TUPE Takeaways: Do All Liabilities Transfer Under TUPE?

As part of our "TUPE takeaways" series, we consider some recent cases on whether vicarious liability transfers under TUPE and the implications for employers.

The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations 2006 ("TUPE") are designed to safeguard the rights of employees when the business in which they work changes hands or there is a change in service provider.

When TUPE applies, affected employees in scope to transfer will move across from their original employer (the transferor) to the new company (the transferee) on their existing contract of employment, with their continuity of employment preserved.

The transferor's "rights, powers, duties and liabilities under or in connection with any such contract" transfer to the transferee. Any act or omission by the transferor before the transfer is deemed to be an act of omission by the transferee (although commercial contracts will often vary this basic position). Broadly, this means that