Royal Mail had transferred some of its businesses. The union complained that the company’s explanation of the effect of the transfer to its members was incorrect in law. The EAT had found that the employer need only tell the employee of its honestly held belief (in this case as to whether automatic transfers would take place).
Held: The Union’s appeal failed: ‘It is a powerful argument that employees need to know where they are. It can be said with force that it is for the employers to know what the legal implications are so that the employees can be informed. But . . it does not follow that the employer must, in effect, warrant the accuracy of the law’ and ‘a lawyer would not warrant the accuracy of his advice in any area of uncertainty if at all and it would take clear language to impose such a warranty on a non-lawyer.’
Lord Justice Waller, Lord Justice Hughes and Lord Justice Rimer
[2009] EWCA Civ 1045, Times 16-Oct-2009, [2010] 2 All ER 823, [2010] ICR 83, [2009] IRLR 1046
Bailii
Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 SI 2006/246 13, Council Directive of 12 March 2001 on the approximation of the laws of the Member States relating to the safeguarding of employees’ rights in the event of transfers of undertakings, businesses or parts of undertakings of businesses (2001/23/EC) 7
England and Wales
Citing:
Cited – Institute of Civil Servants v Secretary of State for Defence 1987
The Union complained on the proposed transfer of dockyards as to the consultation offered.
Held: The transferor of a business entity need only inform its employees of those measures which he actually envisages will be implemented. It is open . .
Cited – North Wales Training and Enterprise Council Ltd v Astley and others HL 21-Jun-2006
Civil servants had been transferred to a private company. At first they worked under secondment from the civil service. They asserted that they had protection under TUPE and the Acquired Rights Directive. The respondent said that there had only been . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Employment
Updated: 01 November 2021; Ref: scu.376134