Tupe tribunal rules against CC
Unfair dismissal hearing to follow ruling
Computacenter (CC) is set to face an unfair dismissal hearing, after an employment tribunal ruled that Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment (Tupe) legislation applied to an outsourcing deal CC won last year.
Tupe guarantees outsourced workers' jobs and the same terms and conditions from new employers when contracts change hands.
When CC took over an IBM hardware and support contract at Lloyds TSB in Andover from rival SCC, it claimed Tupe did not apply to the SCC workers, but a tribunal has ruled it did.
There will now be a full merits hearing for unfair dismissal.
Roland Astin, one of the workers, said: "The tribunal has ruled in our favour, and we will push for a remedy."
Tim Way, CC's human resources director, said the firm is preparing grounds for an appeal with its advisors.
Robert Morgan, chief executive of outsourcing consultant Morgan Chambers, said firms getting involved with outsourcing need to understand Tupe.
"They must see this as a core competency," he added.