Unite Legal Services has won a claim on behalf of all catering staff who transferred from London Zoo to Charlton House Catering (trading as Ampersand) because of a failure to consult in advance of detrimentally changing the workers' employment conditions.
This failure to consult - contrary to Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (known as TUPE) - has resulted in a binding financial settlement which will benefit 33 workers - both union members and non-union members.
Unite Legal Services acted on the members behalf and Adrian Taylor, ZSL group secretary, said he was very pleased with the outcome.
Said Adrian: “Justice has been served for our members and, for once, their co-workers also benefit as they saw first hand how Unite can make a real difference to their working conditions and stand up for them. All our members can take comfort from the fact that we are always on hand to support and act for them, and their families. Our grateful thanks to Sally Nailard, full-time Unite officer.”
Unite Legal Services' solicitor Paul Statham added: “Sometimes employers breach existing employment law for the sake of expediency and this can have a dramatic effect on the contractual rights of the staff on whom they depend. Fortunately, in this case a sensible view was taken, agreement reached all round and, hopefully, a useful lesson learned for the future.”
