Manchester property firm workers suddenly left jobless win almost £65,000 in court

A law firm and trade union Unite helped the dozen workers bring their case, which involved Manchester City Council putting one of its contracts back out to tender, to court.
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A dozen Manchester employees who worked for a property maintenance firm but were left jobless following a failed transfer scheme have secured thousands of pounds in compensation.

The former employees of Manchester Working Limited (MWL) secured almost £65,000 between them after a case for failure to inform and consult was brought before a court.

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The case involved Manchester City Council re-tendering one of its contracts for maintenance work on its public buildings.

Speaking after the court decision, the employees described their shock at suddenly not having a job after years of working for the company, while those who helped bring the case said it was an example of firms “riding roughshod” over employees in attempts to save money.

What happened to leave the 12 workers jobless?

Social justice law firm Thompsons Solicitors, which brought the case, says the matter started when Manchester City Council decided to re-tender its public buildings maintenance and repair service contract.

At the time MWL had the contract, but the new tender process was won by Engie Services Limited (now known as Equans Services Limited).

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The 12 employees who brought an employment tribunal claim were part of a wider group of staff that MWL selected for transfer to Engie.

However, Engie asserted that the 12 were not in the scope of the public buildings contract.

On 1 May 2019, the 12 workers were turned away from an induction for transferring employees hosted by Engie at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester. The Engie management team insisted they were not in scope and that they should return to the MWL Manchester office.

However, when they did that MWL informed them they no longer worked for the company. This left them jobless, with no redundancy, notice or holiday pay.

What did the court case decide?

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With the help of Thompsons Solicitors and trade union Unite legal action was brought on behalf of the employees.

At the Manchester Employment Tribunal the workers’ elected employee representative, Jane Deegan, brought claims for failure to inform and consult under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employees) Regulations, known as TUPE.

TUPE guarantees certain rights for employees when they transfer to a new employer, often because the provider of a service is changing.

Under the settlement for each of the 12 displaced employees, MWL has to pay out nine weeks’ gross pay. Unite and Thompsons Solicitors argued that MWL had loaded the TUPE list to offload the workers to Engie – despite the new employer stating they were not in scope of the public buildings contract.

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Engie also had to pay out the equivalent of four weeks’ gross pay to 45 other colleagues who were transferred but where the firm had notified Unite and Ms Deegan as the employee representative too late.

For three of the 12 employees this was their second legal victory over the incident as they previously successfully brought claims for unfair dismissal.

One of them was David Lewis, an electrician from Audenshaw who was 57 at the time. As well as unfair dismissal compensation he secured notice and holiday compensation and access to his local government pension on unreduced terms by reason of his redundancy in May 2021.

Now, he has received further compensation as part of the total £65,000 package MWL has to pay to the 12 workers.

What did the workers say?

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Mr Lewis, who had been employed by MWL for 33 years, said: “I still cannot really believe what happened. One day you’re getting ready for work as usual, and the next thing, within a couple of hours, your livelihood has been ripped apart before your eyes. MWL wanted nothing to do with us.

“I often wonder why MWL didn’t just offer us redundancy – I can only assume they thought it would be cheaper and easier to kick us out the back door.

“Fortunately, as a trade union member, I knew what they’d done was wrong and that I’d have the full backing of Unite and the union’s legal specialists, which is exactly what happened.”

What did those who brought the case say?

The law firm and trade union who have been involved in the case said it was important that employees stand up to poor treatment from companies.

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Jamie Humphries, an employment rights lawyer based at Thompsons’ Manchester office, said: “In an age where employers are becoming more brazen in their attacks on workers’ rights, emboldened by a government that is actively seeking to erode and eliminate these hard-fought provisions, it is more important than ever that we and the trade union movement stand up for mistreated workers using the existing employment law.

“David and his 11 colleagues were left high and dry by MWL in their attempt to bypass well-established employment law. What ensued was a legal battle that will have inevitably cost MWL a lot more than if it had just followed the law in the first place.”

Andrew Fisher, regional officer from Unite the union, added: “This is a clear example of how employers often try to avoid their legal obligations and responsibilities to their employees, by riding roughshod over individual’s employment rights simply to try to save money.

“It is often only trade unions who have the knowledge that such actions are unlawful and are able to advice and support employees in such claims, which shows the value of union membership.

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“I have no doubt if they had not been members of Unite these employers may well have got away with this unlawful action at a great financial cost to our members.”

Has the council commented?

Manchester City Council said that while the transfer was between the two companies it did offer support when it found out what had happened.

A spokesperson said: “The city council was not party to this dispute as it was between Mears and Engie, but the city council was alerted to the potential impact on jobs and given the circumstances, the council provided support and assistance to those individuals to find new employment.

“Support was provided directly by council staff who met with those affected to assess their skills and experience and match them with new roles.

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“The council’s work and skills team also arranged links with partners including the DWP Employer Suite to support with benefits claims, job search, CV writing and introduction to other partners including the National Careers Service.”

We have been unable to contact MWL or Equans Services for comment.

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