EAT TRANSFER OF UNDERTAKINGS – Economical technical or organisational reason
‘Workforce’ in Regulation 7(2) of the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 does not include corporate franchisees. The Respondent’s business model of using franchisees to carry out meter reading rather than employees was long established and made the Respondent more competitive in winning contracts. The Employment Tribunals erred in holding that the dismissal of employee meter readers transferred to the Respondent under TUPE was not for an economic, technical or organisational reason entailing changes in the workforce. Subject to determination in the Hardy cases of whether the franchise agreements were a sham, no other conclusion could be reached other than that the dismissals in both cases were for an economic, technical or organisational reason entailing changes in the workforce and were by reason of redundancy.
Judges:
Slade DBE J
Citations:
[2012] UKEAT 0206 – 11 – 2802
Links:
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Employment
Updated: 05 October 2022; Ref: scu.451890