Outsourcing raises Tupe question
Corporate reseller Computacenter faces claims for unfair dismissal
Outsourcing has come under scrutiny once again, as corporate reseller Computacenter faces claims for unfair dismissal.
Former employees of reseller SCC are taking Computacenter to an employment tribunal under Transfer of Undertakings, Protection of Employment (Tupe) regulations. Computacenter took over an outsourcing deal in February with a major high-street bank from SCC.
Under Tupe regulations, workers affected by outsourcing are guaranteed jobs and the same T&Cs by new employers.
But Roland Astin, formerly an outsourced support worker for IBM hardware at Lloyds TSB in Andover, said: "Computacenter is claiming Tupe does not apply in this case."
Seven workers may be affected. Computacenter would not comment on the cases and SCC was unavailable for comment.
Tim Way, European director of human resources at Computacenter, said: "Out of respect for the privacy of our staff, we do not discuss any matters about relationships with individual employees."
Two workers have dates for tribunal hearings, three are awaiting dates and two more are considering their futures.
Bridget Wood, associate at law firm Tarlo Lyons, said Tupe rules are due to change in 2004. "Tupe has always been a consideration but, with more outsourcing deals, we are coming across it more often," she said.
Robert Morgan, chief executive of outsourcing consultant Morgan Chambers, said: "It is scandalous that suppliers dispute their obligations to staff.
"Why do these firms try to ignore the law only to settle out of court? The answer is simple: they do not want to establish case law where it is black and white thereafter."
Earlier this year a group of 10 former staff at VAR Logical settled out of court with Sun after it refused to take them on under Tupe when it took over an outsourcing deal.
When commenting on a deal involving the transfer of 300 BT workers to Computacenter last February, Mike Norris, Computacenter's chief executive, said: "The outsourcing firm is unlikely to be able to match everything."
The two companies reached a compromise.