TUPE regulation solicitors
If your employer changes ownership your employment rights are protected under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) law. This means that your job will usually transfer over to the new company.
Overview
Legal advice on TUPE transfers
TUPE is designed to preserve employment rights in a situation known as a ‘relevant transfer’, when employees transfer to a new employer. Examples may be where an organisation, or part of it, is transferred from one employer to another or a service is transferred to a new provider, for example when another company takes over the contract for office cleaning.
TUPE offers a number of different protections to affected employees and brings potential liabilities for employers. However, despite its ubiquity, it is one of the more complex areas of employment law and people will often have many questions about TUPE regulations, its application and its effect.
Our specialist TUPE solicitors advise on TUPE and contract variations on a daily basis and can provide assistance in any matter related to TUPE.
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FAQS
Common questions about TUPE
What is the meaning of TUPE?
What happens during a TUPE transfer?
Can I be made redundant under TUPE?
How does TUPE impact the disciplinary and grievance records?
What is the meaning of TUPE?
Answer
The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, also known as TUPE, applies when there is going to be what is known in the legislation as a “relevant transfer”.
A relevant transfer applies to a number of scenarios. One would be a business transfer – if a business or part of a business moves to a new owner or merges with another business to make a brand new employer.
It also could be as a result out of a service provision change, for example: if a contractor takes over activities from a client (known as outsourcing); a new contractor takes over activities from another contractor (known as re-tendering): or if a client takes over activities from a contractor (known as in-sourcing).
TUPE applies regardless of the size of the transferred business, whether it is in the public or private sector and whether or not it has any profit motive underlying the activities.
TUPE cannot be avoided by contract, meaning that parties cannot ignore or choose not to apply TUPE in a commercial agreement. In some scenarios it will be very clear that TUPE will apply while in others there will be much more uncertainty.
What happens during a TUPE transfer?
Answer
Before a transfer of ownership happens, you are entitled to be consulted and informed and your employer can be penalised if this doesn’t happen.
Under TUPE regulations, the new employer takes over employees’ employment contracts, including:
- all the previous terms and conditions of employment
- any failures of the previous employer to observe employees’ rights (so employees could make a claim for discrimination against the new employer, even if it took place before the transfer)
- holiday entitlement
- period of continuous employment – an employee’s start date is the same as before the transfer, so continuous employment isn’t broken
- any collective agreements previously made
You can refuse to work for the new employer, but this will have the same effect as resigning and you won’t normally be able to claim unfair dismissal or redundancy pay.
Can I be made redundant under TUPE?
Answer
A new employer can’t make you redundant simply because you were transferred from another employer. However, they can consult about redundancies before the transfer if your old employer agrees.
If you are made redundant for an economic, organisational or technical reason involving changes to the workforce – ie. the new employer is closing down part of a company because it is loss making – then you may be entitled to a redundancy payment.
How does TUPE impact the disciplinary and grievance records?
Answer
Under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE), disciplinary and grievance records of employees are transferred alongside the employees themselves. This ensures that the new employer inherits all past records and ongoing procedures, maintaining the continuity of employment terms, including historical disciplinary and grievance records. Incoming employers must treat these records as part of the transferring employees’ contractual history, which is crucial for making informed decisions about future disciplinary actions or addressing grievances.
The obligation to provide employee liability information under TUPE includes details of disciplinary and grievance actions taken within the last two years before the transfer, ensuring the incoming employer is aware of potential employment liabilities.
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