TUPE

The Transfer of Undertaking Protection of Employment (TUPE) covers how your employees should be treated when your business goes through a change of ownership or when you take over another business.

The TUPE law regulations state that all employment contracts between the old employer and the new employer employees are transferred without any changes to their terms and conditions of employment.  This also covers Service Provision Changes when one company takes over a service contract previously serviced by another business.

The Regulations ensure that the employees have a safeguard, so that in the event that an employee is dismissal after a transfer or there is a significant change to their terms and conditions of employment this could be found to be unfair dismissal. Generally, in such circumstances, your employee would have a case against the employer but may build in the old employer as well.

It is wise if a TUPE situation may apply, then to ensure that you inform and consult with your employees individually so they are aware of what is happening.  If the transferring company as more than 10 employees then there is also a duty to consult with the employees collectively, ie as a group and allow them the opportunity to elect a staff representative to consult with the business during this process.

It is wise to provide affected employees information in writing which should include:

• Details and why and when the transfer may happen;
• Any legal, economic or social implications concerning the transfer – such as if there is going to be a change of work place;
• Any details of agency workers that may be used;
• Any measures that may be envisaged, such as if redundancies are anticipated

This is a complex area of law.  ActifHR can help guide you through the process.

For more information on other HR Policy support from ActifHR, click on another employment topic from the list on the left of this page.