Rail franchise jobs: TUPE or not TUPE?

The “Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment)” or TUPE regulations are European Union regulations which offer limited protections to workers when they are transferred from one employer to another.

They basically mean that a new employer must take on the pay and terms and conditions of the workforce at the start of the new contract.

Employers in the rail industry are now apparently able to circumvent these regulations. In the case of the government stake in Eurostar the deal is effectively a share transfer from the government to a private firm so TUPE will not apply.

In the case of the Scotrail franchise, the franchise has gone to a company which does not employ train drivers in Scotland and will therefore subcontract the work to another firm, so TUPE will not apply either.

An Aslef member