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Often when important changes happen within a business, whether it’s being entirely transferred over to another owner, or part of it is being bought out, the question many employees ask is “what does this mean for me?”
TUPE stands for Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment), and is essentially a way for employees to be protected should the business they work for go through the changes mentioned above. TUPE law also enables any liabilities associated with employees to be moved over when the business changes hands.
TUPE is relevant to many different businesses, and many different transactions they may be making, no matter their size. TUPE regulations protect the following two types of transfers:
Some new business owners may decide to cut their workforce in half to save on costs, or even before a transfer happens there may be redundancies that appear seemingly out of nowhere. It can be a frustrating and stressful time for many employees.
Regulation 3(1)(a) explains this as: “a transfer of an undertaking, business or part of an undertaking or business situated immediately before the transfer in the UK to another person where there is a transfer of an economic entity which retains its identity.”
But what does this mean for employees? When the transfer happens, all employees of the business being transferred are automatically moved over, including the terms and conditions of their employment contracts. Although it is the legal right of employees to transfer with their previous contractual terms in tow, there may be special circumstances that don’t apply with regard to pensions.
If an employee takes their employer to court for breach of TUPE regulations, the following factors will be considered:
SPCs, or service provision changes, relate to the following three elements:
This is where a role that is usually carried out internally to the business (for example, financial adviser) is “outsourced” to an external contractor.
Where a role carried out by an external contractor is given to a different contractor instead, through second generation outsourcing and/or a re-tendering process. There may be a few reasons for a business to go through this process; the contract is ending and they wish to explore more cost-effective options; they have had a negative experience with the current contractor; the current contractor is ceasing trade.
Where a role carried out by an external contractor is brought in-house to be carried out by the client instead. Whether or not this role was previously in-house prior to being completed externally does not matter in this scenario.
SPCs can be complex, so it’s important to seek legal advice if you feel your employer has breached TUPE regulations in this regard. When determining if an SPC has happened, your solicitor will need to check certain requirements were met, such as the identification of activities that describe the role/service and the identification of employees involved.
NOTE: It’s important to note that public sector business transfers aren’t normally covered by TUPE law, but there may be some exceptions to this regarding public sector businesses moving into the private sector.
Call us free today to see how we can help you understand your options on 0808 164 0808, or request a call back if you’d like one of our no-win, no-fee experts to call you.
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In general you have three months less one day from the most recent act of discrimination or breach to take action, meaning you should act fast.
We recommend you speak to one of our lawyers in the first instance. As part of the process, you’ll need to get in touch with the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), who will aim to achieve early conciliation with your employer. However, our lawyers can assist in this process where appropriate and we have formally been instructed.
Please be aware that the ACAS process can take up to around a month to complete, which will be taken from the three months you have to begin with. It’s important to act quickly in order to bring a tribunal claim. If the conciliation procedure is unsuccessful, we may be able to support you with the tribunal. If you feel you have a potential employment claim please act quickly and contact us today.