Single specific event or task of short-term duration

Whether a task or event is of short-term duration is a question of fact for the tribunal. The revised 2014 BIS TUPE guidance gives as an example of a one-off event a single conference organised by a contractor on behalf of a client. Even if the contractor organises a team to put on the conference, this is a one-off event, meaning that if the client later uses a different contractor to organise a further conference, the members of the first team will not be required to transfer to the new contractor.

The BIS TUPE guidance goes on to suggest that to qualify for the exemption, the one-off service must also be of short-term duration. For example, imagine two contracts to provide security for the Olympic games. The first is for the provision of security advice to the organisers in the years running up to the event, while the second is to supply security staff to protect athletes during the event itself. Both contracts have a “one-off” character, in the sense that they both concern a specific event, but the first runs for a significantly longer time that the second. The first would be covered by TUPE, suggests the guidance, but the second would not.

In any event, what matters is the commissioning client’s intention at the time they commission the services and not what unfolds in practice. This is because the rules on service provision change must work so that everyone affected, including the employees, knows clearly, the moment a new contractor is taken on, whether or not a service provision transfer has taken place. Working out whether or not TUPE applies cannot depend on looking at how events evolve over time (Swanbridge Hire & Sales Limited v (1) Butler (2) GMB (3) Unite and (4) Kitsons [2013] UKEAT/0056/13/BA).