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Taf · 17-08-2024, 11:11

The Civil Service department I worked in was outsourced to a private company, with all buildings, stocks, spares, contracts and personnel handed over.

The private company used to be a Civil Service entity itself, so was headed by ex-Civil Service bosses who still had the Whitehall mentality and disdain for the lower echelons of staff. Every one of their technical staff told me that they hadn't had a pay rise in many years, they had to do many hours of unpaid overtime just to keep on top of their work, and many were planning to resign.

Most of the senior and admin staff moved sideways to other Civil Service jobs, but the technical and support staffing was gutted from several hundreds to a few dozen across England and Wales. Luckily, we were protected under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations (TUPE), so our pay, conditions and rules for redundancy stayed the same.

But that did not stop the new owners from trying it on. I, and many others, were selected (illegally) for redundancy, and were blocked from automatic promotion, and the associated pay and pension rises.

It was the eve of the Industrial Tribunal that the new owners relented, and had to pay out for redundancy levels as per TUPE. They also had to pay us compensation for illegal selection for redundancy. KERCHING!!!

Within 6 months, the department's buildings had been sold, along with the stocks and spares, the last of the staff had been made redundant, and the contracts moved to yet another company. The customers were given very little notice to look elsewhere for someone else to look after them.

It was many years later, a month before they had to start paying my pension, that I got a letter from them demanding that I sign an attached letter and return it by prepaid courier. I smelled a rat, so after a flurry of emails and phonecalls, a bod in Whitehall told me that I had "fallen through the cracks" and that the pension rate the owners wanted to pay was not anywhere what it should be under TUPE. Signing the letter they had sent would have nullified TUPE.

My first payment was at the paltry rate, but then I was informed by the same bod in Whitehall that I would soon receive the correct rate and full backpay. But a few months after, I was informed that I had been awarded promotion in retrospect, so would receive an even higher rate of pension and backpay.

So much for gold-plated pensions and job security in the Civil Service.

17-08-2024, 11:11	#157
Taf cf.mega poster Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: Kairdiff-by-the-sea Age: 69 Services: TVXL BBXL Superhub 2ac (wired) 1Tb Tivo Posts: 10,223	Re: Here comes the tax rises The Civil Service department I worked in was outsourced to a private company, with all buildings, stocks, spares, contracts and personnel handed over. The private company used to be a Civil Service entity itself, so was headed by ex-Civil Service bosses who still had the Whitehall mentality and disdain for the lower echelons of staff. Every one of their technical staff told me that they hadn't had a pay rise in many years, they had to do many hours of unpaid overtime just to keep on top of their work, and many were planning to resign. Most of the senior and admin staff moved sideways to other Civil Service jobs, but the technical and support staffing was gutted from several hundreds to a few dozen across England and Wales. Luckily, we were protected under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations (TUPE), so our pay, conditions and rules for redundancy stayed the same. But that did not stop the new owners from trying it on. I, and many others, were selected (illegally) for redundancy, and were blocked from automatic promotion, and the associated pay and pension rises. It was the eve of the Industrial Tribunal that the new owners relented, and had to pay out for redundancy levels as per TUPE. They also had to pay us compensation for illegal selection for redundancy. KERCHING!!! Within 6 months, the department's buildings had been sold, along with the stocks and spares, the last of the staff had been made redundant, and the contracts moved to yet another company. The customers were given very little notice to look elsewhere for someone else to look after them. It was many years later, a month before they had to start paying my pension, that I got a letter from them demanding that I sign an attached letter and return it by prepaid courier. I smelled a rat, so after a flurry of emails and phonecalls, a bod in Whitehall told me that I had "fallen through the cracks" and that the pension rate the owners wanted to pay was not anywhere what it should be under TUPE. Signing the letter they had sent would have nullified TUPE. My first payment was at the paltry rate, but then I was informed by the same bod in Whitehall that I would soon receive the correct rate and full backpay. But a few months after, I was informed that I had been awarded promotion in retrospect, so would receive an even higher rate of pension and backpay. So much for gold-plated pensions and job security in the Civil Service.