Employment regulations when merging or taking over another business, advice from Liz Watt

Following a business merging or taking over another it is important to have in mind the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE) in relation to the staff if their employment is being transferred to the new business from the old one. Under these Regulations, employees are entitled to the same or better terms and conditions unless for an economic, technical or organisational (ETO) reason these terms need to be amended in line with their business and as a result are worse than before for the employee. It is also worth noting that if you are going to be making the employees redundant as a result of the business reorganisation then you will need to ensure that a consultation is undertaken if there are more than 20 staff members affected by the transfer. Even if there are less than 20 staff members it is worth informing them in any event to ensure that you have followed a fair process so that the affected employees cannot bring legal proceedings in an Employment Tribunal.

If you are an employer who is in the process of reorganising or have already undertaken a reorganisation and want to discuss the implications of this for the staff members or are an employee who has been consulted and wants further advice please contact Liz Watt on 01905 900 919 or Liz@bradleyhayneslaw.co.uk.