TUPE And Changes In Work Location: 'Material Detriment' Is A Major Problem

The recent case of Abellio London Ltd v Musse¹ concerned a six mile change to a place of work for some bus drivers from north to south of the river Thames following a TUPE transfer and whether this change entitled the affected staff to resign.

The claimants in this case were bus drivers on the 414 bus route. They were based at a North West London depot. In their contracts of employment there was a right to move them to any of their employer's work locations as defined in their contracts. The claimants were informed by their then employer that the contract with Transport for London to run the 414 route would transfer to Abellio London Ltd and would be operated from Abellio's Battersea depot in South West London. There was no dispute that this was a 'service provision change' within the meaning of TUPE and that this would transfer the drivers across.