The complainants were all former employees of the London Borough of Lewisham (the “Council”). In 2002, the part of the Board business in which they worked was transferred to CCL, a private sector employer. In 2004, it was broadcast to Parkwood, another private sector employer. TUPE 1981 applied to every transmission. The applicants` employment contracts contained a clause stating that their wages were “in accordance with collective agreements negotiated from time to time by the National Joint Council for Local Government (NJC)”. Following the transfer to Parkwood in 2004, new wage rates were negotiated for the period from 1 April 2004 to 31 March 2007 and were agreed by the Council and the relevant unions on the NJC. Other conditions have also been agreed with regard to training, development and other aspects of labour relations. Parkwood was not involved in the negotiations. The question is clearly not simple: if the general conditions of the employees are transferred to a new employer according to LEPE and these conditions explicitly contain the conditions of the collective agreements “in the form negotiated from time to time”, should the new employer be bound only by the collective conditions negotiated and in force before and at the time of the transfer (the “static” approach)? Conditions that are not covered by a collective agreement are governed by the usual provisions of the TUPE. .
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