employment

• We have extensive experience in dealing with all aspects of TUPE that arise in the social housing sector. This includes: collective consultation with both trade unions and on establishment of elected representatives; harmonisation of terms and conditions; dismissals arising from economic technical and organisational reasons.

• We were instructed by a Hampshire-based housing association which provided a range of services to a city council.  The city council decided to re-structure how the service was operated and as a consequence the scope of the service became substantially bigger.  Our client was unable to service the larger scope and it therefore teamed up with a number of other providers to put in a joint bid for the expanded services.  Our work with the client required us to assist by providing TUPE advice on the implications for the various members of staff who would need to be brought together as a consolidated workforce if the bid was successful also by providing assistance with the drafting of the bid, including substantial advice and work on Cabinet Office current guidelines and statements of practice on staff transfers in the public sector finally drafting the workforce provisions of the Commercial Teaming Agreement.

• We acted for a Southampton-based housing association which had a contract to provide services relating to homeless support services to a city council.  When this contract came to be re-tendered, our client team with several other housing associations put together a bid, as a result of which we provided advice on the potential TUPE implications.  We attended a collective consultation meeting with our client's staff to help our client demonstrate its commitment to their staff and to give reassurance to them concerning their legal position.