Government unveils new TUPE Regulations

The Government has published draft legislation that will make changes to the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (TUPE) Regulations in January 2014.

It follows the publication of the Government response to the consultation on TUPE in September, which outlined scaled-back changes.

While the changes do not go as far as proposed in the consultation, there are still significant amendments, including:

• allowing renegotiation of terms agreed in a collective agreement one year after transfer, provided that overall the change is no less favourable to the employee;
• allowing businesses with 10 or fewer employees to inform and consult directly with employees; and
• clarification that for TUPE to apply, the activities carried on after service provision changes must be “fundamentally or essentially the same” as those carried on before them, reflecting the approach set out in the case law.

XpertHR has further detail on the changes, which are expected to come into force in January 2014.