Collective agreements and union recognition 





Collective agreements with a recognised union transfer under regulation 5 of TUPE. They are treated as if they were made with the new employer.
However, important changes made to TUPE in January 2014 have significantly undermined the legal protection of collectively negotiated contract terms by TUPE. These changes are explained on pages 458-460.


Under regulation 6 of TUPE, union recognition transfers as long as the group of transferring employees retains a distinct identity. Otherwise, recognition by the transferee must be negotiated. 


Most recognition agreements are voluntary. Regulation 6(2)(b), TUPE specifically states that a recognition agreement can be varied or rescinded by the new employer after the transfer without infringing TUPE.


It is automatically unfair to dismiss or target for redundancy any employee who is trying to organise recognition in their new workplace. See Chapter 5.