Employers’ liability for compensation under TUPE
If, as an Employer, you have not disclosed certain information about employees being transferred through TUPE, you may face a compensation claim from the Employer that took on those employees.
Under the TUPE Regulations, there is a legal obligation on the Transferor [the Employer that transfers the employees] to make certain information about transferring employees available to the Transferee [the Employee that took over the employees of the Transferor].
The information that must be provided by the Transferor is mainly to do with information that the Transferee must be aware of such as, the employees’ identities and age; the employees’ particulars of employment; details of any disciplinary procedure undertaken by the Transferor or any grievance made by the employee; details of any tribunal proceedings brought by the employee against the Transferor in the past two years and so forth. The information has to be provided at least 14 days before the transfer has been completed, unless it is not practicable to do so.
If the Transferor fails to provide the necessary information an Employment Tribunal must award the Transferee, upon a successful complaint, a minimum compensation of £500 per employee (unless it is just and equitable to award a lesser sum). If the Transferor failed to disclose the existence of a discrimination claim (for example), and compensation was awarded to the employee, the Transferee would arguably be able to recover the sum paid as compensation to the employee as part of its own compensation from the Transferor.
Call our Employment Law specialist Mali Smith on 07908 805897
