''RCO Support Services v Unison'' 002EWCA Civ 464 is a

UK labour law United Kingdom labour law regulates the relations between workers, employers and trade unions. People at work in the UK can rely upon a minimum charter of employment rights, which are found in Acts of Parliament, Regulations, common law and equit ...

case concerning

transfers of undertakings The Transfers of Undertakings Directive''2001/23/ECis a European Union law that protects the contracts of employment of people working in businesses that are transferred between owners. It replaced and updated the law previously known as the Acquir ...

, and the

job security Job security is the probability that an individual will keep their job; a job with a high level of security is such that a person with the job would have a small chance of losing it. Many factors threaten job security: globalization, outsourcing ...

rights of employees.

Facts

Patient services of the Walton branch of Aintree Hospitals NHS Trust were transferred to two wards in Fazakerley. Cleaners, through ‘Initial Hospital Services’, had refused to take jobs, on worse terms, with RCO doing the same thing. RCO won the contract, partly, by giving an assurance that TUPE would not apply. RCO relied heavily on '' Süzen'', and argued that if neither assets nor workforce were transferred, there could be no TUPE application. Unison argued ''Süzen'' favoured its position. The EAT noted that it was not sorry to conclude that the Tribunal was correct to hold there was a transfer of an entity which retained its identity. Were it otherwise, new contractors could simply avoid TUPE by not hiring any of the old sacked workers.

Judgment

Mummery LJ noted that RCO relied on

Paul Davies Paul Charles William Davies (born 22 April 1946) is an English physicist, writer and broadcaster, a professor in Arizona State University and Director of BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science. He is affiliated with the Institu ...

’ discussion of the ‘checkered history’ of the background to the '' Süzen'' decision.para 20 He agreed, all the circumstances should be taken into account. He agreed with RCO’s submission that subjective motive is not a real issue. But the offer by RCO to the workers to resign from Initial and join them could be considered.

Notes

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External links

For the full case see http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2002/464.html * United Kingdom labour case law 2002 in case law 2002 in British law Court of Appeal (England and Wales) cases

Facts

Judgment

See also

Notes

External links