurance if you would like further information.
Fixed fee work
We may be able to offer to carry out work on a fixed fee basis. This means that we will agree a price to get you to a particular point. Additional work can always be undertaken.
Low hourly rated work
Like most law firms, we can also accept instructions, charging you an hourly rate. We are proud to offer lower rates for such work.
Crowdfunding
We have partnered with CrowdJustice, a leading crowdfunding platform specifically designed to help clients get access to funding for their case. Find out more about Crowdfunding for legal cases.
If you would like more information on claiming, or you wish to discuss your situation, contact us today. If you require a more in-depth consultation, we offer 2-hour appointments for just £280 incl. vat, with no obligation to proceed further. You can book your employment consultation here.
Let us help you to claim the compensation you deserve.
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