The DTI has launched a consultation on draft regulations to reform legislation protecting employees’ rights when companies change ownership.
The proposed changes update the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 1981 (TUPE), improving protection for employees and helping business by reducing transactions costs.
The consultation includes proposals to:
Improve business flexibility by extending coverage of TUPE to contracting operations, such as cleaning services, so that employers and employees know where they stand from the outset of an ownership transfer
Increase the transparency of the transfer process by introducing a requirement for the former employer to notify the new employer of any employment liabilities
Clarify the circumstances in which employers can lawfully make transfer-related dismissals and negotiate transfer-related changes to terms and conditions of employment for ‘economic, technical or organisational’ reasons
Give a significant boost to promotion of the ‘rescue culture’ by introducing new flexibility into the regulations’ application in relation to the transfer of insolvent businesses.
The consultation forms part of the government’s general revision of the TUPE regulations and will run for 12 weeks.
A Personnel Today One Stop Guide to the TUPE regulations will be published later in the year
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