TUPE Protection For PR Provider

This article is the copyright of Bond Pearce LLP, July 2007.

The Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) Regulations (TUPE) have been with us for over a quarter of a century having brought into force the European Acquired Rights Directive (ARD). The version enacted in 2006 was intended to clarify the myriad of issues that had been thrown up over the years. Ever loyal to its troublesome history, however, TUPE 2006 continues to raise questions and this week we consider an Employment Tribunal's decision in Hunt v (1) Storm Communications Ltd (2) Wild Card Public Relations Ltd and (3) Brown Brothers Wines (Europe) Ltd that a professional service employee transferred under TUPE 2006 to a new firm when a client account that she worked on was taken over by a new provider. This decision has significant consequences for both service providers and those who employ them.