Mr I Hamilton v Represented by:10 Ms A Bowman - Solicitor DHL Services Limited and 1 other — 2021

The Tribunal determined a preliminary issue: whether the claimant's employment transferred from DHL Services Limited to Pollock (Scotrans) Limited by operation of TUPE when Lees of Scotland moved transport and storage work from the first respondent to the second respondent. The Tribunal found that the relevant activities were the collection of manufactured product from Lees' factory in Coatbridge and transport of that product to storage premises.

Although the second respondent carried out the work differently, using the nearest available vehicle rather than a dedicated driver shuttling between factory and storage, the Tribunal found that the activities before and after the change were fundamentally the same. The possible difference that the second respondent may not have transported raw ingredients to Lees once per day did not alter that conclusion.

The Tribunal found that the claimant constituted an organised grouping of employees with the principal purpose of carrying out the Lees activities. He worked only on the Lees contract for four 12-hour shifts per week, was treated as the regular Lees driver, and his absence through illness did not prevent the organised grouping from existing immediately before the service provision change. The Tribunal therefore concluded that his employment transferred to the second respondent under Regulation 3(1)(b)(ii) TUPE.