New Year to bring TUPE changes with it

Following on from our latest Employment Bulletin, which was sent out earlier this week, the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills has confirmed that the Collective Redundancies and Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) (Amendment) Regulations 2013, containing the proposed changes to the TUPE regulations, will come into force on 31 January 2014. Key amendments to the TUPE regulations:

In order for a service provision change to be triggered the service provision must be "fundamentally or essentially the same".

Introduction of procedure to allow a Transferee to commence redundancy consultation prior to transfer.

Allowing changes to collectively agreed terms, if made one year after transfer, and provided they are no less favourable to employees.

Time for providing employee liability information increased from 14 days to 28 days before transfer.

Changes to location of workforce will come under the scope of an economic, technical or organisational reason.

Micro businesses will have the ability to inform and consult directly with affected employees about a proposed TUPE transfer.

Additionally, please note that the extension of the right to request flexible working to all employees will come into force on 6 April 2014.

As always, we are more than happy to assist you with any queries arising out of the above announcement.

These notes have been prepared for the purpose of an article only. They should not be regarded as a substitute for taking legal advice.