TUPE

The Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment Regulations (TUPE) is one of the most complex areas of employment law and can have a very unsettling impact on you and your employment.

Our team of specialist employment lawyers are here to help guide you through the minefield and help protect your position within the business. TUPE arises where a business is transferred to another business. This is typically where a business is sold to another or where there is an outsourcing arrangement (known under TUPE as a service provision change). 

TUPE: Sale of a Business

Where a business or part of a business is sold the TUPE Regulations will apply meaning that those employees assigned to the transferring business will also transfer. The good news however is that you will retain all of your contractual rights and obligations. This includes fundamental terms such as length of service, salary, job title and duties, holiday entitlement and all other terms.

TUPE: Service Provision Change (Outsourcing)

A service provision change arises where;

1. a company outsources some of it’s functions; or
2. there is a change in outsourced provider; or
3. a company insources some of it’s functions from an outsourced provider.

As with the sale of a business any employee who is assigned to the transferring part of the business, will also transfer under the TUPE Regulations and you will retain all of their contractual rights and obligations.

Protection From Dismissal And Detriment

If you do transfer under the TUPE Regulations (whether a business sale or a service provision change) you are protected from being dismissed because of the transfer or from suffering any kind of detriment.  In particular the incoming employer is prevented from changing your terms and conditions or consolidating those terms to match their current employee’s terms.

New employers are though sometimes allowed to make some changes, or even dismiss someone, where there is an economic, technical or organisational (ETO) reason entailing changes in the workplace. Most typically this would be if a redundancy scenario arose as a result of the transfer, but can also incorporate other matters such as changing payroll dates and aligning holiday years. The incoming employer must though enter into consultation with you about any ETO changes.

Information and Consultation

It is also a requirement of the TUPE Regulations that employers inform and consult with you and your colleagues about what is planned. Often employers want to keep these matters confidential for as long as possible, but employers must inform and consult with all affected staff sufficiently far in advance of the transfer to allow meaningful consultation. Often this information/consultation process will need to be undertaken with elected employee representatives and we can advise you on when this might be necessary or if you wish to be an employee representative, what your entitlements and obligations are.

How can we help you?

Our Employment Law Team has extensive experience in dealing with TUPE transfers from the very small transfers of one or two employees to transfers involving many hundreds or thousands of staff. Our team of specialist employment lawyers work closely with you to ensure that you know what your rights are and to place you in the strongest possible position throughout the transfer process as we know how unsettling this can be.

If you are currently going through a TUPE transfer please contact our team on 0345 646 0406 or fill in our online enquiry form and a member of our Team will be in touch.