In May 2023 we reported how the UK government made a series of announcements in respect of proposed reforms to two areas of law derived from the EU – the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 (TUPE) and the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR) – and launched consultations on its proposals. The government has now published a response to those consultations and the reforms it intends will go ahead, and which ones will not.
This blog explores the changes which will take effect, and which are expected to be in force from 1 January 2024.
TUPE
What is TUPE and what changes were proposed?
TUPE is a set of rules, derived from EU law, which protect the rights of employees when their employment transfers to another employer when there is a relevant business transfer or change in service provider. The rules provide valuable protections for employees in respect of their terms and conditions of employment and security of employment. They also place a number of requirements on employers in respect of provision of information and consultation ahead of a transfer taking place.
The consultation focused on consultation with staff ahead of the transfer. Under the current rules, there is an obligation to consult with the representatives of affected staff on all TUPE transfers, except where the micro-business exemption applies (i.e., where the employee has fewer than 10 employees) when consultation can be carried out directly with the staff concerned. However,...
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