There are basically three employment models if outsourcing or transfer is proposed: 1) Secondment in which staff remain employed by the public sector. 2) Transfer to a new employer under the TUPE regulations 3) A ‘choice’ model promoted by some private contractors which is a mix of secondment and transfer.

The European Services Strategy Unit has devised an Employment Risk Matrix which assesses the degree of changes in four categories of risk: risk of changes to terms and conditions of service; pensions arrangements (not covered by TUPE regulations), risk of changes to staff consultation and representation and risk of problems with secondment agreement.