Sad end for former BT Legal Team vindicates CWU caution on last year’s TUPE

Telecoms & Financial Services, BT June 11 2020

All 28 members of BT’s recently outsourced Legal Team have opted for redundancy just seven months after their TUPE transfer to DWF Law LLP on November 1 last year.

Despite early hopes that DWF would secure new office accommodation for the team within reasonable travelling distance of their former base at BT’s Eldon House office in Sheffield, the union’s worst fears were realised when the law firm confirmed that anyone wishing to keep their jobs would have to commute to Manchester or Leeds. 

From the outset, that additional travel time had been flagged up by the CWU as unreasonable for the vast majority of the team – especially those already commuting to Sheffield from further south.  As such, great care was taken to ensure the TUPE agreement negotiated by the union made specific reference to the carry-over of BT redundancy terms and the continued applicability of BT’s Effective Deployment of Displaced Individuals (EDDI) process which stipulates what travelling time is and isn’t acceptable.

In the event, the forward-sightedness of that stance has been thoroughly  vindicated – with even those would could potentially have just about commuted to Leeds or Manchester deciding to opt instead for  BT redundancy terms of up to two years’ pay.

“Weighing up the redundancy terms on offer versus the attractiveness of staying with DWF it’s telling that everyone has decided to go,” stresses CWU assistant secretary Dave Jukes.

“While TUPE protections for workers caught up in outsourcing situations are far from perfect, the fact the union managed to ensure redundancy terms were fully  covered in this situation has made  a dreadful situation less painful than it would otherwise have been.

“However, you can’t get away from the fact that, had this group of members not effectively been ‘sold’ to the lowest bidder by BT, they would still be earning a decent living in secure jobs rather than working out their notice.”

Dave is convinced that a major factor in DWF’s willingness to let the highly experienced and long-serving team go was a conviction it could get the work done cheaper by individuals on less favourable terms and conditions.

Pointedly, CWU concerns escalated to BT Group over how the team’s redundancy will impact on the wide range of legal work they carry out for the company ­-  including processing claims arising from accidents involving BT vehicles – were met with indifference.

Dave concludes: “Presumably BT now see that as DWF’s problem – but, at the end of the day, a dedicated and hard-working team of people – some of whom have spent up to 30 years of their working lives conducting this work for BT – were TUPE’d last November into what now transpires to have been an inevitable redundancy situation from day one.

“While CWU diligence means the individuals in question are leaving on far better terms than would otherwise have been the case, it’s hard to see their treatment as anything other than shoddy.  I for one would like to acknowledge their loyal membership of the CWU over many years, and their staunch support of the union throughout this difficult final chapter.”