What is TUPE?
TUPE stands for The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006.
What does TUPE do?
TUPE is a government legislation that is designed to protect employees’ rights, pay rates and hours, Ts and Cs, and continuous service when an employer changes in a service contract.
How does that apply to the cleaning industry?
In the cleaning sector, TUPE applies when a client decides to change cleaning company, outsource their cleaning or bring the cleaning back in-house.
What are the 2 types of TUPE?
Business Transfer: a transfer of an economic entity. In simple terms, TUPE applies when a number of employees are transferred from one business to another with the aim of doing the same job for the same clients, for example during most mergers and acquisitions.
Service Provision Change: A situation where a piece of work is reassigned. It can be when a specific activity such as cleaning is outsourced to a contractor and therefore no longer exists as a job role within the organisation, or through a change in contractors.
The same applies in situations where an activity that used to be carried out by a contractor is brought in-house.
What happens if TUPE applies?
In the event that TUPE applies the cleaning operative will be informed:
- that they will transfer to the new cleaning Company;
- that their employment rights are protected; and
- provided with the date of the transfer.
The outgoing cleaning company sends the employees contractual details to the new cleaning company who contact the cleaner to discuss the transfer.
What happens next?
If the cleaner decides to transfer to the new cleaning company, their employment transfers over on the date the new cleaning company’s contract commences.
If the cleaner declines to transfer, on the new company’s starting date the cleaner’s employment will end as if they had resigned without notice.
But wait – what if my cleaner is not performing and I don’t wan to keep them on?
Although some clients may view the legislation as an inconvenience if their previous cleaners are substandard, we often find upon transferring over to us, standards improve due to better structure and management of the contract.
We have a proven track record of managing successful contracts where staff have TUPE-transferred over to our company.
If you still wish to change the actual cleaners themselves you usually have two choices:
- Your company can take on the cleaners under TUPE and manage their performance. If the cleaners still under perform, your company can follow disciplinary procedures to dismiss them. Note: this process may take a few weeks.
- You can instruct The Clean Space to ban them from site. This process is quicker but may incur additional cost depending on their length of service.
For more information on TUPE, send an email to recruitment@wingatex.com
