Economic entity

Case 1: The facts

Wilma Mackie’s employer, Smartex, had a contract with a local council to develop a smart card system called the “Accord card”. Towards the end of the contract, Mackie took a job with the council which involved administering the Accord card scheme.

Mackie said her employment had transferred under TUPE, giving her the length of service needed to bring an unfair dismissal claim.

The ruling

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) held that there had been no TUPE transfer. Smartex’s contract had been to perform a particular and clearly defined task which did not include involvement in the running and use of the Accord Card after its development. Once the card had been produced, there was no stable economic entity capable of being transferred; when the work of the transferor is a single, one-off contract of limited duration, there is no undertaking to transfer.

Mackie v Aberdeen City Council EATS/0095/04