Recent Feedback
My partner has recently had their job title changed and signed a new contract to this effect. We then received their P45 through the post with no explanation as this was a Friday we had to wait until the following Monday to phone the company and ask the question as to why their P45 had been sent and did they actually have a job? The explanation given was that my partners employment had been transferred to a sister company but no real reason why the P45 had been sent. On being asked about continued service (4yrs) the company assured my partner that this would be the case but the question is - shouldn't my partner have been informed of the change of employer? Shouldn't their new contract of employment be in the new companies name and how do they stand with regard to continued service if they have been sent their P45?
Optional Information: Province/Country relating to question: UK Already Tried: Have tried to get information from the company been promised calls back but have had nothing from them
Hello and thank you for your question, which I will be happy to assist you with. Please let me know if at any point before the changes they were informed about the change of employer?
No they weren't they found out when they called the company to ask why the P45 had been sent
An employee's employer cannot be changed without the employee's consent. There must have been some consultation about this and the employee's consent must have been sought.
In fact, a similar scenario was decided in the courts very recently in the case of Gabriel v Peninsula Business Services. The Employment Appeal Tribunal applied the House of Lords authority of Nokes v Doncaster Amalgamated Collieries Ltd [1940] AC 1014 to the effect that, at common law, the employment of an employee cannot be transferred from one employer to another without the consent of the employee.
Therefore, consider taking this further with the employer and challenge their decision to terminate the employment and transfer it to a different employer.
Thank you - with their employment being terminated to transfer it to another company am I correct in thinking that this would also affect their continued service i.e their starting from scratch again?
not necessarily, if these were associated employers (i.e. part of a group company) then the continuous service could still be preserved
Thank you for your help I will come back to you if we do not reach a satisfactory response from the company
Experience: Expert in UK Employment Law