TUPE Takeaways: Changing Working Arrangements And Constructive Dismissal

In the first of a new series of articles about practical TUPE takeaways, we look at a case about changing working arrangements following a TUPE transfer. We consider what lessons can be learned from the finding of constructive unfair dismissal in this case.

The purpose of TUPE is to protect employees' rights when the business in which they work changes hands. This could be, for example, on the sale of a business as a going concern or on the change of a service provider. TUPE gives employees a special right to resign if the transfer involves a substantial change in their working conditions to their material detriment.

Employees who resign over a material detriment are taken as having been constructively dismissed. Their dismissal will be automatically regarded as unfair unless: