Employment Law

摘要

The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006, or TUPE as they are more commonly known, provide protection for employees in the event that the business where they are employed is transferred. This is achieved in the main by providing that the employees transfer with the benefit of all their existing terms and conditions of employment. Generally, attempts to unilaterally change these terms will be invalid and dismissing the employee because of the transfer shall be regarded as automatically unfair. The requirement to match terms and conditions can have major cost implications. It is important for any business to take into account the wages and contractual benefits due to accurately forecast the costs going forward. Generally those liabilities will be established as at the date of the transfer. However, in the case of Alemo-Herron and others v Parkwood Leisure Ltd the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) considered that the incoming employer's obligations could extend to increased benefits that arise post transfer where the contracts of employment expressly refer to terms being negotiated from time to time by a third party in accordance with a collective agreement.