Breach Of TUPE Regulations Solicitors

We understand the frustrations you may feel if you believe your new employer is breaching TUPE regulations, and making changes to your contract that are unlawful, which is where our team of employment solicitors may be able to help you. 

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Breach of TUPE Regulations Claims

Our breach of TUPE regulations specialists are here to help

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:

  • Standard transfer – where a business moves over to another owner, or merges with another business to create a new, single entity. This also relates to parts of businesses coming under new ownership.
  • Service provision transfer – SPCs, according to Regulation 3(1)(b)(i)-(iii) concern outsourcing, second generation outsourcing and/or re-tendering, and in-sourcing.

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.

Find out more in our helpful guide

We’ve put together a useful employee’s guide to TUPE, which goes into further details about how TUPE transfers work and what is expected of your current and new employer in the process.

Read our handy TUPE guide >>

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breach of TUPE regulations frequently asked questions

Below is a list of the common protections outlined for employees under TUPE regulations:
  • Holiday entitlements
  • The transfer of any open cases/claims against the company
  • Pensions, although the new owner would be under no obligation to continue using the same company
  • Retention of original contractual terms and conditions
  • Retention of current length of service
  • If a redundancy occurs solely due to the transfer, employees’ rights to claim unfair dismissal would be protected
  • The right for consultations with HR and other employment professionals before the transfer takes place.
The short answer is indefinitely. However, if the terms and conditions of an employee’s contract are changed due to the business transfer, even after several years, the validity of TUPE protection would be restricted. This would only be applicable if the contractual changes were permitted, which we explain a little more below. It’s important to seek legal advice in relation to this, to make sure you know the final details of your protection. Call us now on 0808 164 0808.
Usually, if a new employer decides to make contractual changes, this would be classed as a breach of TUPE regulations. The employer would need to prove that the changes are not a direct result of the business transfer. But, there are scenarios in which contractual changes can be made. Such as, the changes being permitted as part of the contract itself, or due to external factors such as company structure issues, technological issues involving equipment and affecting day-to-day business, or economic influence on company performance. It’s important to seek legal advice in this instance.
As we mentioned above, TUPE regulations would not apply if an external service provider’s contract was:
  • Re-tendered
  • Outsourced
  • Insourced
  • Transferred
For example, a caterer or cleaner who is employed by a business on a contractual basis wouldn’t be protected by TUPE if that business didn’t renew the contract and sought the service elsewhere. There are also scenarios with public sector organisations changing hands but remaining in the public sector, which wouldn’t be protected by TUPE law. The question of TUPE regulations not applying or applying can be confusing, and if you’re in a transactional situation where you’re unsure, it’s always best to seek the advice of legal experts.
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