A service provision change does not occur under TUPE where there is a change in the client on whose behalf the services are being carried out. This is the conclusion of the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) in the case of Hunter v McCarrick, the first EAT decision to rule on this issue. The decision does not come as a great surprise but it provides welcome clarification on a point which occasionally arises in outsourcing situations.

What happened in this case

The Claimant (Mr McCarrick) brought an unfair dismissal claim against the Respondent (Mr Hunter) when he was dismissed on 8 March 2010 after having allegedly been employed by Mr Hunter for 7 months since August 2009. Since 2005, Mr McCarrick’s job was to manage a property portfolio owned by Waterbridge Group (WG)(of which Mr Hunter was Managing Director). In order to succeed in his claim against Mr Hunter, Mr McCarrick needed to show that he had at least one year’s continuous employment and that his employment had transferred to Mr Hunter under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) from his previous employers.Continue Reading UK TUPE: No service provision change where client changes identity