TUPE Changes from 31 January 2014

From 31 January 2014 TUPE has been amended.  Some of the changes are highly technical and are, in fact, less extensive than originally planned.

In summary the changes are:

  • The rules on service provision changes (outsourcing/insourcing situations) will remain, but the legislation will clarify that for there to be a TUPE service provision change, the activities carried on after the change in service provision must be fundamentally or essentially the same as those carried on before it.
  • The requirement to provide employee liability information will be retained, but from 1 May 2014 the information will have to be given 28 days before the transfer, rather than the current 14 days.
  • Transferees will be able to change terms derived from collective agreements one year after the transfer, provided that the overall change is no less favourable to the employee.
  • Changes will make it more difficult for an employee to argue  that genuine place of work redundancies at the time of a TUPE transfer are automatically unfair.
  • Collective redundancy rules will be amended to clarify that consultation which begins before the transfer can count for the purposes of complying with the collective redundancy rules, provided that the transferor and transferee can agree.
  • From 31 July 2014, businesses with fewer than 10 employees will be allowed to inform and consult affected employees directly when there is no recognised independent union, nor any existing appropriate representatives.