Another TUPE case this month highlights the need for an "organised grouping of employees" in a service provision change case which has as its principal purpose the carrying out of the activities concerned on behalf of the client.
In this March’s decision in Eddie Stobart v Moreman and others it was held by the Employment Appeal Tribunal that employees who spent the majority of their time working for a particular client were not an organised grouping for the purposes of the TUPE Regulations.
Issues concerning the identification of an "organised grouping" have returned quickly in the shape of the latest EAT decision on the point. In Seawell Ltd v CEVA Freight (Uk) Ltd & Anor Ceva had a contract for the storage and supply of materials to Seawell for use on the oil platforms they operated. Mr Moffat worked for Ceva, and spent all his time on their contract, and a number of other Ceva employees spent varying amounts of time on Seawell work, but most of their time on other clients’ work. Seawell took the work back in house and ended the contract. Ceva maintained that there was a service provision change, and told Mr Moffat to report to Seawell after the changeover, but Seawell would have none of it, and Mr Moffat found himself without a job. He succeeded in an Employment Tribunal claim against Seawell but failed on appeal.