Hi All

I am about to be TUPE'd from a private company to the NHS.

I don't have a problem with this but my main concern is that as part of my current contract I have a company car as i travel between sites.

No one seems to be able to tell me what will happen regarding this as I cannot afford to buy my own car and I cannot get a loan as I am in my final year of an IVA.

I know the NHS don't have their own cars, but they do run a salary sacrifice scheme. Would I be provided with one under this?

I live over 50 miles away from work, so getting into work on public transport is not an option.

I've asked the question to several people, but no one can help me. Does anyone have any idea about this?

Thanks

Leese

You really will have to ask them, as different trusts run different schemes. They are certainly under no obligation to provide a car for you because you live a long distance from your workplace. Broadly speaking, few public sector employers provide cars these days, and only pay mileage allowances for work related travel. Some may, from time to time, offer salary sacrifice schemes to purchase a car - one local to me did so for hybrid purchases recently - but these often aren't continuous schemes, and only run for limited periods.

If your workplace has changed as a result of the TUPE, you may be able to get some limited assistance costs for travel to work, but not the cost of a car.

I was led to believe that on a tupe, anything that formed part of your contract before the takeover remained part of your contract. So if the op has a contract that states that a company car is part of their benefit package, should this not be carried over?

And does it form part of the contract? And even if it does- it can still be changed for various lawful reasons. First point, as I said, is ask the question...

Thanks for the replies. It doès form part of my contract and it's not just because i live some distance away. I have to travel between sites during business hours. I have asked several times and no one seems to know!

does your current company own the car or lease it? Probably the latter so it may be possible to come to an arrangement with the soon to be ex-employer and the leasing co.

Thanks for the replies. It doès form part of my contract and it's not just because i live some distance away. I have to travel between sites during business hours. I have asked several times and no one seems to know!

Well if it is definitely a contractual benefit - and be sure that it is, because the wording is important, and what people think is contractual often isn't - then the new employer will have to consider their options. It is certainly possible to change a contract on TUPE. People often think that TUPE protects their terms and conditions for ever and a day. That isn't true. TUPE protects terms at the point of the transfer. Immediately after that an employer can begin to change terms by claiming economic, technical or organisational grounds. Later than that, there is a grey area at which point the courts consider that the protections no longer really apply because too much time has passed, and nothing can be preserved for ever. But in the latter case, that's a court ruling, because there no hard guidance or law on it.

I suspect that you may find that the use of a company vehicle during working hours or for work purposes is one possible option. Broadly speaking the NHS doesn't have company cars, but it does have fleet vehicles. Providing you with one of these might be their escape clause, but that wouldn't mean you could use it for travel to and from work. The other option could, conceivably, be to either enforce a contractual change, or even to reorganize the service to make your role redundant and create one that does not have the same benefits. Their options would depend on many factors we don't know, like the service requirement, the exact contractual wording, their organisational approach.... I don't suppose you are in a union? Because this would have been the time to be in one...

Thanks everyone. I am in a union but they are not very helpful! Thanks for all the replies. We do have a meeting about this coming up so hopefully I will get some answers! Thanks for the information it's been really useful

Please let us know how you get one, Leese.

HB

Please let us know how you get one, Leese.

 

HB

I will do. Thank you