The
Court of Appeal has held that civil servants transferred into the Training and
Enterprise Councils (TECs) from the Department of Employment in the early 1990s
had their employment rights unfairly removed.
The
judgment, which upholds an Employment Tribunal test case won in 1999 by 19
members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) against the North
Wales TEC, has important implications for the 4,000 civil servants who were
transferred, often under pressure, to TECs across England and Wales.
Most
TEC staff were moved out of civil service employment without the protection of
the European Acquired Right Directive and as a consequence lost employment
rights and the benefits of continuity of employment.
Many
staff saw deterioration in their terms and conditions, pension entitlements and
redundancy payments and some had their pay and holiday entitlement cut.
Peter
Harris, PCS National Officer, said: "This judgment has implications for
many thousands of workers who have been denied their employments rights when
their work has transferred from one employer to another. The Court of Appeal
has restored rights that the Conservative government had no right to remove
from its civil servants.
"PCS
will be pushing for full compensation to be made to our members for the losses
they have suffered. This could run into tens of thousands of pounds for some
staff".
