Negotiating body upheld after transfer

An employer who took over leisure services from a council and inherited a workforce under TUPE objected to having to pay a salary rise decided by a negotiating body for council workers several months after the transfer. The objection was on the grounds that the employer should not be bound by the decision of a negotiating body on which it was not represented. The employer lost.

The workers transferred with all their pay and conditions, including the right for their pay to be determined by the negotiating body. If the employers wished to change this, they could negotiate a change of terms and conditions or they could dismiss the workforce and re-engage on different terms.

In the latter case, they might face action for unfair dismissal but that was a commercial decision that they had to make. If they did not, then the transferred terms applied.