Guide
How to Manage an Unfair Dismissal Claim
Let’s take a look at how to comply with the new laws on unfair dismissal, and how to manage a claim raised against your business.
- Dismissal
Peninsula Group, HR and Health & Safety Experts
(Last updated )
Peninsula Group, HR and Health & Safety Experts
(Last updated )
TUPE protects employment terms & conditions, including redundancy protections. Understanding TUPE is vital for new owners of a business. Call PBS for advice.
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A business can change ownership for a variety of different reasons. If the reason for a change in ownership is financial difficulties, redundancies may follow.
This will inevitably change working life for those employed by the old ownership. This is because employees will automatically transfer to the new employer.
This is when TUPE (Transfer of Undertakings Protection of Employment Regulations 2006) applies. It protects employee’s terms and conditions of employment (apart from occupational pensions) and continuity of service transfer.
With the exception of occupational pensions, employees receive certain protections around dismissal and redundancy.
Failure to inform and consult affected employees, including the lack of opportunity for an employee representative, makes this unlawful. Could merit an unfair dismissal , if the employee is eligible to bring a claim. Staff may also have been automatically unfairly dismissed if the dismissal is purely related to a TUPE.
Unfair dismissals at This makes handling TUPE and redundancies vital for new employers.
Peninsula explores how to avoid this, as well as how to handle TUPE and redundancies.
When considering TUPE and redundancy scenarios, the new employer must follow a fair redundancy process. However, before the transfer, if the old employer agrees then the new employer can consult about redundancies.
This includes seeking redundancy legal advice and considering TUPE and redundancy with ACAS regulations.
These regulations apply when there are:
The regulations state that a business is not determined by its name alone. Instead, the assets themselves define the business.
These assets include:
In the event of business transfers, the identity of the employer must change to be protected under redundancy and TUPE regulations. In either case, it applies when:
The only exceptions are if you make an employee redundant. Or where the business is insolvent, in some cases.
However in TUPE law and redundancy, following transfer, the transferee may have a defence against automatic unfair dismissal if there was an 'economic, technical or organisational reason entailing changes in the workforce' ('ETO' defence).
This defence requires there to have been either a genuine redundancy situation as a result of the transfer or a business reorganisation. One of the most common examples of an ETO defence is where headcount needs to be reduced due to duplications of staff on transfer.
TUPE and redundancy terms state that if the reason for redundancy is primarily because of the employee originally being under the previous employer, it is unlawful.
ACAS states that a new employer must minimise or prevent redundancies and other dismissals before, during or after transfers.
If the sole or principal reason for the dismissal is the transfer, it will be automatically unfair.
This includes a substantial change to an employee’s terms and conditions. A new employer must notify employees or these changes before the transfer.
If the changes drastically change their employment unfavourably , employees have the right to terminate their employment. They can claim constructive unfair dismissal at a tribunal.
Under TUPE, ACAS classifies resignations of this nature as dismissals.
TUPE and redundancy rights do not apply to all employees or transfers of ownership. Some cases of ownership transfer aren’t protected under these regulations, such as if the contract is:
Examples of these contracts include catering roles, or food supplies changing for a restaurant. Protection during transfer only applies to clearly identified employees that provide the service.
Regulations state that transfers within the public sector aren’t covered. However, transfers from the public sector into the private sector are. TUPE law and redundancy rarely apply to public-sector employees, though sometimes they can get similar protection.
Employers must make redundancy payments to employees made redundant for reasons involving changes to the workforce.
These reasons include:
If you make an employee redundant, they will likely receive statutory redundancy pay. Unless their contract states otherwise, standard statutory redundancy pay calculations will apply.
This includes factors such as the number of an employee’s year's service to the previous employer.
The new employer is responsible for making redundancy payments to any employees made redundant.
The regulations aim to preserve the continuity, terms, and conditions of employees transferring from an old employer to a new employer. This includes reorganising or restructuring during a transfer.
If a new employer is considering redundancies following the transfer, they need to follow appropriate procedures. In the event of major restructure that calls for over 19 employee redundancies, TUPE and collective redundancy rules apply.
These include allowing employees to seek representation and to appeal against any stage of the process.
If the new employer knows they will restructure with collective redundancies, they may choose to do so before or during the transfer.
However, the old employer doesn’t have any legal obligation to provide assistance to the redundancy procedure. Without this aid, the new employer can face difficulties surrounding employment law and redundancies.
The new employer should consider redundancies carefully before restructuring. The process must be fair, legal, and keep employee’s rights intact.
Whether it’s a restructure or a transfer of ownership, these regulations exist to protect employees. Understanding how to handle redundancies while transferring from an old employer to a new employer requires expertise.
This is particularly true when considering the new employer is solely responsible for them. This includes both the responsibility of fairly deciding redundancies and making the appropriate actions during the process.
Without proper planning, a new employer can incur employment tribunals for unfair dismissal. Considering that restructuring can often call for collective redundancy, mishandling TUPE and redundancy can result in many employment tribunals and many hefty fines.
To avoid this, Peninsula offers redundancy advice in the UK. For expert advice and assistance with these issues, call our specialist at 0800 028 2420.
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