Sign our petition for members in Hinduja Global Solutions to keep their jobs.

In November 2023 Hinduja Global Solutions announced a significant restructure on the Disclosure and Barring Service contract, which they planned to take effect from 1 April 2024.

Staff were told that the restructure was a direct result of the new contract for services between HGS and DBS. The impact on PCS members in Liverpool has been damaging because the changes mean a 41% reduction in headcount (later reduced to a 26% cut) and withdrawal of all staff from the Tithebarn Street office, meaning HGS would no longer have a presence in the city.

Impact to Customers

DBS helps employers make safer recruitment decisions by processing and issuing record checks for people working with children and adults in vulnerable or sensitive situations. HGS has not explained how such a reduction in staffing on this contract would be offset by ‘digital routes of contact.’  Customers may be forced into impersonal contact routes, like web chat and chatbots.

Travel 40 miles to keep your job

All remaining staff would need to sign hybrid-working contracts requiring them to work from the HGS office almost 40 miles away in Preston, for an unspecified proportion of their working days.

However, most staff based in Liverpool said they would not stay at HGS after April as it was too expensive for them to travel to Preston.

The online petition asks Carrie Ramskill, Chief Operating Officer at HGS, to reconsider these plans and "to find a solution to keep these workers in work and in Liverpool."

Personal impact

It’s clear that the move would have a real cost to members, financially and to those with caring responsibilities. One member told us that: “Increased childcare costs mean that children will have to discontinue their activities as I will not be home in time to take them, or to care for our younger child.” Another said that they would effectively be taking a pay cut due to the travel costs of up to £100 a week.

PCS has told HGS to work seriously on ways to retain staff and provide them with financial and employment security. Despite telling PCS that these plans would go ahead regardless, HGS has had to delay them and keep an additional 12 staff in Liverpool for eight more weeks, adding to the uncertainty that staff have been subjected to for the last five months.

Sign the Megaphone petition

PCS general secretary Fran Heathcote said: “Expecting our members to transfer to Preston is unfeasible, impractical and expensive as the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite.

“Many have said they will be left with no choice but to reluctantly take redundancy and hope to get a job closer to home.

“It is disgraceful for HGS to prioritise cutting costs over the wellbeing and employment of its staff. HGS has made no concessions to staff or offered any practical or financial help.

“Please sign this petition to keep these hard-working staff in work and in Liverpool.”