Labour Research March 2004

Law Queries

Reorganisation and TUPE

The parent company of the firm that I work for has announced that it intends to reorganise. Work at one of its companies in Birmingham will be transferred to another subsidiary down the road in Leamington. Would this transfer come under the TUPE transfer regulations, and so give the workers protection?

The situation you describe is unlikely to come within the definition of TUPE.

The Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT) recently ruled on a case involving a company that had a number of subsidiaries. It held that an internal reorganisation could never amount to a TUPE transfer because the overall employer had not changed.

* More information: McChrystal v Wimpey Homes EAT/0046/03