I DRAW your readers’ attention to the factual inaccuracies in the article published on Tuesday December 13 and would request that this is corrected.

The article states that staff will work bank holidays and weekend for no extra money.

The changes to terms and conditions reflect the following:

1. A reduction in the weekend premium payment from time-and-a-half to time-and-a-quarter per hour;

2. A reduction in the payment for Bank Holiday working from triple time for five out of the eight Bank Holidays to double time for all eight Bank Holidays;

3. All other terms and conditions of employment including continuity of employment and if applicable, membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme remain unchanged.

The article also inaccurately stated that managers have told staff if they did not agree to these changes they would be sacked.

Various communications have been sent to all staff and meetings held with staff across the company, to reassure staff that if they were not willing to agree to the voluntary variation they should wait for the consultation process to be completed.

Over 1,200 staff are directly affected by the changes and were issued a letter on October 18 which sought their voluntary acceptance to the new terms and conditions; over 800 staff voluntarily accepted these changes.

For those staff who were not willing to voluntarily accept these changes, a dismissal and simultaneously a re-engagement letter were sent on December 7 2016, asking for a response by March 9 2017. It is not our intention to dismiss any staff.

The financial pressure facing Tricuro in 2016/17 is an additional cost of £1.3m due to increased costs from the introduction of the National Living Wage, nationally agreed pay awards, incremental pay increases, increases to employer national insurance contributions as part of abolishing the employer rebate of 3.4 per cent and funding the cost of transport.

It is important to understand that 86 per cent of Tricuro’s controllable costs are staffing costs and therefore the company is facing the very difficult position of making changes which will impact some of its front-line staff as outlined.

The article also inaccurately stated that the letters were in the post four hours after the ACAS discussions concluded. Since the consultation commenced in May 2016, the trade unions have been unable to present proposals that address the financial challenges of the company which reduce operating costs. Unions were consulted on the contents of the letters prior to these being sent to affected staff the following day.

This is a regrettable position for the company to find itself in, but we need to ensure that the company remains sustainable in the longer term, maintaining service delivery for its clients and ongoing job security for its valued workforce of over 1,600 staff.

COLIN DENNIS

Independent Chair, Tricuro Ltd, Wimborne Road, Poole

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