The transfer date


Working out the transfer date is crucial. It is the moment at which the employer’s identity changes and the moment at which the employment contracts of employees in the organised grouping transfer automatically to the new employer (unless they have objected to the transfer before the transfer date - see below). It is also key to determining whether the employer’s consultation duties have been met, because consultation must take place before the transfer (see page 429).


The EAT has confirmed that the transfer date is the date on which responsibility for the business transfers from one employer to another. What matters are the facts — what actually happened — not what the parties hoped or intended would happen (Housing Maintenance Solutions Limited v McAteer [2014] UKEAT/0440/13/LA).